Beef Loc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)

Saturday night dinner from a can

Obtain 2 medium potatoes and slice longitudinally (as shown below); fill pan with oil and heat up until crispy

Season with salt/pepper/ seasoning of your choice (Lawry's works well)

Place Chili/Cheese on top and eat.

Beef Calderetta

Chicken Adobo (Bisaya Style)

One could easily argue that Chicken Adobo is the quintessential Filipino dish. One of the reasons that factor into making this the defining dish of the Filipino's is the fact that it's so darn easy to make. 

This past Saturday, I woke up with an unusual craving for Adobo. I must have been dreaming about it or something. I decided to get out of my apartment, get some Chicken, and start cooking.

I already had most of the things I needed, so I only needed to get some Chicken. I got on my Bike and went down University Ave. heading towards the direction of Food4Less. 

As crazy as this may sound, I'm actually quite thankful that the Spaniards colonized the Philippines. I mean, sure... they raped our women, stole valuable possessions, murdered our languages, instilled their religion upon us, and even their own culture. But, I'm also thankful the Spaniards created the spice trade. With the spice trade, spices from Southeast Asia was brought into Spanish colonies like Mexico. So, it should come to no surprise that Mexican and Filipino food can be quite similar. (Also, spices can be acquired at a much cheaper price at Mexican/Hispanic supermarkets!)

Marinade:

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. Japanese curry powder

2 cloves minced garlic

about 4 bay leaves

salt/pepper

(2-3 Chicken thighs, skin on)

Mix all marinade ingredients together with cut pieces of chicken. Cutting chicken into pieces is optional, but I always thought it allowed for a more even distribution of flavor. Allow marinade to sit for 1hr- overnight.

After letting it marinate, add about a tsp of oil into your wok/pan and add in about 1-2 cloves of minced garlic and half an onion after the pan is hot enough. Let the garlic brown before you add in your chicken. After adding the chicken, let it simmer until the chicken is cooked. Serve over rice and enjoy.

Easy Chicken Sinigang

My mom loves to drown everything she makes in gallons of water. I'm assuming it's a natural tendency for most islanders to do this as things are quite hard to come by. Ask any Filipino what their favorite dish is and a typical response would probably be Adobo or Sinigang. 

Sinigang is another popular Filipino dish that is quite simple to make. All you really need are a handful of ingredients. Any type of meat and vegetables could really be put into Sinigang. As a college student struggling to find time to fit meals in, I find cooking Sinigang to be quite productive. Throw in meat, then vegetables, add a premade soup base, taste, and add more water/soup base to your liking and you're done.

Start off with one piece of Chicken Breast. If you wish, you may cut chicken breast in chunks before starting to allow for faster cooking.

In a large pot, simmer in about a 1-2cups of water and boil it with the chicken. 

Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes or when breast is half-way cooked. 

 Add in desired vegetables. (I used Chinese Eggplants, Long Beans[Sitaw], and Taro Root)
Typically, Onions and Tomatoes are added here as well. However, I did not have either ingredients on hand but the flavor was not compromised.

 Taro roots have a brown and fibrous skin. Peeling the skin can be somewhat tedious as the Taro root itself is quite slimy.
A lot of people tend to split it in half when making Sinigang, but I prefer to have it cubed as it allows for a more even distribution.

 Since I live in the states and "souring agents" such as Batuan are hard to come by, I use premade powder soup base to help enhance the flavor as well as make it easier for me to cook.
At about ~$0.50 per packet, it's more reasonable for me to use this rather than buying fresh tamarind, Batuan, or other "souring agents."

Swedish Meatballs, OH YEAH~

I’m not a pasta person. I eat rice for breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner, and dinner. Which should explain why I don’t fancy pasta that much.


The first time I ever tried Swedish Meatballs was actually during my first year of college. It was in the East Lothian Cafeteria that I was introduced to this Scandinavian goody. They served it over egg noodle pasta, with three or four meatballs and a white creamy sauce to top it off. It had a good combination of saltiness and sweetness, the best of both worlds in my opinion. The salty meatballs and the sweetness from the milk gives this dish a truly unique flavor.

For the meatballs:
1 lb. Ground Pork
1 lb. Ground Chicken
2 Eggs
2 slices white bread/bread crumbs
4 cloves Garlic
2 small Onions
Salt and Black Pepper

  For the Gravy:
1/4 c. Butter
2 tbsp. flour
3-4 cups of milk

Tocino

[pictures by @Eric Kung]
My tongue has a natural tendency to like things that are sweet, even when it comes to meat. Tocino is a Filipino dish that is generally Pork (but can be made with Chicken or other types of meat as well). It is relatively easy to make and is widely considered to be best served during breakfast.
The type of cut of meat is quite important in the production of Tocino. The thinner the cut of meat, the better. Generally, I’d have to cut my own slices of pork (from Pork butt or other cuts) to get the right consistency.
For Marinade:
1 c. Cane Vinegar (I use Datu Puti)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. White sugar
~2 tbsp. Annatto powder
salt
Directions:
Mix all marinade ingredients together along with cut slices of pork/chicken. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours or overnight. Cook in oil or vinegar. Serve over rice. If you aren’t planning on cooking the Tocino right away, you can choose to keep it in the freezer.