sinabawang hipon with alugbati leaves

Still have remaining 13 medium shrimps in the freezer and a handful of alugbati leaves. With that, I prepared shrimp soup... mmmmmm... so nice to sip the soup. The alugbati leaves enhanced the flavor of the soup. Hehehe... The alugbati leaves were given to us by Mommy Sue when we visited them a week ago I think. I wrapped it in a plastic and we forgotten all about it since it was place under the vegetable bin. Hehehe... When I was looking for something to add to my shrimp soup, I saw the plastic and there it was, the alugbati leaves. Good thing most of it are still in good condition (not wilted, not yet yet spoiled, not yet discolored).


I don't know what's gotten in to me, I wanted to share a little something about alugbati... Alugbati leaves (malabar spinach in English) is common in our homeland, Cebu, Philippines. It easily grows anywhere with very little supervision needed. Not only the leaves but also the stem and the seeds can be eaten as well. It is an excellent source of antioxidants and a good source of vitamins A, B, and C, calcium and iron. It is also a good source of roughage (fiber) and it's easy to digest. It can also be prepared/cooked with other vegetables and meat or just as is (just sauteed lightly in oil with garlic and onion).

Alugbati also has medicinal uses. "Roots are employed as rubefacient. Poultice of leaves used to reduce local swelling. Sap is applied to acne eruptions to reduce inflammation. Decoction of leaves used for its mild laxative effects. Pulped leaves applied to boils and ulcers to hasten suppuration. Sugared juice of leaves useful for catarrhal afflictions. Leaf-juice, mixed with butter, is soothing and colling when applied to burns and scalds. In Ayurveda, used for hemorrhages, skin diseases, sexual weakness, ulcers and as laxative in children and pregnant women. In Nigeria, use for fertility enhancement in women."* However, the source said these are folkloric only but I hope these are for real.

Now here's a recipe with alugbati. Very easy and quick to prepare.

Ingredients:
13 medium shrimps
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1 small onion, quartered
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
spring onion, separate white part from green part
a handful alugbati leaves
4 cups water
1/2 shrimp broth cube
salt and pepper

Procedure:
Boil water with ginger, onion, white part of spring onion and broth cube. Then add the shrimp and tomato. Boil for 1-2 minutes or just until the shrimp turned orange.

Add salt and pepper and the alugbati leaves. Turn off the heat after 1 minute.

Serve hot.

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Alugbati photo and * from www.stuartxchange.org

shrimp in oyster sauce

Kim went to the grocery yesterday and he was able to buy shrimps. I super miss shrimp with oyster sauce. It's been a couple of months... or longer that I was able to prepare this. Before I used frozen shrimps so I didn't took a photo of it. Now this is much better. I like the sauce penetrating the shrimp specially the heads. Hehehe... Donna taught me this recipe and I liked it from the very first time I cooked it. This is quick and easy to prepare and yummy, too. I think I cooked this in less than 5 minutes...

Ingredients:
12 medium sized shrimps
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup oyster sauce
peper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter

Procedure:
In a wok, heat oil and butter. Saute garlic and onion until aromatic.

Add in the shrimps and cook just until it turned orange about 2-3 minutes.

Then add the oyster sauce and mix until all shrimps are fully coated with sauce, about 1 minute. Season with crushed pepper. (I prefer not to add salt since oyster sauce is a bit salty already for me)

Turn off the heat and sprinkle with chopped onion leaves (the green part only).

I love this over steamed rice and I usually put the rice in the wok after transferring the shrimp in a plate. I coat my rice with the remaining sauce in the wok... yummy... Hehehe...

adobong pusit

this is adobong pusit without the gata. i already have an entry here for the adobong pusit sa gata. we were able to buy fresh pusit/squid at the grocery and we decided to cook adobo.

ingredients:
6 pcs. medium pusit
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 thumb-size ginger, cut into thin strips
1 tomato, diced
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbspo. cooking oil

procedure:
clean the pusit well, remove the transparent spine. carefully separate the heads from the body so as not to break the ink sacks. retain the ink sacks and the tentacles from the head and discard the rest of the heads. cut the pusit into rings.

in a wok, heat oil and then saute the garlic, onion and ginger until aromatic. add the tomato and continue cooking until tomatoes are wilted.

then add the pusit then mix a little bit. then add the vinegar and oyster sauce. simmer but do not mix for about 1 minute.

season with salt and pepper and mix well, about 7 minutes. do not overcook pusit as overcooking it will make it rubbery.

lastly, add the sugar. then mix again for 1-2 minutes.

calamares

another way to prepare a squid dish. simple to make and faster to cook. that is because the longer you cook the squid, the tougher it gets. using just a few ingredients around you'll be able to prepare this in a flash.

i thought makuy doesn't like to eat squid since he didn't like the adobong pusit but he just chewed a bit then swallowed and finished his meal. well, that's good.

ingredients:
squid, cleaned, heads and ink sacks removed and discarded, tentacles retained, sliced into rings
lemon juice
cornstarch
egg, beaten
flour
salt and pepper
cooking oil for deep frying

procedure:
in a bowl, place the cut squids and lemon juice. let sit for a few minutes. drain very well and discard liquid. season the squid with salt and pepper. set aside.

in a bowl, place the cornstarch. another bowl next to it, place the beaten egg, and another bowl next, place the flour.

heat the cooking oil for deep-frying.

dredge each squid rings into cornflour, then into the egg and into the flour. shake a bit to take off excess flour. deepfry until golden brown. make sure that the oil is really hot when you dip the squid rings. it only takes a minute to cook and do not overcook for it will toughen the squid meat.

drain excess oil in paper towels.

