Lasang Pinoy 6: Kalderetang Kambing

The drinking of alcohol is a popular practice in the leisure time of most cultures; such as Filipino culture. It is also held in regard as a key part of many religious ceremonies like fiestas and weddings. Drinking is always a part of Pinoy celebrations like birthdays, anniversaries, and others. The most popular way to strengthen friendship is also through drinking.

Drinking session is not complete without pulutan. Pulutan is the Filipino version of appetizers/hors d'oeuvre/pica-pica or finger foods. A pulutan can be as simple as peanuts and chicharon or as exotic as adobong sawa,pawikan or bayawak, kalderetang aso or pusa, and balut ala pobre (adobong balut).

When I read Ting’s blog announcing the topic for our Lasang Pinoy 6, adobong bayawak is the first pulutan recipe that came to my mind. My aunt is expert in cooking this and I know she will share her expertise with me. Unfortunately, I don’t know where to find and buy bayawak nowadays; it’s an endangered species here in the country. So, I called up my mom to ask for another pulutan dish. She told me that kalderetang kambing is the favorite pulutan of her brothers whenever they have drinking spree. She also gave me the recipe. Since I can buy goat’s meat here in Quezon City, I chose kaldererang kambing to be my entry for LP6.

Ingredients:
1/2 k goat's meat
1 can (227 g) tomato sauce
1 can (85 g) liver spread
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
3 siling labuyo
2 siling berde (pansigang)
1 laurel leaf
pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. In a pot, place goat's meat with ginger, 2 tbsp vinegar, and enough water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3o minutes. Discard the water and ginger. This must be done to remove the pungent odor of the goat's meat.

2. Add soy sauce, vinegar, laurel leaf, pepper, siling labuyo and water to the meat. Boil and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender, replenishing water once in a while.

3. Mash liver spread in tomato sauce. Set aside.

4. In another pan, saute garlic and onions in margarine or butter. Add meat including the stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the tomato sauce with liver spread into the pan, add siling berde and simmer for 5 minutes.

Sinigang na Dulong sa Kamias

My family loves to eat sinigang. It is one of the most popular Filipino dishes aside from adobo and lechon. There are many variations of sinigang; every region here in the country has their own version of it. It’s that certain sourness that gives sinigang a much-coveted taste.

I lived in Bulacan for 4 years; they used to cook sinigang na baka using guavas. They also use tamarind pods and leaves for their sinampalukang native chicken. My lola who comes from Bulacan uses calamansi and tomatoes for sinigang na sapsap.

A friend of mine from Pampanga called sinigang sa bayabas bulanglang. I was really confused before when she told me that her husband wanted bulanglang but what she bought from the market were ingredients for sinigang sa bayabas. In Tagalog and Ilocos regions, bulanglang is a vegetable dish with bagoong na isda as broth.

In Cebu, a tomato-soured sinigang is called tinowa. In Angono, Rizal, they make barutak, a poor man's sinigang of ayungin flavored with shrimp-head juice.

Aside from the ingredients I mentioned, sinigang broth is also flavored with kamias; santol; green pineapples; green mangoes; green sineguelas; or any sour leaf, fruit or flower.

The accompanying vegetables, which complete the meal in a pot, vary according to what is customary, or in season. Some pinoys use singkamas, alibangbang leaves, leeks and even patola in sinigang. I usually use string beans, eggplant, radishes, okra, taro, onions, and pechay for my sinigang na baboy. Whenever I cook sinigang na bangus or baka sa bayabas, I use banana heart and camote tops. Sinigang na kanduli sa miso (soybean mash) and sinampalukang manok are complemented with mustard green and ginger. But I don’t forget to put tomatoes and green sili to every sinigang recipe I cook.

One of the secrets of tasty sinigang is cook it in rice washing.

Many restaurants here also offer different variations of sinigang. I heard that sinigang na corned beef is really delicious as well as sinigang na lechon. I will try these two one of these days.

I have this not so ordinary sinigang recipe. It is sinigang na dulong sa kamias. Dulong or usually called in English as pygmy goby, dwarf goby or starry goby, is a very small fish which can be eaten with crisp bones just like dilis or ayungin.
I got this recipe from CMC; the maker of Knorr products. Since we’re sinigang addict, I couldn’t help myself but to try different sinigang recipe.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pc small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup fresh dulong
4 pcs small tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4-4 ½ cups water
1 pack Knorr Sinigang sa Kamias Mix
½ cup sili leaves
siling pansigang (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a sauce pan, heat oil and sauté garlic, onions and ginger. Add the dulong
and cook for about 2 mins. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute more.
2. Add in the water, Knorr Sinigang sa Kamias Mix and sili leaves. Simmer until
leaves are cooked.

