Pinugutang Hipon

"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it." 

~Bubba (Forrest Gump)

If you're from Rizal province, you're probably familiar with pinugutan. Pinugutan or Pinugutang hipon is a sour soup made from shrimps (head removed) and vegetables. This healthy soup gets a hint of natural sweetness from kamote (sweet potato) and kinapal (sweet tamarind). I recommend to pair it with crispy fried fish... hmmm so yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups shrimp
3 to 4 cups water
2 medium size gabi (taro), cubed
2 medium size kamote (sweet potato), cubed
1 small labanos (raddish), sliced
7 pieces okra, halved
2 thumb size ginger, sliced
1 shallot or red onion, sliced
1 kinapal (sweet tamarind paste ball)
1 bundle kamote tops or kangkong
2 Tbsp canola oil or any vegetable oil
1 Tbsp fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:
1. Wash the shrimp with running water, drain. Remove the head of the shrimp. Gently pound the shrimp head, add small amount of water to extract the juice. Drain. Set aside the extracted juice.

2. Put a little oil in a pan. Saute the onion and ginger. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the shrimp. Season it with fish sauce.

3. Add the extracted shrimp juice and water. Cover the pot. Bring to a boil. 

4. Meanwhile, put the kinapal in a bowl. Put a little warm water (about half cup) and gently squish it by hands or mash it. Strain to remove the seeds. Set aside.

5. Once the soup is boiling, add the gabi (taro) and kamote (sweet potato). Cook for about 10 minutes.

6. Add the labanos (raddish), okra, and the kinapal extract. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Mash some kamote and gabi to make the soup slightly thick and sweet. 

8. When the vegetables are already cooked. Add the kamote tops. Cover and cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.

9. Serve with rice and fried fish. Share and enjoy!

QUICK NOTES:
1. If kinapal is not available in your area, you may use green mango, fresh tamarind, kamias, or other souring agent. Or if you want to make it simple and easy, just use sinigang mix or bouillon. But personally, I still prefer the natural one.
2. You may also add other vegetables like sitaw (string beans), toge (bean sprout), and talong (eggplant).
3. Some uses freshly catch fish like mud fish instead of shrimp, they called it binarutak. I never tried it but I'll make it soon.

Yield: 3-4 person


Happy day always,

Rhea

Lugaw with Chicken and Egg (Arroz Caldo with egg)

"Chickens don't praise their own soup" ~Martinican Proverb

You can eat it plain or with egg or chicken. Add some side dishes like lumpiang toge (bean sprouts spring roll), fried tokwa (tofu) or tokwa't baboy (tofu and pork) or kwek-kwek/tokneneng. Or even topped it with adobong atay and balunbalunan (chicken liver and gizzard adobo). Drooling! This Filipino comfort food is very versatile. Perfect for rainy days! Let's make and eat lugaw!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup glutinous rice / malagkit

300 grams chicken, cut into serving pieces

8-10 cups chicken broth or water

1 medium onion, sliced or chopped

2 thumb size ginger, julienned

1 head garlic, chopped

2 boiled eggs 

1/2 Tbsp garlic powder (optional)

1/8 cup patis or fish sauce

salt and pepper to taste 

spring onion, sliced (toppings)

vegetable oil

PROCEDURE:

1. Put a little oil in a pan, saute the garlic until golden brown. Put it in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Add the ginger and onion in the pan. Cook until the onion becomes translucent and the ginger releases its aroma.

3. Add the chicken pieces and cook it for 5 minutes.

4. Add the malagkit and fish sauce. Mix and cook for a few minutes. Then add the broth or water.

5. Let it boil and simmer for 35-45 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add more "hot" water if you find the lugaw too thick. Add the garlic powder and the toasted garlic (you may reserve some toasted garlic for garnishing). Stir until the garlic powder completely dissolved in the lugaw. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat. 

6. Serve hot with sliced hard boiled egg. Garnish with spring onion and garlic. Share and enjoy.

QUICK NOTES:

1. You may also use rice for this dish. Just reduce the amount of water. Start with 6 cups, add more (use hot water when adding water) until you reach your desired consistency.

