Know who invented your favorite Batchoy

Are you curious as who really invented "batchoy"? 

Batchoy is a Philippine soup recipe that consists of noodles, soup, pork and beef. Said to have originated in La Paz, Iloilo, does the name ring a bell now? La Paz Batchoy :D the recipe is available all year round but is especially popular during the rainy season. Find out more about the La Paz batchoy on Yahoo's La Paz Batchoy FaceOff...

Image by: Yahoo

So the next time you crave for the best Batchoy in town, why not visit an authentic Ilonggo restaurant to dine? :D

Goto Recipe

Visiting Tagaytay last Saturday was a blast. And the chilly, rainy weather made it all the more inviting. So what's the best way to warm up? Goto over great brewed coffee..

Ingredients:

1  ½ lbs cow tripe, cut into squares (approx 1x1 inches)

1 cup uncooked rice

500ml water

500ml beef stock or 1 piece beef cube

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp garlic, minced

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 cup onion, minced

4 pieces hard boiled eggs

1 cup scallions (green onions), minced

2 knobs ginger, julienned

3-5pcs kalamansi

How to cook:

Saute garlic, onion and ginger

Add some ground black pepper and the cow tripe. Cook for 2-3 minutes

Add the fish sauce and water. Bring to boil and simmer until cow tripe is tender

Add rice and stir

Add the beef broth and bring to boil

Occasionally stir until rice is cooked (takes about 35-45 minutes)

Add the hardboiled eggs and stir

Served hot with chopped scallions, fried chopped garlic and kalamansi

Biko (Glutinous rice) Recipe

Biko is a common recipe in the Philippines and another glutinous rice treat simply cooked with coconut milk and brown sugar. This is commonly categorized locally as “kakanin” or dessert . The cooking process is very simple and can be done by anyone.

Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice (malagkit rice)

2 cups coconut milk

2 cups coconut milk (for latik)

2 cups brown sugar

2 ½ cups water

½ tsp. salt

How to cook the Biko:

• Thoroughly wash the glutinous rice, combine it with water and cook  (the same way you cook ordinary white rice)
• In a separate pan, combine the coconut milk, brown sugar and salt. Keep stirring until it becomes thick.
• Once the glutinous rice is cooked, and the milk sugar is thick, scoop the glutinous rice and add it to the milk – sugar mixture and mix them well together.  (keep the milk-sugar mixture in a low fire while mixing it with rice).
• Place the cooked biko in a flat serving plate and flatten it.
• Spread the latik on top, serve and eat :D

How to cook Latik:

• In a saucepan, pour 2 cups of coconut milk and bring to boil
• Stir continuously until almost all the liquid is gone (will take around 10 to 15 minutes)
• Once the residue turns brown and the oil is separated already, scoop the residue (this will be the “latik” you put on top of the biko)

Ginataang Sitaw with Baboy

Some recipes are best cooked and enjoyed on a rainy day. So The Easy Kitchen is once again bringing something perfect for the season. Tara Let's Eat!

Recipe inspired by Elmo's Kitchen

Ingredients:

½ kilo pork (sliced into cubes)

3 bundles string beans (cut into 1 ½ to 2 inches long)

1 ½ cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic

1pc medium size onion

I pc medium size ginger (cut into strips)

3-4 pcs finger chillies (siling haba) (coarsely sliced)

Cooking oil (for sautéing)

Salt and seasoning

How to cook:

• Sautee garlic, onion and ginger in a pan.
• Add sliced pork and sautee until it turns brown
• Add sliced finger chillies and stir
• Add the coconut milk and let it boil for few minutes then let it simmer until pork gets tender
• Add salt and seasoning and stir
• Serve and Eat

Ginataang Ampalaya na may Takal

One of the few things I don't dare to cook is a recipe that requires some coconut milk in it. As I mentioned on my previous posts, this is because I have this notion that there is a certain way you cook food with coconut milk. However, hanging around with a family who came from a place where "guinataan" recipes are abundant, and thus expert in doing so, you might see The Easy Kitchen feature more and more guinataan recipes in the future. 

Recipe inspired by Elmo's Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 pcs. large ampalaya (sliced into strips)

2 bundles string beans (cut in 1 ½ to 2 in. long)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 pc. Onion (chopped)

2 pcs. tomatoes

Cooking oil

1 ½ cups gata (coconut milk)

1 cup takal (takal is a seafood ingredient similar to oyster)

(when in Bicol, takal is usually already boiled and cooked)

2 pcs siling haba / finger chillies  (coarsely chopped)

Salt and seasoning

How to cook:

• In a small pan, saute garlic, onions and takal. Set aside.
• In a small pot, put together the ampalaya (bitter melon), string beans, tomatoes and coarsely chopped finger chillies and add the coconut milk. 
• Bring to simmer until vegetable is half done. (Do not overcook)
• Add salt and seasoning to taste.
• Add the sauteed takal and simmer again for a minute or two.
• Serve and Eat with white rice.

Crab Rice and Crispy Pata