Pork Adobo

In Filipino cuisine, adobo refers to a common and very popular cooking process indigenous to the Philippines.When Spanish colonizers first took administration over the Philippines in the late 1500s and early 1600s, they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar, which they then referred to as "adobo," which is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade. Dishes prepared in this manner eventually came to be known by this name, with the original term for the dish now lost to history.

Yield:

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 pounds pork belly or spare ribs, chopped to 1-inch cubes
2. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3. 1 medium onion, chopped
4. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
5. 1/4 cup soy sauce
6. 1/4 cup vinegar
7. 1/2 cup water
8. 1 bay leaf
9. 1/2 teaspoon paprika
10. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
11. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
12. 8 to 10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

1. In a medium to large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook pork until brown and crispy on the outside, about 3 minutes.
2. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are caramelized, about 2 minutes.
3. Add soy sauce, vinegar, water, bay leaf, paprika, and black pepper. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in brown sugar to melt. Add cherry tomatoes and cook for another minute. Serve with rice.

Notes

Bistek - Filipino Beef Steak

Bistek is a Philippine dish typically made with onions and strips of sirloin beef slowly cooked in soy sauce, and calamansi juice. It is best prepared by marinating the meat first in the mixture of soy sauce or calamansi juice. The meat is then browned in vegetable oil (usually coconut oil) and the marinade added back in when the meat has seared. Onion rings are optionally added near the end as a garnish. The word "bistek" is the assimilated form of the word "beef steak."

Yield:

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1. 3/4 lb tenderized beef cube steak
2. juice of 1/2 lemon
3. 1 yellow onion, sliced to look like onion rings
4. 2 tbsp soy sauce
5. ground pepper
6. 1/2 tsp cornstarch (or flour) dissolved in 1/2 cup water
7. 1 yellow onion (or half if you’re skipping the optional sprouts)
8. 1 tbsp olive oil, for frying
9. 2 handfuls of bean sprouts (optional)

Directions

1. In medium heat, sauté the onion slices in a tablespoon of oil until it becomes translucent but still holds its shape. Remove them from the pan into a separate bowl.
2. Cook the beef in the remaining oil. Drizzle lemon juice on top. Add pepper and kosher salt. This takes about 5-7 minutes depending on the cut and thickness of the meat you have.
3. Allow the meat to cook for 2 minutes with the soy sauce added.
4. Pour the cornstarch dissolved in water and wait for it to simmer and thicken. [Note: The cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce. You can skip it if you prefer.]
5. Toss a third of the onions fried earlier (or ½ if you skip the optional step #7) and mix with the meat for another couple of minutes before turning off the heat.
6. Plate in a dish with top with remaining fried onion rings for garnish.
7. In the same pan, add 1/3 of the onion slices and sauté with the bean sprouts for 5 minutes. You can add salt and pepper if you like, but I find that the remaining flavors in the pan is just right.

Notes

Another variation are the fried potatoes cut like thick chips or in chunks, and use that to top the dish (or mix with it).

Lumpia

Almost every country in Asia has its own interpretation of spring rolls, otherwise known as egg rolls in the United States. In the Philippines, spring rolls are called lumpia. Generally speaking, lumpia is derived from the Chinese spring roll and can be a mixture of veggies (like cabbage and carrots), meats (usually pork), and/or seafood (sometimes shrimp) rolled into a thin wrapper. More specifically though, lumpia can be found throughout the Philippines in a variety of forms.– Lumpiang Sariwa refers to “fresh,” or un-fried lumpia that are filled with sauteed veggies and meat and wrapped in a thin, homemade crepe–as opposed to store-bought spring roll wrappers.
–Lumpiang Hubad, or naked lumpia, does not mean that you are to eat the spring roll buck-naked without your clothes on (although you can if you want), but instead refers to the lumpia filling being served without the wrapper.
–Lumpiang Prito is perhaps the most recognizable type of Filipino spring roll as it is the fried version most often seen on Filipino tables. Many types of fried lumpia are filled with ground meat and utilize a variety of vegetables to further extend the filling.

Yield:

Makes about 50 lumpia

Ingredients

1. 1 package Lumpia wrappers (25 sheets); Chinese or Vietnamese spring roll wrappers meant for frying can be substituted.
2. 2 pounds ground pork
3. 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4. 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
5. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
6. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
7. Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Using a serrated knife, cut the square lumpia wrappers in half so that you have two stacks of rectangular wrappers. Place a damp paper towel over the wrappers to keep them from drying out as you work.
2. Combine the pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, eggs, and black pepper in a large bowl. Using your hands, or a rubber spatula, mix the filling well so that the seasonings are evenly distributed.
3. Place one of the rectangular wrappers vertically on your work surface with the short edge facing you. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling on the wrapper about half an inch from the edge closest to you. Grasp the bottom edge of the wrapper and roll it up and over the filling, continuing to roll until 2 inches of wrapper remain.
4. Dip two fingers into a bowl of water, then moisten the last 2 inches of wrapper with your fingers. Finish rolling the lumpia, then rest it on its seam. Continue rolling with the rest of the filling and lumpia wrappers.
5. At this point, you can freeze your rolled lumpia if you wish by placing them in freezer bags and then into your freezer.
6. To cook the lumpia, fill a large frying pan with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently place the lumpia into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes total (if frying frozen lumpia, it will take 1 to 2 minutes longer).
7. Place the fried lumpia on paper towels and serve immediately with sweet and sour sauce (bottled from the store is fine).

Notes

You can also add finely minced raw shrimp to the pork mixture if you’d like. Also, instead of ground pork, you can use ground beef, or even ground turkey if you’re watching your girlish figure.