Here is the recipe for the day from pinoyfoodblog.com. If you are looking for a particular recipe, click the link, pinoyfoodblog.com and use the search feature on the right sidebar near the top . I’m sorry if I don’t get to send you a recipe every day of the week. You might also want to join Cuisinera Club and get free recipes and a chance to join monthly cooking demos. I will be there too so it’s a chance to meet each other.It was honor to observe a cooking demo from Violet Oon, dubbed as Singapore Food Ambassador. She is one of Singapore’s leading food gurus and is known as much for her cooking as for her opinions on food. She is considered one of the leading authorities on Asian cuisine with a particular emphasis on Peranakan Food. Violet is also a respected cookbook author and food researcher. Her appointment as consultant to the Singapore Food Festival 2009 is particularly meaningful to her as the theme is Peranakan, the culture she belongs to.

Watch the 35 minute video as she demonstrates two recipes: Nonya Bak Chang and Babi Asam. She interspersed her cooking tips as she demonstrated the recipe. The recipe is a bit complicated to cook but you will learn some asian cooking tips just by watching the video. Now if you want to experiment, go ahead. The sweet potato dumplings taste so good.

Cooking Tips

1. Saute with a nice gentle sizzle not too loud sizzle . Chinese stir fry cooking involves high sizzle but not Peranakan.

2. Cook by smell.

3. Most peranakan dishes boil pork, slice it for that even look, then stir fry it

4. When boiling sweet potato, keep water for soup stock

5. Metal masher is better to use for mashing sweet potatoes

6. Don’t put less in a traditional dish. If rich foods are cooked in its right richness, you tend not to eat a lot.

7. This food should not be eaten every day. In the old days, it was eaten once a year.

8, Enjoy food three times a month. Rest of the month, eat plain like steamed fish or plain rice. When you cook for guests, the point is how to impress them. Cook really yummy for guests.

9. Coriander powder is important in Peranakan cooking. Never buy powder form. Toast the coriander in the over oon14for 10 to 15 minutes but stir every 5 minutes. It has to smell cooked but not burned.

10. To prevent spillage on the floor, use a mixing bowl three times the size that that you would need.

11. the smaller the pot the better. Deep fry is about how high the oil is.

12. When eating in a restaurant, feast with your eyes, your smell and lastly, the taste

13. Drain/dry the meat before cooking so that there is no water layer that prevents spices from reaching the meat.

Here are the recipes demonstrated by Violet Oon.

Held to commemorate a hero of ancient China, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in Singapore with thousands of pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings and a Dragon Boat Race. The poet Ch’u Yuan drowned himself in protest against injustice and corruption. It is said that rice dumplings were cast into the water to lure fishes away from the body of the martyr. This act is remembered by the eating of “chung”, glutinous rice dumplings.  Dried lotus and pandan leaves flood the markets a few days before the festival on the fifth month of the lunar calendar as the dumplings are wrapped up tightly in these leaves. The steamed glutinous rice encloses a variety of fillings from pork to mushrooms, red beans, chicken, and mung beans.  The Peranakan version isa delicious variation.  In the past, lotus leaves were not as a vailable so Peranakans used the gigantic fragrant pandan leaves to wrap their bak chang. In addition to the traditional ingredients of diced pork, Chinese mushrooms and preserved melon was added to the local recipe by the Baba Chinese.  The new recipe also includes pounded coriander seeds and lots of sugar.

Nonya Bak Chang: Singapore-Style Dragon Boat Festival Dumplings

INGREDIENTS FOR THE RICE

1 1/2 kg glutinous rice
4 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
A few drops of blue food coloring from the Bunga Telang

METHOD

1) Pick through the glutinous rice and discard the transparent grains. These are plain rice grains. Wash well 2 to 3 times. Soak 3/4ths of the grains overnight in water.

2) Color 5 cups of tap water in blue with about 6 to 7 drops of food coloring. Or boil about 1/4 cup of dried Bunga Telang flowers in about 2 cups of water for 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Soak the remaining rice grains in this water. You may want your dumplings to be more blue so soak about 1/2 of the rice grains in the blue water.

3) Drain the rice grains and place int he steamer. If the holes are too large, line the bottom with a piece of cloth. Mix the two types of rice grains. Steam over high heat for 1 hour.

4) In the meantime, mix the water with the salt. After the rice has been steamed for 20 minutes, lift the lid of the steamer and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water over the rice. Mix it well with the rice.

5) Cover the lid and repeat this twice til the water is used up. The dumplings should be formed and folded in the pandan leaves while the rice is still warm. If it is cold, it will not bind well.

THE FILLING: Kueh Kledek Nonya

Sweet Potato Dough

350g glutinous rice flour (3 elephants) – 1 rice bowl
2 to 3 tsp rice flour
800g sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed with 1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water to mix to a firm dough

Sieve the 2 flours and add mashed sweet potatoes, salt, eggs, and water to mix well. Keep aside.

