Food allergies are a terrible thing to live with, especially if it’s shrimp and crustaceans you cannot eat anymore!  Does one really have a choice when the last lobster meal I had sent me to the emergency room half dead?  Goodness, but hat meal was worth it….

Spouse loves shrimps.  He has a  nose like an English hound for the best deals on “Eat All You Can Shrimp” promos from here to Iowa.  For Valentine’s Day, I just had to make him a shrimp dish to make up for all the shrimp he cannot have all the rest of the year.

Cook about half a pound of spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1 c. of the pasta water.  Meantime, saute about 1.5 tsps. of minced garlic in hot olive oil over medium-high heat just before it turns brown.  

Add as much deveined, shelled shrimps as you want.  Throw in a few capers, about a tablespoonfull.  Keep stirring and throw in some pasta water to build on your sauce.  This should only take a couple of minutes.  Throw in some chopped parsley and Olivio margarine at the last minute.  Season with salt and pepper according to taste.  Squrt with fresh lemon juice before serving.

Some of you might want to add red pepper flakes to this dish, the heat blends nicely.  But please don’t add cheese.  The flavor will overpower the sweetness of the shrimp.

Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza and Calzone

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I’ve written about some other family members too so I wondered if I was ever going to be found out. It had to be my uncle, the oldest member of our family – and I am so very proud of his internet savvy!

Even if I haven’t written in a few months, I’ve been cooking and trying out different recipes. My biggest thrill is to try out recipes with my family who never really got to try a lot of my cooking. This is one recipe that was a great success with everyone. I cooked this at Eldest Sister’s once and one by one, my nieces and Eldest Nephew came to see me while I was still frying away. They came out to the dirty kitchen, fish in hand, to tell me it was great. It was the sweetest thing. Eldest Sister’s kids are not that easy to please so that show was really appreciated.

I started with a recipe from Feyma Martin’s Full Circle blog and tweaked it a little. I lessened the beer to just one can to get a thicker batter. I also use a light beer so the taste isn’t too strong. Then I use very cold beer and frozen cream dory fillets from the supermarket that are partially thawed. I emphasize that because those are two ways you can ensure a real crisp coating with a flaky, and still juicy fish inside. The contrast is fantastic. The idea came to me when I learned that the Japanese use ice chips in their tempura batter to get it extra crisp. Those two tips work great and you’ll get perfect fish fries every time.

This was served with regular french fries and my usual coleslaw.

These fish steaks are what we call “tanigue” from the tuna family. This fish is a delicate, white-meat fish perfect for smoking or grilling, or as a ceviche. It’s very versatile and quite popular in seafood grill restaurants all over the country.

These steaks were supermarket bought but never frozen. I’m loving the fact that any seafood we now eat never has to see the inside of a freezer ever. When we lived in Colorado, I would always think of how far the seafood I was preparing had such a long way to travel to get to my pan. We were in he mountains after all….so far away from the nearest shoreline…way up in the mountains no less.

These steaks were simple to prepare. I made sure they were dry, seasoned them with salt and pepper and cooked them over a hot, stainless steel pan with a little olive oil. I like my seafood moist so the cooking process took only a couple minutes for each side. Just before I took it off the heat, I tossed in some butter and calamansi juice into the pan till it sizzled and then plated the fish.

This is simple, delicious and healthy. Fresh is a bonus, perhaps for toughing it out living in the tropics…just rewards, don’t you think?

Another entry for Lasang Pinoy’s 20th Edition titled “Binalot – All Wrapped Up!”. This dish is simply called “Binalot” by Bicolanos. It’s shrimp and coconut meat wrapped in gabi leaves then stewed and braised in coconut cream and herbs and spices.

This is one dish I’d never seen or tasted before but it intrigued me no end when Youngest Sister first told me about it. I asked two native Bicolanas I know about it. One was our laundrywoman who also plants and sells vegetables for a sideline. She also brought me the fresh taro leaves and herbs I needed. Actually, she brought me a whole lot of leaves yesterday…but more on that in the next post.

Apparently, I made one big mistake according to Youngest Sister. The wrap should have less stuffing and more of the leaves. I only used one large taro leaf per pouch. It would have been more interesting with more layers of leaves soaking up the coconut cream. She said I also should have let it dry further, till only the coconut oils are left in the pan. My big worry during cooking was drying it up too much that the pouches were going to burn! It turned out alright. My sister said it was delicious, and suprisingly, my husband loved it.

