"VEGETABLE FIESTA (Toppings for Rice or Chow Mein"

This dish is simply a combination of several organic vegetables that I bought fresh from the farmers market, plus some pieces of marinated meat. This "Vegetable Fiesta" is a delicious toppings for noodles (like chow mein) and rice.
The meat I used here is pork, but you can substitute it any meat of your preference. I suggest use any veggie mix you want to use, or anything that you have in your kitchen. Feel free to try different kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, just so you can discover what your family likes. Listen to what they say, and remember what they like (or do not like). The fun thing about having mixed veggies in dishes like this is that you can have a "compromise" - meaning have what everybody likes in one dish. See, I like bell peppers, but my husband doesn't enjoy it, and so I add zucchini which he likes, plus my bell peppers. We then both have our favorites in one dish!

(Did I say I like garlic and celery? Ok, ok, and he likes cauliflower and spinach so we are even.)

-CHICHAY

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"VEGETABLE FIESTA TOPPINGS"

What You Need:

• 4 cups of chopped vegetables (like zucchini, bell peppers, celery, fresh wild mushrooms, snow peas, spinach, cauliflower, bokchoy, cabbage, lettuce...)
• 1 medium size onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of meat cubes

Sauce mix:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch

meat marinade:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp sugar (or 1 packet if Splenda)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce (or patis)
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro (or parsley)

Prep:
-Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, and marinate the meat in this mixture for at least an hour.

How To:
-Drain the marinade from the meat.
-Brown the meat in a heated large skillet. Once browned, add half of the marinade to the meat in the pan, bring to a boil, then lower heat. Let this simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced.
-Add in the mixture of sauce ingredients to the pan and let this simmer for a few minutes or until reduced. Stir constantly while simmering.
-Meanwhile, in another heated pan, saute the onion and garlic, then add in the vegetables, stir well and season with salt and pepper.
-Once the vegetetables are almost done, mix it with the meat and sauce.
-Make sure the vegetables are coated well with the sauce.
-Adjust seasoning if necessary, or add some water if the sauce becomes too dry (and let this heat up some more for everything to be blended well).
-Once cooked, use your Vegetable Fiesta as topping for rice or noodles.

"SINIGANG NA BABOY (Pork in Tamarind Broth)"

It is easy to make "Sinigang Na Baboy", especially now that "instant sinigang mix" in packets are readily available in stores everywhere.

But since this sinigang mix has a lot of sodium (and even has MSG), I like making my own sinigang base broth. I sometimes try using different kinds of "paasim" for the sour broth, like lemon juice, kalamansi juice, green mangoes, and even "kamias".

But of course for the authentic "sinigang" we have to use tamarind for the broth!

It is easy to prepare the tamarind broth, but it is not easy to find good unripe tamarind fruit in the market around here. I suggest you take advantage whenever you see good tamarind fruits, buy a lot of it, and prepare extra broth for freezing/for future use

-CHICHAY
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"SINIGANG NA BABOY (Pork in Tamarind Broth)"

Prep:

Make your TAMARIND BROTH (as sinigang base)

What You Need:

1/2 lb plump, firm, unblemished, UNRIPE sampaloc (tamarind) fruit

5 cups water

How To:
-Remove any leaves or stems from the tamarind, and wash them thoroughly.
-Place in a pot with water over medium heat
-Bring to a boil, and cook for about half an hour, or until all the tamarind pods are (very) soft, and turn off the heat.
-To get the final tamarind broth as sinigang base, mash the tamarind pods through a sieve (use some of the liquid to help the pulp and juices through the sieve).
-Discard the solids (all the seed, fibers and skin bits)
-Strain the broth again to make sure there are no more bits left in it.
-The final broth should be cloudy, tart and intensely flavorful.
-This is your broth base for the sinigang soup.
[CHICHAY TIP: You may make double batches of this sampaloc broth and refrigerate or freeze it for future use!]

