Nilagang Baboy (Pork Stew) Recipe

Nilagang baboy is a comfort food which is perfect during winter season. I grew up celebrating most Christmas with it because my mother would cook it for Christmas meal. I thought to prepare it as the temperature is now starting to drop here in the Middle East. In a few weeks, the long, dry and hot months will be gone.

This nilagang baboy recipe, which is a Kapampangan recipe, is a pork stew that is quite simple to make. It only involves one step of cooking that is boiling all ingredients by gradually adding them according to the required cooking time of each ingredient. For me, the trick to making a very tasty nilagang baboy is to use lots of different vegetables and make sure that the pork is tender. The pork and vegetables simmered together in a considerable amount of time will create a really tasty soup. All the minerals and vitamins from the vegetables will blend with the pork broth very nicely and one will be surprise at how the soup will taste healthy.


Nilagang Baboy (Pork Stew)

Halaan (Clam) Soup Recipe

Clam Soup

Halaan or clam soup is one of my favorite soups (and it has now become one of hubby's too). It is so appetizing and refreshing. It also brings back memories of my childhood. We used to eat the clams using our hands and scoop the meat out of the shell using our mouth. Then I would reserve some of the clam shells and dry them under the sun. I and my cousins would then play with them.

These past few weeks, there had been plenty of fresh clams being sold in supermarkets. I think it’s because it’s in season these days. So, before it gets out of season, we’d rather take advantage of its abundance. We decided to cook halaan soup for lunch yesterday.

Here is the Halaan (Clam) Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:
½ kilogram halaan or fresh clams
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thumb-sized ginger, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
3 tbsp. fish sauce or patis
2 cups water
Cooking oil

Cooking procedure:
1) Wash fresh clams and drain. Place the clams in a container and cover with water. Let it sit for several hours or overnight in the fridge. If possible, replace the water every few hours. This procedure will allow the clams to expel sand.
2) Heat oil in a pot. Sauté ginger and garlic together.
3) Add onion and cook until translucent.
4) Add tomatoes, cook for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally.
5) Add fish sauce and the fresh clams. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
6) Pour in water. Cover and let boil.
7) Turn off the heat when the clams have opened.
8) Serve immediately.

Thai-Inspired Beef Salad Recipe

Inspired by the Thai Beef Salad we had last weekend at the Bowling Village, which tasted fairly authentic, hubby requested that we prepare this light salad for dinner.

We bought 100g of thinly sliced beef from the supermarket which we marinated in soy sauce, garlic and pepper for a couple of hours to absorb the flavor then pan-fried them.


Thai-inspired Beef Salad

To create the Thai dressing for the beef salad, I used the recipe from Yummy Magazine, which was quite simple to make. I wish to have added more chopped red chili though to attain the hot kick on the dressing. I’ll definitely do that next time.

This recipe is worth a try. Aside from being healthy and easy to prepare, this beef salad is a wonderful fresh salad with a fusion of sweet, sour and hot flavors.

Here is our Thai-inspired Beef Salad Recipe.

Ingredients:
100g thinly sliced tender beef
Romaine lettuce or variety of greens, cut into 1-1/2 inch strips
2 cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced ½ inch
1 large tomato, seeded and sliced lengthwise
5 scallions, thinly sliced
2 coriander or cilantro stems with leaves, roughly chop

For the dressing:
1 lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons patis or fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 red chili, seeded and chopped finely (add more if you desire)

Method:
1) Heat a little amount of oil in a shallow pan over high heat.
2) Fry the marinated beef slices for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.
3) Combine romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and coriander in a large bowl.
4) Add the thinly sliced beef to the salad.
5) Drizzle with the dressing and gently toss using your hands (like Jamie Oliver does!).
6) Divide salad among plates and serve immediately.

Eggplant Salad Recipe (Ensaladang Talong)

This pinoy eggplant salad recipe or ensaladang talong is a creation of my hubby, which he learned from my mother-in-law. He did a little modification to the original ingredients by adding vinegar to it. This eggplant salad has instantly become one of my favorite salads. It is best served with grilled or fried fish.

The eggplants can be boiled or grilled. I prefer to grill the eggplants to get the smokey flavor. Since it is not possible to use charcoal grill indoor, grilling the eggplants on a stove top would be enough alternative. If you choose to boil the eggplants instead of grilling, peeling them will not be necessary. They can be eaten with the skin on.

Grilling the Eggplants on a Stove-top
I highly recommend that you try this salad recipe and you’ll surely enjoy it!

Eggplant Salad
Here’s the recipe for the Eggplant Salad (ensaladang talong).

Ingredients:
5-6 medium-size eggplants
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 medium-size onion, thinly sliced
1 piece green or red hot chili, remove seeds and slice thinly
2-3 tbsp. bagoong (add more if desired)
1 tbsp. vinegar (add more if desired)

Preparation Instructions:
1) Grill the eggplants until its skin is burnt.
2) Peel the eggplants. Remove any excess burnt skins.
3) Cut and roughly shred the peeled eggplants into 2 inches long and place in a bowl.
4) Mix in the thinly sliced onion and green chili.
5) Season with bagoong and vinegar, and then mix well all the ingredients.
6) Serve with fish or seafood and steamed rice.

Serving size: 3
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Patola Misua Soup

Soups are often served as starter for main meals when dining in a posh restaurant but for the underprivileged Filipino family, soup can already be the main meal.

One of the least expensive ways of making a soup is misua soup. It is one of the most popular soups among Pinoys. It can be prepared with vegetable or meat balls. For a healthy treat, patola misua soup is best. It’s simple and quick to prepare.

Misua (or miswa) is made of wheat flour and one of the varieties of Chinese noodles. It is very fine and brittle.

Patola comes from the family of gourd vegetables. It is commonly known in English as ridged gourd or loofah. This vegetable is rich in fiber and a good source of calcium, iron and phosphorus. It can be easily found in any major supermarkets in Abu Dhabi when in season or during summer months.

Here’s the recipe for my Patola Misua Soup.

Ingredients:
1/2 small pack Misua
3 large pieces Patola, peeled and sliced crosswise at ½ inch size
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Fish sauce
Vegetable stock or water

Cooking Instructions:
Heat oil in a casserole. Sauté garlic and onion. Add fish sauce and stir for 5 seconds. Add water or vegetable stock and let it boil. Add sliced patola and cook until it turns bright green. Add misua noodles. Stir constantly until misua is cooked (which will take only about 2 minutes or even less).

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes or less
Serving size: 5

Useful Info:
Misua makes the soup very thick when it is cooked so consider using a lesser quantity only to enjoy the soup more.