Showing posts with label Filipino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Filipino. Show all posts

People Worldwide Make My Daring Bakers Challenge: Filipino Desserts

November 15, 2013 bibingka , Filipino 31 Comments

photo: R. Blackwell
REPOST. Original posting date 11/27/11.

 News has spread that the founder of Daring Bakers, Lis Cifelli, has passed away.  As a tribute to her, the Daring Bakers community is posting memories and recipes.  I have decided a fitting way would be to repost this as we think of this great learning tool that DB is, but also because of the recent Philippine typhoon. 


It took me almost four years. It took me that long to host the Daring Bakers challenge. This blog will be four years old next month and in the following January I also joined the Daring Bakers. I knew back then what I would use as my challenge for the group and the opportunity finally came.

Let's start with an explanation of what Daring Bakers is. It's an internet group made up mostly of food bloggers, although having a blog is not a requirement. Each month a member hosts the challenge for the month. The idea is that the challenge should teach some baking techniques or introduce us to some baked goods that we might never try otherwise. The challenge is posted on the 1st and for the entire month everyone is busy making it and posting their results on the member forum. On the 27th of each month it goes public and food bloggers all over the world post their results on their blogs. Over the years I've made croissants to danishes to fancy tarts and pastries. Some have been really challenging and other things had been much easier than I would have anticipated.

When I first joined, the host schedule went by seniority according to when you joined the group. Even though the membership was a lot smaller back then, I knew it would be many years before I got to host. But sometime later the scheduling changed and I became aware that I could volunteer to host. This was a year ago and I was told I could have November 2011 if I wanted it. I said yes and spent time over the last year practicing and perfecting which recipes I wanted to put up, even though I had known from the start what recipe it would be. Each recipe needs to be well thought out and documented before posting.

November 1st was posting day. I misunderstood and didn't realize that I was supposed to post the challenge, I thought the group founders would. We in California are at the end of the global spin of timezones. I found out that I was about 18 hours overdue in posting the challenge and people in Australia, Korea, Greece, Spain, etc. were all posting on the member forum - Where is the challenge!! Oops. 

My challenge was titled - Filipino Desserts. I always knew I wanted to do Sans Rival and later I decided to add Bibingka as well. The Sans Rival was meant to challenge skills for those newer members who had never made a meringue dacquoise and French buttercream before. The bibingka was to add a cultural challenge for a flavor/dessert that many would never have had.  Although the desserts had required elements, they were allowed to modify the flavorings and choice of nuts in the Sans Rival.

I've posted these recipes myself over the years, so I won't here, just click the hyperlinks to get to the recipes. Instead I've decided to share some of the results from the other bloggers worldwide in the collage above. What I especially liked was some of the variations of flavor and styling. Some did a more rustic take by leaving the edges unfrosted and others made individual mini cakes versus a large single cake.

I'm happy to say that the results were great and many people commented on how much they liked the Sans Rival. Many of them were served on Thanksgiving. Hardly anyone tried the bibingka, but that's alright. I posted something that I love, was new to them, and represented the Philippines.
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Making Hapa SF's Sisig Recipe

July 17, 2012 Chicharrón , Filipino 0 Comments

As SactoMoFo 5 approaches on Saturday, it seemed only fitting that I write a post related to my favorite Bay area truck, Hapa SF. 

If you know your Hawaiian pidgin, "hapa" means "half-caste" or "of mixed descent". Therefore, I would be a hapa since I am half Filipino and half British. In the case of Hapa SF, the truck specializes in contemporary Filipino food. As their website says, "Our focus is to tantalize your taste buds with our innovative take on classic Filipino cuisine."

Whenever I see them I have to go and get a plate of sisig, a pork dish that any pork lover would crave. Then William Pilz,  Hapa SF's chef and owner, gave a sisig recipe to Chow.com for printing. I pinned that sucker onto my Pinterest board right away with a goal to make it.

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Dessert Lumpia

June 03, 2012 dessert , Egg roll 2 Comments

I was disappointed today because I missed the Filipino Festival. I just had too many other commitments to make it down there. In honor of the day I decided to make some lumpia - dessert lumpia.

Lumpia is the Filipino version of an eggroll. I prefer lumpia because they contain a mixture of meat and vegetables, whereas eggrolls generally only contain vegetables. My mother's lumpia had pork, shrimp, and veggies like cabbage and onion. I've had some versions that have mixed frozen vegetables (corn, peas, lima beans). I didn't care for that version.

When I was at Honolulu's food truck event, Eat the Street, I had a dessert lumpia from the Flipt Out truck. It made so much sense! Just put fruit in the middle!

