When we were growing up in the Philippines, specifically Baguio, what I remember the most with every impending storm was the sirens. My friend TingAling provides a colorful description of the signaling system and other Baguio experiences in her entry. When the sirens go off, we knew that school will be cancelled and we'll be house bound for a couple of days at least. That's the good thing. The bad thing is, Baguio is a mountain town, and gets a lot of it's meats, fish, and other staples from the lowlands. Usually trucked up the winding roads that are prone to mud slides whenever a big storm comes, leaving the city without the basic necessities for days.

When the refrigerator has been emptied and all fresh produce have been consumed, it's time to break into the canned goods. This is my favorite, and to this day, I keep at least a couple of cans in the cupboard at all times. Ligo sardines, of course!

Our househelp, trained by no other than my lola, believe it or not, can transform this measly 5.5 oz. of sardines to feed 4 to 5 people, especially if three of them are kids like we were. She used to put so much sabaw (soup) that we just called it sardine soup.

This is my version, which I have on occation, last night was one of them just so I could post it today ;-) Since I would be the only one eating it, kids and hubby had pizza, I made it spicier than usual.

1 tablespoon Oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 can of Ligo Sardines
4 cups of sliced BokChoy or pechay (or anything green and leafy)
1 teaspoon of fresh Habanero pepper, chopped
Patis to taste
water

Heat oil and sautee garlic and onions until fragrant. Add tomatoes and peppers and cook for another minute or two, then add the can of sardines. Add a can full of water and let it come to a boil. Adjust the seasoning with the patis, then add the vegetables. Cook just until the bok choy is warmed through but not overcooked. Serve over rice.

Lasang Pinoy #2

I have been blessed with good karma when it comes to storms (said with fingers crossed and knocking on wood at the same time). Typhoons, as you will soon learn from reading all the other Lasang Pinoy entries are quite common in the Philippines. For a while I had missed the torrential rains and winds these bring as I lived in southern California where it is indeed sunny 350 days a year. Ok, so maybe I exaggerate a bit, but I'm sure it's pretty close. Then we moved to North Carolina, where once again I could feel the bracing winds of hurricanes. You get what you wish for, right? So the first year after we moved here, hurricane Fran paid us a visit, toppling trees and downing power lines. We were without power for five days. Luckily, aside from a fallen tree in our backyard, we didn't suffer any damage to property.

That set us up to enjoy, well maybe mostly me only, a few days without distractions from television, radio, telephone, lights, etc. We spent daylight hours reading or playing board games. We ate mostly sandwiches, cheese, crackers, fruits, anything that didn't require cooking. After a couple of days though, we were all wishing for something warm and comforting in our bellies.

The next power outage event happened during the ice storm of 2003 when ice downed the powerlines and we were out of power for another week. We did manage to cook some food (adobo) on top of the kerosene heater, and by this time, we had wised up and had a portable gas stove handy so cooking was not as much an issue.

During both times, soup was always a mainstay. Soup just has that way of comforting anything that ails you; whether it's a virus infecting your body, mother nature's calamities, or life's many crises, soup is like a warm blanket and a mother's love all rolled up into one.

This one, we'll call the eye of the hurricane:

We had made some meat balls last week and I had put some aside for later use as we had too many. So rather than the pork meat balls traditionally used for almondigas, these are beef.

Meat Balls:
1 lb. Ground beef
2 eggs
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 med. onion, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup fine bread crumbs
Salt & Pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients and form into balls.

For the soup:
Meat balls, browned either in a skillet or oven
Oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
4 oz. Misua Noodles
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
6-8 cups chicken stock (I didn't have beef stock)
1 teaspoon patis
Black pepper, to taste

Heat about a tablespoon of oil and saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the meat balls and soup stock and bring to a boil. Add the misua noodles and cook for about ten minutes. Season with patis and black pepper. Add the green onions, stir, and serve.

Lasang Pinoy #2

The second round of Lasang Pinoy, cooked up by Karen and Stef is coming up, this time hosted by CeliaK of English Patis. Join us is our communal reminiscing, during this time of calamitous hurricane season in the U.S., to remember the typhoons we grew up with in the Philippines and the foods we associate with it. Visit CeliaK's guidelines and submit your recipes and/or memories on or before September 29. I hope you can join us!

Lasang Pinoy button was designed by the Ilocana Chef. Visit her site to get buttons.

This recipe is derived from the Pinoy Cook with very little changes. It has become a regular at our house because it is quick and easy to prepare and because the flavor suites everyone's palate.



1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
1 can of Straw Mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup of butter
3 tablespoons of sour cream
Salt & Pepper, to taste
garnish with Flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a hot pan, melt the butter and lightly brown the chicken pieces. When done, remove chicken from the pan and saute' the garlic and onions until fragrant. Add the chicken back in, add the mushrooms and sour cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsey leaves and stir quickly before serving.
Another 30-minute meal, including prep time!

This recipe is derived from TingAlings Nilasing na Hipon (Drunk Shrimp), which is a variation of halabos na hipon which is shrimp basically steamed in it's own juice.


2 pounds of Fresh Shrimps
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil and saute' the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add the shrimp, toss, add the wine, cover and steam until cooked. Season with salt & Pepper and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with steamed rice.

Time again to clean out the photo archive. I haven't been posting as much as I cook and the back log has started to build. Here is one that was buried in the archives, which is a favorite of my husband's. He loves crab cakes, probably because he doesn't have to bother picking through the crab, and just enjoy the meatiest parts. Myself, I like to play with my food, so any opportunity to get my hands slurpy lickin' good, is a good meal. My version is culled from several crab cake recipes, where I picked ingredients I like and to proportions I think will work.

To make these crab cakes you will need:

1 pound lump crab meat (I used Philips)
1 egg beaten
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 stalk of celery, minced
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sour Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste
Bread Crumbs
Oil

I don't like having the onions & celery too crunchy, so I first sauteed the onion, garlic, and celery in a tablespoon of oil until they are tender. Let the mixture cool. In a large bowl, mix the sauteed mixture with the crabs, beaten egg, mayonnaise, tabasco sauce, worscestershire sauce, and sour cream. Season with salt & pepper and mix thoroughly but gently so the crab lumps do not break up. Form into cakes and dredge in the bread crumbs. If you have time, it helps to freeze the cakes slightly before frying. This will help them to stay intact. When you are ready to fry, heat some oil (enough to cover the bottom of your skillet - you're not deep frying) and brown the cakes on both sides.
Serve with your sauce of choice.

Have you ever thought of Filipino cuisine as diet food? Food seems to be all over the bloggerdom this month of September as it is also the topic at Blogkadahan.com.

Come visit my theory on a new way to lose weight. EAT!!!

For our Friday night fish dinner, I decided on soup for these "head-on" shrimps that are so hard to come by around here. These again are fresh Carolina shrimps I chanced upon at the grocery store. My girls and I love soupy dishes, and this was a welcome one, despite the heat. The Clone had her vegetarian meal since I still can't get her to eat any kind of seafood. I am proud to say, that all the vegetables for this dish came from our garden.



Click here for the recipe for Sinigang na Hipon.