Crispy Kangkong

Kangkong is abundant in our place. I was complaining to Dad
about the kangkong growing in our backyard. It has taken a lot
of space and needed to be trimmed.  Dad says he’d  make some
pickled kangkong  with the trimmings. And I made crispy kangkong
with the leaves.

kangkong is rich in iron and fiber

crispy kangkong

kangkong leaves
cooking oil for frying

batter:  2 Tbsp cornstarch
            1 Tbsp water
            1/2 teaspoon salt
            2 egg whites

dip:      1 cup yogurt
            1 tsp crushed garlic
             paprika
             curry powder

clean the kangkong and remove the stalks (you can reserve
this to make adobong kangkong). pat dry the leaves using a
napkin. set aside.

mix well the ingredients for the dip.refrigerate.

in a bowl, mix the batter ingredients. heat the oil
until very hot. Dip each kangkong leaves in the batter
and deep fry until the leaves turns dark green. drain
in paper towel.

Serve with yogurt dip.

Sharing this crunchy appetizer
to all Weekend Herb Blogging
enthusiasts hosted by Graziana
of  Erbe in Cucina.

Ukoy / Okoy

We always have vegetable lumpia (vegetable spring rolls) during Good friday.

Since it's a no-meat day, tokwa (tofo or soy bean cake) is used. Lunch would

be Lumpiang Hubad (Naked Spring Rolls, a spring roll minus the spring roll 

wrapper hence the name) with sweetened garlic sauce. Leftover veggies would

then be wrapped in spring roll wrapper and fried for supper.

For a change, I tried making Ukoy / Okoy. It's like fried lumpia without 

sauteing the veggies before wrapping in spring roll wrapper. The basic ingredients 

are shrimps, tofu and bean sprout.  I added some carrots, squash (from my uncle's 

farm) and sayote / chayote (Sechium edule)  which we have in our garden.

batter:

       1 cup flour

       1/2 cup cornstarch

       1/2 cup water

       salt and pepper

      

filling:

        1 cup  julienned sayote

        1 cup julienned squash

        1 cup julienned carrots

        1 cup bean sprouts

        1 cup sliced tofu

        1 cup shrimps

oil for frying

      

Make the batter and set aside.  Mixed the vegetables except the tofu.

In a ladle, place the mixed vegetables. Sprinkle the tofu and shrimps

on top. Pour batter just enough to coat. 

Slowly dip in hot oil. Remove ladle and fry until golden brown.

Serve with vinegar and crushed garlic.

Plant Basil, Harvest Pesto!

I got basil seedlings from my Tia Aring last month and now I am
harvesting them! Good thing my sister was here last weekend
to show me how to make pesto. She even brought her portable
food processor for our use (all the way from General Santos City).

Eager to test her new camera, Olympus SP-800ux (it has 30x
optical speed!), she was shooting early Sunday morning outside
the house. I went along, even if i just woke up, because I was
also eager to show off my basil plants.


She didn't use exact measurements for the pesto. Just trusted her
her taste and feeling. In a food processor, basil was mixed with
olive oil, garlic, pepper, anchovies and nuts. I also got some pine
nuts from Tia Aring which we used but run out of them so we
used some Chedeng's roasted peanuts (a favorite pasalubong
from Iligan City).

My sister is right. Plant basil, harvest pesto!



You might also like:

My General Santos City Adventures : GenSan Market and GenSan Eats




October 2008 harvest








October 2009 harvest





I am linking this to Foodie Friday:

Binagoongang Talong

Talong or eggplant ( Solanum melongena) is a favored vegetable
in the Philippines. In the province, it is one of the vegetables
planted in the backyard together with pechay, mustasa and
ampalaya (bitter gourd). Talong is a mainstay ingredient
in pakbet, dinengdeng and sinigang.

Whenever we have excess talong from our backyard,
Dad's favorite, talong binagoongan, is surely in the dinner table.

Talong Binagoongan (Eggplant in Shrimp paste) is a poor man's
version of Pork Binagoongan, replacing pork with talong.

Binagoongang Talong (Eggplant in Shrimp Paste)

100 gms pork fat (optional)
1K talong, sliced diagonally
2T oil (no need if adding pork fat)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, sliced
2T Bagoong (shrimp paste)
1/2t sugar
1/2 cup water

Render oil from fat. Remove oil if too many, just leave enough for
sauteing. Saute garlic until golden brown and add onions. Cook
until onions are caramelized. Add tomatoes, cook until softened.
Add Bagoong and stir fry until aromatic. Add talong and stir fry until
talong is well coated. Add water and simmer until talong is cooked,
about 10 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Sprinkle kalamansi (key lime) juice before serving.






Tortang Talong is another eggplant dish








Buto-buto Nilaga, a hearty dish for cold nights

October Harvest

Typhoon Santi (international name: Mirinae) made landfall early
saturday morning Oct 31. Laguna was in storm signal no. 3.
Most of our fruit trees at home were down after the typhoon.

Papayas are not yet fully riped

Banana trees suffered the most

Balimbing / Star fruit got a beating from the typhoon

September Harvest

Balimbing / Star Fruit

Papaya

Bayabas / Guava

August Harvest

Rambutan

Rambutan

Banana (Saba/Plantain)

Gabi/Taro

July Harvest

Puso ng Saging (Banana Heart Bud)

Pomelo

Kalamansi and Siling Haba

Banana

June Harvest

makopa (Malay Rose Apple Tree)

siling haba (finger chilllies)

papaya and banana

Banana - saba

May Harvest

Puso ng Saging (Banana Heart/Bud)

Saging (Banana)

Papaya

Rice

April Harvest

Papaya and Mangoes

more Mangoes

Siling Haba / Finger Chilis

Kalabasa / Squash

March Harvest

Calamansi

Papaya

Saging (Banana)

Niyog (coconut)