Here’s the recipe:

Apple Banana Fritters

3 ripe bananas (saba), sliced
1 medium apple, any variety
pancake mix
water
powdered sugar, for dusting
cinnamon
oil, for deep frying

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Prepare the batter. In a bowl, combine the pancake mix with water. Mix thoroughly until well blended. Batter should be free of lumps and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set aside.

Peel and slice the bananas thinly. Core and peel the apples. Cut in half and slice thinly. Toss the apples and bananas in pancake mix until well covered. Scoop some of the mixture and place on a saucer. Slightly spread out the apples and bananas, and cover with more batter if necessary. Over the hot oil, gently slide off the mixture. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or wire basket/rack. Dust with powdered sugar and add a dash of cinnamon before serving.

Makes about 6-7 fritters.

For this recipe, I used half of a 200 gm pack of instant pancake mix. The saba can be substituted with lakatan or plantains. These fritters are best served slightly warm.

I think it was 2 years ago when I first saw Travis Kraft’s video tutorial on Youtube on how to cook Adobong Manok. While I may have laughed at his attempts at speaking a heavily American-accented Tagalog, it has inspired me to write post about Filipino dishes that I love. For my first recipe post here, I am posting the recipe for my version of Tinolang Manok.

Tinolang Manok is one dish which is best eaten hot, on a cold and rainy day., and served with a dipping sauce of calamansi juice, patis (fish sauce) and sili.

Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your preference.

Tinolang Manok

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken, cut into pieces (best cuts to use are thighs, wings and back)
salt to taste
3-4 tbsp patis ( fish sauce)
2 medium sayote , peeled and cut into wedges or 1 small unripe papaya, seeded and cut into wedges.
1-2 tbsp or ginger, gut into strips
1 medium red onion, minced
oil for sauteeing
chicken stock or water + 1 chicken cube
2 bunches of dahon ng sili ( chili pepper leave) or
malunggay leaves, washed and removed from stalks
whole black peppercorns

Wash chicken thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel. In a medium sized pot, heat oil and saute’ ginger and onions. Saute’ until onions are slightly translucent and ginger becomes aromatic. Add in chicken. Cook until the meat has turned white and no traces of pink are visible and juice and fat is rendered. Season with patis and allow to simmer until liquid is slightly reduced. Pour enough broth to cover the chicken. If you are using water, now is the time to add in the chicken cube and peppercorns. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add in the sayote. Check and wait for the sayote to become slightly tender before putting in the sili leaves. Season with salt. Simmer until sayote is cooked and the sili leaves have totally wilted.

Nothing says Christmas like a delicious Christmas ham on the table at noche buena. While the ham-hamon as it is locally called- originated in the west, Filipinos have whole-heartedly embraced it; adjusting and cooking it to suit the Filipino palate–making it a part of Filipino Christmas tradition.

Here is a very simple ham recipe that is truly Filipino in taste. Below are two simple methods for cooking the ham: baking and pan-frying.

Pineapple Glazed Ham

Ingredients:

Christmas ham of your choice (cooked/ready to eat)
Pineapple juice
Pineapple marmalade
sugar, to taste
Canned pineapple slices, drained (optional, for garnishing)
Cherries(optional, for garnishing)

Method 1:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. In a saucepan, combine pineapple marmalade and pineapple juice and simmer until it has thickened and slightly reduced. Adjust sweetness by adding sugar. This will be your glaze.

Place ham in an oven proof baking dish or roasting pan. Pour glaze on top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes per pound. Allow the glaze to darken and slightly caramelize.

Allow to slightly cool before slicing. Serve warm.

Method 2:

Slice ham into thin slices. In a shallow frying pan, combine marmalade and juice and allow to simmer. put in ham slices and cook until pineapple mixture has been reduced and ham has caramelized. Serve warm.

TIP: You may substitute orange marmalade and orange juice for the pineapple juice and marmalade. A very simple thing I do with ham is just slice it and then pan fry it with a little brown sugar.

Nachos are pretty much do-it-yourself: you choose what toppings you want and how much. In our nachos, we had iceberg lettuce, fresh salsa, bits of whipped cream cheese, black olives, beef, mushroom, jalapeno, cheese and sour cream. To assemble, just put the nachos in a plate or a shallow dish, top with your toppings of choice and serve.

Salsa can be easily be bought at the supermarket, but I prefer to make my own. Just combine diced tomatoes, white onion and green bell pepper in a bowl along with chopped cilantro, then season with salt, pepper and vinegar. That’s it. As for the beef, stir-fry it and season with salt, pepper and cumin. So easy no? Not to mention cheap!

