Browsing Category Recipes

Asian countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, produce many dishes with the use of coconut milk. From the delicious “Nasi Lemak” of Malaysia to the savory “Phanaeng or Panang curry” of Thailand, coconut milk plays a big part on its traditional ingredients. It can also be often used as an ingredient to a marinade like beef [...]

Of the few foreign governments that occupied, colonized, and indoctrinated the Philippines, Spain was the one that effectively changed the cultural landscape of the country and part of that includes the culinary tradition. Empanada is what we will be making today, and It is just one of many delicious dishes we inherited from the Spaniards. [...]

I am no expert when it comes to gardening but one thing I know about water spinach AKA kangkong — It grows wild and it thrives on the presence of water and lots of it. You know how I figured that out? Because the name says “water spinach.” Gosh, I’m such a genius! I’m brilliant! [...]

“Life is short, so eat your dessert first!” A gentleman named Rick told me this the other day and my reaction was just laughter. I thought it was funny coming from someone who said he loves to cook and eat. I got home still thinking about the phrase and still smiling about it. But I [...]

  I have been invited by my good friend Nami to guest post at her blog — Just One Cookbook.  I am very honored to be posting for her great readers so it took me a while to come up with this theme.  It is a quick and easy recipe — Stir Fried Shrimp & [...]

Okay, this is your typical and not so typical adobo. Like any other adobo, it is typical because we are adding the same good ingredients like vinegar, soy sauce, and a truck-load of garlic. However, it is not so typical because we are double dipping these guys. I mean, we are pan frying the chicken [...]

  I am very excited about this blog today and it’s because I am having another friend cooking with us today and that is Malou of Skip to Malou.   I met Malou more than a year ago when I joined the Kulinarya Club — a Filipino cooking club.  She was one of the nice [...]

  March is the start of summer in the Philippines and the weather is hot and humid.   Kulinarya Club’s Jun of Junblog and Arnold of Inuyaki came up with a cool challenge for the month of March and that would be a frozen treat. It can be an ice candy or popsicle for as long [...]

Pork sinigang is one of many traditional Filipino dishes.  It is a comparable but simpler version of Thai’s famous sour soup — Tom Yum Goong.  Sinigang is often eaten with rice as well as fish sauce on the side as a condiment.  I remember during my teenage-smart-Alec-big-mouth years asking my mom during dinner, “Why do you like [...]

There are many squid recipes that can be found in most Filipino cookbooks. Squid adobo, stuffed squid, and grilled squid just to name a few. However, among these delicious recipes, fried squid (more acceptably known as fried calamari) is the quickest way to cook these little guys. Just prep the squid (please see the video [...]

I am very excited about my post today. Why? I won the lottery! Okay, I’m just kidding, I didn’t win the lottery. However, I’m still excited about this post because it is my first Guest Friend post here at Wok with Ray. This young lady that will be cooking with us today; her name is [...]

Tocino means “cured meat.” Back in the old days, people used to cure meat because refrigeration wasn’t available and folks have to resort to preservation by using salt, herbs, and spices.  How do I know this? I looked it up on “Google.”  No, I’m just kidding. I know because of living with generations of meat [...]

  One of my daughters — Kareena, prepared this drink for us over dinner and I must say, I fell in-love with it. This drink is a keeper and something you’d want to serve when entertaining.  Now, this is a non-alcoholic version but you could mix it with. . . (dRUM roll please).  Okay, I’ll [...]

      It’s that time of the month again where Kulinarya Club and its lovely January hosts—Pearl of Sassy Chef and Thea of Words and Nosh—picked a very interesting but challenging theme.  The theme is to come up with a healthful dish that you would like to have for your birthday!  My cough-cough-choke-tieth birthday [...]

I was going through the January/February release of “Everyday by Rachel Ray” and this recipe called “Lime-in-the-Coconut Drumsticks” caught my attention because not only it looks  delicious, but also there was something about the marinade instruction that I thought was kind of funny.   Okay, here’s what it said about pureeing the marinade verbatim “In blender, [...]

Oxtail Kare Kare (kare kareng buntot) is a stew type of dish that is always present in every Filipino party.  I’m not talking about ordinary parties, but rather important ones like baptisms and weddings.  It is one of the centerpieces of feast table — meant for special occasions and special guests.   Today, I am very excited [...]

