WHB# 344 Sinantolan

 When our family transferred to Pila, Laguna, I tasted new dishes.
There's sinampalukan (tamarind based dish) and kinamatisan
(tomato-based dish). There is also Sinantolan(Santol dish),
a great side dish to fried and grilled foods.

Santol

Santol

Santol (Sandoricum koetiape), also known as wild mangosteen,
is usually eaten ripe. The fruit is sour-sweet with a pleasant tart
taste. There are varieties that are very sour even when ripe.
These varieties are good with sinantolan dish.

Sinantolan

Sinantolan

Ingredients

• 15 pcs Santol
• 1 Cup coconut cream
• 2 Cups coconut milk
• 3 pcs Siling Haba (finger Chillies)
• 3 to 4 TBSP Alamang (fermented tiny shrimps or krill)
• 4 cloves Garlic (crushed)
• 1 medium onion (sliced)

Cooking Directions

1. Cut Santol in half and remove seeds. Prepare a bowl with water
2. and grate santol pulp on it using a kudkuran (a bench coconut grater).
3. If you don't have a kudkuran, you can peel off the skin of the santol,
4. remove the seeds and grate in a food processor adding a little amount
5. of water. Squeze grated pulp to remove the juice. This is done to 
6. remove the "tart" taste.
8. Place all ingredients in a pan except the coconut cream. Bring to a boil,
9. stirring occasionally. When the mixture is almost dry, add the coconut
10. cream and simmer until oil appears on the side of the pan.
11. Remove from heat and serve.

I am submitting this entry to
Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) 
hosted by dear Marta of  
Miangare e un po come viaggare. 
WHB is a weekly event featuring
specific herb or plant ingredient 
in your recipe. Halo of 
Cook Almost Anything oversees
the event.

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.

Paho

When summer approaches, I am always on the lookout for Paho.
It's a small variety mango about 2 inches long with a very short season
(a few weeks to a month about March to April).

 Paho can be eaten raw, pickled or made into salsa. It has the pungent
aroma of concentrated dill with a taste of unripe green mango.
.

Paho with tomatoes and salted eggs. A perfect appetizer for
any fried or grilled dish.

This is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging
event hosted by Simona of Briciole.

WHB #311: Kulawo

I was introduced to Kulawo here in Pila. It’s an eggplant dish
with a smoky coconut flavor. Coconut meat is grilled before
squeezing out the milk to get that smoky taste.  You can
split the nuts first before grilling or grate the coconut
and grill it by placing hot coals on it. . Either way, you’ll get
that rich smoky flavor.

Dad says my grandmother, Lola Angge sometimes use banana heart (puso ng saging ) instead of eggplant.

puso ng saging / bana heart bud

I was able to try it out the other day when Dad harvested
a few puso ng saging. I knew I had to share this recipe to
Weekend Herb Blogging. This week's host is Brii of Briiblog.

kulawo

Grate coconut meat and place in a bowl. Make a well in
the center and place a live coal. Cover with coconut meat to grill.
Repeat the process until the meat turns brownish and smells
burnt. Squeezed the milk from the meat and set aside.

           Slice the puso ng saging into 4 and boil to cook.
Remove water and quickly shred using a fork. Add vinegar,
chopped garlic and minced onion. Season with salt and pepper.
Add coconut milk and mix well.  Serve with fried or grilled fish.

Summer Cooler : Ice Candy

As a child, one thing I looked forward to summer is making
ice candy. It's a Popsicle in narrow plastic bags. We would make
it in the afternoon and freeze it overnight. The next day, we would
bring it to play and compare them with our playmate's version.
The flavor would vary depending on what is available in the kitchen
and what fruit is in season. The most common would be buko
(young coconut), mango and jack fruit. Other times we would use
chocolate milk like Milo or Ovaltine and coffee to make mocha flavor.

For fruit flavor ice candy, puree the fruit and mix with milk and sugar.
adjust the flavor to your liking. You can also add fruit bits to make
it special. Use a funnel to pour the mixture in special plastic
bags (1 1/2" x 10"). Leave about 2 inches space from the top and
make a knot to close it. Freeze overnight (24 hours would be better).
You can tot it for picnics, to play and travel with little fuss.


