GINISANG UPO is a Filipino dish that is very quick and easy to cook but requires a lot of time in its preparation. Peeling and slicing the UPO or WHITE SQUASH or BOTTLE GOURD is the tedious part. It is exciting though, specially if you are cooking for the people that you love. GINISANG UPO is a simple and inexpensive dish, usually served during lunch and dinner. Some cook it with a can of sardines, and it is as good as with pork. UPO is low in fat and cholesterol, but has a high amount of fiber. It has 96 percent water, that is why you don’t have to add much water when cooking it. UPO also is rich iron and contains vitamin C and B complex. It is I guess a vegetable sent from heaven specially if you want to save money but still want to serve a good dish for your family.

GINISANG UPO

1 large UPO – peeled and sliced into small pieces
1/4 kilo pork, sliced into small pieces also
100 grams medium shrimps, peeled and heads removed (optional)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
3 medium red tomatoes
water
2 tbsp. fish sauce or patis
salt

In a skillet, heat oil and brown pork, about 7-10 minutes. Place browned pork in a bowl.

In same skillet, saute garlic until light brown, about a minute. Add onions, cook until aromatic and transluscent. Then add tomatoes, cook until they are soft.

Add shrimps and browned pork. Saute for about 3-5 minutes.

Then, add the sliced UPO, stirring constantly, cook for 5-10 minutes.

Now add a little water. You will notice the dish becomes more watery as it is cooked.

Let it simmer until cooked, about 7-10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.

Season with fish sauce. You may adjust flavor by adding small salt.

Remove from heat.

Serve your GINISANG UPO with steaming white rice.

PORK AFRITADA WITH PINEAPPLES – Cubed pork, potatoes, tomato sauce and pineapple chunks come together in this wonderful dish to make an easy weekend family meal. Everything is cooked slowly to perfection, pork is tender, the sauce is thick, the vegetables are right and crisp, creating a sweet, fresh and vibrant flavor in the dish. You may replace the pork with chicken, or you can do pork and chicken together.

I was sick for almost a week. It was so hard doing things around the house specially taking care of my sons, Colby and Caleb. I am just always thankful, I get to recover fast. Today, Royce got fever, and a lot more difficult now that he is sick because I am to do things for the business. But I am a superwoman. Every mom has to. And despite of the busy day, I wanted to make something nice on a blue and sickly day. I cooked this PORK AFRITADA WITH PINEAPPLES. Royce loves meat and kids love potatoes and something sweet. It is a best combination of meat and vegetables in just a bowl.

By the way, I will be baking 24 loaves of banana bread later. My sister from Baguio City ordered for her to sell to her officemates. My Banana Breads had always been a click. And I am glad I get to create some money from it.

PORK AFRITADA WITH PINEAPPLES (BRAISED PORK IN TOMATO SAUCE)

1 kilo pork, cubed
3 tbsp. cooking oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium red bell pepper, seeds removed and sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, seeds removed and sliced
1 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
4-6 laurel leaves
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. patis
salt
ground pepper

Wash pork cubes with running water and drain. Place in a bowl. Add half cup of pineapple juice. Marinade for about 20-30 minutes. Then, drain.

Heat oil in a pan overmedium heat. Saute garlic, about a minute. Then add the sliced onions. Saute, until soft and transluscent.

Add pork cubes, saute until light brown, about 5-6 minutes. Then add patis, allowing the meat absorb the patis. Add laurel leaves and ground pepper.

Now add one cup tomato sauce and half cup of water. Add Bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes or until pork is tender. Make sure to stir once in a while so as not to prevent the bottom from burning.

Then, add potatoes, carrots, red and green bell pepper. Add the remaining tomato juice and pineapple juice. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.

Season with salt. You may adjust flavor by adding few tablespoons of water. Bring to boil until sauce thickens.

A minute before removing from heat, add the pineapple chunks.

Serve your PORK AFRITADA WITH PINEAPPLES while hot with steaming white rice!

BEEF PICADILLO is one of Filipino’s comfort food. Again, this Picadillo not the Picadillo recipe of South American countries, but a Pinoy’s version of Picadillo like the one I previously featured. Truly, this recipe has captured the hearts of the Filipinos, for I believe most of us cook and serve this dish yet, we do not know how it is called. But anyway, this dish has a sentimental appeal for it is so flavorful, very nutritious, easy to cook, light on the budget and really has that soft soup consistency. As a mom, I always consider serving more on comfort foods for it somehow affects the emotions to a positive track and relieves some negative vibes or in a way, increase positive feelings.