Tip: Fresh dulong purchased from the market should be cooked right away to preserve freshness. Malunggay leaves would also be a nice addition to this dish.

I would say that the Sinigang sa Kamias Mix tastes like the real kamias. But as much as possible, use fresh ingredients in cooking.

Ilocos Empanada in the Making

I always watch TV programs or documentaries showcasing the beauty of the Philippines. One of the beautiful places I would love to visit is Vigan, Ilocos Sur. UNESCO made Vigan as one of the world’s heritage site.

I remember when I was 14 years old; I watched the movie “Underage” starring Dina Bonnevie, Maricel Soriano and Snooky Serna. Some of the scenes from that movie were shot in Vigan; the old house where they lived and the streets of Vigan.

Talking about Vigan isn’t complete without mentioning its food and delicacies. I love vigan longanisa, bagnet, and the most-famous empanada with sukang iloko dip.

Whenever I want to eat empanada I go to Sidcor Market in The Lung Center of the Philippines parking area every Sunday or in Katipunan, QC. While I was waiting for my order of empanada last December 24, 2005, I asked the stall owner in Sidcor Market if I could take pictures of their empanada cooking. She was really very generous enough to agree.

The procedure starts with the preparation of the wrapper. The woman gets some dough made from rice flour, form it into circle and flatten it with rolling pin.

She puts shredded papaya, cooked mongo on top of the flatten crust.
She adds vigan longanisa and 1 whole egg.

She folds it into half, trim the wrapper, and seal the edges then deep-fry in oil.


Yummy vigan empanada
By the way, empanada costs PhP35.00 each. I also bought bagnet for PhP340.00 per kilo and Vigan longanisa for PhP180.00.

Nilasing na baka

We usually see men on the streets having a good time and drinking pale pilsen beer. It’s a common sight here in the country especially in places wherein the neighborhood bonding is strong. Drinking pale pilsen beer is usually a part of a celebration whether birthdays, baptisms, weddings, fiestas, etc. Many people also drink beer to drown their miseries.

I did drink beer when I was a teenager but not that I like the taste of it but out of peer pressure. You’re not “in” if you don’t drink. The bitterness of it doesn’t suit my taste.

According to Wikipedia, there are many different types of beer, each of which is said to belong to a particular style. A beer's style is a label that describes the overall flavor and often the origin of a beer, according to a system that has evolved by trial and error over many centuries.

A major component of determining the type of beer is the yeast used in the fermentation process. Most beer styles fall into one of two large families: ale, using top-fermenting yeast, or lager, using bottom-fermenting yeast. Beers that blend the characteristics of ales and lagers are referred to as hybrids.

Most of today's lager is based on the Pilsner style, pioneered in 1842 in the town of Plzeň, in the Czech Republic.

Since I don’t like the taste of beer straight from the mug/bottle, I instead used it in cooking. I got this Nilasing na Baka recipe from CMC (California Manufacturing Corporation).


Ingredients:
1 bottle pale pilsen beer
1 kilo sirloin beef
Medium sized ginger, minced
6 stalks pandan, sliced and crushed
2 pcs. Knorr beef broth cubes
2 cups coconut milk
3 pcs. Siling labuyo
2 tbsp atsuete oil
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp basil
2 pcs red bell pepper, sliced
1 ½ tsp Knorr Liquid Seasoning
1 cup coconut cream
2 tbsp spring onions, chopped

Procedure:
1. In a saucepan, combine beer, beef, ginger, pandan, Knorr broth cubes, and the coconut milk.
Simmer until beef is tender.
2. Add sili, atsuete oil, basil, oregano, pepper, and Knorr Liquid Seasoning. Simmer for 5
minutes. Stir in coconut cream and the remaining ingredients. Cook until done. Garnish with
spring onion before serving.


I followed the recipe but forgot to buy atsuete, that’s why it lacks in color. And I also add 1 tsp of sugar to neutralize the spiciness. What can I say about the taste? Its taste resembles a lot to beef with curry because of the spices and herb I used.