Mely's Kitchen Bicol Express

Bicol express is one of the popular dishes in the Philippines. It was named after one region in the Philippines which this dish originated (Bicol).

 Here in South America different kinds of chillis are available all year round, that's why my imagination was stirred when I saw a chili shop at the market, I said Bicol Express!!Here are some chilis that I've used for this recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo pork
1 tablespoon shrimp paste ( bagoong)
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
different chili
dash of ground pepper and salt

Procedure:
1. Saute garlic and onion then add the different chili and saute for a minute.
2. Add the meat, simmer until it is tender then add the shrimp paste , stir for a minute..
3. Put a dash of salt and ground pepper, cover it and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk, let it boil then turn off the heat.
5. Serve it with rice.

Tofu Sisig

Tofu or tokwa is a good option to replace the meat in your diet, because just like meat this is rich in protein, because this is made from soya beans that is abundant in protein. There are a lot of ways to prepare tofu, but this is the one that my friends wants me to prepare for them, sisig! Yummy ! Try it.

Ingredients:
250 grams tofu (tokwa)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons calamansi or lemon juice
4 cloves garlic
1 onion
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Procedure:
1. Fried the tofu and slice into dice.

 2. Saute the garlic and onion then add the diced tofu and stir for a minute.

3. Add the soy sauce and lemon juice then simmer for a minute.

4. Add the ground pepper then simmer until cooked and serve it hot. 

If you like chili pepper you can add some.

Spinach Laing

Laing is one of the best dishes from the Bicol region of Philippines. Taro leaves or gabi leaves is the main ingredients of this recipe together with coconut milk, since I have lots of friends abroad and looking for an alternative of taro leaves, I designed this recipe for them, I used spinach instead of gabi leaves, it tastes as good as gabi leaves, so I am initing you to try this recipe and let me know.

Ingredients for 3-4 servings:
200 grams Spinach
100 grams pork belly ( sliced to your desired size)
1 tablespoon ginger strips
2 red chili
1 tablespoon shrimp paste ( Bagoong)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
salt to taste

Spinach

Procedure:
1. Dry the spinach leaves and cut into small pieces.

2.In a pot put the pork belly and cook over medium heat until the natural oil comes out, then put the ginger and garlic and saute until brownish then add the shrimp paste ( bagoong) and chili.

3.Add only the 1 cup of coconut milk and bring to a boil.

4. Add the spinach then simmer until the texture is similar to "laing na gabi". ( around 30 minutes over medium heat).

5.Add the 1/2 cup of coconut milk then simmer for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.

6. Serve anytime you want it :-).

Fruits that I Like

There are lots of fruits that I like and I love eating them every now and then :) Are some of these your favorite too? Let me know :-)

Banana

Cherries

Blueberry

Raspberry

Watermelon and Grapes

Strawberry

Avocado

Papaya

Mango

young coconut-buko

Rambutan

Lanzones

 More to come, if I have time to post :-)

Fried Banana

I love fried banana, I usually eat it without sugar, but my friend love to dip it in a sugar so I serve it for her with sugar. This is one of the easiest way to prepare a banana snack.

Just peel the ripe banana, slice it and deep fry until golden brown. Then serve it with or without sugar.

Fish Sisig

I have a friend who loves sisig but due to his health condition he can not eat his heart out when it comes to sisig, so I decided to make an alternative for him or what his doctor allowed him to have, and he can have fish that is why I made this fish sisig for him, it taste good and he likes it a lot. Try this recipe and see it for your self.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo round scad (galunggong) fried and shredded or flaked
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1  onion (minced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
3  tablespoons lemon or calamansi juice
spring onion
1/2 cup diced different colored bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Saute the garlic and onion then the bell pepper to enhance the aroma from it saute for a minute.
2. Add the shredded fish, soy sauce, calamansi juice, salt and pepper then stir until well combined, stir until done then sprinkle with spring onion.
3. Serve hot and enjoy.

YOu can add some chili pepper for this recipe

Chicken Sinigang With Bean Sprouts

Today my bestfriend Malley surprised me with his delicious Sinigang inventions lol. I admire his cooking not because that I am biased but because of his creativity in combining his ingredients. A recipe twister :D. I salute you malley and thanks for sharing your ideas in cooking.

Malley

Ingredients
3 cups of water
2 teaspoons of Sinigang mix
¼ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon hot chilli powder
2 boneless Chicken breasts
2 medium tomatoes
2 handfuls of bean-sprouts
4 mushrooms
3 small hot chillies
1 medium chilli
2 frankfurters
added green peas and sweet corn

Prep

1. Dice the chicken into small chunks
2. Cut each tomato into 6 pieces
3. Do the same with the mushrooms
4. Slices all the chillies into small pieces
5. Dice up the frankfurters

Method:

Over medium heat bring water to boil, then add the Sinigang mix, chicken and tomatoes and bring back to boil for a couple of minutes to soften the tomatoes, once nice and soft crush the pieces into the water. Now add the sausage, mushrooms, chillies and pepper, give it all a stir, then add the bean-sprouts and the chilli pepper, again give it a good stir, and simmer for 10mins, last but not least add the green peas and sweet corn and simmer for 2mins, then serve it hot.