Filling

1 kg belly pork without the skin
200 g preserved winter melon, diced
10 dried mushrooms, soaked til soft, drained, squeezed dry and diced
5 tbsp lard or oil
60g garlic pounded til fine
200g shallots, pounded
1 tsp salt
300g to 350g sugar
1 1/2 tbsp white pepper powder
4 tbsp dark soya sauce
6 tbsp toasted pounded coriander seeds

To fry

2 lt vegetable oil

METHOD

1) Boil the pork for 30 to 40 minutes in enough water to cover. Cool and dice. Keep the water.

2) Fry garlic and shallots in the oil, add pork, sugar, salt, pepper, and soya sauce. Fry well and add mushrooms, melon, sugar, pepper, salt, and cook for 30 minutes. Add coriander, stir well, turn off heat. Cool and store in the fridge. This can be done a day ahead.

3) Fill the sweet potato dough with the filling and deep fry over medium high heat til the sweet potato dumplings are golden brown and float to the surface.

TO WRAP THE DUMPLINGS

Watch this video demonstration

15 large pandan leaves. These are only available in markets just before the festival. Otherwise, you will have to order them from your favorite vegetable stall.
1 recipe of filling
steamed glutinous rice
a roll of raffia

METHOD

1) Traditionally, the dumplings are formed into the shape of a pyramid with a three-sided base. If you follow the illustrations, you cannot go wrong. You have to pack the dumpling so that the glutinous rice is very firm.  For those who just like the flavor, line the bottom of the casserole with pandan leaves, top with some fillings and cover the glutinous rice. Pack it down very tight, top with pandan leaves, an dsteam.

2) Purists will have to do it the right way. Tie 17 raffia strings measuring about 40 cm long together on a pole.

3) Trim both ends of each pandan leaf. fold it over to form a pocket. Place about half a handful of glutinous rice in the pocket and spread it out to form a hollow. Fill the hollow with the filling and fold the top over using your other hand to push both sides in.

4) Fold the two sides of the leaf over the dumpling and cut off the excess leaf. Tie with raffia to secure. Trim off the leaves to form neat parcels. When all the dumplings are formed, remove from the pole and plait the end of the strings together.

5) Boil for 2 hours, remove and hang to dry. The dumplings are usually eaten the next day and can keep for up to 4 days outside the fridge. If you like them hot, just steam them again before eating.

Babi Asam: Spicy Pork in Tamarind Sauce

INGREDIENTS

500g to 700g belly of pork
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp pounded salted soya beans (taucheo)
2 tbsp tamarind pulp – about 50 g
3 cups water
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
8 nos green chillies, slit lengthwise from the stalk til the end
5 nos red chillies, slit lengthwise from the stalk to the end
A pinch of salt, to taste
1 to 2 tbsp sugar (optional and to taste)

Rempah (Spice Mix)

5 nos candlenuts (buah keras), washed and rdained
20 nos shallots, peeled
1 tbsp shrimp paste (belacan)

METHOD

1) First, prepare the spice mix. Grind all the ingredients together til you get a semi fine paste.

2) Cut the pork into bite-sized cubes. Heat a frying pan til hot, add the oil and when it is hot, add the rempah and stir-fry til fragrant and the oil exudes. This will take around 5 minutes.

3) Lower to medium heat and to prevent burning, sprinkle a little water on the spice mix, add the salted soya bean paste and the meat. Stir-fry well for 3-5 minutes.

4) In the meantime, mix the tamarind pulp with the water and knead well to extract the juice. Discard the seeds and pulp.

5) Add the tamarind water and dark soy sauce to the pork mixture.

6) Boil and simmer til the liquid is reduced by half.

7) Add the 2 types of chillies and continue simmering for 20-30 minutes til the pork is tender. Taste, and if you like, add salt and sugar and simmer for another 5 minutes til cooked through.

Serve with steamed rice as part of a Peranakan meal.——————

Have you visited my personal blog, Filipina Mom Blogger, my election 2010 Voters Education project at blogwatch.ph and my other blogs like

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Here is the recipe for the day from pinoyfoodblog.com. If you are looking for a particular recipe, click the link, pinoyfoodblog.com and use the search feature on the right sidebar near the top . I’m sorry if I don’t get to send you a recipe every day of the week. You might also want to join Cuisinera Club and get free recipes and a chance to join monthly cooking demos. I will be there too so it’s a chance to meet each other.
My husband is fond of buying me recipe books or any books about food. One such book is The Adobo Book (Traditional & Jazzed Up Recipes) by Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro and Nancy Reyes-Lumen. Not only do you get recipes of various authors but trivia and essays on adobo. The Personal Styles reflect the cook’s preferences. You should read the more than 100 adobo recipe variations ranging from Pork Adobo in Buco Juice, Adobong Tsino, Microwave Adobo, Fresh Oysters Adobo, Adobo sa beer and so much more.

