After nearly two months of non-food posts, the foodie in me couldn't resist but feature what we had for breakfast today. Tuna is a well-loved staple in my household. I reckon it was a taste acquired during our 5-year stay in General Santos City, the tuna capital of the Philippines. I make it a point to serve tuna-based dishes to my family from time-to-time. One of these is a regular breakfast or snack-time favorite - Pan de Tuna.
Here's my quick and easy recipe...
HAWAIIAN TUNA MELT
3 cans Century Tuna (Solid in Water), drained and flaked
1 small can pineapple tidbits
1 pouch Mayo Magic or Salad n Sandwich spread
1/4 cup grated cheese
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
pandesal
Cheez Whiz
In a bowl, mix together the flaked tuna, pineapple, mayo and cheese. Season with Italian dry herbs, salt and pepper. Spread tuna spread on one side of slitted pandesal and Cheez Whiz on the other. Toast in the oven for 3-5 minutes.
The theme for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays for the next two weeks (April 4-17) is COCONUT. I decided to go ahead and feature my own Holy Week masterpiece which made use of coconut cream. For the longest time, I've been intimidated to try my hand at preparing "Guinataang Tilapia" (St. Peter's Fish in Coconut Cream). I always had the impression that it was just too much work and difficult to make.
Well, this Black Saturday, I decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with my plan to face this cooking challenge. Armed with information I got from Google, I pretty much formed my own strategy to this dish. Combining the Bicolano style of stuffing the fish with tomato salsa and my own style to cooking guinataan dishes, I came up with a winner of a dish.
GUINATAANG TILAPIA (St. Peter's Fish in Coconut Cream)
1 kg tilapia, cleaned, scaled, gutted and halved
2 pcs thumb-size ginger, julienned
2 medium red onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium tomatoes, seeded and sliced
2 bunches lemongrass, pounded
5-6 pcs banana chili (siling pansigang) or bird's eye chili (siling labuyo) if you want it extra spicy
coarse salt
1 cup thick coconut cream
2-3 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
2 tbsp canola oil
Combine the garlic, half of the tomatoes, ginger and red onions with some coarse salt then stuff into the belly cavity of the tilapia pieces. Season the outside of the fish with salt then set aside. In a wok, heat up the oil then saute the remaining aromatics - onions, ginger and tomatoes until wilted. Then add some fish sauce. Pour in coconut cream and simmer until the natural oils surface. Quickly slide in the tilapia pieces and chilis. Cook until fish are done and coconut sauce is creamy. Serve with hot rice.
is a bi-monthly FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY meme, Pinoy style!
Cailie and I had to rush to the wet market today as my stock in the fridge is dwindling. Since it's not the scheduled market day (it's supposed to be Wednesdays and Saturdays), I was a bit hesitant to go as the vegetables and fish there might not be as great as on market days. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I still had bountiful fresh veggies and seafood to choose from so I couldn't help but take photos of them right away. Because it's Holy Week already, I stocked up on fish and added more veggies than usual.
I've always been a "dried fish" fanatic. Even as a young girl, I'd be fascinated watching my Mom devour pieces of "hawot" (how dried fish is called in San Jose, Batangas) together with sinangag (fried garlic rice) drenched in hot barako coffee. It was when I tried to taste it for myself that I became to love this same meal that my Mommy so adores.
I guess it is really in the genes because even my 2 older children love to eat "tuyo". The minute they smell the aroma of frying dried fish, you'd see them almost drooling to get their hands on their platter of fried rice and fish. With some scrambled egg on the side, the meal was the perfect way to start a rainy morning.
This week's theme in Lasang Pinoy Sundays is SEAFOOD. I thought I should feature one of my family's favorite seafood recipe - Tahong Soup (Mussel Soup). It is such an easy and no-fuss dish to prepare. What I love about it too is that it's packed with so much nutrition and doesn't really cost a lot to make. Being a breastfeeding Mom, I know that consuming shellfish together with malunggay (Moringana) leaves can greatly increase milk production and so that's another great reason why I love having this at home.
TAHONG SOUP (Mussel Soup)
1 kg fresh tahong (mussels) *** buy them live at the market
2 pcs thumb-size ginger, julienned
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 cup malunggay leaves
3-4 stalks lemongrass, pounded
1 liter water or hugas bigas (rice wash water)
2 tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
In a casserole, heat oil and saute the aromatics - onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Stir in the lemongrass and the mussels. Saute for 5 minutes then add the water, salt and pepper. Bring to a rolling boil, then add the malunggay leaves and remove from fire. Serve.
I brought out a portion of frozen roundscad (aka galunggong) to thaw this morning. I was thinking of frying it for lunch. When hubby saw me in the kitchen, he asked what I planned to do with it. I quickly replied that I'd be frying it since it was quick and the kids always love it when we have fried fish. He asked me what I thought about making it into an escabeche (sweet & sour) dish. Hmmmm....I haven't tried making escabeche and just by the sound of it, I thought it'll be quite a challenge. I didn't have enough time on my hands...just an hour to prepare for lunch, is escabeche at all possible?
A quick search on Google revealed various ways of making escabeche...after browsing 2-3 recipes online, I realized that making escabeche wasn't that difficult at all! About half an hour later, the result yielded a feast featured in the photo above. It was raining the whole day and oh boy, the escabeche lunch was just perfect for the weather.
Here is the recipe I used:
8-10 medium sized roundscad (galunggong), fried *** you can use any other type of fish: lapu-lapu, matangbaka, anduhaw
2 thumb-size ginger, julienned
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 pieces medium-sized tomatoes, quartered
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 medium sized red bell pepper, julienned (*** you can also throw in a green one for color contrast)
1 small carrot, julienned (I didn't have this in my kitchen so I left it out but most recipes call for it)
1/4 cup vinegar (cane or white)
3-4 Tbsp tomato catsup
1 Tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1-2 Tbsp sugar
Canola oil for sauteing
Set aside your fried fish. In a shallow pan, heat some oil. Saute ginger, onions ,garlic and tomatoes until translucent. Add carrot and bell peppers. Stir in vinegar, catsup until well combined. Bring to a simmer then add sugar. Slowly stir in the corn starch & water mixture. You should get a slightly thick sauce. Adjust your vinegar, water, catsup, sugar to taste. Pour over fried fish and serve with hot steaming rice.
