I love a good pandesal. Especially the lovely, purple, ube-flavoured ones! I've never tried making it myself though. And, arguably, I should have started with a more traditional, non-sourdough recipe for my first attempt. But I had starter that needed used, so I figured I'd give it a go.

I think this recipe was largely fine, but I was distracted and in a hurry when making it, so I didn't give it as much attention as I should have and ended up with slightly subpar results.

I didn't quite catch the starter at its peak, so it had already started to sink back by the time I was mixing the dough. I also absent-mindedly started scooping whole wheat flour into the bowl instead of the all-purpose flour that I'd been intending to use. So, instead of 300g of all-purpose flour, the final dough ended up with ~100g of whole wheat flour and 200g of all-purpose flour. This made the dough slightly drier than it was meant to be, which meant that I had trouble getting it to take up all of the flour. And, since I didn't have time to stay there and keep kneading it, I just covered it and let it sit for a couple hours while I attended to other things. This resulted in some obstinate lumps of mostly dry flour that were very difficult to properly smooth out and incorporate later. I was having enough trouble with these lumps and getting everything evenly mixed, that I decided to add a little more water. Now, what I should have done was wet my hands and work a bit of water in that way. Instead I decided to pour a little water in. And ended up adding 30g instead of the 5-10 it likely needed. So then the dough was much too wet. Which required trying to correct it with a little more flour (~40g). Not the end of the world, to be sure, but not exactly ideal either.

And then there was the shaping...

The recipe recommended rolling the dough into a log and then cutting the log into 12 discs and placing the discs cut-side-up for proofing and baking. So I did that. But I'm not really happy with the results that that gave. I think next time I'd pinch off balls of dough and round them in the usual way, placing them seam-side down on the baking sheet. Still... I'm glad that I tried it this way the first time, just to see how it worked out.

As I said, this is not a bad recipe overall. I just need to take a little more care with it next time around.

Sourdough Pandesal

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 120g ripe (fed) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 150g water
• 300g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil
• breadcrumbs, for coating

Directions

1. Make sure your starter is very well-fed and active.
2. Combine starter, water, flour, salt, and sugar and mix well.
3. Knead by hand or hook until dough is smooth and elastic (2-10 minutes depending on your technique).
4. Gradually work in the oil.
5. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 4-8 hours.
6. Once the dough is fully risen, knock it back and allow to rest for a few minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and round each one.
8. Roll each dough ball in breadcrumbs and place on a greased baking sheet.
9. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
10. Rolls may either be baked now or held in the fridge and baked off first thing in the morning.
11. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
12. Uncover rolls and bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~25 minutes.
13. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Ube Halaya (Purple Yam Jam)

I had a bunch of grated ube left after my ube waffle experiemnts the other day, so I decided to go looking for ideas of what to make with it. I contemplated various cakes and puddings but, after consulting with TF, we opted for ube halaya as it's delicious on its own and also an ingredient in many other ube-based desserts.

I ran across a few different variants on the basic theme of ube, sugar, and milk (either dairy, coconut, or both). Most included coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk. Some also included evaporated milk, granulated sugar, and/or brown sugar. And a few called for grated cheddar.

Most of the pictures of homemade ube halaya that I've seen show it being quite thick. As in, moldable and sliceable. I got tired of cooking and stirring mine, so I stopped it before it got that thick. Mine came out more like Nutella or tahini than butter or membrillo.

Ube Halaya

Slightly adapted from Decorated Treats

Ingredients

• 300g thawed frozen grated ube
• 1 tsp. ube extract
• 150g sweetened condensed milk
• 150g coconut milk
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 45g unsalted butter

Directions

1. Combine the ube, ube extract, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut milk and mix well.
2. Cook over medium-low heat¹, stirring constantly, for 30 minutes.
3. Mix in the salt and butter and continue cooking and stirring for another 10-15 minutes.
4. The original recipe called for cooling the jam with the lid on, periodically wiping away condensation before transfering to the fridge for storage. I didn't do this; hopefully my jam won't suffer for the missed step.

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¹ The original recipe called for cooking it over low heat, but after 35 minutes at low, the mixture still wasn't thickening up as much as I'd hoped, so I nudged it up to medium-low. After another 20 minutes at low, it still wasn't sliceably thick, but I was tired of standing over the pot, so I called it. I'm hoping that if I put it on medium-low from the get-go next time, I can get it to a reasonable consistency within the original 40 minute timeframe given. ^Back

This is done basically like a Filipino-style chicken adobo, but with plant protein instead of chicken. I made it with seasoned tofu, but it would work great with seitan or tempeh as well. I think mushrooms and/or jackfruit would also work pretty well. Pick your protein and have at it!