How to eat ice candy? Rip the sealed flat end of the ice candy using your
hand or teeth (this is more fun). Once opened, squeeze the knotted
end of the plastic,pushing the ice candy upward. Eat the ice candy,
pushing the ice upward until you finish it off.

I made ice candy using the sweetened jack fruit I made weeks ago.
I am sharing this to all Weekend Herb Blogger followers. Don't forget
to head over to Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything, our host for this week's
WHB #280 round up.

Minatamis na Langka (sweetened jackfruit)

Jackfruit (langka) season is here again. We got 1 tree that supplies us plenty.

Often Dad would divide the fruits and distribute to our relatives.

I love the smell of jack fruit. The fruit is sweet and crunchy.

My favorite is to freeze the fruits before eating to make it more crispy.
The seeds can be boiled which makes a good snack.
Dip it in sugar to make it more appetizing.

With jackfruit, I always think of turon and halo-halo. Often we would make

minatamis na langka (sweetened jackfruit) to preserve it.

minatamis na langka

To make sweetened jackfruit, remove the seeds from the fruits.
Cut the fruit into strips. I also cut it in half so it won't get stuck in
my throat( it tends to be slippery when cooked). Boil 1 cup of sugar
and 1 cup of water. When the sugar is dissolve add jackfruit strips
about 2-3 cups. Cook until no liquid is left.

For a crispier sweetened jackfruit, no need to add water. Cook
the jackfruit with sugar until the sugar is dissolve.


Sharing this to all Weekend Herb Blogging lovers.
WHB#275 roundup is hosted by Chris of Melle Cotte,
the little blog that feeds a huge appetite for cooking.

I Love My Basil

I love basil in food. I love it's smell. I love it's taste.

I love it in my bread
hot pandesal + pesto + white cheese


I love it in my pasta


I love it in my shrimps
(stir fry shrimps in little oil, add some catsup and basil leaves)


and in my flower vase too!

Guess What?
Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) is now 5 years old!

Sharing my love of Basil to all Weekend Herb Bloggers.
Our dear Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once
hosts our anniversary celebration.

Check out my Weekend Herb Blogging entries:




Lumpiang Shanghai and Malunggay,
my first WHB entry which was also hosted by Haalo








Lechon Manok w/ Tanglad
Roasted Chicken in Lemongrass








Inihaw na Tilipia sa Madre Cacao
(Grilled Tilapia using Madre Cacao)

Phak Chee Farang / Sawtooth Coriander

My contribution to this weeks Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB)
event is Phak Chee Farang, which I only recently learned is
also called Sawtooth coriander.



I was introduced to this plant by Tita Cora of Ning's Thai when she
served my Pad Thai garnished with Phak Chee. She even gave me
some plants to grow.

Sawtooth Coriander (Eryngium foetidum) is an uncommon herb.
The leaves are long and distinctly serrated along the hedge,
hence the name, sawtooth coriander. If you are a cilantro/coriander
lover then you will also love this herb. Their taste and smell is
very similar. The herb is easy to grow, tolerating hot humid weather
and can also grow well in shaded area.


Sawtooth coriander is used in many Thai ( known as Phak Chee Farang)
and Vietnamese (known as Ngo gai) dishes. I love sawtooth coriander
in my salsa and Tom Yum.


Check out the rest of the entries in the week's
WHB event, hosted by Astrid of Paulchen's Foodblog.

Haalo of Cook (Anything) AT Least Once
organizes the event.

WHB - Cheese Sticks

During my visit to General Santos City, I was able to watch my friend
Sheng prepare cheese sticks for her kids. I didn't realize it was easy
to do. Instead of wrapping the cheese in spring roll wrapper, she used
molo or siomai wrapper instead.

Sheng preparing the cheese sticks

Last Sunday I decided to make some cheese sticks for afternoon snacks.
I added some herbs (tarragon, dill & mint) with it to make it more exciting.
I made several herb combination and my favorite is tarragon & mint
cheese sticks.

mint, tarragon and dill on my cheese sticks

You will need:

Siomao or Molo wrappers
cheddar cheese , cut into 1/4 inch thick
herbs of your choice
watter
oil for frying
cayenne pepper (optional)

Wrap each cheese sticks in Siomai or Molo wrapper, together
with the herbs, folding the edge and sealing it with water. Fry
the cheese sticks until golden brown and drain oil in paper
towel. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper if you like before serving
it with mayonnaise. This is great for snacks or appetizer.


