Chicken and Ampalaya with Oyster Sauce

Chicken and Ampalaya with Oyster Sauce is an adaptation from my old recipe of Beef and Ampalaya with Oyster Sauce. Most provably know that chicken and bitter gourd are good combination, this is very true in Ilocano cooking. In fact I have several recipes already with chicken and ampalaya combination, Ilocano’s tinola version Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya and Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon. Cooking is almost similar to the beef version. It is fairly easy and you won’t go wrong. Here is the recipe of my Chicken and Ampalaya with Oyster Sauce, enjoy.



Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken tights, deboned, sliced into strips
1-2 large size, ampalaya, split in halves de-seeded, sliced crosswise
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup cornstarch
salt and pepper
cooking oil



Cooking procedure:

Marinate chicken strips in soy sauce, cornstarch and a dash of salt and pepper for 10 to 15 minutes. In a wok, heat cooking oil and stir fry the chicken in batches until color changes to brown and start to sizzle, set aside. Using the same wok sauté garlic and onion until fragrant. Add in the ampalaya and stir cook for 1 to 2 minutes then add in 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water. Continue to cook another 2 to 3 minutes or until the ampalaya is just cooked. Add in the chicken and oyster sauce and stir cook for another 1 to 3 minutes. Thicken sauce with cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup of water, cook for anther half a minute until sauce thickens. Correct saltines if required. Serve hot with a lot of rice.

Pork Adobo sa Pinakurat

Pork Adobo sa Pinakurat. This is my version of white adobo spiced with pinakurat vinegar. To those who do not know Suka Pinakurat is a spiced vinegar from fermented coconut sap called tuba. Spices include bird’s eye chili, garlic, onion and ginger. It is very popular in most part of Mindanao. For those who like a spicy twist to their adobo this is worth a try. As mentioned this is a white adobo which means soy sauce was not used in the recipe. Cooking is basicaaly the same with my usual adobo recipe except that I used Pinakurat vinegar in a 1:1 part ratio with white vinegar. You can always adjust the ratio to your preference of spicyness. Here is the recipe of my version of Pork Adobo sa Pinakurat.



Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork belly or other pork cuts, cut into serving pieces
1/4 cup pinakurat vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1 tsp. peppercorns
3-5 pieces bay leaf
salt to taste




Cooking procedure:

In a sauce pan place pork, pour 2 cups of water. Add in vinegar, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf and salt bring to a boil and simmer at medium to low heat for 20 to 30 minutes add more water if required. Correct saltiness according to taste, When the pork are tender continue to simmer until all the liquid has evaporated and pork start to render fat turning occasionally to avoid burning the bottom. Serve with a lot of rice.


See other related adobo recipes:

Tokwa't Baboy Adobo with Oyster Sauce
Special Adobo
Batangas Adobong Dilaw
Batangas Adobo
Adobo sa Asin, Adobong Baboy sa Asin
Adobong Baka, Beef Adobo
Adobong Atay at Balunbalunan ng Manok sa Pinya
Adobong Ilocano, Chicken Adobo
Pork and Chicken Adobo
Adobong Puti
Adobong Manok sa Gata, Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk
Adobong Kambing
Lamb Adobo
Humba, Adobong Bisaya
Pork Adobo with Pineapple
Adobong Sitaw at Baboy

Tinolang Manok with Sotanghon

Tinolang Manok with Sotanghon. This is my second version of tinola with sotanghon noodles. I have in the archive a recipe of Ilocano version of chicken tinola with sotanghon and with ampalaya leaves. Now for this version it is more on the Tagalog style using sayote instead of the usual green papaya fruit. Cooking is as simple as the usual tinola there is no special cooking method except the addition of sotanghon noodles which really compliments with the ginger chicken soup. the dish of course can be cooked with your favorite tinola vegetables, Here is the recipe of my second version of Tinolang Manok with Sotanghon.



Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces, bone in
150 grams sotanghon noodles, rinsed
2-3 medium size sayote, peeled cut into wedges
2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
3-5 pcs. siling haba
1 bundle dahon ng sili, chili tops (or young spinach leaves)
1 tbsps. peppercorns
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tsp. sugar
salt
cooking oil



Cooking procedure:

In a large sauce pan sauté garlic, onion and ginger until fragrant, add in the chicken and stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the fish sauce and stir cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in 4 to 6 cups of water, add in the peppercorns bring to boil and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Then add in the sugar, siling haba and sayote, simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. Now add in the sotanghon noodles and continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sayote and the sotanghon noodles are just cooked. Correct saltiness if required, add in the dahon ng sili and cook for another 1 minute. Serve hot.


