Noche Buena is never complete without the traditional chinese Ham. The common glaze used is pineapple but this time, I used Apple-cinnamon glaze.

Here’s the recipe for Chinese Ham with Apple Cinnamon Glaze:

Ingredients
1 2 to 3 kilos Chinese Cooked Ham
2 cups Apple Juice
1/4 cup cherry brandy
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 medium apple , chopped
2 pieces bay leaf
1 tsp cinnamon powder
slices of green and red cherries
toasted cashew nuts
celery leaves

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Posted: December 30th, 2006 under Filipino Food, Noche Buena.
Comments: 1

The first time I ever ate Ilocano empanada was at the Tiendesitas. The thin crust color is almost bright yellow-orange. The dough used to enclose the filling is thin and crisp, mostly because Ilocano empanada is deep-fried rather than baked. My daughters loved it even if there was some veggies inside the filling. The next time I ate this was at the Salcedo Saturday Market. When you eat the Ilocano empanada, the filling is special as it contains grated papaya, with a little ground meat from Ilocano longganisa. Dipping the empanada with red chili and vinegar is something to die for.

If you want to know how to make this kind of empanada, here is an Ilocano Empanada recipe

Here is a close-up view of the Ilocano Empanada
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Posted: September 19th, 2006 under Filipino Food.
Comments: none

Pork Siomai (steamed pork dumplings) dimsum bites taste yummy with chili garlic sauce and kalamansi (Philippine lemon). Siomai is a dimsum of Chinese origin which is also quite common in the Philippines. I found this siomai stand at BC Buddies Dimsum Kitchen at the “Fil-negosyo” expo where the exhibitors showed off their products that you can go into business. I forgot how much it cost but I know they also offer siomai, wanton, shrimp dumpling, pork triangle puff, crab meat roll, pork siap, hakaw (shrimp puff), siopao, sharksfin dumpling, shrimp roll and more. The good thing is one doesn’t have to mae them. But how long is the shelf life? It’s kind of scary to hold so much inventory. But yes, the siomai was yummy except I find the “yellowish” wrapper quite unnatural.

Posted: August 8th, 2006 under Filipino Food.
Comments: 7

My daughter took a bite from the asado siopao that her dad bought for her. “Can I take a photo first?”, I asked. My hubby goes, ” her teethmarks show”. This Asado siopao was bought from Emperor’s Palace restaurant in Binondo, Manila. I prefer the Asado siopao over the bola-bola especially if the filling contains salted egg. Commercial siopao tends to have so much bread in proportion to the filling. The ideal ratio would be 50-50.

Posted: July 29th, 2006 under Filipino Food.
Comments: 3