pinoy kakanin sa holy week

in preparation for the long holy week break, i asked my mom to send me a gelatinous rice flour pack. i was craving for traditional filipino food that i enjoyed when i was a kid -- those that my mom cooked when we had a long break, or during merienda times in the afternoon.

so last holy week, i decided to make two filipino desserts: palitaw and tsikalang, or what is known in manila as pilipit.

palitaw in tagalog means 'to float.' this way of cooking is simply that, letting the rice dough float in boiling water. when it floats, it means that it is already cooked and ready to be served.

ingredients:
1/4 cup baking flour
3/4 cup gelatinous rice flour
water

mix ingredients until it forms a dough. shape into flat circles then drop in boiling water. wait for it to float then scoop it out.

for the "garnishing"

ingredients:
grated coconut and sugar

put in hot pan the grated coconut and sugar. mix well until color of mixture is light brown. serve mixed or separate from the palitaw.

tsikalang as we call it in zamboanga is also known in manila as pilipit. although of different shapes, they have the same style of cooking.

 

ingredients are the same as that of the dough mixture of palitaw. shape it in braid-style or strudel-shape. once ready, fry in hot pan. remove from the pan when brown. then in another pan, caramelize brown sugar with water (some uses oil with the sugar). once it is a bit sticky, pour in the fried tsikalang and coat it with the sugar. once coated, remove from pan and serve.

remember thought that the sugar mixture must not be too thick so that when it is coated onto the bread, it will not dry thickly on the bread when cold.

palitaw

1/4 cup all purpose baking flour
3/4 cup gluten rice
water

grated coconut
white sugar

mix the flour, rice flour and water to create a dough. when done, cut dough into tiny pieces to create flat circles. dip into boiling water. the dough is cooked when it rises. in filipino, palitaw means 'to float.'

for the "dip," mix the sugar and grated coconut in a hot pan. serve when fully mixed.

pilipit

1/4 cup all purpose baking flour
3/4 cup gluten rice
water
brown sugar

mix the flour, rice flour and water until it produces a dough. cut dough into pieces and form into desired shapes (e.g. pretzel style). fry until brown. set aside.

in another pan, mix sugar and water to form a caramel. when ready, pour in the fried dough until it is fully coated. remove from pan and serve.

sweet potato with bacon

cut bacon into bits. cut sweet potatoes in bite sizes.

cook bacon. when well done, remove from pan. leave the oil produced from the bacon. put in the cut sweet potatoes. when brown, remove from pan.

serve hot. sprinkle salt and cut onion chives. :)

corn - a viand

watched chef at home at afc a couple of months ago and saw this guy cooking up a mean corn soup - a twist of what my mom used to make us when we were kids. having had time to cook lately (or because i was just craving it badly), i decided to pass by the grocery to buy the stuff i needed. the viand turned up well -- except that it didn't look like what my mom used to make. it tasted the same though! when i asked my mom why that is, it depended on the type of corn. so next time, i had to look for the sticky type of corn to make my corn viand.

(sticky) corn - scraped
malunggay leaves - others say spinach will do and/or beans
small dried shrimp and/or dried fish
sugar
salt
vetsin

put the corn to boil with dried shrimp and/or fish. when corn is soft, add malunggay or beans. to taste, add sugar, salt and vetsin. serve hot.

lemon squares

was craving for lemon squares last friday and decided to make one of my own. since i don't have an oven, i looked over the internet for some non-bake recipes and this is the simpliest that i've found. i actually tweaked the recipe a bit because i don't know what one of the ingredients were, and the other i found to be too much so i adjusted something else. finally, it all came out good and i'm happy about it... :)

1/2 cup butter (although 3/4 of the 1/2 is enough because when you look at the melted butter at the pan, it seems to be too much)
1/2 cup condensed milk
1 1/2 lemon -- juiced
1-2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 cup crushed broas (or tea biscuit as the original recipe indicates)

melt the butter in medium heat then add condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. after mixing well, add the crushed broas (or tea biscuit). again, mix well. this will only take a few minutes, just as long as when the wet mixture is incorporated with the dry ingredient. take the mixture off the pan and place in a pan or container. let it sit for a while (or refrigerate it) before serving.

:)

asian dressing

from my cousin --

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
juice of 2 lemons

mix and serve :)

shrimp aubergine pasta

from my friend --

 "its basically shrimp, talong, dried basil, olives, garlic at onion lang.... :D tapos yung sauce hanap ka ng sauce na may three cheese... or kahit yung mga hunts tomato sauce with parmesan cheese oks na..."