TOFU and KANGKONG SUSHI

I had a lot of time in my hands yesterday, and got bored that eventually led me to do some experimenting in the kitchen. I was supposed to do the rellenong bangus dish that my husband requested but I was also in a lazy mood and pleaded if I can delay it until tomorrow. So, I just played around with other leftover ingredients I have in the fridge and came up with a healthy sushi that's SUPER EASY to make. =)

Presenting: TOFU and KANGKONG SUSHI with adobo sauce and Japanese Mayo.

Here are the ingredients I used and how I did it: (makes 1 roll)

I first fried some tofu. (We order tofu on a weekly basis and I have to use it within the week. )

Then, made some adobo sauce reduction. In a stockpot, I combined 3 tbsp cane vinegar with a clove of garlic, 2 bay leaves and some ground pepper corns. Placed that into a simmer until liquid has been reduced, then added 1/4 cup soy sauce and seasoned it with a tsp of sugar; simmered it again until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Added 1 tsp of cornstarch diluted in 2 tsp of water and boil until slightly thick.

At this point,  I prepared all the other leftover ingredients I could find in our fridge and pantry: some cooked red rice from lunch that day, some steamed kangkong (water spinach), a piece of nori/seaweed wrapper that we always have in stock, and japanese mayonnaise.

tip: I always cover my bamboo mat with some cling wrap before using it, it will be easier to clean it this way.

First step, placed some adobo sauce reduction to the nori wrapper, followed with some red rice. Topped the rice with 4 slices of fried tofu, drizzled again with adobo sauce.

Topped it with a handful of steamed kangkong (water spinach) and spread some japanese mayo on top of it.

Rolled it! Rolled it good! =)

Voila! A healthy sushi ready to be savored! =)

I really liked how this experiment turned out. The sushi was light yet packed with good flavors. And each bite is GUILT FREE. =)

I am hoping for more experiments like this. =)

Hope you can try this one too, and should you have experiments too in your kitchen, SHARE. =)

Happy Eating! =)

MONGGO GISADO with MALUNGGAY (Green Mung bean Stew)

Today is Friday; a day regarded with abstinence.

When I was a kid, Friday lunch or dinner meant Monggo Gisado, a classic Filipino dish usually paired with a fish dish, usually any Pritong Isda (Fried fish) or Paksiw (Fish stewed in vinegar).  That is probably the reason I got so fed up with eating this dish that I try to avoid it as much as I can while growing up. But, to no avail, this is my father’s favorite dish so we still have it once a week. My mother usually made it with tinapa (smoked fish) and small shrimps.

 The only thing that got me excited about “monggo day” during those times was when I request from my mother or the cook making them to give me some of the “boiled monggo” before making them into a “Gisado”. I would then mash it a bit, add some powdered milk and sugar and chill it- my instant dessert! =) Ohhhhhh, I am beginning to become nostalgic once more.

It’s been such a long time since I had monggo, and I have to admit, it is only now that I miss it, not necessarily the dish, but specifically my Mom doing this dish for us.

Today, my husband requested for monggo gisado for his lunch, and its good timing that we still have a lot of “malunggay” to use. 

Here's how to do it:

In a pot, boil 1/2 cup of green monngo beans (green mung beans) in 1 1/2 cup water until tender; about 20-30 minutes.

Prepare the perennial ingredients for a Filipino Gisado: 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic and 1 tomato.

In a sautéing pan, heat some oil, and saute the onion, garlic and tomato. 

(What I had around was some pork belly, so that is what I used, sliced into desired pieces.)

Add pork and cook until done. Then add in HALF of the pork cube/bouillon. 

tip: For a healthier option, use small shrimps rather than pork, you can even use tinapa flakes (smoked fish flakes).

Add the boiled monggo beans and about 1 1/4 cup water; just enough to cover it. 

Simmer for a few minutes. Season with Patis (fish sauce) or salt and pepper. 

Remove from heat and add in the malunggay leaves.

Serve with hot rice. Garnish with chicharon (pork cracklings) if desired.

You can also make this dish for the Holy Week sans the meat. And if you don't have malunggay leaves, you can use spinach or young ampalaya (bitter gourd) leaves.

Happy Eating! =)

Super Easy MINI MALUNGGAY QUICHE

I had some leftover phyllo pastry sheets from the trimmings I made for my Pistachio Baklava a week ago, and I had to find some use for it cause it will soon expire. I also have one small swiss cheese in the fridge, one of the goodies I got from a food basket I received last Christmas; and some spare cream cheese.

Apart from these ingredients at hand, I also finally got myself a muffin pan! YAY! I am so excited to use it, I will find any excuse to make use of it. It's perfect making hand-held meals that are just so cute! =)

With all of these reasons, I found myself making some MINI MALUNGGAY QUICHE! =)

Quiche is a savory custard that was adapted from French cuisine and is usually incorporated with some spinach and other cheeses. But we dont have any spinach around so I decided to use Malunggay instead; which are bountiful here - just as nutritious and yummy.

 "Malunggay"

Here's how to do it:

Thaw the phyllo pastry sheets couple of hours before using it; and cut it into squares that will fit your muffin tins perfectly. Set aside.

tip: While the phyllo sheets are still not in use, cover them with a damp towel or a cling wrap to prevent drying them out.

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Prepare all the fillings you will need for the quiche: a cup of malunggay leaves, about 1/2 cup of shredded swiss cheese, 1 small onion, about 1/4 cup of sliced button mushrooms.

tip: You can use any cheese you have at hand or even add meats such as ham, or bacon.

