Clam Soup With Malunggay Leaves

This recipe is so nutritious and a delicious soup. Some of my friends told me that they drink this when they have hangover :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups clam, shelled
• 4 cups rice water
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 pc ginger, minced
• 3 tbsp patis
• 1 cup malunggay leaves
• salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic, onion, ginger and clams. Set aside.
2. Place the rice water in a sauce pan.
3. Add the sauteed garlic, onion, ginger and clams. Season with patis and salt.
4. Boil for 5 minutes.
5. Add malunggay leaves. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

Royal Bibingka

Bibingka is one of the most popular and delicious native Filipino delicacies for snacks. They are usually cooked in birthdays, weddings and some other Filipino occassions.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsps. baking powder
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 4 tbsps cheese, grated

Procedure:

1. Beat egg whites and egg yolks separately until light, then combine the two
2. Add sugar little by little and continue beating
3. Add dry ingredients alternately with the coconut milk
4. Pour into a native baking pan lined with banana leaves
5. Bake in the native oven and when done, sprinkle the top with grated cheese and sugar.

Pansit-Bihon Gisado

Any Filipino occasion is not complete without this recipe. In the Visayas and Mindanao, they have this famous saying about pansit as "Sumpay sa kinabuhi" or in other words - "pansit adds life".

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup boiled pork, sliced medium sized carrot, in strips
• 1 small cabbage
• 2 tbsps soy sauce
• 1 1/2 meat stock
• 1 stalk kintsay
• 2 bundles bihon soaked and drained
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 pcs chorizo canton, fried and slicked
• spring onions, chopped
• kalamansi

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic in cooking oil. Add onion, pork, carrot and cabbage.
2. Season with soy sauce and fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add meat stock and simmer. Add kintsay.
4. When vegetables are cooked, add bihon and season with salt.
5. Garnish with chorizo canton and spring onions. Serve with kalamansi.

Arroz Caldo

ARROZ CALDO. This Filipino recipe is usually served during birthdays and special occasions especially in the Philippine countrysides.



Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg chicken, boiled
• 6 cloves garlic, minded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup rice, washed
• 2 tbsps patis
• 6 cups broth of chicken
• 2 tbsps cooking oil
• 3 stalks spring onions, chopped
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• salt to taste
• 2 pcs kalamansi

Procedure:

1. Shred chicken. Set aside.
2. Saute garlic until golden brown. Set aside.
3. Saute onion in the same oil. Add shredded chicken and waashed rice. Season with patis.
4. Pour broth and boil. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Top with fried garlic and spring onions. Serve hot with kalamansi and patis.

A scene in a countryside in the Philippines where folks are cooking Arroz Caldo in a big pot for a special occassion

Pinakbet Ilocano

The most popular Ilocano recipe and it is best for vegetable lovers.




Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fatty pork tissue, sliced
• 1/2 - 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, sliced
• 5 pcs native onion bulbs
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small piece ginger, chopped
• 2 tbsps. bagoong juice
• 1 bundle string beans, cut about 5 cm long
• 8 pcs ampalaya (small ones)
• 10 pcs okra
• 1/2 cup lima bean seeds
• 6 pcs eggplant, slit
• salt to taste

Procedure

1. Extract fat from fatty pork tissue.
2. Put extracted fat in a pot. Add all the ingredients, putting the eggplant last.
3. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Boil for about 10 minutes with the pot covered.
5. Remove the pot's cover and cook for 5 minutes more.