Ultimate Pork Adobo (Chinese Style)

If there is a dish that defines what Filipino cuisine is all about - it's adobo, the unofficial, national dish of the Philippine islands. There are as many versions of adobo as there are many islands in the Philippines. Perhaps not as many as 7,107 islands (the whole Philippine archipelago) but ask each Filipino family and each will tell you their own adobo recipe handed down from one generation to another differentiated not so much by the kind of ingredients they use but more on the style or technique in cooking the dish.

Adobo always has meat - that's the star of the dish. It can either be chicken or pork or a combination of both. While the name is of Spanish origin and is similar in some ways to the Latin/Hispanic "adobo" in the sense that meat is steeped in or immersed in a sauce and cooked in it, adobo in the Philippines refers mainly to the dish (as in Pork adobo) rather than a cooking technique. Typically, adobo is cooked in a soy and vinegar sauce with bay leaves, lots of garlic, black peppercorns (whole or crushed), and may be sweetened with a little sugar or even pineapple juice or syrup. Because of the long and slow cooking, the meat absorbs the delicious flavor of the sauce and is so good paired with rice. Normally, we cook a lot of adobo so we have left-overs which can be re-heated day after day. The longer the adobo stands (in the fridge of course, though in the olden times it's the vinegar that served as its preservative) the better the taste. When you have some left-overs (if you ever have some 'cause you may want to eat it all in one sitting - so more-ish!) serve it with fried rice and some fried eggs and you have a classic Pinoy breakfast - AD-SI-LOG - short name for Adobo (this dish) - Sinangag (Fried Rice) - and Itlog (Fried Eggs). Yummm!

For this particular version, I depart from the usual adobo (though I will be posting a recipe for the classic adobo in a future post). Here I am making an adobo without using vinegar - Chinese style. For this I am deeply indebted to my friend Rebecca who graciously shared with me the ingredients she used and the way to make it. After I tasted the adobo she brought in one of our Filipino parties, I just had to get her recipe. It's so good you won't even miss the vinegar! I have never made pork adobo any other way! For me this is the ultimate pork adobo. Even my husband (not really a big pork fan) loves this and never says no when this is on the table.

What I particularly love about this adobo is the addition of mushrooms. I have seen adobo with pineapple rings but never one with mushrooms and this gives the adobo even more depth in flavor and adds a lot in texture. I have tried many kinds of mushrooms -both dried and fresh shiitake, enoki, mini-portobellos and the common white button mushrooms. Any of them are great for this dish but the best for me are the fresh shiitake 'cause they are so meaty and fully absorb the flavor. If using dried shitake, don't forget to rehydrate them first before using and keep the liquid used in rehydrating them 'cause you can add that into the sauce for an even better flavor (if that is even possible with this already yummy sauce!).

So here goes the yummiest and easiest Adobo ever!

Ingredients

1 kilo / 2.2 lbs pork (get the part with some fat on it like pork shoulder, boneless country style ribs or pork belly)
Oyster sauce – 1 1/2 Tbsp
Brown sugar – 2 Tbsp (adjust to taste)
Soy sauce – 1/4 cup (I use Kikkoman)
Garlic – 6-8 cloves, minced or crushed or chopped (a small head of garlic may be used)
2 Bay leaves
Freshly ground pepper (or whole black peppercorns), to taste
8 oz fresh mini-bella/portobello mushrooms, or 2 - 4 oz shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dry)
A few drops of sesame oil (Very essential!)

Procedure

Clean the pork. Cut up the pork adobo style - about 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes or chunks. They will shrink as they cook so I make it a little bigger. 

In a deep pan or a Dutch oven, mix the soy and oyster sauces, sugar, garlic and ground or whole peppercorns. Coat the pork with the sauce. Insert the bay leaves.

Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low until pork is tender between 1 1/2 - 2 hours. 

When the pork is already tender, add in the mushrooms. Continue to simmer until the mushrooms are cooked and tender about 5-10 minutes.

Add a few drops of sesame oil. Serve hot with rice.

