Sis made this Shrimp Cocktail for us as a test recipe. It’s something she would like to add on our Christmas Eve Dinner menu. It’s easy to do and everybody loved shrimp so it was a really good idea.
…until, she forgot to de-vein the shrimp.
Good thing we are always up for un- deveined shrimp… heehee.
One of the best things about loving good eats and being adventurous in food is that you get friends that also enjoy the same.These friends are generous friends and they let you in on their latest food find should they stumble on to something they think you would really really like.
My good friend Brenice even gave me a lotion that smells so deliciously like Gingerbread cookies that I get a craving each time I use it. See? They even give me beauty products that smell like food!
Three weeks ago, I posted on The Peach Kitchen Facebook Page and on Instagram about this Gustazo Pomodoro Tinapa which a friend gave us. It actually my sister’s close friend from way back in college who gave this . Well, I’m a friend by association — I’m sure you get the picture…heehee.
Anyway, I’ve actually seen these bottles around several blogs I visit and I was a bit curious about its taste. Since I’ve been wanting to try Tinapa (smoked fish) on pasta for the longest time (but wasn’t able to do so), I thought it would be nice to try this product instead.
We’ve been having some busy days in February and we needed to whip up something quick and easy yesterday. I remembered we have this Gustazo Pomodoro Tinapa because it came in the cutest… and posh-est.. orange and brown container.
It was the perfect time to make this Tinapa Spaghetti.
Just like what I do with most of the oil-based pastas I make, I sautéed garlic in oil. I didn’t even have to use olive oil, I used the oil in which the Tinapa came in to get all the flavor. This is jazzed up by some roughly chopped black olives to give it a sharp kick and some chopped parsley for a peppery, herby note while maintaining the homey, cozy comfort that pasta can provide.
Then before serving I added a squeeze of a lemon and some freshly cracked red pepper flakes. It was really good! I should keep stock of this Pomodoro Tinapa! I ‘ll ask sis’s friend where she bought this but for mean time, I’ll be using fresh boneless bangus tinapa and of course, olive oil as a substitute.
By the way, have you seen season 3 of Homeland yet? I’ve been watching it the past couple of nights and I am already on episode 8. It is ridiculously good as with the past seasons! I feel my heart race on each episode and there are times when I just had to click on pause because I just couldn’t bear to watch the next scene. I really liked Claire Danes in this series.
Also , what do you think of my new watermark-slash-logo? It’s cute, right? And it suits this blog and my personality… I’ve been wanting to change my watermark for sometime now and I think I’ve found the one I really like.
Hope you are having a great weekend! I ‘ll be squeezing in episode 9 of Homeland before I go to bed.
Tuyo is dried salted fish. It is fish that went through a thorough process of drying and salting so you can store it for a longer period of time.
It is usually eaten at breakfast with garlic fried rice and is dipped in vinegar infused with minced garlic and crushed siling labuyo {bird’s eye chili}. In the old days, when your family eats tuyo, it denotes poverty as tuyo is cheap. Today, tuyo is no longer considered poor man’s food. You can even get bottled Tuyo in Olive Oil at the supermarket. In restaurants, Tuyo Pasta with Capers is one of the dishes you can find in the menu.
When we talk about tuyo, it brings back my memory of childhood….
…rainy month of June or July……classes were cancelled and we were left at home because our parents were working. My Kuya Noel would cook his version of fried rice, one with minced garlic and soy sauce. He would fry tuyo and make a dipping sauce of vinegar, a pinch of salt, minced garlic and one crushed siling labuyo {bird’s eye chili}.
We would eat this with our hands, one feet raised on the chair where we are sitting down.
Kuya Noel loves the head of tuyo. If you’re eating with him, you’ll see beheaded tuyo’s lined up on the plate. You may wonder what it taste like but I’ve tried it. If you fry the tuyo to a crisp, then the head would be like a pork crackling but instead of fat, it would burst with the flavor of fish and the sea.
Hi. Did you notice any changes about The Peach Kitchen recently? Well, it’s not much of a change but I’ve put up a Recipe Index up there at the nav bar. I just found out that some of you are having a hard time digging for old recipes from waaay back. I’m so sorry about that. So I would like to make-up for it, hence, the Recipe Index up there and the Archive down the sidebar.
Just so you know I really appreciate it that you carve out time from your day to day activity just to drop by here. And I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I would also like to thank you because I found out something while I was trying to fix that Recipe Index up there. Most of my recipes are Pork recipes. Yeah, I love pork. I know some of you may not like it and some don’t event eat pork but I love it and I’m not ashamed of it. Please don’t judge.
On a healthier note, I know I have to cook more fish and vegetable dishes now that I realized I’ve been eating too much pork.
