Need help with recipes


beefche
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My husband and I have a tradition for Christmas Eve that we pick a cuisine and make it for our International Christmas Eve. This year, we've been thinking of Filipino food. I will do some research, but does anyone have any ideas for a main course, a side, and a dessert? Here's looking at you @anatess2 and @Bini (I know she hasn't been here for a while, but I always hope).

We aren't set on Filipino, so if you have some other cuisines in mind, I'm open. We've done Greek, German, Irish, Italian, and Spanish. Interestingly enough, we haven't done Bulgarian....

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20 minutes ago, beefche said:

My husband and I have a tradition for Christmas Eve that we pick a cuisine and make it for our International Christmas Eve. This year, we've been thinking of Filipino food. I will do some research, but does anyone have any ideas for a main course, a side, and a dessert? Here's looking at you @anatess2 and @Bini (I know she hasn't been here for a while, but I always hope).

We aren't set on Filipino, so if you have some other cuisines in mind, I'm open. We've done Greek, German, Irish, Italian, and Spanish. Interestingly enough, we haven't done Bulgarian....

What fun for Christmas! ??

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PANCIT AND LUMPIA!  Of course!  And chicken or pork adobo... or crispy pata (fried pig leg) or if you want to go ooomph, get an entire pig of lechon (if you have a source in your area - this is too much hassle to make yourself).  Christmas fare usually comes with embutido and macaroni-pineapple salad and filipino fruit salad and leche flan... because they're pretty and festive!

Ok, recipes... if you have an Asian store in your area that sells filipino stuff you can go "easy peasy" with marinade mixes.  Or... I can send you some mixes from my pantry (you have to promise not to tell my mom I use mixes... hah hah).  I have adobo, pansit, and lumpia mixes.  I have filipino bbq marinade too.  The BBQ is more of a Bisaya thing, though (Central/Southern Philippines).  And I also have spaghetti sauce for Filipino spaghetti (this one is one of my holiday faves).  Oh I also have the mix for chop suey.

Ahhh... not to forget the Jasmine rice - white, steamed.

Then if you like fish the Filipino escaveche is good.

Okay... so if this was my Noche Buena I'd have this:

Steamed Rice

Macaroni salad

embutido

crispy pata and pork belly (I got a Turbo Broiler that I use to cook crispy pata without frying.  They are selling them at Walmart right now!)

escaveche

pansit bihon

spaghetti

chop suey

lumpia

fruit salad

leche flan

and I would add a Queso de Bola and fresh fruit (grapes and red delicious apples) for an extra festive table.

So yeah, grapes and apples don't grow in the Philippines.  But, interestingly, grapes and apples are common in Noche Buena tables.... colonial mentality thrives.  Hah hah.  But then, it's usually strewn among a wide variety of fruits like mangoes and rambutan and jackfruit... but these are hard to find in the US in the winter time.

Okay, let me know which ones you decide to use in your menu and I'll give you my recipe... which may not be the same as my mom's recipe.  It's frustrating because my mom's recipe is - add some of this until it tastes right... i'm like, uhm, that doesn't help somebody who doesn't know what it is supposed to taste like.  Hah hah.

Edited by anatess2
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I don't think I can do the spaghetti thing. I know it's traditional, but we do spaghetti all the time.

I have a co-worker who is Filipino and is supposed to get me her mom's lumpia recipe. If she doesn't come through, I may be bugging you, anatess.

What's pancit, @anatess2 ? Is it easy to make? 

I'm pretty intimidated at attempting lumpia, so I'd rather not make more than 1 recipe that's intimidating. 

And what would be an easy, but traditional dessert?

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3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

If you're interested in Korean cuisine, let me  know.

Oh, yes! I love Korean food (at least the bit I've had).

Asian food, in general, makes me nervous to make. Other than making rice (and we don't have a rice maker, so it's not as good) or using packets of flavoring. I don't know why, a recipe is a recipe. But, I'm just intimidated to attempt to make Asian.

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4 hours ago, beefche said:

I don't think I can do the spaghetti thing. I know it's traditional, but we do spaghetti all the time.

I have a co-worker who is Filipino and is supposed to get me her mom's lumpia recipe. If she doesn't come through, I may be bugging you, anatess.

What's pancit, @anatess2 ? Is it easy to make? 

I'm pretty intimidated at attempting lumpia, so I'd rather not make more than 1 recipe that's intimidating. 

And what would be an easy, but traditional dessert?

There's different kinds of pansit.  Pansit directly translated is Noodles.  So there's many kinds of them.  The most common are - rice noodles and egg noodles.  Pansit Bihon is made of rice noodles.  Pansit Canton is made of egg noodles.  You can also mix rice noodles into the egg noodles in the Canton.  So, the Bihon is more of a dry recipe while the Canton is more of a creamy recipe.  Both are super easy to make.  Even made 10 times easier with my spice packets...