Cook's Notes:

If using fresh Shiitake (4oz) - clean them quickly under running water or wipe the tops clean. Cut of the stem (can't eat them too chewy!) and then chop.

If using dry Shiitake (2 oz) - reconstitute/rehydrate the mushrooms in warm water for about 20 mins or until tender. Reserve the water. You may need to strain it first to remove any impurities and add it as needed if the adobo sauce dries up. This liquid is so full of flavor so don't throw it away especially if you like a more liquidy adobo.

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Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)

Blueberry Muffins

Oh summer...why are you saying goodbye? I miss you already! I feel the fall chill each morning when I wake up but I am still holding out for an Indian summer.

I read in Facebook or was it Pinterest, I don't know...one of those. It said that we should arrest summer for speeding! I say yeah, lock it up, throw the keys away so summer stays forever. Sorry, am speaking as a Manilena here - from the Philippines - where it seems to be summer all through the year.

For my homage to summer, here's my tot's favorite - blueberry muffins. I essentially used my from scratch blueberry cake batter here. What came out is a really moist, cakey and delicious muffin with a little crunch on top. This is why I wish summer won't leave us. Oh well, I can still eat my muffins.... Let me go grab one!




Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar (you can use either white or brown or a mix of the two)*
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup olive oil (light or the fruity version or plain vegetable oil)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups fresh blueberries (sometimes I add a little more if I have a lot of berries)


Procedure

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Line your muffin pan with paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Set aside. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla).

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix. I use a spatula to fold in the flour and mix everything together but you can also use a whisk. The batter should be thick.

Fold in the berries.

Divide evenly among the 12 muffin cups. I use a large ice cream scooper for this. So handy! A full scoop per cup is about right. There is enough batter (nearly full) for each cup, sufficient to give your muffin a nice dome.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and after about 8-10 minutes (when it's cool enough to handle) transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Some tips:

*I suggest using either all brown sugar or 1 cup brown and half cup white sugar. It will make the batter look brownish but you have a nicer looking muffin. If you use all white sugar, the muffins will look rather pale. The brown sugar gives the muffins a better color. See below the color of the muffin when you use more brown sugar than white. Lovely, isn't it?

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Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

Penne with Peppers, Fresh Tomatoes and Basil

This pasta dish is full of deliciously fresh flavors and  so perfect for using your summer produce!! So seriously yummy you won't miss the meat!

I love going to the farmer’s market to buy fresh produce which I can immediately use for easy stir-fries or pasta dishes. Usually, I would buy some fresh ripe tomatoes, colorful peppers and fresh herbs which I love to use in making fresh pasta sauce. While browsing the internet, I chanced upon this recipe - Penne Pasta with Peppers, Tomatoes and Basil from Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty Minute Pasta. Since I had the ingredients needed for the dish, I began to work on it and simply adapted it to what has now become a favorite summer pasta dish.

According to Hazan, it makes a difference if you peel the peppers before you use it as it removes the bitterness coming from its skin and brings out its sweetness. I followed his advice and it was spot on. I also peeled the tomatoes as recommended by him and the result is a really juicy yummy tomato sauce.

This is such a simple dish but really big on flavor. Unbelievably delicious!

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Ingredients

  

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

3 Tablespoon  Butter

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers (red & yellow), peeled, seeded, cut lengthwise into thin strips, then diced

1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes (about 2 large beefsteak tomatoes or your fave one), peeled and diced

10 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Penne or any pasta of your choice

Parmesan cheese to pass around

Procedure

Cook the pasta according to package directions while making the sauce.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the butter and let it melt, don’t let it burn. Once the butter has sizzled and melted, add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the onion and sauté until it’s soft about 4-5 mins. 
When the onion has softened, add the peppers and season with a little salt. Cook for about 8-10 mins or until fully tender. Stir in the tomatoes and continue to sauté for another 10 mins until the tomatoes have reduced and the liquid released has dried up a bit. Halfway through, stir in the chopped basil.

When almost done, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the freshly cooked pasta of your choice to the sauce and mix until the pasta is fully coated. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese on top. Oh, yum!

