Living near a prawn farm and being close to a fishing village, I grew up exposed to different kinds of seafood. From crabs to shrimps to different types of fishes, the list is endless. And with a father who is good in the kitchen, I’m glad that my metabolism is quite fast, or else, I would have grown fat a long time ago.
Crabs cooked in coconut milk is one of the recipes that my father is truly proud of. We would automatically know that he is cooking this delicious recipe because the smell is recognizable even from a distance. Our cousins from the city once spent a week’s vacation in our place and they could never get enough of this amazing dish. And because crabs are somewhat costly in the city, it’s no wonder that they seldom get the chance to have crabs set on their table. With the power of coconut milk put into play, I can understand why they loved it even more.
Ingredients:
- 3 fat crabs
- 1 cup scraped buko (young coconut)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup thin coconut milk
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- 1 clove garlic (crushed)
- 2 tbsp onion (minced)
- 2 fresh hot peppers (whole)
- a small slice of ginger
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Cooking Instructions:
- Clean crabs well. Dip briefly in boiling water. Open and remove the fat lining the fat lining the shells. Mix fat with grated buko and ¼ teaspoon salt. Fill shells with the mixture. Wrap each in young banana leaf.
- In a saucepan, arrange the crabs and place the shells wrapped in banana leaf over them. Boil in 1 cup thin coconut milk with whole peppers, salt and pepper for added flavor. As soon as crabs are cooked, add thick coconut milk and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Best served with plain white rice.
Filipino Recipes – Guinataang Langka Recipe – Pinoy Food
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Guinataang Langka is unripe jackfruit cooked in coconut milk. Again, this recipe is proof of the versatility of coconut milk when it comes to authentic Filipino dishes. It is a tradition in the country not to eat any kind of meat during the Lenten season. So I grew up knowing that I could taste guinataang langka every Holy Week. But of course, I also get to eat this dish every now and then. Whenever my Mom sees unripe langka in the market, she would buy some and prepare the dish herself. And yes, I got this recipe from her.
This version uses fried dried fish but toasted anchovies can also be used as an alternative.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb unripe jackfruit (peeled and chopped)
- ½ cup fried dried fish or daing (bones removed)
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 5 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 large onion (diced)
- ¾ cup tomatoes (diced)
- 3 to 5 pieces red chilies
- 1 shrimp cube
- ¾ cup water
Cooking Instructions:
- Heat a cooking pot or a wok and pour in the coconut milk. Bring the liquid to a boil.
- Add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes and stir the mixture continuously.
- Add the red chilies and tomatoes. Go on stirring to avoid lumps from forming.
- Add the fried dried fish and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the water and bring to a boil again.
- Add the chopped jackfruit and stir to mix well. Allow to simmer for 5-8 minutes.
- Add the shrimp cube for flavor and stir to mix with the other ingredients. Simmer until most of the liquid has already evaporated.
- Place in a serving dish and serve.
Filipino Recipes – Lang-lang Recipe – Pinoy Food
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For people who like mixed meat dishes, this concoction is something that you should try. Lang-lang is a flavorful dish that will surely please any palate.
Ingredients:
- ¼ kilo lean pork
- ¼ kilo shrimp
- 1 small chicken
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup fresh peas
- ½ cups mushrooms
- 1 cup sotanghon
- 1 small onion (chopped fine)
- 1 egg (beaten lightly)
- 1 tbsp flour
- cooking oil
- patis (fish sauce)
- wrappers
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Cooking Instructions:
- Grind or chop pork fine. Peel and devein shrimps, set aside ⅓ chop the rest to fine bits. In a small saucepan, cook chicken in water enough to cover the meat.
- In separate bowls, soak the sotanghon and mushrooms in water. Pound heads of shrimp and extract juice. Prepare wrappers.
- Sauté onion, add chopped shrimp, salt and pepper. Set aside to cool then wrap by teaspoonfuls in wrappers.
- Mix chopped pork, egg, flour, salt and pepper. Form into balls. Cut chicken meat into small pieces.
- Sauté chopped garlic in a little cooking oil until brown. Add shrimps and cook until they turn pink. Add juice (from shrimp heads) and allow to simmer for a 2-3 minutes. Add chicken pieces and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Drop the meat balls one by one. Add wrapped shrimp mixture, mushrooms and sotanghon. Season with patis and pepper. When done, add the fresh peas and remove from the heat.