My aunt makes this delicious Shrimp Tacos which I find really unsatisfying because she puts only one piece of shrimp on top of a coleslaw-filled hard taco shell. ONE!
One.Piece. Of. Shrimp.
Who eats one piece of shrimp, even with batter and all?
So anyway, I have to satisfy my taco craving. I don’t want to make Beef Tacos because that’s, kind of, a regular thing on our menu. Besides, I’ve been fantasizing about really great Fish Tacos for quite some time now.
I wanted to make this from some other kind of fish aside from Cream Dory. I checked out frozen Tipalia fillets and Fillet of Sole from the supermarkets but…. oh boy, those are quite expensive. If you add the rest of the ingredients then I’d be over my budget, so I still ended up Cream Dory. I got two big fillets for ₱99 which I think was a sweet deal.
Made this for breakfast the other day just before I took Ykaie’s to her swimming lessons. It was a Power Breakfast! I have to make this for peanutbutter♥.
If you have a fish recipe that you’d want to share with me, please leave it at the comments section. I’d be glad to try it and feature it in this blog. Let’s share our fish recipes with the world!
Fish Tacos
Author: Peachy Adarne
Ingredients
Mango Salsa
1 ripe mango, diced
1 red onion, chopped
2 tomato, chopped
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
Garlic Cream Sauce
¼ cup lite mayonnaise
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp white vinegar
Crispy Fish Fillet
2 big Cream Dory Fillets
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp granulated garlic
¼ tsp cayenne powder
¼ tsp ground oregano
¼ tsp salt
1 bottle of cold beer
juice from half a lime
canola oil for frying
Tacos
Wheat Tortilla
3 cups shredded lettuce
Lime Wedges
hot sauce (optional)
Directions
Mango Salsa
Combine mango, onion, tomato, fish sauce, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl and mix well.
Set aside in the fridge to chill
Garlic Cream Sauce
Combine mayo, garlic, salt, black pepper, lime juice and white vinegar in a small bowl.
Mix well.
Add more vinegar if it's too thick. The consistency should be thin.
Fish
To make the batter, whisk together the flour, baking powder, garlic, cayenne, oregano, and salt and pepper in a large bowl until well blended.
Pour in half the bottle of beer and stir until there are no lumps. Pour more if the mixture is too thick.Drink the leftover beer while it's cold and make sure you have another bottle.
Cut your Cream Dory fillets the size and shape of your index finger. Pat dry your fish with a paper towel.
Sprinkle salt and squeeze lime juice over it.
Heat canola oil in a non-stick skillet.
Dip the fish into the batter. It should be the consistency of medium-thick pancake batter, add more beer if it seems too thick.
Remove fish from batter, letting excess batter drip, and gently place into the hot oil. Cook a few pieces at a time until the batter is crispy and golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.
Remove and place onto a plate with paper towels to remove excess oil.
Tacos
Heat tortilla over fire in stove top or the oven.
Fill with the shredded lettuce.
Top with fish and spoon Mango Salsa over top.
Drizzle with Garlic Cream Sauce.
Squeeze a lime wedge and add your favorite hot sauce.
Tatampal or Alupihang Dagat or Hipong Daga or Mantis Shrimp
Hurrah! Something homecooked!! I’m starting to think I’m not gonna be able to prepare something new at home anymore. Ever since peanutbutter♥ came home last thursday, we’ve mostly been eating out and cooking those familiar dishes that he missed when he was in Dubai.
I’ve been adjusting a lot because Ykaie is also going to school on a, kind of, whole day schedule which means she’s having lunch there. I wake up at 4:30 in the morning from mondays to friday cooking breakfast for all of us and lunch for Ykaie to bring to school. Man, it is hard! It feels like I’m back in college, except I have a six year old to wake up, give a bath to, and feed as well.
It’s really great that peanutbutter♥‘s here to take Ykaie to school and I don’t have to change clothes anymore to do it myself like the first three days. Not that her school is very far.
I’ve been eating Tatampal ever since I was child– my nanay taught me how to. She was born in Navotas and Tatampal is as common as Bangus there. The only way we cook it is steamed and then served with a spicy vinegar-fish sauce dipping sauce. Today, I also tried dipping it in calamansi-butter sauce and it works just as well!
You might be wondering how it tastes? Well, it tastes like a cross between a shrimp and a crab.
Tatampal is one of the seafood that peanutbutter♥ missed. It’s one of the seafood I missed seeing on the table too!
Have you had Tatampal before? Or do you have other ways of cooking it aside from steaming? Please share it on the comment section so we can also try it.
Front|Back
I got this for ₱280 per kilo from the Malabon Wet Market.