  Tomato-based dishes are one of the few good things that we inherited from those bored Spaniards who colonized the Philippines for centuries; the same conquistadors that had nothing else to do but to bug little islands in Asia in search of spices (of course).  Anyway, there are a lot of delicious dishes using tomato [...]

  To me, Polvoron is one of those special treats that bring back beautiful childhood memories of Christmas and New Year.  Loved ones from faraway places would bring us “pasalubong” (homecoming gifts) from the towns they were coming from and as a child, it was something I looked forward to year after year. There are [...]

  About a week ago, I visited one of foodie friend’s site — Sharon of Chinese Soup Pot. She mentioned on her blog that the Fairy Hobmother of Appliances Online visited and awarded her a gift for her hard work. Sharon also mentioned that other hardworking bloggers and foodies that leave comments and wishes may [...]

  It was cold out in the backyard when I was grilling these pork chops. That just shows you how much of a sucker I am for grilled foods, huh?  But let me tell you — it is worth it!  The flavor is just out of this world.  I adapted this recipe from one of [...]

Pan Fried Shrimp AKA Halabos na Hipon is a lazy man’s way of cooking shrimp. All you have to do is wash the shrimp, add salt, and pan fry. That’s it! The shrimp is very flavorful because it is cooked in its own juice. At our house, this dish is eaten along with other seafood [...]

Every time I eat arroz caldo, it reminds me of the countless times my dad and I spent on those hole-in-a-wall eateries that are often found on the street or what many Filipinos called “carinderia”.  That is why I want to thank Joy of Kulinarya Club for coming up with arroz caldo as our November [...]

I just want to share a funny experience on my early days of being FOB (“Filipino on bacation” according to Rex Navarette) here in the U.S. In early 1980′s, my first job was an order taker at Kentucky Fried Chicken before they called it KFC. There I said the word “FRIED!” Anyway, I started the [...]

  First of all, I apologize for not posting recipes as often as I used to.  I just got so busy lately and my schedule has been very hectic.  But I’m back!  So, why don’t we restart with a really simple fruit salad.  Okay, when I say simple, I mean Quick and Easy!  No turning [...]

I have read numerous good stories about this delicious dish Kung Pao. Some are very convincing, some are inspirational, and some are just uhh. . . whatever. But one thing that I can say is true—like any other Asian dish that was brought and introduced to the West, it gets enhanced or should I say [...]

  Sweet and Sour dish — particularly sweet and sour pork is a Cantonese dish that was introduced by Chinese migrants to the West in the early part of 20th Century.  Since then, it evolved into variety of dishes with the same basic ingredients — sweet and sour sauce. Some are prepared with chicken and [...]

  Growing up, my mom used to cook this comfort food whenever we were feeling under the weather.  In addition to the broth being so flavorful, the silky texture of miswa or misua and the softness of sponge gourd or patola provided a wonderful soothing  feeling.  There are different variations when it comes to meat [...]

  Kulinarya Club’s August and September challenge coincides with the celebration of two national holidays that is patriotic in nature.  And since the theme was inspired by these events, it calls for the use of four colors of the Philippine national flag.  From plate to garnish, colors red, white, blue, and yellow have to be [...]

  Beef Caldereta AKA Kaldareta is one of those Filipino dishes that become more flavorful as you keep reheating it.   I remember when I was growing up, my dad used to purposely cook more of this delicious dish so he can have leftovers and he would keep reheating it until the meat would fall apart.  [...]

    Corned Beef is one of the favorite canned foods in our house along with Spam and Vienna sausages.  When I was growing up in the Philippines, corned beef and spam were served only on special occasions or for special guests because it’s very expensive.   When I moved here in the U.S., I [...]

  One of the good things about summer is the abundance of sweet watermelons and its prices that are unbelievably low. So whenever I have lots of watermelon on hand, I always think of watermelon cocktails.  It is refreshing and it’s great for backyard entertaining.  This recipe of Mojito was inspired by Bobby Flay’s watermelon-tequila [...]

  Black bean garlic paste has this salty-spicy-sweet quality that enhances the flavor of a lot of Asian dishes. Basically, this paste or sauce is made from fermented beans AKA Douchi, soy sauce, and garlic. It is one of my favorite ingredients especially for flavoring the sauce of my dish. So, whenever I visit my [...]

I love cooking sweet and sour fish because it’s so easy to prepare. Just fry the fish, make the sauce, and stir fry the veggies and that’s it! The only thing I don’t like about frying fish in the house is the smell. That is why when we remodeled our kitchen three years ago, I [...]