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Bibingka - Filipino Rice Cake

August 10, 2011 Filipino , gluten-free 0 Comments

I've decided that Bibingka would be a good name for my next cat. I'm not planning to get another cat for some time, as I already have 2 and 3 year olds, but it seems like a good pet name.
Banana leaves found in frozen section of Asian markets

In actuality, bibingka is a Filipino cake, most often rice based. It's slightly sweet and features, get this, a slice of salted egg on the top. That seems pretty odd for a dessert, but then again, Asian foods are often like that - using contrasting flavors in the same recipe. Filipinos love salty sour. Here in the States we've seen this done more often lately with things like kettle corn, salted caramels, etc.

The bibingka recipe comes from my Filipino blogging friend, Jun at Jun-blog. Jun says that this particular type is traditionally eaten at Christmas time. I had a few Christmases in the Philippines when I was a child, but I guess my family was too Western - I don't recall these cakes at all. I must learn bits of my Filipino culture late in life, on my own, with assistance from my adopted Filipino 'family'. But for Jun, these are an important part of his memories and associations with Christmas time on the islands.

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Balut - A Filipino Aphrodisiac?

March 03, 2011 aphrodisiac , Filipino 7 Comments
 I actually wrote this in 2003 and came across it. (Jeff is long gone.) Thought it was still worth sharing on a blog post.
 
Balut
You might have seen Balut on Fear Factor last year.  It’s the best known Filipino delicacy.  To Westerners, though, it’s gross.  Who in the world thought of eating a partially formed embryonic duck?  Of course they had to justify this decision by declaring it an aphrodisiac (yeah, right).  In fact the hawkers used to sell them outside the brothel near my grandfather's house in Manila. It’s also very popular as a bar food – to eat while out drinking.  (Probably need the extra fortification.)

Balut is derived from the egg of an itik duck (native to the Philippines).  The eggs would normally hatch after a 28 day incubation. The eggs are collected and kept warm for six days.  At this time they are looked at by the candling method (holding up eggs to a strong light to be able to see through the shell). If the egg is fertilized it is sorted out.  Unfertilized eggs are sold as fresh.  The fertilized eggs are allowed to continue developing to the 14th day.  At this time they are examined again to see how they are doing.  If they are developing slowly, they are pulled out and sold as another delicacy – pinoy.  Pinoy are cooked and are similar to hard boiled eggs.  If the embryo is dead, they sell the rotting eggs as another delicacy – abnoy (double yuck). The eggs that are developing properly are kept up to the 18th day. By this time the embryo has grown and there is an embryonic sack. These are now separated out as balut. The egg is cooked in the shell and then eaten.

I had heard about balut my whole life.  My mother is known to like them and other stuff Westerners would consider gross.  (She had to eat the sheep’s eye at an Arab banquet in Saudi Arabia once.)  I’ve been raised very Americanized, so I have a mental block when it comes to ever wanting to eat one. My boyfriend, Jeff, said he had wanted to try one whenever he got the chance.  His 10-year old son, Tyler, wanted to also.  When I told my coworker, Ray, I was going to get some he said, “get me two!”

Another coworker pointed me in the right direction to a store off Florin Road that specializes in Filipino and Asian groceries.  I went down on Sunday and asked which eggs were the balut.  I was pointed to a stacking of egg flats.  I was told the eggs were still raw and would have to be cooked.  A guy came over to help and told me I should pick the whitest eggs.  He lifted up a couple of flats and selected four eggs for me.  Unfortunately he had a little mishap and dropped a flat. Yick!  Luckily I didn’t see more contents than some really orangey yolk!  He then said I would need to cook the eggs for 45 minutes.
I had called my mother to find out the proper way to eat it.  I also found a couple of websites that gave detailed instructions.  I was told that the balut had to be warm and so I heated them up and then called the guys.  Tyler came bounding up.  He was so excited that he was finally going to get to eat it.  Jeff, on the other hand, took the bar-food statement to heart and cracked a beer. 
First, they had to peel away a small hole at the bottom of the egg where the air pocket was.  There was a membrane inside that needed to be pulled aside.  I told them to add a dash of salt and then they were to down the liquid inside.  “It’s salty,” proclaimed Tyler.

The next step is to peel away about half the shell so that you can take the first bite.  My theory – they don’t want you to get a close look!  Anyway, the guys peeled away some shell and each took a bite.  Tyler was excitedly peeling away, dissecting, and examining the contents.  Jeff was trying not to look.  Tyler tried to gross out his two sisters by showing them the contents.  “Look!  There’s an eye!”, he cried before finishing it off.  What was left was a hardened white that is not supposed to be eaten.  Both Jeff and Tyler cheered their accomplishment and Tyler ran off to call his mom.

“So, what was it like?”, I asked.  Jeff answered with the typical response, “like chicken”. 

I was very proud that they were able to eat it, especially Tyler.  Filipinos say they are delicious, but I’m still not gonna eat it!