How to make the wrappers:
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 egg yolk
- a little water
- a pinch of salt
Preparation:
- Sift flour well. Place in a small bowl or deep plate. Place egg yolk and a pinch of salt in the center of flour. Mix ingredients using a fork, adding just a little water if needed, until a stiff dough is formed. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside until for 20 minutes. Roll out dough as thin as possible and divide into small squares about 3×3 inches. Fill each with a teaspoonful of shrimp mixture. Moisten edges with water, fold one corner over and press edges together.
Filipino Recipes – Puto Cheese Recipe – Pinoy Food
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Puto cheese is just like the regular puto or rice cake. But this version uses flour instead of ground rice so the texture is a whole lot smoother. And the cheese added as topping is the reason why it is named as such. Puto cheese and hot chocolate is a great combination for breakfast. Because it is very easy to prepare, you don’t have to be a seasoned chef to cook this recipe to perfection.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cake-flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose-flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup white sugar (divided)
- 1/3 cup evaporated milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 pcs egg yolks
- 2 pcs egg whites
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- cheese (sliced into small strips)
Cooking Instructions:
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift the cake flour, all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder. Repeat the step three times then set aside.
- Beat yolks until the color is lemon yellow. Gradually add ½ cup sugar while beating continuously.
- Fold in the flour mixture, alternately with milk and water, to the beaten egg yolks. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
- Beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and go on beating the mixture until stiff. Fold in the egg batter. Mix well and pour mixture in puto molder about ¾ full.
- Top with slices of cheese. Cover with clean cheese cloth.
- Steam for 25-30 minutes. You will know the puto cheese is cooked when you insert a tester in the center and it comes out clean.
- To retain the solid shape of the puto cheese, let cool for a few minutes before removing from the puto molds.
Filipino Recipes – Suman Moron Recipe – Pinoy Food
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Suman Moron originated from Leyte, an island in the Visayas. It is a popular Filipino dessert served during fiestas and other special occasions. Luckily, I don’t have to wait for any special celebrations to taste this delicacy because these are commonly sold outside the church during Sundays.
This recipe makes about 30 pieces of Suman Moron 4-inches long each.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups glutinous rice flour
- 6 cups ordinary rice flour
- 2 kilos grated coconut meat
- 1 big can evaporated milk
- ½ kilo white (refined) granulated sugar
- 1 kilo muscovado sugar
- 30 chocolate tableya, melted with 1/4 cup water
- 1 bar cheddar cheese (julienned)
- 1 cup chopped peanuts
- 1 small bottle vanilla extract
- 8 cups boiling water
- about 30 pieces banana leaves, cut into rectangles (8″x10″)
Cooking Instructions:
- In a basin, place the grated coconut meat and pour boiling water. Set aside. (Note: 8 cups of canned coconut milk can be used as alternative.)
- Mix the 2 types of flour well until thoroughly incorporated. Divide the flour mixture equally into two parts.
- Squeeze the grated meat when the coconut mixture is already cool enough to handle. Use a fine strainer to separate the coconut milk. Divide the coconut milk equally into two parts.
- In a thick-bottomed pan, place ½ of the flour mixture and pour in one part coconut milk, muscovado sugar, melted chocolate, vanilla extract and peanuts. Mix well and place over medium heat. Keep on stirring while cooking the mixture. At first, uneven lumps will form. But as you keep stirring, the mixture will even out as it thickens. Turn off the heat when oil starts to come out. Set aside to cool.
- To the second half of flour mixture, add the remaining coconut milk. Then pour about half of the white sugar and the evaporated milk. Mix thoroughly. Place in a separate pan and cook over medium heat while stirring continuously. Remove from the heat when the mixture is thickened. Set aside to cool.
- Pass the banana leaves over the heat to make them supple. Then use the squeezed-dry coconut meat over the leaves.
- Take a heaping tablespoonful of the first mixture (chocolate) and place on the banana leaf wrapper. Sprinkle a little cheese on it before rolling, with the banana leaf covering the mixture. Therefore, you hands won’t be touching the mixture being rolled.
- Take another heaping tablespoonful of the second mixture (milk) and do the same process.
- Place the two cylinders (milk and chocolate) and roll to form a thicker cylinder with the two colors fused together.
- Roll the banana leaf to wrap tightly and tie a string at both ends to secure.
- Repeat the process until all of the two mixtures have been wrapped.
- Steam for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Let cool before serving.