Sotanghon noodles is a Filipino name for the bean thread noodles. Bean thread noodles, also known as cellophane noodles or chinese vermicelli noodles, is made from mung beans. It is thin and transparent, smoother and more slippery than most other noodles. It is used not only in soups but also in lumpia or spring rolls and pancit or egg noodles dish.
Ingredients:
200 gm sotanghon (bean thread) noodles
1 cup chopped or flaked cooked chicken meat or left over chicken meat
6 to 7 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp oil
1/2 head minced garlic
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 tbsp patis or fish sauce
4 dried Chinese black mushrooms or shiitake
1 teaspoon chopped green onion leaves
Preparations:
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for about 15 minutes. Remove and squeeze out excess water. Cut and discard stems, slice caps into fourths.
2. Heat oil in a pot. Saute garlic and onion in low to medium heat. Be careful not to burn the minced garlic.
3. Add flaked chicken meat, mushrooms and patis or fish sauce. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and bring to boil.
5. Add the sotanghon noodles in the soup. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until noodles are tender and cooked. You may cut the noodles with scissors to shorten the lengths before you start to cook. The shortened noodles make it more manageable.
6. Garnish with chopped green onions.
7. Serve hot with combined lemon juice and patis on the side.
Laing is Bicol region’s unbeatable dish. It is an appetizing spicy vegetable dish in which taro or gabi stalks and leaves are slowly cooked in coconut milk seasoned with ginger, shrimp paste and Philippine chili.
Ingredients:
25 pieces gabi (taro) leaves, dried and shredded
1/2 kilo pork meat, diced
1/4 cup shrimp bagoong
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 red onions, chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
5 jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 cup coconut cream or katang gata (1st coconut milk extraction)
2 cups coconut milk or gata
1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (MSG)
2 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
1. In a casserole, sauté garlic, ginger and onions.
2. Add the pork meat.
3. Mix in the gabi leaves.
4. Pour in the coconut milk or gata. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add jalapeno, bagoong, salt and MSG. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Add the coconut cream and continue to simmer until oil comes out of the cream.
7. Best served hot with plain white rice.
Dinuguan when translated to English means related to blood. This dish is made with the blood of a freshly-slaughtered pig.
Ingredients:
1 pound of pork meat, diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablesppon oil
1/4 teaspoon MSG or monosodium glutamate (optional)
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup Broth
1 Onion diced
1 cup frozen pig’s blood
1/4 pound pork liver diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
3 chili peppers
2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
1/4 teaspoon Oregano (optional)
Directions:
1. Cover pork with water and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from broth and dice. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of broth.
2. Heat oil and sauté garlic and onions in a 2-quart stainless steel or porcelain saucepan heat oil for a few minutes. Add pork liver, patis, salt and MSG. Saute for 5 minutes more.
3. Add vinegar and bring to a boil without stirring. Lower heat and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Add broth. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Stir in blood and sugar; cook until thick stirring occasionally to avoid curdling.
6. Add chili peppers and oregano. Cook 5 minutes more.
7. Serve hot. It is best eaten with puto.
Sizzling Sisig is one of the most loved companion for beer. It is said to have originated from Angeles City in Pampanga. This hot and crunchy mixture of pig’s ears, snout, brain and other innards is a staple pulutan favorite. Sisig is served in an sizzling plate and topped with a raw egg. This Pinoy food can be eaten with a steaming plate of rice or by itself. There are other alternative of sisig available such as mixture of pork, tuna, chicken, bangus and tofu. Here is our tested pork sizzling sisig recipe.
Ingredients:
½ kilo of pork cheeks
½ kilo of pork or beef tongue
½ kilo pork or beef heart
½ kilo liver (beef, pork or chicken)
2 cups of water
1 cup of pineapple juice
1 teaspoon whole black pepper
For the marinade seasoning:
1 cup of finely chopped onions
¼ cup of vinegar
¼ cup of pineapple juice
3-4 pieces of siling labuyo or chili peppers
¼ cup of calamansi or lemon juice
1 cup minced garlic
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
1 teaspoon whole black pepper, crushed
1 piece of crushed bay leaf
Salt
Directions:
1. Mix the pork cheeks, tongue and heart together with salt, water, pineapple juice and crushed black pepper. Boil and let simmer for about an hour until the meat becomes tender.
2. Drain and allow it cool in room temperature.
3. Slice the pork cheeks, heart, tongue and the liver into small 2 inches by 3 inches by ¼ inch cubes..
4. Place the pieces in skewers and grill. Wait until the pork turns brown and crisp.
5. Chop the grilled pieces into cubes about ¼ inches wide.
6. Add and mix the marinade seasoning. Store the sisig in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
7. After 2-3 hours, take out of the fridge and cook in butter in sizzling plate.
8. While sizzling, you may or may not crack an egg on top. The sizzling plate with sisig will cook the egg when mixed with the food.
9. Sprinkle lemon juice and chili sauce on Sizzling Sisig. Top with chopped onion leaves.
10. Serve hot.