I had a little problem sourcing the coconut meat for the stuffing. You need to use the “bucayo-stage” coconut meat. There are several stages to a coconut: mala-uhog (literally, snot-like), mala-kanin (rice-like, for salads), bucayo (thick meat but not mature enough to yield coconut milk), niyog (mature, for milk extraction mainly). I asked our buko-man who peddles fresh young coconuts in our neighborhood to find me some and deliver it the next day. He didn’t show, so I assumed he didn’t find any. I went to the small market a few blocks away from our place and found the mature coconuts but not the bucayo ones. I saw a buko cart sitting nearby, but the buko-man was nowhere to be found. We waited, and waited…people stopped to buy his buko and kind-hearted strangers started selling them buko juice and leaving the money in a jar which the buko-man also left!

Finally he shows up and explains he went for his mid-morning snack. He picks me a green coconut with flecks of brown on it, but it isn’t bucayo…more like mala-kanin. But what do I know, so I take it. I spy another coconut in the corner of his cart. It had more flecks of brown on the surface so I asked him to try that one. Voila! It was perfect!

Lemongrass and herba buena is also used to flavor this dish. Herba buena is something my laundrywoman says is different from the local oregano, but she brought me fresh oregano anyway. The heart-shaped taro leaf is what I used for a backdrop to showcase these two herbs.

Now for the recipe. I’ll try to give you details as experienced by a first-timer. I’ll also point out where the mistakes were made so you can decide how to proceed when you try this recipe.

The Recipe:

shredded meat of about 2 bucayo-stage coconuts, about 3 cups (1 coconut will do)

1/4 kilo fresh shrimp, peeled and roughly chopped

about 4 c. milk of 3 mature coconuts, extracted with about 3/4 c. water added

12-15 taro leaves for wrapping, lightly wiped with a damp cloth to remove any debris. If you get rust stains on your cloth, it’s not mud, just the sap from the leaf. Be sure to cut the stem at the center of the leaf so it’s easier for wrapping. Just cut it with a knife till it’s flat.
about 6 leaves fresh Philippine oregano

about 2 stalks lemongrass, washed and cut in 1-inch pieces, pound with the back of a knife to release the flavors

5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 large onion, peeled and minced

2-inch ginger root, peeled and sliced thin

2-3 siling haba or pepperoncini peppers

2-3 bird chilis or any hot chili you prefer

1 tsp. rock salt

2 tbsps. fish sauce

latik

coconut leaf rib or kitchen twine for tying the pouches

There’s a lot of prep work for the ingredients but once you have it all ready, the next step is just wrapping and cooking.

Lay out a taro leaf on a small tray and place about 2 tablespoons of the coconut meat, Top it with a tablespoon of shrimp. Wrap as you would a paper envelope and tuck in the last flap into a fold. Repeat the wrapping 3 times with more leaves. Tie it lightly just to keep it from unravelling during the cooking. Repeat till you’re out of stuffing and leaves, after making about 4 pouches.

My mistake here was putting more stuffing than was necessary, about 1/2 c. coconut meat and 1/4 c. shrimp and just using one leaf to wrap it. This made my pouches quite flimsy.

In a flat-bottomed casserole, place the rest of the ingredients minus the liquids.

Set your pouches over this and pour the coconut milk over it. Add the fish sauce and cook covered over medium heat about 1.5 hours or until the sauce is gone and you are left with nothing but the coconut oils covering the bottom of your pan.

Since the pouches will be sturdier wrapped in more leaves, you can then turn it over once in the middle of the cooking.

Serve individual pouches unwrapped at the top and sprinkled with latik.

This is the first of a series for the Lasang Pinoy Edition 20: Binalot, All Wrapped Up! I’m hosting this month’s event and while I thought it might be interesting, I had no clue what I was in for! This was actually the easiest dish I made so I’m posting it first.
The dishes I had in mind were all rather complicated and required dexterity, which I unfortunately lack….big-time. Then there was the scrounging around for ingredients and recipes. Then there’s the fact that these are recipes I’ve never tried to do on my own before. I even attempted a recipe I’d only heard of, but never tasted or saw before. Despite all the hassles, I enjoyed myself but am glad I’m done with the cooking.

Here’s a photo of the Ginataang Tilapia. It’s a whole tilapia unwrapped from its white bok choy encasement after stewing in coconut cream, onion, garlic and ginger:

This was one of my old favorites which my mother made quite often in the past. Our version doesn’t have the tomato stuffing that our neighbor from Bicol says the original version has. I’ve tried that and still prefer my mother’s version but this recipe here has both.