Photo goes here.

Vegetarian Adobo

Slightly adapted from The Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 400mL full-fat coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp. cane vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 dried arbol, Thai, or cayenne chilies
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 350g protein of your choice
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine coconut milk, vinegar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, pepper, bay leaf, and chilies and set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add garlic and cook until golden-brown.
4. Add onion and cook until softened.
5. Pour in coconut milk mixture and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
7. Stir in protein and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over rice.

Ensaladang Pipino (Cucumber Salad)

I've always enjoyed cucumber slices tossed with vinegar and a little salt and pepper. This salad takes that idea to the next level! My only regret is not getting more cucumbers so I could make a double batch.

Ensaladang Pipino

Slightly adapted from Kawaling Pinoy

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. vinegar (preferably cane or coconut vinegar)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, minced
• 2-3 black peppercorns, crushed
• 2 large cucumbers, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Whisk together vinegar, fish sauce, oil, sugar, salt, chili, and pepper in a bowl.
2. Add cucumber and onion and toss to combine.
3. Cover and chill until ready to eat.

Picadillo (Ground Beef Stew)

The Kidlet and I whipped this up as a proteinaceous accompaniment to the Filipino salad crêpes we had for dinner tonight. It's a fairly plain dish. (The Kidlet loved it!) I think I would've preferred something with a bit more seasoning, but it was fine as-is. Next time I'd probably add a few green chilies and maybe some carrot and/or bell pepper. I think you could add just about any veggies you want to it. And bay leaves or cassia leaves might be another nice way to add a little more flavour. There are a lot of options.

Picadillo

Slightly adapted from Authentic Recipes from the Philippines by Reynaldo G. Alejandro

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 small shallots or 1 onion, diced
• 2 fresh green Thai chilies, cut into 1cm pieces (optional)
• 3 whole cloves (optional)
• 1 bay or cassia leaf (optional)
• 2 c. diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 450g ground beef
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 3/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 450g potatoes, cubed
• 1L water
• 200g carrots, diced (optional)
• 1 large bell pepper, diced (optional)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook until golden.
3. Add shallot/onion, chilies (if using), cloves (if using), and bay/cassia leaf (if using) and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and cook until softened.
5. Add beef, fish sauce, and pepper and cook until meat is browned.
6. Add potatoes and water and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
8. Add carrots (if using) and bell pepper (if using) and cook for another 10 minutes.
9. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

I've been looking for a good way to use up an extra daikon and hit upon this recipe. It's a bit lacking in protein, so I made a simple picadillo (Filipino ground beef stew) to go with it. You could also cook up a few shrimp or maybe some tilapia or sole to go in the crêpes themselves if you wanted to add protien without having to make a separate dish.

Filipino-Style Salad-Crêpes

Slightly adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients

Crêpes

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. oil

Dressing

• 1/2 c. lite coconut milk
• 1/2 c. natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. cane or coconut vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Filling

• 1 c. julienned daikon
• 1 c. julienned carrot
• 1 c. julienned cucumber
• 1/2 c. julienned unripe (green) mango
• 1/4-1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Assembly

• 2-3 Tbsp. unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
• butter lettuce, separated into leaves

Directions

Crêpes

1. Beat egg with salt and water.
2. Gradually whisk in flour.
3. Mix in oil.
4. Heat pan over medium heat and brush lightly with oil.
5. Pour a very thin layer of batter into the pan, swriling the pan around to spread the batter.
6. Cook until lightly browned on one side, then flip and cook until other side begins to brown.
7. Repeat cooking process with remaining batter.

Dressing

1. Combine all dressing components and mix well.

Filling

1. Combine all filling components and toss to mix.

Assembly

1. Place a crêpe on a plate and top with a lettuce leaf.
2. Pile some of the veggie filling onto the lettuce.
3. Top with chopped peanuts and dressing.

Lengua Estofado (Braised Tongue)

I've had a beef tongue languishing in the freezer for a few years now. I've never cooked tongue before and I've never found the prospect particularly appealing. I could never quite bring myself to throw it out though. I hate wasting food.