 
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Crockpot Wednesday: Filipino Chicken Adobo Rice

January 26, 2011 chicken , crockpot 1 Comments
Filipino Chicken Adobo Rice
Rating: 4/5

I've mentioned before that I'm have Filipino but am pretty ignorant about Filipino food. My mom never learned to cook much Filipino food and so the only things I can even remember her making are lumpia, pancit, and adobo.

Filipino food is definitely its own thing. Being situated in southeast Asia and made up of over 7,000 islands, it has often been the stomping ground of invaders. Thus the influences over the centuries include Chinese, Japanese, Spaniards, Americans, and others. All of these influences mish-mash together to create unique dishes  - the true example of fusion cooking.

One notable flavor trait of Filipino cooking is their mix of salt/sour. Adobo is a perfect example. Adobo is considered the national dish of the Philippines. It is usually made with either pork or chicken. I prefer the chicken, and it's important that you use chicken thighs, not breasts. The breasts will be too dry.

The primary ingredients for the marinade are vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper. The normal method calls for marinating, then simmering the meat in it to cook, remove the meat and boil down the sauce to make it even more potent, and fry the meat to give it a bit of crispiness. Then serve it all over rice.

I'm changing it up a bit in this version. After removing the chicken we toss in rice to cook in the sauce and then at the end throw in the chicken, now shredded. Your finished product is a nice, potent chicken and rice dish. No more fighting over the adobo sauce. I suppose you could throw the rice in from the start, but part of the beauty of adobo is the slow cooking of the meat in the marinade. The meat really takes on the flavor of the sauce.

Note: Cooking times can vary depending on slow cookers.

Chicken Adobo Rice
1 lb. chicken thighs
1/3  c vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small bay leaf
¼ t pepper
½ c water
3/4 c rice

Remove the skins and trim any fat from the chicken thighs. Place in slow cooker.
Mix together remaining ingredients except  for the rice and pour into cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. (Mine was on while I was at work, so over 8 hrs.)

Remove the chicken breasts and set aside. Add rice to the sauce in the cooker. Cook on high for 1 hour or until rice is cooked. Remove chicken from the bone and shred. Toss with cooked rice mixture. Serve.



Chicken Thigh
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Spam Lumpia with Spicy Tamarind Dipping Sauce

January 24, 2010 Filipino , filipino food 2 Comments

Related to Spamarind Dinner
(Tamarind sauce is the darker sauce. The orangier sauce is sweet chili sauce.)

For our appetizer I wanted to try to conquer both Spam and tamarind in one dish. I accomplished this with making lumpia. One of the ingredients in lumpia is ground pork. Again, a matter of substitution. I chopped up the Spam with my Food Chopper and added that in place of ground pork.


Also note that I shortcut by using cole slaw mix instead of chopping cabbage and carrot myself.

Spam Lumpia

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bag of cole slaw mix
1 can of Spam
2/3 c cooked shrimp, chopped
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1/4 c sesame oil
3 T soy sauce
fresh ground black pepper
1 pkg of lumpia wrappers
1 egg, beaten
vegetable oil

Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to a hot wok and add garlic. Cook under a minute and toss in onions. Cook until tender. Add in cole slaw mix and tossed vegetables together until well mixed. Cook for about ten minutes.

In a separate skillet, cook the chopped Spam until it is nicely browned. Add chopped shrimp and mix well.


Take meat mixture and add to veggie mixture. Add water chestnuts. Mix them until well incorporated. Turn off heat. Add soy sauce, rest of sesame oil, and black pepper to taste. Mix well.


Line a cookie sheet with paper towels to catch drippings. Set a colander on top and pour cooked mixture into colander. Let it cool and drain completely.

While mixture is cooling, open lumpia wrappers and separating each sheet. It is important that you separate the sheets in advance of wrapping because they stick together and you want to be able to wrap at a constant pace. Place the sheets on a plate and cover with a damp but well wrung out towel.



To wrap, place one wrapper on the table or counter in front of you, with one of the corners pointing at you. Place a tablespoonful of the filling about 2 inches above the corner closest to you, spreading it into a mini log. Fold the corner closest to you over the filling, tucking it snugly against the filling so the corner lays flat. Roll the wrapper once and fold in the left and right corners. Dampen your fingers with some beaten egg and wet the top corner. Continue rolling so that the top corner seals the roll shut.

Pour oil into a fry pan so that you have a 1/2 inch of oil. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. When it is hot enough to make a piece of the wrapper crisp and brown within seconds, it is ready to use.

Fry a few lumpia (do not crowd them) at a time until crisped and browned, turning them with tongs as they cook. Each batch should take about 2 1/2 minutes. Use tongs to transfer the lumpia to paper towels to drain. Repeat to cook all of the lumpia.

Spicy Tamarind Dipping Sauce

# 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
# 1/4 cup tamarind paste (found in Asian markets)
# 1 tablespoon canola oil
# 1 tablespoon fish sauce
# 1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
# 1 tablespoon sugar

Mix ingredients together.



Spam
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