Cheese sticks goes well with


Salay Tea (Lemongrass Tea)


This dish is shared to all Weekend Herb Blogging(WHB) followers.
Thanks to Haalo who is managing the event and to Huan of Eat.Read.Live
who is our host this week.

WHB - Nilaga w/ Spinach

Probably the easiest Filipino dish, Nilaga (boiled) is usually found
in every Filipino home. Everything is boiled in a big pot and cooking
time varies on the ingredients. Beef or pork as meat with choice of
the ribs, pata (leg) or brisket part. Common vegetables used are
potato, cabbage and pechay (bok choi). Others also use carrots,
malunggay and in my case, spinach.

I bought a bunch of spinach a few weeks back and planted the stalk.
After my vacation from General Santos City, I was happy to see
my spinach thriving beautifully. I decided to use it for my Nilaga.

Pork Ribs Nilaga w/ spinach

1 K pork ribs
1/2 k marble potato
1 large onion, quartered
2 Tbsp fish sauce
bunch of spinach
salt and pepper
3-5 cups water
ginger (optional)

Boil pork ribs in a cooking pot together with the onions, ginger
(optional), pepper and fish sauce until tender. Add marble potato
and simmer until cook. Add in spinach and simmer for about 2
minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving hot.

I am sharing this dish for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB),
an event started by Kalyn, now being managed by Haalo.
This week's host is Anh of A Food Lover's Journey.

Try my other WHB entries:


Lemongrass Juice



Smoke Fish w/ Cacawate

WHB- Madre Cacao or Kakawate

Kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) or Madre Cacao may not be very
well known but for farmers like my Dad, it is a very useful tree.
He would use it as a line fence around our property, as a trellis
for our pepper, ampalaya or bitter gourd and sayote.

kakawate tree as trellis for pepper

The kakawate leaves he would place with the banana fruits,
instead of using "kalboro" or Calcium Carbide (used as source
of acetylene gas, which is a ripening agent) to hasten the ripening
of the fruits.

A favorite at home is smoking fish using kakawate. Place the fish
on top of kakawate branch and cover with kakawate leaves.
Serve the fish with a dip of fish sauce and kalamansi (key lime).

Submitting this post to Marilyn of Just Making A Noise who
is hosting this week's WHB event.
Haalo of Cook Almost Anything oversees this event.


Try also my other WHB recipes:


Laksa


Lechon Manok with
Lemongrass

WHB-Laksa

Puso ng Saging in
Filipino
literally means
heart of banana.
It is reddish in
color and heart
shaped.
A puso ng saging
is consist
of several layers
of red coverings
called bracts and
banana florets
in between.

Often used in Kare-kare or cooked in coconut cream,
as lumpia or spring rolls or even Pate.


A favorite dish at home for Puso ng Saging we call Laksa. It is a
vegetable dish of puso ng saging, squash, shrimps and vermicelli.


Laksa - Ginisang kalabasa at Puso ng Saging
(sauteed Squash w/ Banana Heart/Bud)

1 big Puso ng Saging (Banana Heart/Bud)
1/4 k Kalabasa (squash)
100 gms vermicelli noodles
200 gms small shrimps (you can opt to remove the shells)
1 medium size tomatoes
1 medium size onions
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 C water
salt and pepper to taste

Remove red layers of the puso ng saging until a yellowish core
is revealed. Sliced the core thinly and soaked in salted water.

In a pan, saute garlic until light brown in color. Add onions
and cooked until onions changes color and limped. Add tomatoes,
soy sauce and pepper. Saute for a minute. Add shrimps and cook
until shrimps changes in color. Add water and bring to a boil.
Add squash.

Remove water from Puso ng Saging and add in pan when squash
is already half cook. Sprinkle some salt. Cover and cook until
vegetables are tender. Stir in vermicelli noodles before removing
from heat.

This Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar.
Haalo of Cook Almost Anything oversees this event.