Next, butter the muffin tins.

After that, make some easy phyllo cups by buttering each square of phyllo sheets layer per layer until you have 6 - 8 total sheets. Press them into the buttered muffin tins.

Afterwards, distribute the malunggay leaves, the sliced onion, shredded cheese, mushroom and crumbled cream cheese to the muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of milk (I used low fat) and 2 large eggs. Season with your favorite spices. Making quiche is a great way to experiment with your favorite spices!  For my quiche, I seasoned it adding some dashes of cayenne pepper and ground mustard.  

Pour the egg mixture to the muffin pan and allow it to thoroughly seep through every layer of the quiche.

Bake it at the preheated oven of 375F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean when inserted to the center of quiche.

The phyllo cups are sooooo crispy so let hem cool a little and be careful when you take them out of the muffin pan. Garnish with parsley if desired.

It's a perfect snack any time of the day! Light, cheesy, savory, crispy and above it all HEALTHY. I think next time I would add MORE Malunggay leaves into this hand-held goodness! =)

another tip: If you don't have any phyllo pastry sheets, sub it with a loaf of bread, cut them into circles or just press them as it is in the muffin pan.

Happy Eating! =)

MY misadventure with Fresh Lumpiang Ubod

This is another dish you can make this coming Holy Week!

Fresh Lumpiang Ubod or most commonly known as Lumpiang Sariwa is the Filipinos version of Chinese Lumpia. It is made by filling a thin egg wrapper with sautéed ubod (heart of palm) and other choice of vegetables and meat.

Okay, first things first. I have to clarify to everyone that this was the first time I made Lumpiang Sariwa. I usually buy it from Goldilocks food shop when I crave for one; I really like their version, but you see, here in Narnia, there is still no Goldilocks Food shop; so again, I ended up making it myself. – With a little misadventure while doing so. 

Read on to know where I exactly made a crucial mistake.

I first made the thin egg wrapper. This ratio made about 5 wrappers.

In a bowl, I whisked 1 large egg with a dash of salt. Gradually added 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of milk ALTERNATELY. Lastly, added 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.  Stored the batter in the fridge until ready to use.

While my batter was in the fridge, I made the vegetable filling. The heart of palm/Ubod should be the main ingredient, I used about ½ kg of that; and then I just used my favorite vegetables for the other fillings: 1 carrot, 1 camote (sweet potato), 1 sayote (chayote), 1 small cabbage, 1 red onion, 2 cloves of garlic, about 240g of garbanzos and a bunch of cilantro. The cilantro is not a usual ingredient for lumpiang ubod but I must say that it really contributes a great flavor to any dish plus it is my favorite herb. If you don’t like it, don’t add it. Just use your favorite veggies. There is no exact rule to this except to use ubod as the main ingredient.  For the source of protein, I used about 4 pcs of raw shrimps (that's the only protein I found in our freezer) and some cooked left over shrimps from the last last night’s dinner and that summed to about 1/2 cup. I added too, 2 blocks of tofu.

Here’s how I exactly did it:

I sliced all the vegetables into matchsticks. Peeled the shrimps and minced it.

tip: When peeling the Sayote, use some protection for your hand as Sayote's skin have minute thorns that can hurt you. 

In a wok, I heated about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and sauteed the garlic and onion just until fragrant. I added the minced raw shrimps and cooked it until orange; followed with the minced leftover shrimps.

 OK, so this was were I made a crucial mistake. Yes, I made it early. I was lazy, so I added the sliced tofu.

It is only after cooking the filling that I realized that I SHOULD HAVE FRIED THE TOFU FIRST AND JUST ADD IT DURING "LUMPIA ASSEMBLY". Adding the tofu early on made the filling somewhat soggy. Something I DO NOT WANT my lumpia filling to be.

 After that mistake, I stir fried the carrots, camote and garbanzos for about 3 minutes until soft. 

4) I followed it with the ubod, sayote, and shredded cabbage; and stir fried it for another 3 minutes.

5) I added the bunch of cilantro last; and seasoned the vegetables with some patis (fish sauce) and pepper. Then, I set this aside. The vegetable filling can  make about 10 pieces of lumpia.

After making the filling, I got back on the thin egg wrapper. I heated a non-stick pan and brushed it lightly with some vegetable oil. I put a ladle of the batter, and swirled the pan to evenly spread it. Cooked it at very low heat. This process took about just a minute on each side.

tip: If the batter is too thick, add some water to it. Remember this should be a thin wrapper, thinner than crepe.

After making the thin egg wrappers, I made the last important element for this dish- the sauce. In a stockpot, I combined 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of minced garlic, 1/2 of pork bouillon, and 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 4 tbsp of water.  Brought that to a boil and simmered it until sauce was lightly thick. 

I then prepared Romaine lettuce leaves, crushed peanuts and all the other components for LUMPIA ASSEMBLY. 

I wrapped the veggies in the thin egg wrapper burrito-style. I started by putting the romaine lettuce leaf, topped with vegetable filling, some sauce and crushed nuts. 

Transferred it to a serving platter and and topped it with more sauce and nuts.

After trying one, my husband found it delicious, although it was still soggy for my standard. 

I decided to gave some to my in-laws so I made some more and transferred it to a lock&lock.

Okay, although the lumpias turned out well (taste wise), I would have to keep in mind not to add the tofu early on. Lesson learned. 

At least, we still enjoyed the "soggy" version. =) 

Hope you won't make the same mistake that I did. ;-)

Happy Eating! =)