Easy traditional dessert is leche flan and fruit salad.  Leche flan is easy but takes time.  Fruit salad also takes time to drain but it doesn't need to be cooked so it frees up your stove.  But then, both can be made the day before and let sit in your fridge until ready to serve.

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2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

PS. I offer to send you all the Filipino ingredients that are not found in regular grocery store.  Like the noodles...

It's my Christmas gift to you.

You are so very kind! 

We have several Asian markets nearby and my cow-orker said that there is a Filipino one near where my dad lives. 

Anatess, which pancit do you like better? Why do you like it better than the other? I'm more inclined to use the rice noodles just because it's different than egg noodles, but I'm curious on what you like better. What packet flavorings do you like to use for pancit? What brand? I can swing by the market when I go to dad's again to see if they have it. If not, then I'll be PMing you my address.  :D

@pam have you had both kind of noodles for pancit? Which do you like better, the rice or egg noodles? Why?

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5 minutes ago, beefche said:

You are so very kind! 

We have several Asian markets nearby and my cow-orker said that there is a Filipino one near where my dad lives. 

Anatess, which pancit do you like better? Why do you like it better than the other? I'm more inclined to use the rice noodles just because it's different than egg noodles, but I'm curious on what you like better. What packet flavorings do you like to use for pancit? What brand? I can swing by the market when I go to dad's again to see if they have it. If not, then I'll be PMing you my address.  :D

@pam have you had both kind of noodles for pancit? Which do you like better, the rice or egg noodles? Why?

I've only had the rice noodles for pancit.

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PUL KOGI INGREDIENTS:

  • Beef
  • Soy sauce (some will use sukiyaki sauce -- I prefer Soy Sauce)
  • Garlic
  • Scallions
  • Sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds
  • Sugar
  • Red pepper paste (if you can't find any, use red pepper powder and alter the consistency a bit with oil and soy sauce).
  • Ginger
  • Salt
  • MSG (optional)

QUANTITIES:

There aren't any set quantities.  Any cook will differ.  And I don't keep track.  I just eyeball it.  But as a newbie, you may need some guidance.

  • The soy sauce is going to be the primary ingredient.  Use enough that it will cover each slice of meat and then some.
  • Use as much garlic as you would use in a very garlicky spaghetti sauce.
  • Use a healthy amount of scallions and sesame seeds.
  • Use a couple tablespoons of sesame oil.
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • A teaspoon of red pepper paste.
  • A teaspoon of ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of MSG

INSTRUCTIONS:

Get one of these perforated grill pans or something similar:

https://www.amazon.com/06032X-Platinum-Prestige-Stainless-Topper/dp/B00008DHPC/ref=sr_1_3?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1479690760&sr=8-3&keywords=grill+perforated

  • Cut the beef slices as thin as possible.  Master chefs will make them so thin that you can see light through them.
  • Dice the scallions into pea size or smaller.
  • Dice, slice, and mash the garlic.
  • Mix soy sauce, garlic, scallions, sesame oil, seeds, and ginger into a marinading bowl and stir.
  • Use a basting brush, or baster, or spoon to apply the marinade to each layer of meat in a bowl.
  • Once done with every layer of meat, pour the remainder of the marinade into the bowl.
  • Let it marinade for at least two hours at room temperature.  DO NOT MARINADE IN THE REFRIGERATOR OVERNIGHT!!! (notice the capitals and exclamations.
  • Fire up the grill.
  • Place the perforated grill pan on the fire.
  • Pour some of the free marinade on the coals and on the pan.
  • Cook very quickly.  The thinness of the slices allows it to kook very quickly.

Remember that this isn't quite as sweet as teriyaki.  And it has a little bit of smoke like carne asada.  But it is something in between.

Edited by Guest
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6 hours ago, beefche said:

You are so very kind! 

We have several Asian markets nearby and my cow-orker said that there is a Filipino one near where my dad lives. 

Anatess, which pancit do you like better? Why do you like it better than the other? I'm more inclined to use the rice noodles just because it's different than egg noodles, but I'm curious on what you like better. What packet flavorings do you like to use for pancit? What brand? I can swing by the market when I go to dad's again to see if they have it. If not, then I'll be PMing you my address.  :D

@pam have you had both kind of noodles for pancit? Which do you like better, the rice or egg noodles? Why?

BOTH!  Haha.  Yeah, I love both equally.   You can do both too.  They both take no more than 30 minutes each to make.   As far as cooking, the rice noodles cook fast so it's easy to over cook.  The egg noodles is a bit more forgiving.  But the rice noodles is unique because Chinese restaurants offer their own version of the egg noodles but don't have an equivalent of the rice noodles.

i'll find pictures of my spice packets tomorrow and post it.