BEEF PICADILLO is a light and healthy recipe of ground lean beef and bunch of vegetables like cabbage, carrots and potatoes. You can double the ground beef if you prefer a meatier soup taste. You can also used beef tenderloins sliced into tidbits. This is a traditional blend of flavors of beef and vegetables are balance in its little soup, a special dish that will bring you instantly back to your childhood days. Picadillo is one of the soup dishes my mother cooked each time our finances was running low. And I am so convinced that almost all families all over the Philippines had this too. So if you have tight budget, I suggest you try this recipe.

You can also try PINOY PORK PICADILLO and PORK CUBES PICADILLO.

BEEF PICADILLO

cooking oil
1/2 kilo ground lean beef
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 large onion, peeled and minced
5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium bokchoy or Chinese cabbage, washed and thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. tomato sauce
salt
pepper
sugar
water

Heat oil in a large work or pan. Saute garlic and onion until aromatic. Add the ground beef. Saute about 5-8 minutes or until color changed to light brown. Add carrot and potatoes. Stirring constantly. Then add about 1 cup water, just enough to cover the meat and vegetables. Then add the bokchoy and red bell pepper. Season with soy sauce, tomato sauce, salt, pepper and a bit of sugar. You may add water, depending on your preference. Do not overcook the vegetables. The remaining heat will cook them.

Now, serve your BEEF PICADILLO while hot with steaming white rice.

PINAKBET ILOCANO or PAKBET ILOCANO is the most award winning Pinoy vegetable recipe. It is usually served as in accompaniment to a fried or grilled meat or fish dishes. It is a combination of native eggplant, okra and ampalaya. Native vegetables are those which are usually small in size and grown by small farmers. But you can use the vegetables listed below that available in your local wet good market. There are many ways of cooking Pinakbet, some saute it, some cook it with shrimp paste or alamang, some add tomato sauce and some add soy sauce. But my best way in cooking Pinakbet is the Ilocano’s method and using the native vegetable ingredients. Here in Ilocos region, particularly in our province, Pangasinan, you can find the best bagoong or fish paste which is the ultimate secret in making a sumptuous and flavorful Pinakbet recipe. I think this is best for me because I got to acquire the flavor of fish paste in our dishes which I think is not so preferred by some. Well, I get to cook this vegetable dish since my kids, my husband and I are not so picky with vegetables. But it took me some time to let my kids get used to vegetables, teaching them the benefit of eating them. Pinakbet is also similar to Dinengdeng, but the latter is more of leafy vegetables into it.

Ampalaya or bitter gourd is great for it is rich in iron and is considered as the best medicinal vegetable in our country. It is beneficial for those who are diabetic. Okra is considered as a brain food for it is rich in phosporus. Eggplant helps block the formation of free radical and is also a source of folic acid and potassium. You may also add sliced squash, kamote, string beans or sitaw.

PINAKBET ILOCANO or PAKBET ILOCANO

cooking oil
1/4 kilo ground pork or sliced pork (small pieces)
6-8 small or native ampalaya (bitter gourd/melon), seeded, sliced
6-8 pieces okra, ends removed
8-10 pieces small or native eggplants, sliced
4-5 pieces native tomatoes, sliced
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
3 tbsp. boneless bagoong or fish paste
1 cup water
3 pieces green long chilis (siling haba)

Heat oil in a pot. Saute onion for about a minute. Then add tomatoes, stirring constantly, saute for another minute. Add pork, stirring constantly until almost cooked. Then add water. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Allowing the flavor blend with water.

Then, add with boneless bagoong. Season with salt. Now add okra, ampalaya and eggplants. Cook for 5-8 minutes, covered.

Add green long chilis and little salt or water if needed. Cook until vegetables are done.

Serve your PINAKBET or PAKBET ILOCANO while hot with Inihaw na Bangus or TURBO BROILED BANGUS and steaming white rice!

Cooking MONGGO SPROUTS or TOGUE always brings me back to my grade school days. I remember my Science teacher asked the class to bring some monggo beans for an experiment. Fascinated and excited as I was, I brought lots of monggo sprouts next day. We placed the seeds on a pot of soil and poured with little water, placed under the sun and the next day, my monggo beans became monggo sprouts. Some of my classmates’ experiment was a fail but it didn’t matter. All of us graduated elementary. And I now cook monggo sprouts.

I sometimes could hardly find monggo sprouts or togue in our wet market but good thing, Robinson’s market seem to always have them in their vegetables section.

GINISANG TOGUE (Sauteed Monggo Sprout)

cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1/4 kilo pork, sliced
1/2 kilo togue, washed and drained
soy sauce
sugar
salt
pepper

Heat pan over medium heat. Add oil and pork. Cook until pork turns light brown. Add garlic and onion. Saute until aromatic.