Bangus En Totcho, or simply Totchong Bangus, is something I never EVER thought I’d crave for nor something I’d miss. I guess my tastebuds are kinda maturing and I am now craving old Filipino recipes from the back of my head.
For those of you who are not familiar, Bangus En Totcho is as old Filipino dish that is made with milkfish, fermented tofu (tahure), and black beans (tausi).
My mother used to cook Bangus En Totcho from time to time when I was a child. And to be honest, it’s one of those viands I dreaded seeing on our lunch table. I hated the taste of fermented tofu. But like I said earlier, my tastebuds have matured by now — and I now love this dish which I used to hate.
Hello October! I was going to say ‘hi’ to you yesterday with this tasty and healthy Salmon Head Sinigang but for some reason we didn’t have an internet connection — no connection from 9am onwards!
So I’m officially saying ‘hello’ to you today.
I believe you already know how much I love Sinigang cause it says so on my ‘meet me‘ profile up there. If you’re gonna ask why, well, for me it’s the most comforting dish. It has this sour soup which, when you slurp when hot, fills you up with warmth. Not the kind that a hug or a sweater can give you, the kind that reaches your heart and soul. The kind of warmth that you feel when it’s stormy and cold outside yet you feel safe and secure at home with loved ones.
Sinigang is one of the most common household dishes and a favorite of my daughter as well. We usually cook pork, beef and fish using tamarind soup mix, tamarind, guava, or kamias as souring agent.
For Fish Sinigang, we either use Milkfish and Maya-Maya Head. It’s our first time to make Salmon Head Sinigang at home. It was being sold at the market for ₱120 (around $2.80) per kilo which is really a cheap price for salmon, if you ask me.
Fish heads are frequently used in Asian dishes because it’s cheaper and more tasty. It packs a whole lot of flavor specially when cooked in sauce, with gravy, or into soup.
If you’re not used to eating fish heads, it might freak you out but Salmon Head Sinigang is one of the must-try Filipino dishes!
5.0 from 2 reviews
Sinigang na Ulo ng Salmon (Salmon Head in Tamarind Soup)
We are having a lot of seafood dishes these days. Sometimes I think it’s more than what I could handle. I am not a fish person, you see. But my peanutbutter♥ enjoys fish as much as I enjoy my pork bellies and beef sirloins.
When we did the grocery last week, we found this frozen boneless asuhos amongst the other frozen seafood in the supermarket freezer. Asuhos is Silver Sillago. My mother often cooks fresh asuhos into Paksiw or this other recipe with soup. It’s my first time to see frozen asuhos fillets — I must be living under a rock these days.
We bought this without any idea what to do with it. I know it wouldn’t taste as good if I cook it into paksiw, so I thought I’d just fry it. It was marinated in a calamansi-knorr seasoning mixture, dredged into flour and then fried to to a crisp golden brown. Then, it was dipped into/drizzled/smothered with this wonderful Cilantro Butter which when microwaved turns into instant sauce.
Asuhos fillets are perfect for frying because it’s thin and it gets crispy even when you fry it for a only short period of time.
Frozen Boneless Asuhos
So what has been happening to me these past few days? Well, since it’s humpday, let me give you a recap.
I had a haircut yesterday. Nothing dramatic, just a much needed trim because my hair is just screaming for it. I’m planning to have it rebonded again maybe next month. Right now, I just want to get rid of old hair.
Ykaie had a recreational swimming at the school swimming pool in the morning. She had so much fun swimming with her classmates but they had to go back to class afterwards. Oh, they have a field trip coming up.
I’m having fun with our dog, J.R. Can you believe it? and I love him to pieces even if he doesn’t smell cute at times. He finally learned how to go up and down the two flights of stairs at home. Something which used to scare the hell out of him on his first month with us.
It’s been a challenge living in our own home. I’ve been planning to start on my Halloween recipes but sometimes I just get too tired to even take out my Halloween thingies. On top of that, life is gonna get busy next week because I will be attending several events here and there. It’s still a good October and I’m crossing my fingers for it to turn into amazing.
I wanted to make Beer-Battered Fish and Chips to give my new Princess Easy Fryer 3L a try but my food preference has been a bit topsy-turvy these days. I ended up making Breaded Fish Fillet instead because I am craving for that crunch that only japanese bread crumbs can give. These Breaded Fish Fillet went well with Sriracha Mayo Sauce and some buttered mushrooms.
Using the Princess Easy Fryer couldn’t be more easy. It’s as simple as pouring in your cooking oil, turning it on, and turning the know into your preferred temperature. I was also able to use it to fry a large batch of chicken for Ykaie’s 7th Birthday. It cooks evenly and there’s no need to turn the fish or chicken from time to time.