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P.S.  I noticed that Pansit Canton noodles is now made of wheat flour instead of egg... or sometimes wheat flour and egg together.  I just checked my pantry and my Pansit Canton noodles is wheat flour on the ingredient list and not egg.  I was kinda taken aback as I never noticed!  The noodles we use in the Philippines are egg... wheat is pretty expensive over there.

Here are the noodles I use:

55.30100.jpg

 

51tlw+1gptL._SL500_AA300_1.jpg

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, beefche said:

@anatess2 what's your recipe for lumpia? 

There are several kinds...

There's the lumpia shanghai, lumpia prito, lumpia sariwa, and turon as the most popular varieties.

Shanghai uses uncooked meat in the filling,  It is skinny - like finger size - so that the inside gets cooked before the wrapper burns while frying.

Prito uses cooked meat and veggies in the filling.  This makes it so you can make fatter rolls with more substance inside and so once the wrapper turns golden when frying, then it is done without having to worry if the inside got properly cooked.

Sariwa is like a salad.  You don't fry it.  Veggies are fresh and raw and then you add steamed shrimp or crab or other cooked meat in it and wrap it in fresh lumpia wrapper (fresh wrapper is different from regular lumpia wrapper - it is more soft and thin) and serve just like that.

Turon is a dessert.  You put banana and jackfruit inside a regular wrapper, fry it and then top with vanilla ice cream if desired.

All of these have different recipes.

The easiest way, of course, is to get the spice packet for the Shanghai (I got a quadzillion of them in my pantry.  I can send you a few if you like) and then make your own turon for dessert.  The turon is super easy.  You don't even need to find the jackfruit (comes in cans at the Asian store) as you can just use banana.

So, for Lumpia Shanghai, my favorite version is to use ground pork and minced carrots in a 2:1 ratio and add this spice packet below.  Cut the lumpia wrapper in half to form 2 triangles.  Put 1 tbsp of the meat mixture on the long edge of the triangle and fold the side corners of the wrapper to look like an envelope then roll it up to form the eggroll.  Seal the edge using beaten egg like it is glue.  Fry and serve with sweet and sour sauce or UFC banana ketchup (Asian store).

For turon, an easy version is to take a yellow banana and cut it in half cross-wise then cut each half-piece into half again lengthwise.  Cut the lumpia wrapper in half to form 2 triangles and put a quarter banana on the long edge and sprinkle with sugar.  Fold the side corners to form an envelope and roll up.  Seal with water used like glue.  Slightly moisten the turon with water and roll into a plate of sugar then fry.  Serve on its own or with ice cream.

My own invention is my favorite turon... it's not a traditional Filipino dish though but it is to die for yummy.  Take a yellow banana and cut it into 4 piece like above.  Take a full size wrapper (square) and put on the table like a diamond (pointy end pointing to the top and bottom).  Put a quarter banana in the middle across the diamond then put 2 sections of a regular Hershey milk chocolate bar on top to cover the length of the banana.  Put another quarter banana to sandwich the chocolate.  Fold the bottom corner of the wrapper up to form a triangle, fold the side corners to form an envelope, then roll up.  Seal with water then fry.  Put on a small plate, top with vanilla ice cream, then drizzle with Hersheys chocolate syrup.  Aaaaaahhhh... my mouth is watering writing this thing.

61zYYvZG62L.jpg

 

 

chinese-chicken-egg-rolls-recipe-8435.jp

Edited by anatess2
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29 minutes ago, beefche said:

You just use ground pork and carrots? Do you use any other veggie?

I think we're going to go to the Filipino market today to look for these flavor packets. 

 

My mom adds minced green onions (including the bulb at the end of the leaf).  I don't like onions.  So it's just carrots and pork for me.  If you like onions, choose the green onion with the small white bulb by the root.  The regular green onions you find at the grocery is young leaf so there's no bulb formed yet.  The grocery by my house carry the green onion with bulb but it's not a regular item.  Asian stores should carry the one with bulb.  In any case, if you don't find that kind, then just use regular green onion.  Mince the white part and chop the green part and mix with the meat.

Since you're headed to the Filipino store, get the sauce... I like the banana ketchup but my husband prefers the sweet chili.  These are the ones I buy:

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Edited by anatess2
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Ok, we got the rice noodles, the pancit bihon packet thingy and the lumpia packet thingy. Thank you for posting pics as we were able to find it so easy! I didn't see your post about the sauce so I just bought some kind of sweet and sour sauce stuff to use. 

So, I have your recipe for lumpia. What's your recipe for pancit (veggies?)? 

Looks like we'll make the lumpia, pancit bihon and then I'll use your turon for dessert. Thank you, @anatess2!

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