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Frikkadel - Delicious South African Braised Meatballs

In 2007, we had the chance to go back to South Africa. We stayed there for about six months. We really had the best of time. We love the people we met and became friends with. We love the stunning scenery especially the game parks. And of course, the food, the glorious food we enjoyed tremendously.

How to get the perfect Dome on your Muffins (Simple Techniques to make your muffins look great!)

I love muffins! Blueberry muffins were the first muffins I have ever attempted to bake. The taste was great and some of the people I have shared it with loved them too. However, I was never fully happy with the way they looked. They look small and rather flat on top, unlike the yummy muffins that I see from bakeries and coffee shops.

 This muffin was cooked in a Demarle Flexi-Muffin tray. 

No need for any liners when you use Demarle.

So, I did  a little research and in the process discovered these few simple techniques that can make your muffins look like they were made by the pros. Here goes:


1. Make sure you use the correct temperature. I suggest baking your muffins at 400 F.  I know most muffin recipes (including the ones I have used previously) all tell us to preheat our ovens to between 325-375 F. That heat range is just not enough. While it will surely cook your muffins, it will not give you the full rise that you want. You need a higher temperature (others even recommend 425F to begin with but that makes my muffin too dark!) to immediately activate your leavening agent to start working. Of course, you need to adjust cooking time, unless you prefer crunchy muffins! :-) For me it's between 18-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean (as they say!). Experiment!

2. I had the privilege of watching a pastry chef make some muffins and I asked her what tips she can give to make sure muffins rise nicely. She told me to make sure that all the ingredients needed are in room temperature (that means -- eggs and butter shouldn't be used straight from the fridge). Leave it out first before you use it. I didn't ask the reason why but I can imagine if you need high heat to help the muffin rise during the first few minutes of baking, I guess, if you put cold ingredients there then that won't help. That's my own non-scientific reason. Perhaps I should research more. Clear as mud, huh?

Also, especially, if you are using the cream method for making muffins - make sure that you add each egg one by one, instead of dumping it all in one go. This is to ensure that each egg is properly incorporated in the batter.

* Another helpful tip she shared (not related to this topic but I'll share it anyway!) is that eggs should be placed in a separate bowl or receptacle when you prepare it. Do not immediately dump it with the other ingredients. In case the eggs are rotten - then at least, you can just replace the eggs and not the entire batter. Very practical.

3. Once you have mixed the batter altogether immediately place it in the muffin pan and then directly to the oven (without much delay). This is especially true if you are using baking soda. I think this was my worst mistake, I often leave out mine in the counter for who knows how long (like I almost  forgot I was actually baking or perhaps remembered...ooooopppps... I did not preheat the oven and then had to wait!).  I think I am getting better at this! :-)

This was another tip I got from a pastry chef who said that once you have mixed both wet and dry ingredients the acids in the leavening agents begin to work right away and if you leave them in the counter top too long then they become ineffective. While baking powder has the double acting capacity and heat may assist in giving it the rise it needs that's not the case with baking soda. Either way, why risk it? If you want yummy looking muffins go for that oven quick!

4. Make sure your batter is thick. You don't want a liquidy batter so if that happens to you make adjustments in your recipe - perhaps you need more flour, perhaps less butter or oil.  Remember it should be "spoonable" not "pourable." I think that's a pretty good test!

5. Now this final technique makes a lot of sense, if you ask me. Fill your muffin pans/cups until it is nearly full. Therefore, forget what you have read in muffin recipes that say fill up your tins 2/3s full. It's quite obvious, it will not rise as high if there's not enough batter on the muffin pan. This means, instead of 12 you will probably only make about 9 muffins (unless you really have a lot of batter!). Don't forget to add some water to the empty cups when you bake them.

There you go! While I may not have given you the most scientific of all explanations, baking is a perfect science after all, I have found these simple tips to be quite helpful. Hopefully, it will be helpful to you too! :-)

Disclaimer: I am not a baker nor a pastry chef just a humble lawyer (what do I really know?) so I cannot fully guarantee the results but these have worked for me so try it and hope it works for you too! Please do let me know. Thanks for reading and dropping by! Have a great day! :-)

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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16