Dredge in flour, dip in beaten eggs, then coat in japanese bread crumbs. Do this to all cream dory fillet pieces.
Heat oil in a pan (or in my case the Princess Easy Fryer), then fry each fillet of fish until golden brown.
For the sriracha may, just combine mayonnaise and sriracha and mix well.
Serve with hot steamed rice and a side dish like buttered mushroom.
3.2.2885
Giveaway
Because it’s nearly Christmas, Rustan Marketing Corporation is giving away One (1) Princess Easy Fryer to one lucky The Peach Kitchen reader!!!
Just follow the Rafflecopter below..
a Rafflecopter giveaway UPDATE: The winner of this giveaway is KC Fatima Carreon!
Congratulations!
I will be e-mailing you on how you can claim your prize.
Thank you so much for joining!
Just a few more reminders:
This contest is open to all readers with a METRO MANILA address where they can deliver the prize. All prizes will be delivered byRustan Marketing Corporation
Please follow and complete all the requirements on Rafflecopter.
There will only be one winner
This giveaway will start today from November 28 , 2014 until December 5, 2014
I will announce the winner on December 6, 2014.
The winner will be notified through the e-mail provided.
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Balay Shells or Ugpan but I’ve seen them for time to time being sold at the local wet market near our place. I don’t remember this shellfish served at home but now that I regularly go to the market my curiosity is piqued! I actually made a mental note to try out all the seafood/shellfish/fish that I haven’t tried before and to see how they taste.
And I’m starting with this: Balay Shells or Ugpan. I think this is called Tongue Shells in English and it’s fairly cheap. We got 300g of Ugpan for ₱30 which is a lot and it could serve 3-4 persons.
uncooked Balay Shells or Ugpan
This is what uncooked Balay Shells looks like. It has that black-thingy at the end of it’s “tongue” (or whatever you call it). You have to trim it off before cooking so that you can coax the meat from it later on.
Since I didn’t know how to cook it, peanutbutter♥ and I asked the vendor how the cook it. He told us it’s scrumptious when cooked like Totcho. So it was sauteed in tahure (fermented tofu), onion, tomato, garlic, and ginger. Unlike mussels and clams, this shellfish doesn’t open even when cooked. You have to open it yourself to get the meat inside the shell.
I like the white meat that comes out of it’s tongue but I find the meat inside to rubbery for my taste. I still prefer oysters, mussels, and clams but it’s great that I got to try it.
Congratulate me. I feel energetic and I don’t feel sleepy…. not at all. Today was a no rice day for me. Lunch was this delicious hot bowl of Prawn Laksa and dinner was bread and Buffalo Wings. I tried a new hot sauce and a new recipe for Buffalo Wings and it works! Only peanutbutter♥ was already hungry and I didn’t have time to take a photo so I’m saving that for another day.
Somebody has been craving for Laksa for more than a week now…..
You might think it was me because I’m the one who’s pregnant but you’re wrong! peanutbutter♥‘s the one who’s craving. He even ordered a bowl of it last thursday at Rumah Saté at Ketchup Community in Baguio. I guess he wasn’t satisfied. It had to be cooked at home. So while I was busy being a judge at the 1st Navotas Food Festival Search for Navoteño Chef 2015 (whew! that was long) this morning, he went ahead and bought the ingredients for this Prawn Laksa — well, except for the Laksa paste ’cause we already have that at home.
He did all the cooking….well, except for the tofu, which he said takes so long to fry. Yeah, tofu and peanutbutter♥ never gets along and their problem dates waaaayy back..heehee. Tofu and I get along just fine so I did the frying and the plating, of course!
What a creamy, spicy, and flavorsome lunch! Judging from the smile on peanutbutter♥‘s face and the sweat on his forehead, I’d say he was satisfied with two big bowls of Prawn Laksa!
Shrimp Scampi is a perfect weeknight meal you can make in under 30 minutes but elegant enough for company! It is rich with the flavors of shrimp, garlic, and butter.
In four days, I managed to empty the big plastic jar that contains the Dates and Almond Granola I made last friday. I’m trying to limit my intake of sweets and while I was trying to avoid cookies and biscuits and chocolates — I was perpetually craving for something I could munch on. I was telling myself it was healthy… next thing I knew, I was holding an empty tub. Oh well.
I think this is partially related to my adjustment period over peanutbutter♥ going back to a nightly work schedule. I am so used to him being around me the whole day and helping around the house. Now that he’s working, I miss sleeping beside him at night and I absolutely miss him helping me with the household chores.
During weekdays, Ykaie sleeps beside me. This gives us plenty of mother-daughter bonding and heart to heart talks before going to bed. She sleeps back to her room during weekends when it’s her daddy’s day off.