I've also been looking for a way to use up an extra daikon I've got sitting in the fridge. For that, I found a Filipino crêpe recipe. And with that in mind, I decided to flip through my Filipino cookbook to see if I could find any good recipes to compliment that since the crêpes on their own don't look very filling. I did some promising-looking recipes to go with it which I plan on cooking later this week. I also came across this recipe for braised tongue (which can also be made with beef shin if you don't have a tongue handy). I had all the ingredients on hand already and the dish sounded pretty promising overall. It's beef tongue braised with an acidic marinade, lots of garlic, and a few veggies. And it came out great!

The only issue I had with the recipe is the cooking time. The amount acid in the broth means that potatoes take an unusually long time to cook. The 15 minutes of cooking called for in the recipe definitely wasn't enough. I think I ended up giving them a good 35 minutes and another 10 wouldn't've hurt.

Lengua Estofado

Slightly adapted from Authentic Recipes from the Philippines by Reynaldo G. Alejandro

Ingredients

• 600g beef tongue (or shin)
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, cracked
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp. cane vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
• 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 9-10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3/4 c. diced tomato (fresh or canned)
• 300-350g potatoes, sliced
• 225-250g carrots, peeled and sliced
• 5 cremini mushrooms¹, halved (optional)
• 1/3 c. stuffed olives
• 2-3 small plantains or unripe bananas, halved and fried (optional)

Directions

1. Place tongue in pot and add water to cover.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Drain and allow to stand until cool enough to handle.
4. Remove skin and discard.
5. Combine water, pepper, bay leaf, vinegar, soy sauces, sugar, and salt and mix well.
6. Add peeled tongue to marinade and set aside for 40-60 minutes.
7. Heat oil over medium heat.
8. Add tongue and sear on all sides, then remove and set aside.
9. Add garlic to hot oil and cook until golden.
10. Add onion and cook until softened.
11. Add tomato and cook until softened.
12. Add tongue, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and braise for 1 hour, adding additional water as necessary.
13. Remove tongue from pot, slice, and return to pot.
14. Add potatoes, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes. (Again, adding extra water as necessary.)
15. Add carrots and mushrooms (if using) cook for another 10 minutes.
16. Add olives and cook for another 5 minutes.
17. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot, with fried plantains/bananas (if using).

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¹ I didn't have any cremini mushrooms on hand, so I just tossed a few dried mushrooms into the pot. I rehydrated them in a bit of boiling water first, sliced them, and then added them to the pot along with the tongue so they could simmer for as long as possible. ^Back

Kare-Kare (Peanut Butter Stew)

Visiting my parents over the holidays means that I was able to get some more oxtail. Last time I made some sumptuous oxtail soup, but I wanted to try something different this time, so I turned to the Goons with Spoons wiki and decided that kare-kare sounded like an excellent choice.

Kare-Kare
1/4 c. oil (or bacon grease)
1 oxtail (~1 1/2 lbs.)
1 lb. stewing beef
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. annatto seeds
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 small yellow onions, sliced
generous 1/4 c. short-grain white rice (or sticky rice), toasted and ground
scant 1 c. crunchy peanut butter (preferably a "natural" peanut butter)

2 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Chinese eggplants, peeled and cubed
1/4 c. garlic oil
1 bundle yard-long beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths
4 heads Shanghai bok choy, cut into bit-sized pieces
lime (optional)
shrimp paste (optional)

1. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in batches in the oil.
2. Remove the meat from the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and add the annatto seeds. Simmer in the hot oil until it turns a deep, rich reddish-orange. Remove and discard the seeds, retaining the coloured oil.
3. Turn the heat back up to medium and add the garlic. Cook until the garlic is browned, but not burnt. Immediately add the onion.
4. Once the onion has softened, return the meat to the pot and add 5 c. water.
5. Combine the toasted rice flour with 1 c. water to make a slurry and stir that into the pot as well.
6. Stir in the peanut butter and the fish sauce.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least three hours. (Mine simmered for a little over four hours.)
8. Remove the oxtail and discard the bones. Return the meat to the pot.
9. Fry the eggplant in the garlic oil until it begins to brown and add to the pot.
10. If there's any oil left in the wok after frying the eggplant, the beans can be given a quick fry. If not, they're perfectly fine to go in raw.
11. Add the bok choy to the pot. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat until the bok choy has just wilted.
12. Serve over rice with lime and shrimp paste.