If you look at the photo closely, it looks like the sauce didn’t thicken. This is because the photo was taken right after I turned off the heat and transferred this fish to a plate. A few minutes later, the sauce thickened further and it looked gorgeous sitting on a large serving plate. I regret not taking a photo of all three fishes laid out that way…with the coconut cream all thick and yummy.

For those living in the US, this can be an easy recipe to make since all the ingredients are readily available in supermarkets with an Asian community. You can serve this to anyone who is not afraid to see a whole fish – as it should be served I personally believe.
There are a just a couple tricks to the wrapping. I have a photo here of how I wrapped the first one. The other two in the pot were wrapped differently though. Instead of having the leaves in a mirrored position with the white stems fanning out, I laid them on top of each other, with the white ends about an inch apart. This was easier to handle. You also have to smack the white stems of the bok choy with the back of your knife to flatten it out. Don’t use the whole stem, just leave about half an inch to an inch.

Here’s the complete recipe, with the tomato stuffing and the chilis:

3 whole tilapia, gutted and scales removed

6 large white bok choy leaves with an inch of the stems still on and hit with the back of a knife to take out the stiffness

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced (optional)
3 scallions, minced (optional)
1 minced garlic (optional)
1/4-inch ginger root, peeled and minced

about a cup of pure coconut cream (from 1-2 coconuts)

about 2 cups of the second extraction of 1-2 coconuts

half a head of garlic, peeled and minced

1 large white onion, diced

about 1/2-inch ginger root, peeled and sliced thin

3 siling haba chilis or any chili you prefer (optional)

2 tbsps. fish sauce

Make sure your fish is clean. I always gently rub fresh tilapia with rock salt just because it makes me feel good. Rinse well. Cut a slit in the belly. Dry and keep in your refrigerator if it’s a hot day (it always is where I am!).

Mix the tomatoes, scallions and ginger root in a small bowl. Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Take out the fish and stuff the bellies with this mix.

Lay out a couple of bok choy leaves on a small tray one on top of each other is best. Place one fish on one end and start wrapping it. Don’t worry about the ends sticking out. That’s perfectly fine. Repeat for the rest of the fish. Set aside.

In a kawali or wok, place the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut cream. Place the fishes over this and then pour out the coconut’s second extraction. Place your pot over medium heat and allow to simmer till most of the water is gone. This should take about 20 minutes with the lid half on.

At this stage, pour the pure coconut cream and allow to boil once before turning off the heat. Check for taste. Serve immediately.

My inspiration for this dish was the Shrimp and Scallops Pasta Spouse had at Cucina Colore last month.  It looked so good but I couldn’t taste it because it had shrimps.  Of course, there’s always a way to re-create a dish to suit you and so I did…and I even made it better with the addition of asparagus.

That dish from Cucina Colore had almost fresh sun-dried tomatoes which I suspect they do themselves at the restaurant premises.  I intended for this dish to be lighter in flavor so I used fresh tomatoes and tossed it in at the last minute.

This was a simple saute of all the ingredients in one pan.  You start with a little olive oil over medium-high heat, add the scallops and lightly brown them.  Take out as they brown so they don’t overcook.  Then add some minced garlic and chili flakes.  Stir a few seconds, careful not to brown the garlic.  Add the asparagus and add salt and stir a minute or two.  Splash some white wine, or broth and let everything cook about two to three minutes.  Then add some roasted bell peppers, a diced tomato and the cooked scallops.  Add some pasta water before putting in the cooked noodles so you have a little “sauce” to work with.  Take your pan off the heat and stir in some chopped parsley and add a dash or mre of extra virgin olive oil.  Serve immediately.

Think about this…Fried Rice is probably the most unique dish that comes out of your kitchen.  What’s in your fried rice all depends on what’s in your refrigerator and that will differ from household to household and even from time to time…because we never have all the same leftovers.

This is a Shrimp Fried Rice I made easily with some frozen shrimps I have sitting in my freezer.  Since it’s only Spouse who can eat them, that one bag I bought last week is still more than half full. Fried Rice is just about the easiest, most satisfying meal any dummy in the kitchen can prepare.  There are a few things to remember when cooking good fried rice…they’re not secrets at all so I’ll gladly repeat them here.

