Weekend Chef - Operation Adobo...

When you are alone (as in you are also the ONLY Filipino in the house), a lot of crazy things come to your mind. As for me, it is weekends that makes me do crazy things. Before, i'd drag my international housemates to the beach. But since we realize this is one dangerous place to go 'beaching', we decided a shopping in Shoprite or ParknShop in VI will do the trick.

I was watching Kylie Kwong on BBC Food and her seemingly simple, quick but delicious Chinese cuisine makes me wanna go home. I miss that Mandarin Chinese Restaurant in Cagayan de Oro. The chicken feet, the quail eggs and shark fin siomai dumplings, mixed vegetable toppings with quail eggs.

So, i lately discovered we had a kitchen. Becoz we have no cook on Sunday (day-off), we will be the ones cooking our foods for the day. Those who don't know how cook, they ask the chef to cook foods for them enough for 3 days (or even a week).

So now, i am one guy who gets tired easily of one dish. And since i recovered from malaria, i have lost appetite for African dishes (which i used to love a lot in my first 2 months). I like to cook in small quantity so i can have variations in menu everyday.

In my cupboard, I have Noodles (called Indomie), yam (gabi), cooking oil, salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, margarine, camote, irish potato, black peppers, garlic, ginger, olive oil, Nido, Nescafe, and jasmin rice (from thailand). In my part of the fridge, i have eggs, butter, assorted veggies (baguio beans, cabbage, cucumber, onion, tomato, cauliflower, ampalaya (bitter gourd), talong (garden egg or aubergine), alugbati (african spinach), green peppers, dried red peppers and carrots), dried bagoong mix (given by a pinoy friend), and plain youghurt. I also have one loaf of slice bread. Meat would be chicken (wings), pork (chop and stew size), cow liver, chicken gizzard, and beef (cube lean meat or stir-fry cut). Occasionaly i'd buy goat meat and lamb meat.

My morning menu is usually Filipino. Eggs cook sunny-side up or scrambled in either fried rice or plain rice (toasted bread once in a while). When i get tired of eggs, i cook the ampalaya (ginisang ampalaya at itlog). As they say, eating ampalaya is an acquired taste. Then when i have talong, i broil (sugba) the eggplant and when it is peeled and cooked, i flatten it with a fork and then add it to a scrambled egg. Then toss it into a wok. I like my 'tortang talong' well done -- medyo sunog. I'll wash it off with coffee with milk/sugar. Ha! my housemates can only watch in amusement on what i can do with these veggies. :-D

Lunch and Dinner will usually be the same -- meat. This is where i got the inspiration to write this blog.

I wanted to cook adobo but can't remember how to do it. SO i searched the net (on a sunday) for a recipe. I am not good into translating recipe, but this is how i did my adobo. ta-da!!

My ingredients:

(10) cuts of pork stew meat (with fat)
half teaspoon Black pepper (ground)
1 clove Garlic, pounded
3 pieces Onions, rounded-sliced
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Vinegar (depends how much meat you use)
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

How i cook it:

- Boil the pork for 30 mins. Then throw the water of the first boil.
- Put the pork back into casserole.
- Throw in the garlic, black pepper and half of the onion.
- Add vinegar , sugar and soy sauce. Add little water. Boil for 30 mins.
- Once in a while, stir the contents to mix the ingredients. Add water as necessary.

The meat should turn to golden brown. Add the remaining onions. Stir to mix.

When there is little water, turn off the stove and let it simmer and the remaining water will have a 'syrupy' consistency.

Done!

I did not bother to taste while i was cooking it. I was too worried i may not like the taste.

Since my housemates are Buddhist (no meat) and Muslim (labaw!), i cannot ask them to taste-test my obra. i just have to assume i cook it right. i just have to assume i cook it right.

And yes, it was good.

Really.

Next time, i will write about my chicken gizzard menu.