2. If you want a little spicy, drizzle some chili oil in your lugaw. Hmmm, yummy!

3. If you like tangy, squeeze calamansi.

Happy rainy day,

Rhea

Sinigang na Buto Buto

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. Nature." 

~John Ruskin

Sinigang is a Filipino sour soup or stew made from meat or seafoods, vegetables, and tamarind. Traditionally, tamarind is used to make the soup sour, but we can also use other ingredients like ripe guava, calamansi, kamias, and green mango. I usually use buto-buto and liempo for my sinigang. 

Let's make some sinigang today. It's too comforting to sip a hot steaming soup in a cold rainy day. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
800 grams buto buto (pork neck bones), chopped
2 pcs labanos (raddish), sliced 
2 pcs medium eggplant, sliced
8 pcs okra, halved
10 pcs sitaw (string beans), cut in 2-3 in. length
5 pcs medium tomatoes, quartered
3 pcs medium gabi (taro) - I used the purple gabi, chopped (2 in thick)
1-2 pcs of siling panigang (finger chili)
1 medium red onion, quartered
8 cups water
1 pc kinapal or sweet tamarind paste ball (usually found in local wet markets)
3 cups kangkong leaves and tender stems or talbos ng kamote (kamote tops)
patis (fish sauce) and salt to taste
2 Tbsp oil

PROCEDURE:
1. Heat oil in a pot. Add onion and tomatoes.

2. Add the buto-buto and season with patis (about 1/8 cup). Stir. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

3. Add water. Let it boil. Once boiling, remove scums (impurities) from the broth. Lower the heat (medium-low), simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.

4. Add gabi and siling panigang. Cook for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, put the kinapal (sweet tamarind ball) in a bowl, add a cup of water. Squish it by hands or mash it. Then strain to remove the seeds.

6. Mash (using a fork) 3-5 pcs gabi to make the soup thicker.

7. Put the vegetables (except kangkong or talbos ng kamote) and kinapal extract in the pot. Cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Season with salt or patis. 

7. Add the kangkong. Stir and cover the pot. Turn off the heat.

8. Serve hot. Share and enjoy.

QUICK NOTES:
1. You may substitute other cuts of meats like liempo or kasim or use seafoods, beef, or chicken. 
2. If kinapal is not available in your area, you may use green mango, fresh tamarind, kamias, or other souring agent. OR if you want to make it simple and easy, just use sinigang mix or bouillon. But personally, I still prefer the natural one.
3. Crush the chili or cut it to make the soup a little spicy.
4. Make some chili-patis dip. Chop some bird's eye chili or siling labuyo and add patis (fish sauce).

Yield: 6-8 servings

Happy rainy day,

Rhea

Tinolang Manok (Chicken and ginger consommé)

A Jewish woman had two chickens. One got sick, so the woman made chicken soup out of the other one to help the sick one get well. ~ Henny Youngman

They say chicken soup is good for the soul. Well, in my case it's not only good for the soul but for colds too! The hot steam of tinola(1) together with the spicy aroma of fresh ginger clears my stuffy nose. The chicken is sooo crazy moist and the vegetables are just perfect for the chicken.

Warm and Hearty Almondigas

"Lord, I know that there's a reason for everything, I pray Oh Father that you will hear our prayers to stop the rain and bless us with good weather. Amen."

I barely got any sleep last night, it's raining torrentially! No tropical storm predicted and I couldn't believe that it is only a monsoon rain. I saw the flood reaching our gate and I couldn't do anything but pray. Pray for our safety and for those people who are greatly affected by the heavy rain.

As I watched the news today, my heart grieves for the victims of the flood, I feel sorry for the poor little babies, elderly, pregnant and new moms who are being rescued by our living heroes. I'm in the moment of grief when my little boy asked me for food! Oh my! I'm so busy watching that I forgot to cook for breakfast. Poor Lowell!