There are several filipino dishes that I enjoy, and I'm sure there are plenty that i haven't tried but would like. I'm trying to get some basic, easy to make, dishes that I can teach my helper to make that uses ingredients that most filipinos know how to use (minus sugar), are easily found in the area and are cheap to buy. My helper bought some squid today and I was trying to think of a name of one of my favorite dishes. It's squid in ink sauce but have no idea what the locals call it. On my search for the name I ran across this and want to give it a try: Basque Stage Candidate Post: Braised Pork Belly and Calamari with a Blood-Ink Sauce | JustinCLegaspi Looks like it would be pretty d*mn good. I'd appreciate any other ideas on filipino dishes that don't have a main ingredient of sugar. Please note I eat d*mn near anything without sugar in it. (I enjoy balut and dried fish from time to time). So don't be afraid to post something you think a foreigner wouldn't enjoy.
Hmm. Didn't think the translation would be that direct. My gf and helper had the deer in the headlights look when I said squid in ink. (I even grabbed a pen and said ink.......glad they didn't go ahead and break open a bunch of pens and cook THAT ink with the squid. )
My asawa's a very good cook, and probably my favorites are chicken adobo (chicken cooked in a soy, vinegar, garlic sauce) and adobo sa gata (chicken cooked in a slightly spicy coconut milk-based sauce. Kind of like a curry - but not very "spicy" as in some thai cuisine). Both very good served over white rice so the rice can soak up the juice. Another one I like is menudo, a stew made of pork cut up in small pieces, vegetables, spices and raisins.
We like sinagang, chicken afritata, and the adobo mentioned before, and I recently discovered another adobo using whole tomates, ginger, lemongrass, snow peas, and the Mamasita adobo mix.
I prefer the adobo made in Luzon (specifically the pampanga/Olongapo region) over the Visaya version but my gf makes a good variation. I just need to remind her to take it easy on the soy from time to time and to never use sugar. Right now the two dishes they make well are adobo and Pancit. I enjoy both but need some variation. Squid is one of my favorites. Much to my delight, I have just recently found that the squid in Valencia is cheaper than chicken and pork per kilo. I would like some local recipes that use calamari.
My wife usually cooks calamari adobo style, fried or inihaw. On very special occasions she sometimes makes stuffed calamari. This is not her exact recipe, but it sure does look good: Rellenong Pusit Stuffed Squid She's never made this recipe but might interest you if you're a real calamari fan: Squid Caldereta Recipe
Wrye83 I cook quite a few Filipino dishes, usually for large Filipino parties. My wife is usually given credit for all the cooking, which she gratefully accepts. When she first moved in with me she destroyed several pots trying to cook rice. It tend to go through a bit of a process to make squid adobo but here is a Youtube video that is very simple and pretty much authentic . Remember that the trick with squid is cooking it just the right amount of time. Cook it too long and it gets chewy. Pansit Bihon I would try about 2 lbs of squid with the beaks and spines removed, a few julienne sliced carrots, 1/2 a cabbage, a sliced chinese sausage, a few snow peas and a chopped onion. Saute in a big pot for a few minutes then add 10 tbl spoons soy sauce 4 tbl spoons oyster sauce and 2 cups chicken broth. Once it simmers for a few minutes remove all the squid and veggies to a separate plate. Add 1 lb of Bihon noodles gently to the hot liquid and stir around for about 5 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. The noodles should be soft and taste great. Put the noodles on a big plate and dump the squid and veggies on top. The same recipe works for chicken, pork or shrimp. Just saute the chicken and pork longer.
My wife is also an excellent cook. I agree with the past posts about adobo, if done correctly it is very good. I also like a good BBQ of fish, pork, or chicken. My wife usually make a killer marinade using calamansi which seems to be the secret. Also note that the use of Magic Sarap or MSG is hard to get a lot of cooks here to give up. It gives me headaches and jacks up my blood pressure, so it is a big no in our house. Banana ketchup is another big no as it tastes terrible in my opinion. I like Mexican food, so we often have tacos (shells are available at Lee Plaza and Hypermart as is hot sauce) with shredded chicken, pork, or ground beef or 50/50 ground beef/pork along with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, and shredded cheese when all of these items are available. Usually good cheese is the limiting factor. The key is to get a cook "trained" to your likes and dislikes, which may take a while. My wife even knows how to go about politely asking the ingredients of something if we go out somewhere to eat or to a fiesta party. She then steers me away from stuff she knows I won't like or that is unhealthy, which I appreciate.