We had lemons on hand, so I actually squeezed a bit of lemon juice into my stew. However, I think lime would be even better. If you want to do it properly, you should actually mix equal parts lime (or calamansi) juice and shrimp paste and take a little bit on the tip of your spoon with each bite of stew. I wasn't feeling the shrimp paste when we made this, so I just used a bit of lime juice, but I might try some with the leftovers tonight.

I deviated from the Goons with Spoons recipe in a few places, but I'm still pleased with the results. I didn't have enough oxtail on hand to do an all tail version, so I threw in a package of stew meat to make up the difference. It came out meltingly tender and wonderful!

The original also doesn't call for frying the eggplant, but I sometimes have texture issues with eggplant and find that frying goes a long way to alleviating this, so I figured it was worth adding a step. If you're a great lover of eggplant and aren't worried about textural weirdness then, by all means, skip the frying and let it do all its cooking in the stew!

Pancit Bihon

I know I've been posting a lot of Goons with Spoons recipes lately, but that's because there's an awful lot of delicious in that forum/wiki. This recipe is courtesy of the "Pilipino Pood" thread and can also be found on the GwS wiki.

I've been in a noodle-y sort of mood lately, so something using rice vermicelli was quite appealing. And, it even calls for carrots, which is great, because I have a bunch in the fridge that need to be used up!

The recipe as written has you making chicken stock from scratch. However, I had a bunch of delicious, wonderful pork stock left over from my adventures with sisig. So, I opted to use that as my liquid and go from there.

Pancit Bihon
4 chicken thighs
salt and pepper
oil
4 c. pork stock
~1/2 tsp. celery seed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 small carrots, peeled and julienned
1 pkg. Chinese sausage, sliced into coins
3 heads Shanghai bok choy, shredded
2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 (225g) pkg. rice vermicelli
3 green onions, chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges

1. Apply salt and pepper to the chicken thighs. Heat up a pot or wok with a bit of oil and sear the chicken. (I used skinless, boneless thighs because I already had some pork stock on hand. Skin-on, bone-in will be better if you're starting with water instead of stock.)
2. Add the stock (or water) to the pot/wok, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done.
3. Empty the pot/wok, reserving both chicken and stock. Shred the chicken.
4. Brown the garlic, adding a little oil to the pot/wok as necessary.
5. Add the onion and sauté until tender and starting to brown.
6. Add the sausage and carrot and cook until carrot reaches desired done-ness.
7. Add the bok choy and cook for a minute or two until it wilts.
8. Remove everything from the pot/wok and set aside.
9. Return the stock to the pot/wok, add the soy sauce and fish sauce, and bring to a boil. Add the noodles.
10. Make sure noodles are submerged in stock, then dump all the reserved items (shredded chicken, garlic, onion, sausage, carrot, and bok choy) in on top of them.
11. Once the noodles are soft enough to stir without breaking, stir everything together. Continue to cook until all the stock is absorbed.

12. Serve garnished with green onions and squeeze a little lime juice on top (or calamansi if you can find it). Yum!

This recipe is pretty flexible. You can include fish or seafood if that's your thing. (The original suggests half a pound of shrimp.) You can make it with pork instead of chicken if you want. You can use pre-made stock or make it from scratch. Change up the veg. Whatever you want!

The original recipe suggested using one small head of napa cabbage, but I didn't want to go out and buy more cabbage when I had a bunch of bok choy on hand, so I used that instead. Likewise, I didn't want to get a whole celery just to use the one rib called for in this dish, so I just added a few celery seeds to my stock and called it a day!

If you're starting with water and making your stock from scratch, you'll probably want to include a few more seasonings while boiling the chicken. (And also use skin-on, bone-in chicken.) I'd recommend adding a bay leaf or two and a few black peppercorns as well as a touch of extra salt for a start. Feel free to add in whatever else sounds tasty from there! Garlic, onion, parsley, cilantro? My stock just had salt, pepper, bay leaves, citrus (probably mandarin orange) juice, and pork (neck bones, ears, and belly) for its initial cooking and then the added chicken and celery seed today and it seemed to come out plenty tasty! I do think a bit of garlic (or even just garlic powder) in the stock would've been a nice touch though.

