Chicken Ginger Stew (Tinola)

Chicken ginger stew or tinola in Tagalog is one of the oldest Filipino dishes dating back since the Spanish regime. This dish was even mentioned in Dr. Jose Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere. In Chapter 3: The Dinner, Captain Tiago ordered to serve tinola for dinner. It was the dish that Crisostomo Ibarra had not eaten for a long time since he went to Europe. Joining them for dinner was Padre Damaso, the Spanish friar, and Laruja, the red-haired writer. 

Tinola brings back memories of my son when he was still a baby. This dish was actually the first solid food he ate. It is odd, I know. My grandmother mashed the papaya with steamed rice to make it even more delicious. And now, this has become one of his favorite dishes.

Tinola is best served with steamed rice and during rainy season. This dish will surely warm you if you are cold and will make you sweat if you are feverish.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 kilo of chicken (breast, leg, wing), cut into serving size

large slightly ripe papaya (chayote) wedge cut diagonally into small pieces

1/2 cup talbos ng sili (chili young leaves)

2 chicken broth cubes (optional)

3 tbsp. fish sauce

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp. ginger root, zested

2 tbsp. oil

2 liters water

Procedure:

1. In a pot, saute onion, garlic and ginger in oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and broth cubes. Cook for about a minute or until the chicken has changed its color.

2. Add water and fish sauce (you can reduce or increase the amount of fish sauce). Cover and allow to boil for 10 minutes.

3. Add the papaya or chayote and cook for another 2 minutes or until the fruit/vegetable becomes tender.

4. Turn off the heat. Add the chili young leaves and then cover.

Colorful Rice Cakes with Salted Egg

It is my niece's 12th birthday celebration. Of course a birthday will not be complete without spaghetti but because we wanted her birthday to be a little bit different from the usual, we prepared mini colorful rice cakes with cheese and salted egg on top.

Ginger Stewed Mussels

I rarely cook shell fishes because I don't often go to wet markets. This day, I asked somebody to buy me mussels because I miss eating seafood.

I learned to cook ginger stewed mussels from my grandmother. This is a very unique dish because, believe it or not, it involves a soda. It is very easy to do.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of mussels, cleaned

2 tablespoons of oil

1 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

ginger root, cut into strips

1 12 oz.Sprite or 7-Up

salt to taste

1. Saute onion, garlic and ginger in 2 tablespoons of oil.

2. Add the mussels.

3. Add the Sprite or 7-Up. Cover the pan.

4. Adjust the taste by adding salt.

5. Turn off the heat when all the shells have opened.

6. Serve and enjoy!

Pork Sinigang

Sinigang is one of son's favorite dishes. He likes anything with broth, soup or sauce.

This day, for lunch, I decided to surprise him with pork sinigang. He went to school early to practice for his dance number for the celebration of Linggo ng Wika. He will also participate in the singing contest so I am excited. It is also a National Heroes day--a no-work day for me and I don't want to miss the chance of preparing home cooked meal for my one and only.

Pineapple Chicken

My mom told me that when she was pregnant with me, she's fond of eating pineapples... we call it in the Philippines as pinaglihihan. Pineapple is not one of my favorite fruits because I don't like my food sour. I won't eat it unless somebody tells me it is of the sweet kind.

So why did I cook a dish with pineapples?

I don't have much ingredients in my kitchen. The things that are available are chicken, evaporated milk, bell pepper and pineapple tidbits. I was thinking of cooking adobo but it was just last night that we had soy sauce based dish for dinner.

Well, it turned out delicious... my son could attest to that because he only eats chicken when it is barbecued, fried or if it is adobo.

If you like to try this dish, here is the recipe:

Welcome to Online Kitchen!

Welcome to my Online Kitchen!

What can you expect from this blog? As you can see on the description, this blog will tell you of my life stories involving food of course, my personal recipes and some recipes from my grandmother. I love to cook! And I believe that the best way to a man/woman/child's heart is through their stomachs and more often than not, the most significant events of our lives involve and revolve around food. We only get to talk to our kids and our parents about the silliest and most serious topics on the dining table or in the kitchen while we prepare food, so I guess there are a lot of stories to tell. Feel free to also share with me your kitchen stories.

Happy cooking, eating and storytelling!