Make Your "SINIGANG NA BABOY"

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 lbs of pork ribs (cut into large pieces)


• 1/4 lb pork (liempo) cubes


• 1 1/2 cups prepared TAMARIND BROTH, plus more if desired


• 6 cups of water (or use "hugas-bigas" if available)


• 1 large tomato (or 2 medium-sized), quartered


• 1 medium-sized onion, quartered


• 1 medium-sized radish, sliced


• 2 medium-sized eggplant, cut in crosswise, each 1 1/2 length)


• 1 bunch "sitaw" (long beans)


• 2 cups "kangkong" (water spinach)leaves


• 1 cup "kangkong" stems


• 8 pcs of okra, stems trimmed


• 2 small pieces of gabi (taro root)peeled, chopped


• 2 pcs "sili pansigang" (long light green chilli)


• patis


• salt


• ground white pepper

How To:

-Wash the pork ribs and cubes, and set in a colander to drain.

-Heat up a large heavy casserole and throw the pork in to sear it a bit.

-Stir occasionally until all sides are seared.

-Add the water (or "hugas-bigas", if using), the TAMARIND BROTH, tomatoes and onions.
-Cover and let this simmer for about an hour, or until the pork is nice and tender. -Skim the fat off the soup.
-Add the radish, eggplant, sitaw, kangkong stems, okra and patis
-Cover and cook this for a few minutes until the vegetables are softened.
-Next, taste the soup, and adjust the seasoning and sourness by adding salt and ground pepper, and/or by adding some more of the prepared TAMARIND BROTH, if you want it more sour.
-Add kangkong leaves and the chilli on top of your sinigang soup and cover.
-And after a minute or so, turn off the heat.
-Pick the chilli from the pot, and place in a saucer with some patis.
-Serve the sinigang with white rice and the patis/chilli on the side.
-You can serve individuals with extra sinigang soup in cups.

"MENUDO"

This Filipino-style "Menudo" recipe has pork meat and liver for it's protein, but you can make this meatless by replacing the pork portion with hard tofu ("tokwa") cubes!

[CHICHAY TIP: If you are using pork liver, add it when all the other ingredients are almost cooked, since the liver, unlike pork, cooks quickly and turns hard when exposed to heat longer. "Menudo" is better served/eaten after it is stored for 1 or 2 days after it's cooked, and is best served with eggs and fried rice.]

-CHICHAY

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"MENUDO"

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 lbs lean pork meat (or "tokwa"/hard tofu), cut into small chunks


• 1/2 lb pork liver (optional), cut into small cubes


• 4 pieces 'chorizo Bilbao' or cooked sausage links, cut in small pieces


• 4 small potatoes, peeled, cut in small cubes


• 1 green bell pepper, diced


• 1 red bell pepper, diced


• 1/2 cup diced carrots


• 1 cup chickpeas


• 1/4 cup raisins


• 1/2 tsp paprika


• 1 cup stock or water


• 1 tbsp of patis (fish sauce)


• 2 tbsp olive oil


• 1 tablespoon achuete or annato water (annato powder/seeds dissolved/soaked in 2 tbsp warm water)


• 1 cup diced tomatoes


• 1/2 cup tomato sauce


• 4 cloves of garlic, minced


• 1 medium size onion, diced

Prep:

-Marinate the pork pieces with the 'patis' for about 5 minutes.

-if using achuete seeds, soak it in warm water for about 5 minutes, and then remove the seeds and keep the colored water for later.

How To:
-In a pot, heat up olive oil-Saute garlic and onion until softened

-Add the pork pieces, 'chorizo de Bilabo' or sausages and saute for about 5 minutes.

-Add the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, achuete water and paprika.

-Stir and cook for about 3 minutes.

-Add the stock and the tomato sauce

-Stir, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until the pork and potatoes are tender.

-Add the chickpeas, bell pepper, raisins and liver (if using). Stir, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.

-Season with ground pepper.

-Adjust the seasoning at this point, and serve.