Chopsuey

Tired.  Very tired.  And I still had to cook dinner. Not to mention that I needed to cook something that was not made out of beef or pork.  We have this agreement to eat red meat only thrice per week. So fine, today I cook chopsuey.

2 pcs. chicken breast fillet, cut into cubes
1/4 kl chicken liver, approximately same size as the chicken cubes
2 tbsp oil
1 small can Campbelle’s Cream of Mushroom soup
1 small sized brocolli
1 medium sized carrots
asparagus
snow peas
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Boil water.  In high heat, add carrots to boiling water, after a minute, turn off heat, add the remaining vegetables, and cover pan. Set aside. In a casserole, heat oil, add chicken cubes.  When chicken turns pink, add chicken liver and pepper, saute until cooked.

Strain vegetables, adding the remain soup stock to the casserole.  Set aside vegetables. Add Campbelle’s Cream of Mushroom soup to the casserole.  Taste soup and add salt and pepper as needed. Stir until the soup thins.  Add the vegetables, cover and turn off heat.  Serve after 5 minutes.

Sizzling Tofu Steak

Deconstruct… Reverse Engineering… Copy … This is what I do when I eat out. If I like it, I’ll try recreating it at home.

So this dish is somewhat copied from the Tofu Steak over at the fast food place called Karate Kid, although the mushrooms are different and I’m sure the seasoning is different too.

4 pcs. tokwa/ tofu
1/4 kl ground beef
1 can button mushrooms
2 tbsp. Lee Kum Kee superior soy sauce
2 tbsp. Datu Puti soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp flour/ cornstarch dissolved in 4 tbsp. water

Cut tokwa to your preferred sizes. Fry until golden brown. Take the tokwa out of the frying pan to drain on paper towels. Set heat to low. Take out all of the oil and add the ground pork until it changes color. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and seasoning. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.  Add the flour solution.

Taste the pork mixture, if you find it too salty, add 1 or 2 tbsp of water.  Simmer.

Set the tokwa on a serving or sizzling plate and top with pork mixture.  Will make at least 2 servings when using a sizzling plate.

Lechon Kawali

1 kilo liempo
3 cups water
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup oil

Boil liempo on water with salt and pepper on high heat for about 30 mins. Drain. Fry liempo.

Tip:

Liempo needs to be boiled first before frying so that it’s tender and juicy.

Make sure that the pork is drained so it doesn’t pop much when you fry it. (Believe me, it can turn your kitchen into a warzone).

Mang Tomas sauce works well on this one.

The pork broth can be used as soup base for sinigang. Just add radish, green chili (siling pangsigang) and okra.

Tortang Talong Cakes

3 medium sized eggplants
4 eggs
1/4 kl ground pork
1/8 tbsp of salt
1/8 tsp of pepper

Grill eggplant.  Peel off burnt skin and crush and mix the pulp.  Fry ground pork until pink.  Mix with crushed eggplant.  Beat eggs.  Add salt and pepper and the pork/eggplant mixture.

Fry eggplant mixture in an egg ring. Serve hot. Best served with Del Monte Tomato Catsup.

Bacon Carbonara

I remember cooking bacon carbonara for my agents on shift last Christmas and New Year. Well, I can't remember a recipe unless I cooked it again.

1 pack 250g spaghetti
1 can nestle creme (300g/10.5oz) or 2 packs all purpose cream (250 ml)
1/4 kilo bacon, chopped
4 drops of tabasco
1/2 cup of grated cheese
1 egg yolk

Cook spaghetti noodles as per instructions. Drain well. 

While cooking noodles, chop bacon into 1/2 inch length or to length desired.  Once bacon is cooked (I don't like my bacons toasted, just cooked), turn off heat. Add cream, cheese, egg yolk and tabasco.  The tabasco won't make the pasta spicy, it'll add a different kind of spice to it, so don't put too much tabasco. Add spaghetti and mix well. Serve hot.