Suman sa Lihiya

There so many kinds of suman, and suman sa lihiya is one of them, I like the texture of this suman and that is because of the lye water or lihiya mixed in it.  You should be careful in making this suman because if you are wrong in the measurement of lye water it has a bitter taste on the suman. So just follow the measurement carefully.

Ingredients for 7 servings:
wilted bananan leaves
3 cups Glutinous Rice
1 tablespoon Lye water ( do not add more or else it has an after taste)
2 cups coconut milk

Procedure:
1. Soak the rice with coconut milk for 4 hours then drain until the liquid is totally gone.
2. Add the lye water to the rice then mix well until the rice will be yellowish, this is now ready to be wrapped.
3. Put 1 1/2 teaspoon of the rice in a wilted banana leaves then wrap properly. After wrapping tie it by pair using a leftover banana leaves.

4. Put in a pot and cover it with water and cook until done . ( Around 1 hour and a half). Just cook over medium heat when it is already boiling.  After 90 minutes check if the suman is fully cooked. If not, tie it back and continue cooking.Remove from water when it is done.
5. Serve with latik sauce or just with sugar.

Chicken Wings Caldereta

I have friends whose favorite parts of the chicken are the wings. I cooked this for them when they came over to my place for a dinner. We enjoyed this and I wanna share the recipe.

Ingredients for 4-5 servings:
1/2 kilo chicken wings
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup Nestle cream
1 big potato ( sliced to your desired size)
1 big  carrot ( sliced to your desired size)
1/2  onion ( diced)
1 tablespoon liver spread
3 cloves garlic ( minced)
1 small bell pepper (cubed)
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Saute garlic and onion then add the chicken wings, simmer for 3 minutes.
2. Add the tomato sauce and stir well then simmer for few minutes then add the water and bring to a boil.
3. Add the potatoes and the carrots simmer until tender (add water if necessary).
4. Add the bell pepper, liver spread and Nestle cream, then stir well, add salt and pepper to taste then simmer until done.
 5.Serve it with rice and enjoy your meal.

Beef Stroganoff (Filipino Style)

The original recipe for this calls for sour cream but I made a twist to make this into Filipino style. It still taste the same, so here is my version of beef stroganoff.

Ingredients
1/2 kilo beef tender loin
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 small onion
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 cup Nestle Cream
3 cloves garlic
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. cut the beef into strips.
2. Saute the garlic and onion then add the beef then saute until pinkish color is gone.
3. Add the tomato sauce then simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.
4. Add water then adjust to medium heat and simmer until the beef is tender.
5. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste then simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Add the Nestle cream and simmer for a minute then turn off the heat.
7. Serve it hot.

Pork Spare Ribs Sinigang

I love all kinds of sinigang. Sinigang is a soup dish in the Philippines that uses tamarind or smpaloc to make the soup sour. the tangy flavor of this dish is so tempting, no wonder why most Filipinos love sinigang.

Ingredients for 6 servings:
1/2 kilo pork Spare ribs
1 bunch kangkong
1/4 kilo gabi (pangsigang)
1/4 kilo eggplant
1 bunch string beans
5 pods okra
chili ( siling haba)
6 cups water
2 tomatoes
1 onion
1 small pack Sinigang Mix ( can be replaced with 1/2 kilo tamarind)
salt to taste

Procedure:
1. In a pot put the ribs, onion, tomatoes, chili and salt to taste then cover and allow to simmer until the pinkish color of the meat is gone, stir and simmer for few minutes allowing the juice from the meat to come out.
2. Add  water and gabi then bring to a boil, then simmer until the meat is tender.
3. Add string beans, okra and eggplant then simmer until half cooked.
4. Add  the kangkong and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked thn put the sinigang mix allow to simmer then turn off the heat.
5. Serve hot with rice.

Adobong Balumbalunan

There is a pleasure in chewing this, I am speaking from my own opinion, because I love this dish, I love gizzard or balumbalunan and I love to chew it. Yummy for me. :-).