Anyway, one of the things I love doing years back was prepare peanutbutter♥‘s lunch baon at work. I actually have a category in this blog way back in 2009 called peanutbutter♥’s lunch. Something I came up with because I wanted to document what I lovingly prepare for him. Like this Bagoong Rice, Alaminos LongSiLog, and the ugliest bento I’ve ever seen..LOL!
These days, he said he didn’t want heavy lunches to bring at work, so what I do is prepare sandwiches for him instead. Yesterday, I made Shrimp Scampi Spaghetti for early dinner and that’s also what he brought for lunch at work. He loved it! I’m thinking I should bring back the peanutbutter♥‘s lunch portion here in my blog.
I’m also inspired to make more healthy, delicious, easy-to-make/30 minute meals like this Shrimp Scampi.
I’m sure you’ll love this recipe. It has all the flavors of Summer and it won’t make you stay long in the kitchen.
Chipotle Garlic Shrimp Po’ Boy, a healthier version of the po’ boy with “the peach kitchen” twist!
Always Sleepy. Doesn’t get enough sleep at night. Always Tired. Always Hungry. Never ending cravings. Crybaby. Welcome to my 28th week! My bump has become so big and I wish I could just fast forward myself to when I already gave birth.
I am waiting for my radiance and my overflowing peace….
Nope it’s not coming. I feel crazy and happy and depressed and tired all at the same time. And I almost always don’t want to move. Add the fact that I’ve grown some bumps in some of the places where I didn’t have any and my nose looks like a large native tomato. Oh, the joys of pregnancy.. LOL! Kidding aside, I’m beginning to feel how hard it is when you’re about to approach your full term. Again, how I wish I could fast forward myself into the near future when I’ve already given birth.
peanutbutter♥ has changed schedule once again from 10pm- 7am , his new schedule is now 2am-11am. I find myself re-adjusting to the new schedule. You know what, it’s gonna change again after two weeks and I will have to re-adjust. I think I might just go bonkers with all these changes!
My OB advised me to avoid sweets as much as possible and not to eat too much. That is something that’s hard for me to do because it’s during this time where my cravings starts to kick in. I”m trying to eat healthier, though. Having less rice than what I wanted and opting for healthier options.
I’ve been wanting to make Shrimp Po’ Boy since the Holy Week but I couldn’t get my hands on a french baguette. I was finally able to buy one last Sunday and you know what, it’s really the bread that makes it what it is! It’s all you would ever want in a sandwich — spicy, earthy, crunchy, chewy, juicy, and with all the flavors off the sea.
A po’ boy (also po-boy, po boy, or poor boy) is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat, usually roast beef, or fried seafood, or sometimes chicken or ham. The meat is served on baguette-like New Orleans French bread, known for its crisp crust and fluffy center.
What I love about this is that instead of covering the shrimp with cornmeal and frying it, I seared it in extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes making it healthier.
The shrimp was loaded with all the tasty herbs and spices I could find in my cupboard: thyme, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper.
I will have to thank Gourmate for the Chipotle Garlic hot sauce that just made this po’ boy much more amazing!
Now, I wonder how was I able to live without this sandwich for so long?
1 tbsp hot sauce (I used Gourmate Chipotle Garlic for that Chipotle Garlic flavor)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
around 16 pieces (or more) of shrimp (thawed, peeled and deveined)
1 French baguette, cut into fourths and toasted
1 tomato, sliced, for garnish
1 cup (or more) arugula, for garnish
Directions
In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chipotle garlic hot sauce and lemon juice. Stir until combined and set aside. If using regular hot sauce, you can add 2 cloves of minced garlic.
In another little bowl, combine the thyme, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne. Toss over the shrimp, coating them.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the shrimp and sear on one side for 2 minutes. Flip and sear 30 more seconds. Remove from heat.
Spread the chipotle garlic mayo along the inside of the warm baguette. Layer with tomato, arugula and seared shrimp.
This Lobster Roll is so easy to make and so delicious… I just wish I could afford to eat lobster everyday…
Yay! I finally had my C-Section scheduled next week, June 20 (sis’s birthdate). It’s still a tentative schedule but it’s good enough. We can’t wait to see the newest member of our family. I wanted it to be scheduled on July 2nd which was peanutbutter♥‘s birthday but my OB told me that the date is too far out and I might go into labor by that time. – And so I chose the 20th. It’s in a week and we’re very excited. So if you don’t see me updating my blogs next saturday and the following days, I’m probably in the hospital welcoming another princess into our family.
To celebrate this upcoming special day in our lives is this Lobster Roll. As you all know, lobster is expensive in this part of the world. It’s not something we can afford to eat everyday but only on special occasions. In case you were wondering where I got my lobster, well, I got it from when we went to Club Punta Fuego in Nasugbu last week. On the way home, we passed by an old lady selling lobsters and curacha on the street. We weren’t able to resist and we bought some.