What I’d like to show from the “Adobo Book” are tips for cooking adobo which is entitled the “10+ Commandments in Cooking Adobo”. I am sure you will learn a tip or two even if you have been cooking adobo for years.

1. Pork Liempo is best, tastiest and is better with skin-on. When cooked, becomes sticky and gelatin-y and helps thicken the sauce gloriously.

2. Simmer! Cook meats in low fire from start to finish (till meats are tender) and sauce is reduced [Cook uncovered in the last 10 minutes]

3. The usual ratios are

• 1 kilo meat (chicken or pork): 1/2 cup native vinegar (reduce accordingly to acidity of vinegar).
• 1 kilo meat (chicken or pork): 1/2 cup vinegar: 1/4 cup water
• Soy sauce can range from 2 tablespoon to 4 tablespoon per 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 kilo meat: 1/2 cup vinegar or acid: 1/2 tablespoon coarse salt
• 2-4 tablespoon soy sauce: 5- 10 peppercorns: 1 laurel leaf

4. Cook chicken separately from pork. Flavors come out better. Then combine later when serving.

5. Always have salt in adobo. It helps balance the acidity.

6. Crush peppercorn at the last minute to retain its aroma.

7. 1 medium-sized laurel leaf can add flavor and aroma to 1/2 kilo meat. If you have the chance, use fresh laurel leaves.

8. Garlic. Crush only when about to be used. If left in the marinade overnight, it will lose its strong flavor. Be generous with garlic.

9. Braise meat first in, first out till brown. Then simmer till tender. For a better finish, bake at the last 15 minutes.

10. Mix with liver spread or mashed liver. Broiling or roasting liver over coal adds a nutty flavor.

11. Adobo with gata. Gata can be combined with coco milk and coco cream.

12. Do not stir vinegar till it has cooked. That is, when all the acid has evaporated. Your nose will tell.

13. Cook covered and on low heat (also called simmering)

14. The “Flow Chart” of Cooking Adobo

Marinate –> braise–> simmer –> tenderize –> fry –> reduce –> keep for a day –> serve!

I bet you didn’t know all of the above tips. I must admit that I wasn’t aware of Tip number 10 where you add liver for a nutty flavor.

When it comes to the adobo dish on regular basis, I serve 3 variations of adobo: the Classic Adobo Recipe, the Chicken Adobo in coconut cream and White Adobo.

What about you? How many adobo dishes do you regularly cook?

——————

Have you visited my personal blog, Filipina Mom Blogger, my election 2010 Voters Education project at blogwatch.ph and my other blogs like

Shopping Finds for Bargain Finds & Events
Pinoy Food Photo Blog for Restaurants & Food Events
Your Pinoy Real Estate Broker for Real Estate Needs
Techie Gadgets for Cellphones, Laptops & Gadgets. Please pray for us that justice will soon be served with regards to my son’s death at the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort.

You might also want to visit my daughter’s ukay-ukay store at store.ukaymanila.com and her Fashion and Makeup blog.

Thanks for visiting….Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

Add me in Facebook by introducing yourself. My facebook is at facebook.com/noemidado.

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Here is the recipe for the day from pinoyfoodblog.com. If you are looking for a particular recipe, click the link, pinoyfoodblog.com and use the search feature on the right sidebar near the top . I’m sorry if I don’t get to send you a recipe every day of the week. You might also want to join Cuisinera Club and get free recipes and a chance to join monthly cooking demos. I will be there too so it’s a chance to meet each other.Galapong Bigas is one of the basic ingredients in rice cake or Kakanin. Galapong is sold from regular rice (bigas) or sticky , glutinous rice (malagkit) and soaked overnight then ground. There is trapped wild yeast that cause the mixture to ferment and cause the rising of the rice cakes.

In the olden days, most homes had a stone grinder made of granite. Markets still sell stone grinders but for those that don’t have stone grinders, the food processor will do. Here is how to prepare Galapong Bigas using a food processor or blender.

1. For every cup of rice, add two cups of water. Soak rice in water overnight or a minimum of four hours.

2. Mill in the food processor or blender. Start with a small quantity, adding soaked rice little by little till you get the consistency of light dough.

3. Make sure the blender is filled to 1/3 of the capacity so machine won’t overheat.

——————

Have you visited my personal blog, Filipina Mom Blogger, my election 2010 Voters Education project at blogwatch.ph and my other blogs like

Shopping Finds for Bargain Finds & Events
Pinoy Food Photo Blog for Restaurants & Food Events
Your Pinoy Real Estate Broker for Real Estate Needs
Techie Gadgets for Cellphones, Laptops & Gadgets. Please pray for us that justice will soon be served with regards to my son’s death at the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort.

You might also want to visit my daughter’s ukay-ukay store at store.ukaymanila.com and her Fashion and Makeup blog.

Thanks for visiting….Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

Add me in Facebook by introducing yourself. My facebook is at facebook.com/noemidado.

Be a Facebook Fan of Pinoy Food Blog recipes