See other chicken tinola recipe:

Tinolang Manok sa Patola
Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya
Tinolang Manok sa Papaya
Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon
Chicken Binakol
Chicken Halang Halang

Mushroom and Tofu, Pinoy Bistek Style

Mushroom and Tofu Pinoy, Bistek Style is another innovative vegetarian inspired dish that I made for lunch today. This is part of a series of healthy dish that I will try to introduce in between my regular recipes. This is also in response to some emails and request for healthier Pinoy food recipes that OPC have received. The dish can be classified as a vegetarian version of the Pinoy bistek, the dish is 100% vegan including the oyster sauce that I used. Yes there is a vegetarian oyster sauce that is made of mushroom oyster extracts and some oyster essence. The dish is fairly easy to make there are some points do that I want to mention. For the mushroom I used fresh large portabella mushrooms. Mushrooms absorb a lot of liquid, including the salty soy sauce therefore the mushroom is first stir fried with the oil used in stir-frying the onions, this will absorb the onion infused oil and sealing it for further absorption of the soy sauce. The tofu naturally take its flavours from the sauce used to cook it, therefore after frying it has to be braised with the sauce. The onions are pre-stirfried and added last. The dish may be serve sizzling in hot plates if you love hot sizzling dishes. Here is the recipe of my Mushroom and Tofu Pinoy, Bistek Style.



Ingredients

2 large size portabella musrooms, sliced into 1/4” thick
1 large block firm tofu, cut into 1” wide and 1/4” thick slices, fried
1 large size red onion cut into rings
2-3 tbsp. soy sauce
2-3 tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
1-2 tsp. garlic powder
juice from 1/2 lemon
peanut oil



Cooking procedure:

In a bowl mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, 2-3 tbsp. peanut oil, lemon juice, garlic powder and 3/4 cups of water, keep aside. In a large wok heat generous amount of cooking oil and stir fry the onion rings for about a minute, remove from wok and keep aside. Using the same wok and oil from stir frying the onions stir-fry the mushrooms for about a minute or until lump and has absorbed the oil, remove from wok and keep aside. Using the same wok pour in the sauce mixture and let boil. Add in the fried tofu and simmer for 4 to 6 minutes or until the sauce is reduced to about half. Check the saltiness. Add in the mushrooms and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the fried onion and cook for another half a minute. Serve with rice.




See other related bistek recipes:
Liver Bistek
Pork Bistek
Tanguige Bistek Tagalog
Bangus Belly Bistek Tagalog
Bistek Stir Fry
Bistek Bulalo
Bistek

Oxtail Sopas, Oxtail with Macaroni Soup

Oxtail Sopas, Oxtail with Macaroni Soup. This is another innovative dish that I made last week. I was planning to make a stew out of oxtail but I thought it would be best if I just have it cook the oxtail Pinoy style. For the reason that to most Pinoy oxtail is usually cooked as soup dish. Cooking the dish is fairly easy, except for the long cooking hours of the oxtail it is basically the same with my other sopas dish below.

Sopas
Corned Beef Sopas
Seafood Sopas
Chicken Sopas



To make the cooking simple I just used frozen mixed vegetables for the vegetable ingredients however you may substitute it with your usual favorite sopas vegetables. Then I had to used fresh milk for the reason that I could not find a Pinoy brand of canned evaporated milk, again go ahead use a canned evaporated milk. Here is the recipe of my Oxtail Sopas, Oxtail with Macaroni Soup.



Ingredients:

1/2-1 kilo oxtail
2 cups macaroni elbow pasta
1 cup mixed vegetables
1 small bundle, spring onion, chopped
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 small size onion quartered
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup fresh milk
1 tsp. peppercorns
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:

Put the oxtail in a large pot, add enough water to cover oxtail to at least 1” above. Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 to 3 minutes, discard and drain first boil water, rinse the oxtail to remove scum. Add in enough fresh water to the pot to cover the oxtail to at least 2” above. Add in crushed garlic, quartered onion and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until oxtail start to fall off from the bones. Add more water as necessary, remove scum that rises. When done separate the oxtail from the broth, using a sieve filter out residue and scum from the broth, keep aside. Using same pot sauté garlic and onion until fragrant, add in oxtail and stir cook for a 1 to 2 minutes. Add in fish sauce stir cook for 1 to 2 minutes, now add in the reserved broth add more water as necessary. Bring to a boil, add in the macaroni pasta and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until al dente and stirring occasionally, add more water if required. Add in the mixed vegetables and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve add in the milk and garnish with spring onion.