I felt cheated, though. A kilo of lobster costs ₱750 and the meat you get from a kilo is about only 1½ cups… *sob*. Unlike in hotel buffets, you pay ₱1,500 and you get to eat as much lobsters as you want.
Anyway, I thought of making the lobster we bought into this Lobster Roll because we just had Steamed Mantis Shrimp prior to this…and if we’re gonna steam this again, then that would be just like eating the same thing. Mantis Shrimp (Or Tatampal) is kinda like cheap lobster, right?
And so, to make the long story short, the lobster got steamed, the meat was removed and chopped, herbed, seasoned, and then tucked comfortably inside a buttered roll.
Served it with fried potato wedges on the side…. breakfast was yum!
These Crispy Shrimp Bibimbap Bowls were inspired partly by Bonchon and partly by my failed attempt in making Korean Spicy Squid.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed the decline in recipe post for the last several months. I know you did. I’m blaming it on when I got pregnant (I was super lazy to cook and all I ever wanted was sleep), I gave birth ( you know, recovery and of course, my new born who needed me every minute of the day), and my eldest, grade two student who needs me whenever my newborn doesn’t. I wished there was 48 hours in a day.
The mind have been willing but the flesh was weak. Believe me, I made a lot of meal planning but failed miserably. Our weekly menu had been caught in a slump. It was Sinigang, Nilaga, Tinola, Longganisa, Chicken Curry, Fried Chicken, and Menudo. Then it gets repeated the following week.
In an attempt to break it, I bought a pack of Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) and Doenjang (Soy Bean Paste). I also bought frozen squid rings. I thought it would be nice to keep it at home. Just in case, I have extra time I can make Korean Spicy Squid because I already have all the ingredients. How wrong was I. Oh yes, I was able to make Korean Spicy Squid, the sauce was amazing but I found out one thing. Those frozen squid rings are only good for making fried Calamari. It doesn’t even taste like squid.
peanutbutter♥ asked if I wasn’t going to take a photo of it and I said yes. He asked why and I told him I didn’t like the taste and that I would just give it another try but with fresh squid next time. He suggested I should do it with prawns/shrimp instead. There was a lightbulb moment. I’ve been craving Bibimbap lately and there’s two packs of Kimchi inside our fridge from a failed attempt to make Kimchi rice when there was leftover beef.
Since I love the Crispy Shrimp we had at Bonchon a few months ago, I thought it would be nice to make this as the meat for our Bibimbap bowls.
Bibimbap is a signature Korean dish served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce, or doenjang, a salty soybean paste, fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) It is stirred together thoroughly just before eating and it has all the flavors you can think of.
This was lunch today. Crossing my fingers I get to make delicious lunch (or breakfast or dinner) everyday for the rest of the week.
500g Shrimp, shells removed except tails and deveined
2 tbsp Gochujang (Korean hot red pepper paste)
2 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp vinegar
½ cup flour
½ cup + 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups oil for frying + 2 tbsp canola oil
3 cups fresh spinach + 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup sliced fresh shiitake mushroom + 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup carrots, cut into matchsticks
½ cup kimchi, (I used Dae Jang Gum Kimchi)
½ cup fresh beansprouts
3-4 bowls of cooked rice
3-4 sunny-side up fried egg
sriracha for serving
sesame seeds for garnish
Directions
Combine gochujang, honey, garlic, and vinegar in a large bowl. Mix well and set aside.
In a non-stick skillet, sauté garlic and 1 tbsp canola oil. Add sliced shiitake mushrooms. Keep sauteeing for 30 seconds and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In the same skillet, sauté garlic and 1 tbsp canola oil. Add fresh spinach. Keep sauteeing for until spinach is wilted and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Heat oil for frying in a pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, water, and cornstarch to form a slurry. Dip each shrimp into the slury and fry until golden. and crispy.
Toss in the Gochujang sauce to coat.
To serve, assemble in a bowl. Put rice in bowls, top with one fried egg, a bit of sautéed shiitake mushrooms, sautéed spinach, carrots, kimchi, beansprouts and about 3-4 pieces of crispy shrimp.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and Serve with Sriracha.
Easy and healthy Salmon Teriyaki you can make in minutes..
Hello September! — errr, well, technically this post was meant yesterday because this was yesterday’s lunch.