Shrimp Fried Rice

2 c. cold cooked long-grain rice (jasmine rice is always good)

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tbsps. corn oil 

1 small white onion, minced

2-3  tbsps. diced red bell pepper

1/4 c. frozen peas, thawed

about 15 pcs. medium shrimped, shelled

4 tbsps. light soy sauce (more depending on taste)

sliced green onions

First of all, separate the grains of rice with your fingers dipped in warm water.  Always start with cold rice.  Set aside.

In a well-seasoned wok set over high heat,  heat the oil until it ripples.  Add the egg and cook quickly for about a minute or two.  Slice and set aside.

In the same wok, add the onions and cook till translucent, just a minute or two.  Add the bell pepper and cook another minute or two.  Add the shrimp and peas and cook just a minute.  Add the rice and the soy sauce.  Mix thouroughly while cooking over high heat.  If it gets too hot, lower the heat to a comfortable temperature.  The hotter your fire, the faster you have to mix.  Check for seasonings.

Now add the green onions and the sliced scrambled egg and turn off heat.  Serve immediately. 

I made this Shrimp Sinigang for one the other day.  This is probably Spouse’s favorite Filipino dish and I very seldom cook it owing to my shrimp allergy.  But some days, Spouse will get lucky….

Sinigang is a popular Filipino dish I featured in a previous post.  We sometimes mix shrimps with milkfish and that makes it pretty interesting.  My mother always used mustard greens in her seafood sinigang and it gives a nice kick, a different flavor than the more common “kangkong” or swamp cabbage.  Mustard greens are also packed with Vitamin C and combined with the tamarind flavoring, that’s going to drive away any cold that comes near you.

Shrimp Sinigang for One

1 small white onion, diced

1 small Roma tomato, diced

1/4 piece medium daikon raddish, cut in 1/2 in. slices

2 pcs. Italian pickled pepperoncini or 1 siling haba

1 c. water

1 tbsp. fish sauce

3 or 4 mustard leaves torn in 1 in. pieces

20-25 medium shrimps, shell on

1 tbsp. sinigang mix dissolved in 1/4 c. water

Place the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cover.  Lower heat and allow to simmer until daikon is tender, about 6 minutes.

Bring heat up to medium high and add mustard greens.  Cook about 2-3 minutes and add shrimps.  Cook another minute or two.  Add sinigang flavor mix dissolved in water and bring to a boil.  Take pan off heat.

Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice.

This Shrimp Salad definitely qualifies as an easy summer lunch.  It requires a minimum of cooking, plus, it’s very light and cooling on a hot summer day.  I love that it looks so appetizing too.

There have been heatwaves in both US coasts the last few weeks.  Thankfully, the summer has been pretty mild in Colorado this year. The fact is, I’ve never experienced a summer here that’s been so cool and wet before.  Hot or not, a cool salad like this is always an enjoyable lunch.

Shrimp Salad

1 c. shelled shrimps

1/2 c. celery, sliced thin on the diagonal

1/4 c. low-fat mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

romain letttuce or other greens

1 medium tomato, thinly sliced

Parboil shrimps in a small saucepan of salted boiling water. It will only take a minute or two for all the shrimp to turn pink. Strain shrimps and dunk in ice water to stop cooking.

In a small bowl, mix the shrimp, celery, mayo, lemon juice, onion powder, salt and pepper. Chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.  Serve over lettuce leaves and top with tomato slices.

Spouse and I have been eating too much pork lately so I thought this would be a nice change from the usual.  I fried this rockfish in olive oil and was not so sure what to do with it.  Then I looked for some capers and found  I was out…so I ended up substituting green olives for this lemon butter sauce.  I thought I’d throw in the mushrooms and cook it with the sauce so it turned out to be something quite different.

Athough frying fish is always a hassle for me, this was pretty easy and is a delicious way to serve fish.

Fish in Garlic, Olive and Lemon Butter Sauce

2 rockfish fillets, skinned

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. corn oil

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1/2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1//4 c. sliced green olives

juice of half a large lemon

1/4 c. white wine

parsley flakes

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsps. butter

Dry your fillets with a paper towel.  Season with salt and pepper and dust with flour.  Heat a pan over medium high heat and add the corn oil.  Add the fillets when the oil starts to ripple with heat.  Fry the fish on both sides until light brown.  This should take about 3 minutes for each side.  Try not to get carried away and overcook your fish.  Drain on paper towels to soak up excess oils.

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the mushrooms, garlic and olives.  Cook until mushrooms are tender.  Season with a bit of salt as it cooks.  Add the white wine and allow to simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes.  With the heat turned off, sprinkle the lemon juice and stir in butter.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour over fish fillets.