Crispy Pata (Deep-Fried Pork Leg)

This is one of the best seller dish in most authentic Pilipino restaurant. Pata is the front of hind leg of the pig. Crispy pata means deep fried pata with a crunchy rind and soft and moist meat inside. The best pata for this dish is usually that of a young pig to make a tender, tasty and really crispy pata. The only thing to consider is that it takes a while to cook crispy pata where the pata has to be both boiled and deep-fried. But its really worth the effort once you come up with a tasty and yummy crispy pata!

Main Ingredients:

• 1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)

• 1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)

• 4 tablespoons of flour

• Enough oil for deep frying

• Enough water for boiling

Cooking Instructions:

• Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.

• Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.

• On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

• Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.

• After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.

• In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Crispy Pata Deep Sauce:
Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pork Menudo

Spanish in origin, Menudo is similar to cocido except that no chorizo de bilbao (spanish sausage) is added. Menudo is a rich dish with sauce thickened and flavored by finely chopped onions,
tomatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, carrots and bell peppers. The acidity of the tomatoes and tomato paste is tempered by the sweetness of raisins. Menudo can also be cooked using boneless chicken thighs.

Main Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)

• 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)

• 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)

• 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)

• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)

• 1 cup chickpeas

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1 cup pork or chicken stock

• 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 3 tablespoons oil

• 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)

• 3 tomatoes (diced)

• 1 small head of garlic (minced)

• 1 medium size onion (diced)

Cooking Instructions:

• n a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.

• Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.

• Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

• Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.

• Salt and pepper to taste.

• Serve hot with white rice.

Kaldereta

Kaldereta is a popular dish in the Philippines, its common ingredients are cuts of pork, beef or goat with tomato paste or sauce with liver spread added to it. In Manila, it is usually added with potatoes but in provinces, its simply the sauce and the cuts of the meat that are being used. It is another favorite food to serve in local festivities.

Main Ingredients:

• 1 kilo beef, cut into chunks

• 1 big can (350g) liver spread or ground liver

• 5 onions, minced

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 tomatoes, sliced

• 1 cup tomato sauce

• 3 green peppers, diced

• 3 red peppers, diced

• 4 pieces hot chilli peppers, minced

• 3/4 cup grated cheese

• 2 cups beef stock or water

• 1/4 cup cooking or olive oil

Cooking Instructions:

• In a casserole, sauté: garlic and onions in oil. Then add tomatoes, red & green pepper and chilli peppers.

• Add in the beef, tomato sauce, liver spread and water or stock. Salt to taste and let simmer for at least 1 hour or until the beef is tender.

• Add cheese and olives (optional) and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.

• Serve with plain rice.

Cooking Tips:

• Instead of beef, goat's meat (kambing) can be used. If goat's meat is used, marinate the meat in vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes.

• For a special kaldereta, do not use water or beef stock. Use an equivalent weight of onions to the beef (1 kg of onions : 1 kg of beef). The onions will serve as water to the dish.

Sinigang

Sinigang is also another famous Philippine dish known for the variety of ingredients that can be added to it and for its famous taste. Sinigang is well known for its sour taste and often combined as viand with rice. It is also a great soup or "sabaw" to match with almost any other viands. Pork sinigang is the most common variety and is usually prepared with tamarind, tomato, okra, spinach radish, green pepper and string beans. Chicken sinigang on the other hand is called Sinampalukan- sampalok being the tagalog for Tamarind. Estimated cooking and prepation is usually 1 hour.

Main Ingredients:

• 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks

• 3 tomatoes, sliced

• 2 onions, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)

• 100 grams String beans

• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced

• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed

• 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)

• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 1 liter of rice wash or water

Cooking Instructions:

• Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.
• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.
• Serve piping hot.

Cooking Tips:

Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.

Kare Kare

This is a perfect mix of vegetable and meat. it is also one of the classic pinoy food and is a regular offerings in festivities particularly in Tagalog region. Kare Kare is a Philippine stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables and may include goat meat or chicken meat in rare cases. It is often served with bagoong (shrimp paste) sometimes spiced with chili and sprinkled with calamansi lime juice. Estimated cooking time is 2 hours.


Main Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo beef (round or sirloin cut) cut into cubes (for a more traditional kare kare, use cleaned beef tripe instead of beef)

• 1/2 kilo oxtail, cut 2 inch long

• 3 cups of peanut butter

• 1/4 cup grounded toasted rice

• 1/2 cup cooked bagoong alamang (anchovies)

• 2 pieces onions, diced

• 2 heads of garlic, minced

• 4 tablespoons atsuete oil

• 4 pieces eggplant, sliced 1 inch thick

• 1 bundle Pechay (Bok choy) cut into 2 pieces

• 1 bundle of sitaw (string beans) cut to 2" long

• 1 banana bud, cut similar to eggplant slices, blanch in boiling water

• 1/2 cup oil

• 8 cups of water

• Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions:

• In a stock pot, boil beef and oxtails in water for an hour or until cooked. Strain and keep the stock.

• In a big pan or wok, heat oil and atsuete oil.

• Sauté garlic, onions until golden brown, then add the stock, toasted rice, beef, oxtail and peanut butter. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Salt to taste.

• Add the eggplant, string beans, pechay and banana bud. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes - Do not overcook the vegetables.

• Serve with bagoong on the side and hot plain rice.

Pork / Chicken Adobo

Pinoys loves Adobo! This is one thing that every pinoy can regard as one of our national dish because this is a favorite food to be served on the table at practically all occassion. Adobo is easy to cook and easy to prepare that is why you will find it almost always available in in menu for home, canteen & restaurants.

Main Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork, cut in cubes

• 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces

• 1 head garlic, minced

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1 cup vinegar

• 2 cups of water

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)

• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 3 tablespoons water

Cooking Instructions:

• In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.

• Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.

• Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.

• Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce and add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.

• Add salt and/or pepper if desired

• Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

• Serve hot with the adobo gravy and plain rice.

Cooking Tips:

You have the option to add crushed ginger to the onions and garlic when sautéing. Ginger adds a unique flavor to your pork/chicken adobo.