serve with vinegar-garli-onion-chili dip.

for the dip:
just combine vinegar, crushed and minced garlic, thinly sliced onion and chopped chili in a sauce bowl.

guinataang alimango (crab in coconut milk)

k was able to buy a kilo of mud crab in the souk. as soon as he arrived, he cleaned the crab and i imediately cooked it for our early lunch that friday. we have to cook it as soon as possible since the crabs are fresh and alive when he bought it.

k didn't want to leave a few in the freezer since as his father said the longer it stays in the refrigerator and not cooked right away, the meat of the crab becomes watery and it looses its meat. i cooked it in cocnut milk for a more flavorful dish.

it was a delicious early lunch... another craving that was satisfied for me. (shrimp nalang ang wala)... hehehe...


ingredients:
1 kl. crab, cleaned
5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1 spring onion, separate the green part from the white part
1-1/2 cup coconut milk
1 siling haba
3 tbsp. cooking oil
salt and pepper

procedure:
boil/steam the crabs for 3-5 minutes. drain and set aside.¹

in a large wok, heat oil and saute onion, white part of spring onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant. add the crabs and saute for 2 minutes.

add the coconut milk and siling haba. do not mix too much. let boil until coconut milk renders it own oil. then mix to coat all the crabs with the coconut milk. continue simmering until the crabs are fully cooked and the sauce reduces in half. add the green part of spring onion.

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¹ after steaming/boiling the crabs, you can either cut it in half or retain as one piece.

sinabawang halaan (clam soup)

i've been craving for this one for as long as i remember. since we got here in uae, i think i only ate this dish once. i should be having this more often now and specially after i give birth since it is important in producing breastmilk.

this dish is best with malunggay leaves. unfortunately, we don't have it and no supermarket here sell malinggay leaves. when we were still living in jabal, k planted a malunggay plant and we get our malunngay supplies there. i told k to plant malunggay again here in al wagan, even just in large pot, as long as we have malunggay plant.


k gave me a tip... in buying clams make sure that you choose those still closed, they are fresh and still alive. opened clams are dead already and should be discarded. k cleaned the clams with a brush to get the sand off of its shells. make sure also that you clean them very well since you don't want any sand on your soup.

ingredients:
1/2 kl. clams, cleaned
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1 small tomato, seeded and sliced
1 spring onion, separate the white part from the green part and chopped
1 siling haba
2-3 cups water
salt and pepper

procedure:
in a casserole, put the onion, white part on the spring onion, ginger and water. bring to a boil.

add the clams, tomato and siling haba. simmer until the clams opened. if they are all opened, it means they are already cooked.

season with salt and pepper. turn off the heat and put the green part of spring onion.

serve hot.

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best with malunggay leaves. if you planned to add malunggay leaves, just before seasoning the soup, add the malunggay leaves.

squid ball

today i was wondering what to do with the remaining larger squid which kim bought from the souk. kim doesn't like stuff/grilled squid since it's too uncooked for him. i searched the net for some squid recipe and what usually come out was squid ball. i came to cafe munchkin's site with the shrimp and fish ball recipe. so, i tried to make squid ball basing to that recipe. but the squid ball recipe calls for some shrimp and a blender/food processor... which i don't have. but i continued preparing hoping it would come out well.

instead of blending the ingredients together, i blanched the squid for a few seconds and minced it. then combine with the rest of the ingredients. the outcome?... kim appreciated it... makuy ate it without knowing that it's squid (he doesn't eat squid). :P

i got the shrimp and fish ball recipe here where i based my squid ball recipe but mine was basically like meat ball using squid. you can try it if you like. i will definitely do it again when and if i already have a blender or food processor. :)

ingredients:
1/2 kl. squid, cleaned, ink sacks and heads discarded, tentacles retained and peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp. ginger, minced
1 spring onion, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. cornstarch
salt and pepper
additional breadcrumbs
cooking oil for deep-frying

procedure:
blanch squid for a few seconds in boiling water. drain and let cool a bit. slice and minced.

in a bowl, combine the minced squid, garlic, onion, gingerspring onion, egg, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, cornstarch, salt and pepper. mix well using hands to fully incorporate.

heat oil in a sauce pan.

form 1"/1 tbsp. ball from the mixture. dredge with breadcrumbs.

deep-fry until golden brown. drain on paper towel.

serve with your favorite sauce.

adobong pusit sa gata

k went to the souk to buy some shrimp but he came home with squid instead. shrimp was expensive and the vendor didn't allow him to buy just half kilo and he found this nice looking squid.

so, what to do with the squid but adobo since kim's not a fan of grilled squid/stuffed squid. i always prepare adobong pusit and i remembered my lola preparing this dish to us way back when we were still young. but this time, i added gata and siling haba for a little kick.

dish with gata will never go wrong... it's yummy.


ingredients:
1/2 kl. squid, cleaned, heads removed, tentacles and ink sacks retained, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced into thin strips
1 medium onion, sliced
1 thumb-size ginger, sliced
1-2 siling haba
1 cup coconut milk*
1/4 cup vinegar
patis
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. cooking oil

procedure:
over high heat, heat the cooking oil in a work. saute garlic, onion and ginger until fragrant.

add squid and cook for a minute (if squid are cooked longer it will become tough).

add vinegar. let simmer for a minute before mixing.

add the coconut milk and do not mix too much. let boil until the coconut milk render it's own oil.

season with patis and pepper. continue simmering until the coconut milk reduces in half.

* i used canned coconut milk since it's much accessible here. if you like, you can use coconut cream if canned or the first extraction if using fresh coconut. coconut milk if using fresh coconut is the second or third extraction.