Sinigang is a Filipino dish famous for its sour taste. It often incorporates shrimp, pork, fish or beef. As most soups are, sinigang is quite easy to make and takes a short time in cooking. It is best served hot. Watch out for more Sinigang recipes. Happy cooking!
Ingredients:
1 Kilograms uncooked Shrimp
1 pack Sinigang Mix
½ cup Onion (diced)
3 big tomatoes (quartered)
2 cups Radish (sliced)
1 bundle Stringbeans or Sitaw
1 bundle Philippine Spinach or Kangkong (cut into 2″ long)
3 pieces long green pepper
10 cups ricewash or water
Salt or Patis (fish sauce)
Directions:
1. Bring water to boil in a deep pot.
2. Add tomatoes and onions. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the sinigang mix. Increase heat and bring soup to a boil.
4. Add radish, long green beans, long green pepper and fish sauce to taste.
5. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Add shrimps.
7. Turn off heat then add leafy vegetables.
8. Cover the pot to steam cook vegetables.
9. Serve hot.
Many Filipinos mistakenly call Tokneneng as Kwek Kwek or vice versa. Tokneneng are actually made up of chicken eggs while Kwek kwek are quail eggs. Both are cooked the same way just the source of eggs differs.
Kwek kwek (or Tokneneng) isn’t spared from the belief that eggs should be avoided due to its link to cardiovascular diseases. Anti-aging research says consumption of an egg daily is part of a complete anti-aging diet. Research and long term studies have shown that eggs are a great dietary source of calories (75 calories), cholesterol (213 mg), protein (6.25 gm), and a variety of important nutrients for the body.
I personally love to eat kwek-kwek for dinner or afternoon snack. Foods such as eggs consumed everyday are healthy as long as they are eaten in moderation.
Here is a recipe of kwek kwek you can personally cook. Kwek kwek taste the best when eaten freshly cooked and hot.
Ingredients:
1 dozen peeled hard boiled quail eggs (or chicken eggs)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
few drops of food coloring (orange)
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil
Directions:
1. Place the boiled quail or chicken eggs and ¼ cup of flour in a clean plastic bag oor with zip lock
2. Seal the bag by tying and shake them until eggs are evenly coated with flour.
3. Mix all remaining ingredients except cooking oil.
4. With a fork, mix it to a smooth batter.
5. Dump those little eggs to the batter.
6. Heat enough cooking oil for deep frying in a deep, frying pan.
7. Spoon out those eggs from the batter and chuck it in the hot cooking oil.
8. Wait until the coating turns crispy for about a minute or so.
9. Served best with vinegar with chili and sliced cucumber and seaweed.
Filipinos are known to enjoy the average three meals a day plus desserts or “merienda” as most Filipinos call it. One of the qualities that Filipinos possess is their ingenuity to make up almost anything into something new, creative yet cost-sufficient, including food. People of other countries may prefer dining and eating pizzas when hunger pangs strikes. Filipinos on the other hand race to the streets to satisfy their hunger for favorite Pinoy street food for a few pesos.
Everywhere you look, it is common to find people crowding make shift or portable stalls in the streets. These street foods are easy to find outside school gates, churches, parks and even in malls where they offer most exotic delicacies. Let’s take a trip to the streets of Philippines and rediscover Pinoy street food.
Balut or Boiled Pre-hatched Eggs
It is no surprise to hear somebody shouting the word balut in the middle of the night. It is a common and everyday food in some countries such as Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a nearly developed embryo inside, boiled and eaten in its shells. Balut is rich in protein, hearty snack and believed to be an aphrodisiac. This chicken egg can be bought usually from balut vendors who roam around the city at night.
Adidas or Grilled Chicken Feet
When someone hands you Adidas as a food, don’t be surprise to see sticks of chicken feet. Chicken feet are a common delicacy of Filipinos. After the claws and tips of the toes are sliced off, the feet are washed in hot water and tough layer of the skin is scraped off.
Tokneneng and Kwek-kwek
Here’s an inexpensive yet delicious snack. Tokneneng is a boiled chicken egg, dipped in orange colored dough and fried in deep oil. It tastes best when paired with sliced cucumber and vinegar with chili. Kwek kwek is almost the same street food compared to Tokneneng but quail eggs are used instead of chicken eggs.
Isaw or Grilled Chicken Intestines
Who says intestines of chickens should be thrown away? Isaw or grilled chicken intestines can serve as a dessert or a good meal with rice in Philippines. The intestines are prepared with repeated process of being turned inside out and cleaned again and again until it is clear from anything inside it. They are then either boiled then grilled or immediately grilled in barbeque sticks.
(Photo Credit: Larsian Fuente)
Betamax or Dried Chicken Blood
Chicken blood is not spared to be an addition to the list of street foods of Filipinos. Betamax is the term for dried chicken blood served and cut into small cubes resembling the aged Betamax tape. Betamax is served in barbeque sticks which are grilled until cooked.
Walkman or Grilled Pork Ears
Pork ears are so tender that Filipinos made it a street food to hit the local eating scene, in streets. It is dubbed as Walkman as it means ears of the pig. These tender ears are cleaned, seasoned then grilled in bamboo sticks.
Ukoy Ukoy pronounced as Okoy is a batter-based, deep-fried street food in the Philippines. It normally includes bean sprouts and very small shrimps shells and all in the batter. It is commonly dipped in a combination of vinegar and chili.
Fried Squid Balls, Fish Balls and Kikiam
Processed deep fried snacks are also part of the line of Pinoy street food known as squid balls, fish balls and kikiam. They are skewered on bamboo sticks then dipped in a sweet or tasty sauce. These processed snacks are usually sold frozen in markets and peddled by street vendors.
Helmet or Grilled Chicken Head
Chicken heads can be made into street food too. These tiny heads of chickens are grilled to perfection and are widely savored by hungry Filipinos.
One Day Old Chicks
Poultry farms reject one day old male chicks because they only pick female chicks for egg production. One day old male chicks wind its way to streets as one day old chick street food. The baby birds are eaten batter-fried. You eat the whole chick because the bones are so soft. These chicks are usually dipped in vinegar and/or red chili sauce. One-Day Old Chicks are also a popular pulutan (finger food) while drinking Red Horse Extra Strong or San Miguel beer.
Enjoy a fuss-free seafood Filipino dish ready in no time. Just soak this dish in vinegar to have a tempting tuna treat, Kinilaw na Tuna.
Ingredients:
500 grams yellow fin tuna (sashimi-grade) cut into ½ inch by ½ inch cubes
Iodized salt and ground black pepper to taste
2/3 cup spiced white vinegar (or spiced sukang paombong)
4 teaspoons calamansi juice
2 teaspoons garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ginger, julienned
½ cup white onions, thinly sliced
½ cup red onions, thinly sliced
4 bird’s eye peppers
1 ½ tablespoons finger pepper, sliced
3 tablespoons pork cracklings or chicaron, crushed
Directions:
1. Place tuna cubes in a stainless steel bowl and season with iodized salt and gorund black pepper. Let stand for a few minutes.
2. Add the spiced white vinegar or sukang paombong, calamansi juice, garlic, ginger, white and red onions and birds eye and finger peppers.
3. Transfer mixture to a serving dish and top generously with crushed chicharon. Serve immediately.