Ingredients for 4 Servings
1/2 kilo gizzard ( balumbalunan) cleaned well
1/4 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 onion
1 cup water
chili finger (siling haba)
salt if needed



Procedure:
1. Saute the garlic and onion, add the gizzard then simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Add the soy sauce, ground pepper and vinegar then simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Add water and simmer until tender, when the gizzard is already tender and still has a lot of water , increase the heat to high allowing the water to evaporate making the adobo gizzard just saucy. Add the chili finger then add salt if needed, simmer for a minute and turn off the heat.
4. Serve hot with rice.

Suman Tapol

Tapol is a kind of glutious rice which is purplish black in color, it smells so good and good for cooking various dainties. One of the popular products from this is this suman. Here is the very simple and easy to cook recipe.

Ingredients for 5 servings:
2 cups violet glutinous rice ( malagkit Tapol)
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
pinch of salt
wilted banana leaves

Procedure:
1. Combine the first three ingredients and leave it for 4 hours.

2. After 4 hours, we are now ready to wrap it with banana leaves. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon of the rice then wrap properly with banana leaves by rolling it several times.

3. Do the same process until you finish wrapping the rice. After wrapping it, tie them by pairs and put in a pot with enough water and cook for 80 minutes or until done.

4. Serve with sugar anytime you want it.

Simple Sisig

One of the most popular pork dishes in the Philippines, some considered it exotic because it's made of pork's innards, face, ears, etc. Originated in Pampanga but it's not only Kapampangans who loved this, it is also loved by most Filipinos across the country.

Ingredients for 4 servings:
1/2 kilo of pork's ear and cheeks
1/4 kilo pork liver ( small diced or chopped)
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons calamansi or lemon juice
1 small bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
spring onion for garnishing
salt to taste
1 egg ( optional)

Procedure:
1. Boil the pork's ear and cheek until tender, then grilled ( if you cant grilled it it's ok) and chopped.
2. Saute the ginger and garlic then the onion, then add the bell pepper and liver then simmer for a minute.

3. Add the the chopped pork's ear and cheek, soy sauce, lemon juice, and ground pepper then mix well and simmer for few minutes, add salt if necessary.
4. Continue to simmer until done, then put the egg at the center and garnish with spring onion, you can chopped some chili pepper and put it before serving. Enjoy!

Sinigang na Manok na may mustasa

I always wanted to have a delicious soup while eating during rainy days, and one of the yummiest soup is the sinigang soup ( tamarind based soup). You can use any kind of meat for this soup, and I used chicken for this recipe together with the mustard leaves, so yummy!

 Ingredients for 5 servings:
1/2 kilo chicken
1 bunch of mustard leaves (mustasa)
thumb size ginger
1 onion
6 cups water
1 small pack sinigang mix ( Tamarind powder)

 Procedure:
1.Saute the ginger then onion.
2. Add the chicken and braise for a while then add the water.
3. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally until the chicken meat is cooked.
4. Add the mustard leaves (mustasa) then simmer for a minute
5. Add  the sinigang mix then simmer until done.
6. Serve hot with rice and do not forget to smile ;-).

Puto Maya

This is a simple way of cooking puto maya, the original way of cooking this is more difficult but the taste is just the same with this version, I made this as simple as I can without jeopardizing the original taste. Try this and see it for yourself.

Ingredients for 4-5 servings:
2 cups violet glutinous rice ( tapol)
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
thumb size ginger ( crushed)
pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar

Procedure:
1. Wash and drain the rice then put in a cooking pot together with the ginger and coconut milk. Let  boil then simmer until cooked like a normal rice.
2.Once cooked, wrapped with wilted banana leaves in a triangular shape, then serve with sugar, to make it more special you can serve it with mango. Some also like it with hot chocolate.

Puto Cheese

I love puto since I was young, and now I am glad that I can make it by myself . I thought it's difficult to do but I was wrong, because it is easy and ingredients are not hard to find. Have fun making it.

Ingredients for 6 servings:
2 cups all purpose  flour
pinch of  salt
1 1/2  tablespoon  baking powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
200 grams  cheese
1/2 cup grated coconut (optional)

Procedure:
1. Sift the first four ingredients then add the milk and combine well until fully mixed.
2. Pour in  the molders around 3/4 full because as the puto are cooking it will rise and expand.
3. Steam for 10 minutes or until done, then put the cheese and continue to steam until melted, then remove from the steamer and allow to cool, before unmolding it.
4. Serve it plain or sprinkle with shredded coconut.