I really like how this turned out with the dark soy in the stock and the lime juice drizzled over it to serve. The hit of sourness from the lime is a really quite nice. I would be curious to try a variation that skips the lime and just adds a double quantity of toyomansi to the stock though. I would also love to try it with actual calamansi but, so far, I have been unable to find it here, so toyomansi is the closest I can get for now!

I love how flexible, delicious, and satisfying this dish is! It requires a fair amount of chopping but, other than that, is actually pretty easy. Now that I think about it, it occurs to me that most of the prep work could be eliminated if you're willing to use pre-made stock or broth and toss in a bag of coleslaw mix in place of the shredded cabbage/bok choy and carrot. Then all you need to do is mince the garlic and chop the onion and scallions (and sausage if you're using it). And, if you're not making the stock from scratch, you're free to throw in leftover chicken (or whatever other meat) instead of cooking it from raw. This could reasonably be made into a tasty, low-effort, weekday dinner!

Pork Sisig

I tried new thing today. I found a recipe for sisig on the Goons with Spoons wiki. It immediately captured my attention and I was determined to try it.

The page gives instructions for making "sissy's sisig" with pork loin, but I wanted to, at least for the first time around, make at least somewhat "authentic" sisig. If I wanted to be really authentic about it, I'd need a whole pig's head and a giant pot in which to braise it. I decided that semi-authentic was good enough for me and settled for getting some pig's ears, neck bones, and belly to make it with.

I followed the Goons with Spoons recipe pretty closely, but I'll write out my full procedure below since the recipe page was a little vague on some of the steps.

Pork Sisig
1 lb. pig ears
1 1/2 lb. pork belly
2 1/2 lb. pork neck bones
5 bay leaves
2 tsp. peppercorns
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
4 c. water
2 c. citrus juice (I'm not sure what type I had... some variety of mandarin maybe?)

1/2 c. Mama Sita's Toyo & Kalamansi
3 Tbsp. cane vinegar
sprinkle of black pepper
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1 scant Tbsp. ginger paste
2 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 onion, chopped
3 red Thai chiles, chopped
2 eggs

1. Dump all the pig bits into a big pot. Toss in the bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Add the water and the citrus juice.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until tender. (I think I cooked mine for about an hour and a half.)
3. Drain the meat (reserving the broth for another use if desired).
4. Once meat is cool enough to handle, remove any bones and chop into very small pieces.

5. Measure out one pound of chopped pork and place it in a bowl. (Freeze the rest of the meat for future sisig.) Add the toyomansi (or a mix of soy and calamansi or lime juice), vinegar, pepper, garlic, and ginger and stir to coat the meat well. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes.
6. Heat a pan (preferably cast iron) over high heat. Add the peanut oil and coat the bottom of the pan with it.
7. Remove the meat from the bowl with a slotted spoon and add it to the hot pan.
8. Once the meat is seared and has developed some tasty brown bits, add the onion and the chiles to the pan, stir them in, and continue to cook.
9. Add left over marinade to the pan as needed to keep it from getting dry.
10. Once the onion is cooked, crack the eggs into the pan on top of the meat. If you have a cast iron pan, serve at once! Stir in the egg, allowing the residual heat of the meat and pan to cook it.

If you don't have a cast iron pan, you may want to stir in the egg while still on the stove and cook it a little before serving.

This came out amazingly well. So well, in fact, that TF has declared it his new favourite pork dish! That's right, given the choice between a plate of bacon and a plate of sisig... he'd take the sisig! I'm pretty pleased that he liked it so much.

I also thought it was delicious. The flavour was excellent. The cartilage from the ears was still quite noticeable though. The texture of the cartilage wasn't necessarily bad, but I do think I would've preferred it without that aspect.

I almost passed on the neck bones for this. They weren't specifically mentioned in any of the recipes I looked at. However, they did fit the <$2/lb. criteria mentioned on the Goons with Spoons wiki (at $0.99/lb.) and I figured neck bones would be reasonable in a dish meant to be made from a pig's head. I'm so glad I didn't pass them up! The meat came out incredibly tender and luscious, almost like a pork-y version of oxtail. Next time I might consider making this with neck meat alone! It was more tender and less fatty than the belly and more meaty and less cartilaginous than the ears.

TF is in favour of trying a sisig variant using a 1:1:1 ratio of neck, belly, and liver at some point. I'm down with that, but I'd also like to try a neck only version sometime. I just can't get over how lovely that neck meat was when I was picking the bones! If you've never had pork neck before, you should definitely consider giving it a try!