A few days ago, Nami of Just one Cookbook informed me that she’s tagging me to participate in the Seven Links Challenge. I felt honored not because I am participating in the challenge but the fact that she added my food blog alongside with these other fine food bloggers. So, before I go on, I [...]

In the Philippines, Tortang itlog simply translates to omelet or fried eggs with ground meat and some diced potatoes. It is one of those quick and easy, yet delicious, foods. This dish is usually eaten with rice and banana ketchup as a condiment. The original and simple version of tortang itlog is small portion ground [...]

Kulinarya July Challenge: Sinigang Dish. Sinigang is a sour dish similar to Tom Yum of Thailand.The challenge is to come up with different variations of Sinigang which is considered a comfort food in the Philippines. Here is my story… I thought I was just going to skip July’s Kulinarya Club challenge because my thinking cap’s [...]

Ginisang Ampalaya – Fine Filipino Dish This is another one of those “love it or hate it” kind of food. I remember someone asked me. . . “Why do you like eating that stuff?” I just asked back. . . “Why do you like drinking strong-black coffee, isn’t that the same bitterness?” Don’t get me [...]

Pancit is not just a dish, it is an icon of Filipino Cuisine and to some, it symbolizes long life. There are a lot of variations of pancit and it all depends on who you’re talking to and what region of the country they came from. It has been a never-ending argument on who makes [...]

Logo courtesy of Wikipedia. Remember Cheers? Remember the theme song? My favorite was when one of the regulars “Norm” would enter the bar and everybody will say his name. That must be the nicest feeling to walk in to a place where everybody welcomes you and the feeling that they’re glad to see you, and [...]

Summer is here again and we all know what it means — camping, pool party, and backyard barbecues.  One way to relieve the heat is to always hydrate ourselves. Speaking of hydration, here is one for you – cantaloupe juice with vanilla.  This drink is very easy to prepare BUT . . .  before you [...]

I like having mine crispy and with the condiments of tossed diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and few drops of patis (fish sauce). Wash your hands, get your rice and dig in. We’re gonna eat this daing Pinoy style!

It is almost like a yearly ritual for us to spend the blistering-hot 4th of July weekend at my sister’s house for a pool and barbecue party. This is also the day that we take home bags and bags of oranges from her backyard tree. It is amazing how this orange tree produces tons of [...]

This is one of those dishes that we order and eat from our favorite restaurant every time we visit Chinatown here in Los Angeles. The flavor of the ribs and the mild saltiness of black bean sauce counter the bitterness of the melon. By the way, there are several techniques that you can use to [...]

Lovely ladies of Kulinarya Club – Adora & Diona came up with a wonderful theme for the month of June and the theme is about white food. It is about weddings, it is about getting married, and it is about one of the happiest days of our lives. Well, here is my 2 cents on [...]

Beef Stewed Vegetable Soup, also known to Filipinos as “Nilaga” is a popular and one of the favorite dishes among Filipino families. Perhaps it is because of its simplicity, and versatility where one can use either beef, pork, or chicken as the main ingredient. I prepared this dish because this is my late dad’s favorite [...]

Aside from hot dogs and pizza, this is a dish we’d like preparing and feeding our niece and nephews whenever they come over to our house. Why? Because the only Filipino food these brats will eat are lumpia and Pork Barbecue. But you know that’s all right because we love these kids. They make us [...]

Adobong Sitaw or String Beans Adobo or Long Beans Adobo is a very simple dish to cook. It is usually done in a traditional way of cooking the meat — adobo style, then just cook it again with the string Beans AKA Sitaw. Here in the States, string beans are readily available in most Asian [...]

For now we will refer to this dish as Ukoy. Why? Hmm, because uhmm, that is the proper name for it? Okay, okay, I’m just too lazy to type “Vegetable Fritter with Shrimp” over, and over. Now that we got the name thing out of the way, let’s talk about Ukoy. Ukoy is or was [...]

Ginisang Mongo or sautéed mung beans can be very boring and bland if it’s not cooked correctly. That is why some folks would add all kinds of goodies to the dish to make it flavorful, like adding smoked fish (tinapa), or chicharon (pork rinds). Okay here is a simple and yet very tasty version of [...]

I learned from my parents especially from my dad (God bless his soul) not to make fun of food by giving it funny names because according to him, food is a grace from God. Some may disagree with that statement and belief but I do agree and I do believe. Well, this dish that we [...]