It’s the start of the BER months, people — and I am as excited as Ykaie for the holidays. Hide all your swimsuits ’cause it’s time for celebrations, indulgence, and decadent desserts. It’s a bit different for me this year, though. I’m keeping the indulgence and the decadent desserts at a minimum. It’s been two months since I gave birth and I think it’s about time that I start losing my pregnancy weight gain. I gained 60 freaking pounds! That’s about 28 Kilos! I already lost 20 lbs the last couple of sleepless months and I have 40 more to go — well, 50 if you want to take into account the “last 10 lbs” every woman wants to lose. All the clothes in my closet doesn’t fit and I was shocked when I tried on a couple of blouses and a trouser at the department store. I’m gonna cry if I’m gonna shop only for clothes so I also bought a skullcandy backpack
When I made this Salmon Teriyaki yesterday, I told myself that instead of eating a rice bowl I’ll just eat the salmon with the sautéed spinach, hence the photo above. But rice is so hard to resist, so I got myself about half a cup to satisfy my cravings.
This September is just the right time to eat healthier and watch my portions. I’ll be watching my rice intake too! Well I’ll try my best. Being so active in food blogging makes it doubly hard for me but I will try.
Wish me luck.
This easy Salmon Teriyaki recipe was made using Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce which I’m kind of not satisfied with. I’d rather use Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade which I used when I made my Chicken Teriyaki Bowl.
Sardines Toast is one of my favorite ways to eat San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines. It’s is healthy and flavorful.
When you have a newborn to take care of, life is forever busy and there are times you wish that there are 48 hours in the day just so you can do all the things that you have to do. I love cooking but as you can see I can’t be bothered to cook these days. I am busy answering my little Twinkle’s beck and call. This is the reason why most of the things that makes up our weekly grocery cart are things that are easy to cook, easy to prepare, delicious, and healthy. Can you imagine how difficult it is to think about food that contains all of those qualities?
Most of the food that are easy to cook (or no-cook) and easy to prepare are generally not healthy and delicious. Those that are healthy and delicious are not easy to prepare and easy to cook. This is how I found San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines.
San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines are made with select freshly caught herring fish with intact scales. It is the best-tasting bottled Spanish Sardines in the market today. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t have that fishy taste that tells you the fish used wasn’t fresh. What I love most about it is that it has No Preservatives!
Whenever I’m too busy or too tired to cook, all I do is open a bottle of San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines and whip up a plate of pasta, top this over hot steaming rice, sauté this with vegetables, or top in on buttered toast. Easy-peasy, healthy, and delicious meal for my family making it the best choice for every day meals whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Health Benefits
Did you know that San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines has Omega-3 that lowers blood cholesterol level? Eating this regularly would reduce the risk of having heart problems.
San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines is a good source of protein and energy and only has 3g of carbohydrates so it’s also perfect for those people who are trying to lose weight or those who are trying to eat healthier.
And if you think you can never indulge while trying to eat healthy, well, that’s where you’re wrong.
Indulge yourself to a luxurious dining experience with San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines. With it’s delicious and flavorful taste plus the health benefits you can get from it, it’s such a steal at ₱95!
I will be posting a couple more recipes using San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines meanwhile I’m leaving you with this Sardines Toast, a simple breakfast I indulged in this morning.
Halloween with a seafood theme! This is what makes this weekend’s Squid Ink Pasta Vongole…
It’s not even October yet but I think I’m ready to break out the Halloween recipes for this year. You all know how much I love Halloween, right?! Last year, we were so busy moving into our new home and adjusting into our new life that I was only able to post one recipe unlike the past years where in I had, like, three or more.
For Halloween Pasta Recipe which I planned to be a yearly thing but wasn’t able to follow-through, I made the Squid Ink Linguine and Swamp Pesto with Severed Fingers. This year, I’m crossing my fingers I make subtle, less yucky, and more normal recipes starting off with this Squid Ink Vongole. This is regular vongole recipe only black pasta was used instead of the usual spaghetti.
I also used Lanzones Wine instead of dry white wine because that’s the only wine in my cupboard I’m loving local..heehee. It was really nice that I was able to buy fresh clams because I’ve been meaning to make this for the longest time now. The clams made a mess on my kitchen counter while they purge, squirting water here and there and all over the countertop where they were resting.
Just in case you’re wondering, here’s…
How To Store/Purge Clams
When cooking with clams, make sure you buy live ones to make sure it’s still fresh by the time you use it. But be careful, live clams are highly perishable. Once it dies, it is susceptible to bacterial contamination and may cause food poisoning when ingested. To keep it alive and purge it at the same time, it should be stored in salted water in an open container in a cool temperature. Not necessarily in the fridge, unless you want your fridge with splashes of salted water, you can put the container in a cool part of your house.
Live clams can also be frozen in the shell and kept up to three months. To do so, place the live clams in moisture vapor-resistant bags, press out excess air, and freeze.
