Category: FOOD & DRINKS

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Suman Sa Ibos (Philippine Rice Dessert)

Sweets & Desserts

Suman
Philippines

Suman Sa Ibos (Philippine Rice Dessert)

Suman Sa Ibos, iphone photo by JMorton

Suman Sa Ibos, iphone photo by JMorton

I suddenly have this urging to eat suman; suman sa ibos in particular.

Thank goodness, I still have a few stored in the freezer.

I did not make the suman from scratch.  I bought them from our local oriental food shop here in North West London.

I hear you ask if I do make them if I have the time?

Well, no for so many reasons.  But the first and foremost excuse🤣 in my part is that I would not know where to avail buri leaves for the special wrapper (see photo opposite!) here in the UK.

Buri leaves are from palm trees just like  coconut and betle nut trees.  I don’t know who grows coconut or betle nut here in the UK.  Perhaps, the Kew Garden does but I am not prepared to go traipsing to Richmond for the Buri leaves.  Mind you a visit to Kew Garden is a real treat for this summer holiday.  Make a day out of it, so much to see and explore, a real adventure for the kids.

I digress🤣.

Suman sa ibos is widely available in Filipino/Oriental shops.  Look in the freezer section amongst other suman wrapped in banana leaves.  Reference the opposite photo when you go shopping🤗

To prepare the frozen suman, it is best to steam it for 20 to 30 minutes.

The suman is bland by itself.  Though bland, it has a distinctive flavour and stickiness gotten from the wrap which is quite appetising.

Unwrap the suman then eat dipped first in some sugar or drizzle it with honey, chocolate syrup, maple syrup or anything you fancy.

To eat it like a Filipino, the best way, is not to completely unwrap the suman so you can hold on to it to dunk on your favourite dip.  Unwrap the leaf as you go along.

Enjoy this treat.

 

 

Homemade Luncheon Meat Recipe

Pork

Minced Meat

Homemade Luncheon Meat Recipe

I saw this recipe from a Filipina girl who was living in Japan.  She often make housekeeping and cooking fun.

Ingredients 

  • 500g Fatty Minced Pork
  • 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 60g cornstarch
  • 60ml water
  • 2 eggs

Preparation

  • Mix the pork, with the ground pepper, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.  Stir well until well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with the water, then add the eggs. combine well.
  • Pour the egg mixture into the minced pork.  Stir
  • Oil a pyrex glass big enough to take in the minced pork.
  • Cover well with foil.
  • Steam for an hour.
  • Let it cool down, then slice like you would do a Spam.
  • Then, fry the slices in olive oil.
  • Enjoy.

Bulanglang – Vegetable Medley with Pork

RECIPE

Filipino Recipe

Bulanglang – Vegetable Medley with Pork

 

This is a healthy, mostly vegetable, dish which encapsulate some rather exotic veggies like okra (lady’s finger), Ampalaya (bitter Gourd), Aubergine, and squash.

Good news, all the vegetables are now available at Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco, some fresh and some in the frozen section for the Karela (bitter gourd) and also the okra.  The butternut squash which is a challenge to peel, is also now available already peeled and sliced.🤗

Bulanglang is so easy to make and yet tasted really good.  This recipe uses pork belly, but of course you could use shrimp instead.  It is also delicious as a complete vegetarian dish, try to add more veggies to it like string beans and courgettes.

As it is summer, why not grill some fish like tilapia outside in the garden, pure vegetable bulanglang would go beautifully with grilled fish.

Tip No 1: for a more umami taste, use fish sauce instead of salt.

Tip No 2: As bulanglang is really lovely with boiled rice, then why not save the second and third wash of  rice to be boiled. Use the wash water for the required liquid for the recipe.  The starch from the rice would give the bulanglang soup an added texture.
As an aside, every Filipino knows that rice should be wash three times before cooking.🚦😉😉😉

Bulanglang, photo by PH Morton

Ingredients

  • 500g Pork Belly slices, cut into bitesize pieces
  • 3-6 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped finely.
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 large  tomato, chopped
  • 2- 3 cups water (or use water from the rice wash)
  • 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks
  • 10 Okras
  • 1 small bitter gourd (1/2 cup frozen karela)
  • 1 small aubergine, cut in chunks
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Fish sauce (optional)

