KARE KARE

Kare kare is one that many people appreciates because of the unique sweetness and the distinctive taste of the alamang that is part of the dish. kare kare's alamang goes together. I remembered the first time I cooked this dish, it was a challenging one. I don't know where to start. I was just trying to cook the dish without reading any recipe book for guidance. But the end product was a good one. For this recipe, here are the ingredients:

1 kg ox tail, cut into serving portions
1 kg ox ear, cut into serving portions
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pcs onion, sliced
1 tbsp oil
achuete seeds, soaked in 1/3 cup water
1 pc banana heart, sliced crosswise
1 bundle string beans, cut into 2" length
5 pcs eggplant, cut into 2 broth
1/2 cup toasted peanuts, pounded
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking procedure:

1. Clean ox tail and ox ear very well, boil until tender
2. in another pan, saute garlic and onion in oil. Add achuete water and meat. Bring to a boil.
3. Add cooked vegetables and enough broth to make sauce. Add powdered rice and peanuts.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning.
5. Served with sauted bagoong alamang.

BUTCHER KNIFE IS THE BEST

it is a fact that I always do the cooking in my kitchen, preparing the ingredients and things that are needed in cooking. I rarely let my kitchen assistants to do the cutting and slicing of the ingredients. It is because I want to make sure the ingredients are cut as I wanted it to be. I cannot just rely on them always. That is why I make the cutting and slicing myself. In my kitchen, there are many knives available, just name it and I have it. There is for the small cutting, the for the heavy cutting, used often for bones and the always cutting.

As A chef, I think the most useful knife in my kitchen is my butcher knife. It is because when I am using a butcher knife, I feel like the cutting tasks is so easy and I feel convenient when I am using the butcher knife. In the China, the chefs there often use the butcher knife in their cutting needs. When I first started using the butcher knife, I feel awkward because I felt like the knife was too heavy for the slicing and the cutting. After several weeks of using the butcher knife, I felt like it was light and easy to use.

Aside from the cutting and slicing, the butcher knife is also excellent is bashing of garlic and other spices that I used in all the cooking in my restaurant and as well in my home kitchen. Using the butcher knife, I can slice finely the garlic, onions, ginger, carrots and other vegetables without using a blender. I can cut them precisely as I wanted it to be. A chef knows what is a good knife. And for me, the butcher knife is the best.

GRILLED TUNA BELLY

GRILLED TUNA BELLY INGREDIENTS:

300-400 grams fresh tuna belly
4 calamnsi
2 tbsp oil
garlic, crushed
50 grams onion, chopped
150 grams togue, blanched
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
steamed rice

Cooking procedure;

1. Marinate tuna belly in calamansi. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan. Saute garlic and onion then add togue. Set aside.
3. Mix soy sauce, remaining oil, salt and pepper for basting. Set aside.
4. Grill tuna belly, brush with mixture once in a while until cooked. Serve with togue and steamed rice.

GRILLED RED SNAPPER WITH LEMON-BUTTER SAUCE

Grilled red snapper with butter sauce ingredients:

150 grams red snapper
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
dash of chopped dill

Lemon Butter Sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp unsalted low-fat butter
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking procedure:

1. Season red snapper with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add dill then marinate. Grill to perfection.
2. Combine all ingredients for lemon-butter sauce. bring to a boil. Serve red snapper with lemon-butter sauce.

GRILLED PRAWN

INGREDIENTS:

150 grams prawn, washed and trimmed
3 tbsp onion juice
3 tbsp ginger juice
salt and pepper

Cooking procedure:

1, Marinate prawn in onion juice, ginger juice, salt and pepper.
2. Grill until done. Serve while it is still hot.

GRILLED BLUE MARLIN

Grilled blue marlin is perfect food for beach goers. For this recipe, here are the ingredients:

150 grams blue marlin
rock salt
1 tbsp calamansi juice
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp seasoning
dash paprika
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp chopped garlic, fried

Lemon Butter sauce: combine

lemon
butter
salt
parsley

Cooking procedure:

1. Wash and clean fish with rock salt. Rinse and set aside.
2. Mix together calamansi juice, garlic salt, seasoning, paprika and butter.
3. Marinate blue marlin in mixture for few minutes, turning both sides from time to time.
4. Over hot charcoal, grill the fish 15 minutes or until done on both sides.
5. Baste blue marlin with marinade all over while cooking.
6. remove from heat and serve with lemon and butter sauce. Sprinkle with fried garlic for the finale then serve.

HOW TO KEEP THE FRESHNESS OF THE SHRIMP

This a wonderful tip for those who are cooking shrimps. Usually shrimps are bought in the supermarket. This shrimps are them placed in the refrigerator before it will be cooked. But the question, how to keep the freshness of the shrimps, even it have been stored in the refrigerator?

The answer to this question is very simple. All you have to is to soak frozen shrimps in ice cold salted water for 10 minutes. This will make the shrimps taste fresh as if it was never been frozen. Very easy ha!

GRILLED MANAGAT

INGREDIENTS:

1 piecec fresh managat fish
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp calamansi juice
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup melted butter

Procedure:

1. Slice fish into half and sprinkle with salt. Set aside
2. In a bowl, prepare marinade by mixing calamansi juice and soy sauce.
3. Add in fish and marinade for about 10 minutes.
4. Grill fish and brush with butter. Cook until golden brown. Serve after.

STEAMED CHICKEN WITH ASPARAGUS

Chicken asparagus is a dish that was made for the most elegant day of a person's life. The healthy dish is the best about it. For the steamed chicken with asparagus, here are the ingredients:

500 grams chicken breast fillet
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup sherry
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped ginger
200 grams asparagus
1/2 cup cornstarch

Procedure:

1. Slice chicken breast fillet, butterfly style. Combine soy sauce, sherry, sugar and ginger in bowl.
2. Marinate chicken for about 30 minutes. This makes the soy sauce and the other things blend with the chicken.
3. To prepare asparagus: use vegetable peeler to strip outer skin from lower portions of the asparagus. Cut into two.
4. To assemble: put asparagus on the middle of chicken fillet and roll. Dredge in cornstarch and place in heatproof serving dish. Spoon some marinade mixture on chicken and steam 10 to 12 minutes until chicken is cooked.