See related noodle soup dish:
Patula Misua Soup with Shredded Chicken
Instant Chicken Noodle Soup with Canned Salmon
Sardinas at Sotanghon
La Paz Batchoy
Lomi Special
Pansit Lomi
Pansit Miki Soup
Pansit Molo
Patula Misua Soup
Seafood Lomi
Sotanghon Noodle Soup
Vigan Miki

Vegetarian Bopis

Vegetarian Bopis. It’s been some time since the last time I cooked a vegetarian dish. Today I got a change to cook a special one. Incidentally one of today’s special at Woolworths Supermarket here in Australia is a vegetable soup pack which includes turnip, radish, carrot, potato, white onion and celery stalk which are all in the list of ingredients for a vegetarian bopis. All that I needed now for the other ingredients are bell pepper, mushroom and firm tofu, the rest I could find it in my cupboard. Here is the recipe of my version of Vegetarian Bopis.



Ingredients:

1 large cake firm tofu
200 grams fresh button mushroom, diced into small pieces
1 medium size carrot, diced into small pieces
1 medium size radish, diced into small pieces
1 medium size turnip, diced into small pieces
1 medium size potato, diced into small pieces
2 stalks celery, diced into small pieces
1 small size red bell pepper, diced into small pieces
1 small size green bell pepper, diced into small pieces
1 large size white onion, diced into small pieces
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 cup pickled relish
2-3 pieces red/green hot chili, sliced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 to 3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
3-4 pieces bay leaf
2-3 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. annatto powder
salt and pepper
vegetable oil



Cooking procedure:

Slice firm tofu to about 1/2” thick, in a frying pan heat generous amount of vegetable oil, fry each tofu until color change to golden brown and crisp on both sides. Drain excess oil, let cool and dice into small pieces, keep aside. In a large frying pan or wok heat 2 to 3 tbsps. of vegetable oil, add in garlic and ginger stir cook until fragrant. Add in the onion and hot chili stir cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add in the dried parsley, potato, carrot, turnip and radish stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the bay leaf tomato sauce, soy sauce and annatto powder diluted in 1/4 cup of water. Stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the vinegar and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water bring to a boil and let simmer for a minute. Now add in the pickled relish, celery, tofu and mushroom and continue to stir cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until the liquid has reduced. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in the bell pepper and cook for another minute. Serve hot.




Check also my other Bopis Recipe:
Bopis, Kandingga

Cabbage and Salted Egg Salad, Ensaladang Repolyo at Itlog na Maalat

Cabbage and Salted Egg Salad, Ensaladang Repolyo at Itlog na Maalat. This simple salad concocted from the usual salted egg with tomato that most Pinoy itlog na maalat combination. I just love blanch cabbage salads. I do have one version in the archives with chicharon, click to see my ensaladang repolyo with chicharon. It was a busy day so I have to time to cook for a diner so I thought I could just settle for a salted egg with tomato and onions. As I was preparing my simple dinner I noticed a left over cabbage from the previous pansit puti that I have cooked a few days back, then the idea came to my head why not blanch the cabbage and mix it to my salted egg with tomato diner. The resultant dish was great as expected, simple yet delicious. Here is the recipe on how I made my Cabbage and Salted Egg Salad, Ensaladang Repolyo at Itlog na Maalat.



Ingredients:

2 salted egg, cut into large pieces
1/4 small size cabbage, cut into strips
1 medium side tomato, chopped
1 small size onion, chopped

Cooking procedure:

In a small pan fill with fresh water and let it boil then add in the cabbage to blanch for about half a minute. Remove from pan and drain in a colander, immediately rinsed the blanched cabbage with ice-cold water, drain excess water. In a large bowl toss all the ingredients and mix evenly. Serve as standalone dish or as a side dish for fried or grilled fish or meat.



See other related ensalada recipe:
Ampalaya Salad with Crispy Fried Dried Dilis
Ensaladang Repolyo
Ensaladang Ampalaya
Ensaladang Bulaklak ng Kalabasa
Ensaladang Katuray
Ensaladang Labanos

Braised Chicken Wings with Tausi

Braised Chicken Wings with Tausi. This dish was inspired from my previous post of braised chicken feet with tausi. The only difference is the chicken wings are not pre-fried and sautéed, instead the chicken wings is braised strait away with all the ingredients. Towards the end the salted black beans is added. Just be careful thou in the quantity of the salty ingredients some soy sauce are really salty, adjust the measurements accordingly. The recipes is fairly easy you will never go wrong. Here is the recipe of my Braised Chicken Wings with Tausi.



Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken wings, cut at the joints into nibbles
1/2 cup tausi, salted black beans, drained and rinsed
3-5 pcs. dried red chili
1/2-3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp. garlic powder
1-2 tbsp. sugar
2-3 pcs. star anise
1/4 cup cornstarch
salt



Cooking procedure:

In a large sauce pan place the chicken and all the other ingredients except the tausi and salt. Add in 4-6 cups of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken wings are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add in the tausi and correct saltiness if required. Thicken sauce with cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup of water and cook for another half a minute until the sauce thickens. Serve hot with a lot of rice.