Preparation

  • Use a casserole to dried fry the pork belly until its own fat comes out.
  • Add the garlic and onion.  Stir until it becomes aromatic and the onion is translucent.
  • Add the tomato, stir until the tomato had softened.
  • Add the water and bring to the boil. Cover the casserole pan,  Lower down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the pork is tender.
  • Add the squash, after 3 minutes, add the okra, after two minutes, add the bittergourd.
  • Season to taste by adding salt and ground black pepper.  For an umami taste add a dash of fish sauce.
  • Now add the aubergine.  Leave for a couple of minutes.
  • Now it is ready to serve with newly cooked boiled rice.
  • Any leftovers will go nicely with garlic fried rice the next day.
  • Yummy

 

 

 

Sinantolan (Filipino Recipe)

Sauces & Relish (Pickles + Preserves)

Side Dish

Philippines

Sinantolan (Filipino Recipe)

Sinantolan
Photo by PH Morton

Sinantolan is a recipe from the Bicol region, renowned for its spicy dishes cooked in coconut milk.

The main ingredient of Sinantolan is the santol which is sour and fleshy.

Sinantolan is a spicy Filipino side dish; the santols are chopped to an almost puree consistency which is then cooked in coconut cream.

It retains it sour taste but made rich by the coconut cream and spiced by chilis.

I am not sure whether you can get santol here in the UK, but it would not surprise me at all if you can. For more information regarding the santol fruit, we have a good article here in GlobalGranary.

Just type santol under the search area or click here.

Anyway let’s get down to the recipe itself.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 Kg Santol, peeled and destone.
  • 1 medium onion, chopped finely
  • 1 head of garlic, chopped finely
  • 1/2kg minced pork
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 4-6 Anaheim Chili (long green ones) – leave whole
  • 4 cayenne peppers, chopped roughly.
  • 1½ tbsp Shrimp Bagoong (Shrimp paste)
  • 2 cups coconut milk

Method of Preparation

  1. Put the santol flesh into boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Drain the santol and put it aside to cool down.
  3. Chop the santol flesh finely until almost in a puree consistency.  Use a blender for faster and easier preparation.
  4. Heat the oil in a pan, saute the chopped onion and garlic
  5. Add the minced pork and the chilis and peppers.
  6. Stir in the shrimp paste.
  7. Then add the santol.
  8. Pour in the coconut milk.
  9. Bring to a boil, lower down the heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
  10. This could be eaten as a side dish with boiled rice.  Left over can be stored in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week.
  11. Note: the minced pork can be removed from the recipe to make it more vegetarian.

Enjoy

Smashed Cucumber Salad Recipe

Vegetables

Salad Recipe

Smashed Cucumber Salad Recipe

Smashed cucumber Salad, photo by JMorton

I have been craving this salad since I saw how it was made on youtube.  I thought it would e such a good refreshing salad and I was right.

It was perfect with KFC chicken. It complimented it well.

Recipes usually don’t mention peeling the cucumber first but if you are not too partial with unpeeled cucumber then take off most of the peel.

Below is the simplest recipe.

Ingredients

  • Two English cucumbers or 6 Persian cucumbers
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp sugar
  • 1 clove garlic (pulped)
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp chili oil (optional)

Method of Preparation

  • Wash the cucumbers.  Trim both ends.  If not partial with the green skin, peel it haphazardly but not fully as the skin gives this salad the crunch.
  • Wrap each of the cucumbers in cling films.
  • Using the smooth part of a meat tenderizer or the flat side of a wide knife, start bashing or smashing each of the cucumbers.  Smashed it well but not to the point that you create a puree. LOL
  • Remove the cucumbers from the cling film and then cut them into bite-size chunks.
  • Transfer them into a colander. sprinkle them with salt and sugar.  Give it a stir to make sure all the pieces are covered.
  • Put the colander over a plate and then set it aside for 15-30 minutes in the fridge.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce.  In a bowl, mix together the garlic, vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce.  Add the chili oil into the mixture if you wanted it spicy.
  • Take the cucumber from the fridge and drain.
  • Add the cucumber into the bowl where the sauce was.  Stir well until all the cucumber pieces are cover with the sauce.
  • Ready to serve or return to the fridge until ready to serve with some fried food.