Waiting for the clams to purge overnight has tested my patience because I already want to make this the day the clams were bought. But it was worth it because aside from it being easy to make, it also turned out delicious. After all, even the pasta was made of seafood! The only complain I received was that the clam wasn’t enough. Sis said there should be 2 kilos of clam which would make a 1 clam to 5 strands of pasta ratio… LOL!
A photo posted by Peachy Adarne (@thepeachkitchen) on
Just got home today from a really nice staycation at the City Garden Grand Hotel with my loves. I was able to get some rest but it was a bit difficult for us because we have two month old Twinkle. Would tell you more about it soon. For now, let’s enjoy this Squid Ink Pasta Vongole and think about Halloween-y thoughts.
400g squid ink pasta, (The one I used is bought from Rustan's but you can use any squid ink pasta you like)
750g clams, purged overnight
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
½ cup white wine (I used the lanzones wine available at home, see photo above.)
dried chili flakes
Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions.The fresh squid ink pasta I bought from Rustan's has to be boiled for 3 minutes only and it's done. Set aside.
Heat olive oil and butter in a sauce pan, sauté garlic and onion until onion becomes translucent.
Pour in the wine and add the clams, cover with the lid until clams opens (around 3-4 minutes).
The olive oil, butter, and wine will form a syrupy sauce. You can season with salt if needed.
Toss squid ink pasta in the sauce and sprinkle with dried chili flakes.
I’m not entirely familiar with beer and food pairings but I discovered an appreciation for it when I attended the recently concluded Ultimate Taste Test 2015.
It was sponsored by San Miguel Lifestyle Brews, San Miguel’s finest beers crafted with the choicest ingredients and brewed in small batches. It is composed of three beers namely San Miguel Premium All Malt, San Miguel Super Dry, and Cerveza Negra.
Like what I’ve said before, beer and food pairing is new to me. And because of my newfound love and appreciation for it, I’ve decided to explore it further by having my own beer pairings at home. Isn’t it exciting?
To get the ball rolling, I’m starting with San Miguel Premium All Malt.
According to the website, San Miguel Premium All Malt is a brew that is truly meant for those who enjoy the finer things in life. After all, its malty aroma and pleasant hop notes come from a harmonious blend of hops and carefully selected pilsen malt picked from world-class farms in Europe, Australia, and North America resulting in a smooth, full-flavored, slightly sweetish, golden, premium lager with balanced bitterness.
For my inexperienced palate, I find it less bitter than regular beer and has a malty flavor. I guess these qualities are what makes it perfect to pair with seafood or white meats like chicken.
Today, I paired it with creamy Mussels and Fries. The mussels are simmered in garlic and cream. Then curry powder is added to provide a little depth in flavor. The french fries is there to satisfy the craving for something salty and starchy — more of like a savory ending to a perfect pairing.
Call a friend. Pull up a chair. Spread some old newspaper. Don’t worry about making a mess of the shells….. then have the best conversation you haven’t had for a long time. Gossip, laugh, be silly.
The creamy flavor of the sea paired with San Miguel Premium All Malt is simply captivating.
Creamy, flavorful, and a bit spicy — this Spicy Shrimp Penne will surely be a hit with the family this holiday.
There is no way that pasta is gonna miss Christmas at home. It’s always present because somebody will always be looking for it on the Christmas spread. Just the other day, I was writing about the top ten Filipino dishes that’s present in every occasion and… survey says…..pasta is one of them! The thing is what we always prepare are the usual like the Filipino-Style Spaghetti or Carbonara. This Christmas, it’s time to create a new pasta dish for the family. A pasta dish that’s quite like a mixture of the Pinoy Spaghetti and Carbonara because it has creamy tomato sauce but is a bit healthy because it uses seafood instead of bacon and ground beef.
And just like our Christmas traditions, Carnation Evap has always been a part of the family. It’s one of the main ingredients when it comes to traditional desserts like Leche Flan and Ube Halaya. It’s also what makes Pininyahang Manok and Broken Glass Window Gelatin über creamy! Today, it’s gonna be the star of my Christmas pasta dish.
Shells are removed from the shrimps, seasoned, and fried in olive oil. Crushed tomatoes, onions, and garlic are sautéed in the same pan then Carnation Evap is added to make for a creamy sauce. Cooked penne pasta and the shrimps are tossed back in. It’s seasoned with red pepper flakes for that extra kick that’ll surely warm you up on a chilly Christmas eve.
It’s my first time to use Carnation Evap on a pasta dish. I’d say that it’s great if you want a thinner cream sauce for your pasta or creamy pasta dish that’s not too heavy.
My family will surely enjoy this Spicy Shrimp Penne in Creamy Tomato Sauce! Merry Christmas everyone!