Chicken & Cream pasta sauce
Ingredients
200 gram chicken fillet, cubed
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoon olive oil (for marinade)
3 tetra-bricks of all-purpose cream
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 can of mushroom
1 cup peas
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup water
salt
pepper
olive oil

1. In a box, mix the chicken fillet, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil.
2. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Sautee the garlic, then add the chicken.
3. Add in the mushroom and peas when the chicken is cooked. Simmer for one minute, then transfer into a bowl.
4. In the same pan, put in the butter. As soon as it’s melted, add in the flour.
5. Once the flour has totally mixed with the butter, add the cream and simmer, occasionally stirring.
6. When the cream starts to boil, add the water and continue simmering.
7. Add in the cheese when the sauce is gently boiling, stirring until the cheese thickens the sauce.
8. Spoon in the chicken mix into the cream sauce, including the juice.
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
10. Serve hot over your pasta of choice.

Basic Omelette Recipe
3 medium eggs
pinch of salt
freshly ground black peppper
1/2 tsp chopped celery leaves
filling of your choice
oil (optional)

1. Beat eggs in a bowl with salt, pepper and celery leaves.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. The amount of oil varies on how non-stick your non-stick frying pan is.
3. Pour the egg mix when the oil is hot. Swirl it around the pan until it covers the entire pan. Let the eggs cook for a while. When the eggs has cooked a bit, swirl the pan again.
4. When the top of the egg is fairly dry, put your filling on one side of the omelette, leaving space on the edges.
5. Flip the other end of the omelette to cover the fillings.
6. Continue cooking for 10 more seconds then serve.

I experimented with just salt, pepper and some coriander, dipped in egg, flour and deep fried. It was okay; nothing spectacular really. After doing this reciple a couple of times, Kaoko posted her recipe for fish fillet. Taking a lesson form Kaoko’s recipe, I appended my own recipe. The result? Crispy on the outside and oh so soft inside.

Fish Fingers Recipe
Ingredients
500 grams fish fillet, cut into strips
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp coriander/cilantro, finely chopped
flour
2 eggs, beaten
bread crumbs

1. In a bowl, combine the fish fillet, lemon, salt, pepper and coriander.
2. Coat the fillet pieces in flour, egg then bread crumbs.
3. Deep fry fish in high heat until golden brown.

I used Japanese bread crumbs when I cooked a couple of nights ago, but when I was in Australia, I wasn’t able to find panko at the market. So what’s a girl to do? Google how to make breadcrumbs! It’s actually really easy: take some day old bread and further dry it out by putting them inside a 200° oven for 5 minutes (just make sure they don’t burn). Take them out and slice into smaller pieces. Put inside a food processor or blender, and blitz them until they reach the bread crumb consistency you’re after.

Nope, this isn’t my shortcut version

The following day, I trooped to the supermarket to buy ingredients for this easy to make salad. I wasn’t able to buy mint and the Thai fish sauce, but it was still so good with just the cilantro and the local patis.

Thai Mince Pork Salad
Ingredients
water
250 grams lean ground pork
1 1/2 tsp Thai fish sauce
1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
1 1/2 tsp lime juice
1 cabbage leaf, chopped
2 tsp coarsely chopped cilantro
2 tsp coarsely chopped mint leaves
1 medium onion, chopped

1. Bring the water to a boil, and put in the ground pork. Cook until done.
2. Drain excess water, and mix in the fish sauce, chilli flakes, and lime juice.
3. Add in the cabbage, cilantro, mint and onion. Mix well.

Rich in flavor yet easy to make. You can see why this is one of my favorites

Lumpiang ubod is one Filipino food I definitely love to eat. Be it sariwa or fried, this delicious food is readily available at most Filipino restaurants, eateries, canteens, and even from peddlers on the street.

Here’s a very simple recipe if you’d like to make some yourself.

Fried Lumpiang Ubod (Fried Palm Heart Spring Rolls)

Ingredients:

2 cups ubod (palm heart), cut into thin strips
1 chicken breast, boiled and flaked
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
Dash of chicken powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Lumpia (spring roll) wrappers
Cooking oil for stir frying
Cooking oil for deep frying
cornstarch diluted in water

Heat oil in pan. Saute’ onion and garlic until onion is translucent and garlic is golden brown. Add in the ubod. Next, add in the chicken. Season with chicken powder, salt and pepper. Stir fry until ubod is cooked. It should be tender but still has a bit of crunch. Allow to cool.

Lay out one lumpia wrapper on a plate. Place two tablespoons of the filling mixture on one end of the wrapper. Fold flap over the filling and fold the left and right sides in. roll until you reach the end of the wrapper. Seal the end with cornstarch diluted in water.

Deep fry in cooking oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with vinegar and crushed garlic.

When my mother first asked me to try this, I was skeptical because it didn’t really look good. Plus, it’s chicken breast, and I’m wary that it’d be dry. However, I was in for a surprise — it tasted good and it was moist! I was an instant convert, and I’ve been cooking this dish every week.

Presentation — I don’t have it.

Grilled Oregano Chicken

Ingredients
4 pieces chicken breast fillet
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoon olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients together.
2. Grill chicken over medium heat. Chicken breast cook very quickly, and will easily dry up if overcooked. Cook each side for about 1 minute.

Now isn’t that easy and fast? I personally prefer thigh fillets, but this recipe made me like chicken breast. But hmm, maybe I should try it with chicken thigh fillet next time…