Gising Gising ver 2.0

I posted this recipe way back 2013, but the gising gising recipe I'm going to share this time is different from the first one. Instead of using green chilies, I opted to use finger chilies. This is to help my family distinguish baguio beans from green chilies (LOL). Once cooked, baguio beans and green chilies look the same, so if you're not a big fan of eating siling labuyo, might as well use finger chilies. Your chances of eating siling labuyo is at 80-90% because believe me, they look ALMOST the same once cooked. 

I've also used liempo in lieu of ground pork.

If you don't know what Gising gising is, it tastes like Bicol Express, except that gising gising has baguio beans :) As per my husband, this is perfect for pulutan too. Magigising ka talaga sa anghang! 

What you need: 

2 pieces liempo (pork belly) - cut into strips (100 pesos)

10 pieces baguio beans cut into small strips (20 pesos)

4 pieces finger chilies - chopped  (5 pesos)

1 cup of coconut milk (2 pesos)

1 tablespoon of bagoong na alamang (I bought 1 bottle, and it costs, 59 pesos)

1 medium onion - chopped

garlic - crushed

cooking oil

Yield:  3-4 servings

What you need to do: 

* Heat the oil. Saute the onion and garlic. 

* Add the liempo. Cook for 3 minutes or until it turns golden brown. 

* Put the bagoong and finger chilies.

* Pour the coconut milk. 

* Let it boil. Continue stirring until the sauce thickens. 

* Add the baguio beans. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes. 

* Happy eating! 

Stewed Ox Tripe or Kare-Kare

I only appreciated eating this sumptuous dish when I was in college as I'm not a big fan of Peanut Butter. But since my late mom was so fond of cooking this dish and my dad would really savor its flavor, I learned how to eat and appreciate it eventually. (Didn't appreciate it before because I didn't know that shrimp paste or bagoong alamang is a must for this dish). 

My mom used to buy giniling na mani in the market to make it even more delicious, but since this ingredient is not always available in the grocery, I am left with no choice but to use the ready-made kare kare powder mix from Mama Sita's. 

Advantage: Affordable. Less preparation.

Disadvantage: Would taste bland if you are not going to add peanut butter as a part of your ingredient.

So if you're planning to use this ready-made mix, you may want to add peanut butter to make your dish taste like a real kare-kare. 

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo ox tripe - (90 pesos)

1 pouch of Mama Sita's kare kare mix

2 pieces eggplant (11 pesos)

string beans (10 pesos)

2 small pouch of peanut butter (I used Lily's peanut butter); 8 pesos each

canola cooking oil

garlic - chopped 

onion - chopped

3-4 cups of water

What you need to do: 

I used pressure cooker to boil the ox tripe. I cooked the tripe for 30-45 minutes. 

*Pour the water on the pressure cooker. Let the ox tripe cook for 45 minutes. 

* On a separate pan, saute the onion and garlic. Add this on the pressure cooker. 

* Add the dissolved ready made mix kare kare and peanut butter. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Continue stirring until the sauce thickens. 

* Add the vegetables. 

*Serve with bagoong na alamang

Happy Eating! 

Igado

It's been quite a while since the last time I've posted the dishes I've cooked for my family. A lot of things have happened recently (my loving mom who also loves to cook for our family just died last March, I miss you ma, and here I am, already 38 weeks pregnant and ready to pop out any time soon). Since I'm already going to be a "real mom" any time soon, I'm thinking of many ways how to serve healthy and delicious food. Even if we have a helper who also knows how to cook, I want to make it a point to cook for my family every now and then.

Yesterday, I've been craving for Igado and wanted to check if I can cook it the way how my late mom cooked it. Well, according to my husband and one of our helpers, it tastes like Igado and undeniably delicious, but still, my mom's way of cooking Igado is still irreplaceable. (Sigh, I just miss how my mom cooked and prepared dish for us)

Igado or Higado is an Ilocano delicacy that somehow resembles to menudo. (except that Igado doesn't have tomato sauce). Here are the ingredients you need to prepare:

* 1/4 pork kasim

*Pork liver - it really depends to you how much liver you want to add. Igado is not complete without liver, but since I'm not a fan of liver, I bought 18 pesos worth of pork liver. 

* 1 medium red bell pepper - cut into strips

* 2-3 tablespoons vinegar 

* 1/4 cup soy sauce

* 1 small can of green peas 

* 1 medium tomato (chopped)

* 1 medium onion (chopped)

* 2-3 knobs of garlic (chopped)

* 1 cup of water

* cooking oil

What you need to do: 

* On a bowl, marinate the pork with soysauce and garlic. Leave it for at least 20-30 minutes. Set aside.

*Heat the oil, saute the onion and tomato. 

* Add the marinated pork. 

* Let it boil for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender. 

*Simmer for another 20 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and green peas. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes. 

*Serve while hot.