It has been six long years since the family last went for a visit to the Philippines. This time to make up for all the time away, we decided to come over during the Christmas holidays and spend five weeks reconnecting with family, visiting sun-kissed island destinations like Panglao and Boracay and sampling the unique […]
Try These Other Great Recipes
Gabby’s Pork Adobo
Adobo, the quintessential Filipino dish. Forget lechon and its pretensions; rarely is adobo served at fiestas and gatherings. You’re more likely to find it at Juan and Juana dela Cruz’s dinner table. That’s because adobo is your honest everyday working man’s (and woman’s) fare. Adobo is a dish you learn at your mother’s knee. Each […]
Scrambled Eggs
Nothing says “Good morning” quite like a plate of golden scrambled eggs. Most of us take scrambled eggs for granted. But there’s a fine line between a dry dense mass at one extreme to a wet gloopy mess at the other; and the light fluffy perfection of scrambled eggs done right. Ingredients 6 free range […]
Slow-roasted Pork Belly
Talk of Filipino fiesta and guess what comes to mind? Why, lechon of course. But for a small get-together, roasting a whole pig on a spit is not only wasteful, it’s unhealthy. Even so there should be a way to enjoy lechon without going to all that trouble. Being the eternal pragmatist, our Filipino chef […]
Nutella and Ricotta Pudding
This recipe started life as Karen Martini‘s croissant and ricotta pudding. But as is always the case when I’m in the kitchen, a bit of situation substitution manages to creep in. This time I replaced the croissant with raisin loaf, the Frangelico with Kahlua and the vanilla bean with vanilla extract. Dare I say my […]
Laing
I did not become a fan of laing until after college when I rented a room from a family who traced their roots to the Philippines’ Bicol region. My own family came from the province of Zambales in Central Luzon where the cuisine featured strong Ilocano (salty simple dishes), Tagalog and Spanish (meat dishes with […]
Baked Salmon Japanese Style
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes I’m a big fan of quick and easy cooking. I have no patience for complicated dishes. I’d rather do other things than spend hours in the kitchen. My number one criteria for food preparation is something that I can whip up in 30 minutes – tops! I am what you would […]
Leche Flan
Introduction by Charina (find her at Glory Box) I made this leche flan from my friend Sol Cruz‘s recipe. Sol is one of those cooks who have a natural knack for whipping up great food without the aid of a recipe. She’s also too modest to trumpet her talent that I had to practically drag this […]