Add togue. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Then add water, about a cup. Bring to boil.

Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve your GINISANG TOGUE with steaming white rice.

Still Colby has no classes since Pangasinan is still signal # 1 with typhoon Juaning. we are so thankful that we are not so devastated with rain and wind of Juaning but our prayers to those who are badly affected of the typhoon. Today is a lazy day with the rainy weather but I still want to busy myself in the kitchen. Then a weird hungry voice whispered to my ears, but well it was just my hungry tummy shouting at me to fry a snack for a change. My kids and I usually have cookies, breads and biscuits for merienda but this time we will have vegetables. Yes, vegetables for a snack.

LUMPIANG GULAY (Fried Vegetable Lumpia) is a lumpia-wrapped sauteed Baguio vegetables like sayote, Baguio beans, carrots and singkamas (Turnips), and meat. It is great merienda bite and even eaten best with rice. To fight the oily bite, dip the Lumpiang Gulay with vinegar, salt, sugar and onion. I have been long dreaming a home-cooked Lumpiang Gulay but with a mom’s busy day, slicing, wrapping (which is my most tedious part) and lastly frying won’t fit in. Finally, I get to cook them this time since kids and I are stucked at home.

You may also try LUMPIANG SHANGHAI for a meaty lumpia filling.

LUMPIANG GULAY (Fried Vegetable Lumpia)

for the filling:
oil to saute
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 large onion, peeled and minced
1/4 kilo ground or minced pork
1 sayote, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
handful of Baguio Beans, thinly sliced, ends removed
1 large singkamas, peeled and thinly sliced
salt
pepper

Heat a litlle oil in a pan. Saute garlic and onions until aromatic. Add pork, cook until browned. Add the rest of the vegetables, cook for about 5 minutes. Don’t worry if the vegetables seemed uncooked because you will still fry them later. Season with salt and pepper. Let your sauteed vegetables cool in a colander so excess water would drip.

To wrap Lumpiang Gulay:

lumpia wrapper, round or square. It’s your choice. I used round for it is readily available in our wet market, fresh and inexpensive.

Put wrapper on a plate. Get a spoon or two of the filling and place them on the center of the lumpia wrapper. Fold the sides and roll. Then, dab your a water with your finger on end to seal it. Do with the rest of you lumpia wrapper.

To fry Lumpiang Gulay:

oil, preferably lots of oil to deep fry the lumpia

Heat oil in a pan. Drop about 4-5 pieces of Lumpiang Gulay. Fry them over medium heat. Until golden brown. Then drain upright with a colander for a crispy Lumpiang Gulay.

Serve with vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and pepper to dip the Lumpiang Gulay in.

It is also best with steaming white rice and a glass of iced cold softdrink.

GINISANG REPOLYO (Sauteed Cabbage) is one of the cheapest yet healthiest Filipino vegetable dish. Cabbage is usually added to Pinoy meaty soups like Nilagang Baboy and Beef Bulalo. Many loves cabbage for its anti-cancer properties as it can be a rich source of vitamin C. It also has substantial amount of an amino acid called glutamine to help cure acute inflammation. It is low in calorie and usually incorporated in dieting programs. But some hates this vegetable specially to those who have problems with thyroid glands. Some says it is also causes flatulence and stops milk from a breastfeeding moms. Well, we choose what we eat. But as for me, I love this vegetable.

You may also try Ginisang Sardinas (Sauteed Sardines with Cabbage)

GINISANG REPOLYO

1 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 kilo lean ground pork
1/2 kilo cabbage, core removed, sliced into 1 inch strips
1 small carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
water
ground black pepper
fish sauce (optional)
salt

Boil ground pork in a cup of water and a dash of salt for 10-15 minutes. Separate pork from broth. Set aside. Reserve broth.

Place skillet over medium heat. Pour oil. Saute garlic until golden brown. Add onion, saute until transluscent and aroma merged in oil. Add boiled ground pork, stir-fry, about 5 minutes. Season with fish sauce and ground pepper.

Add sliced carrots and cabbage. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Then add half cup of water. Adjust flavor by adding water or salt. Cook for 5 more minutes or until cabbage is half-cooked. And remove from fire. Don’t worry having it half-cooked because the remaining heat will let the vegetables to be cooked fully.

Serve with hot rice.

GREEN PAPAYA SOUP is a hearty and rich vegetable Filipino home-cooked dish boiled with pork bones and some slices of camansi and string beans. Secret to this recipe is to use authentic Pangasinan’s Boneless Bagoong to season the dish and lots of fresh ginger for pungent taste to blend in the soup. This is commonly served in Ilocandia Region where fresh and delicious vegetables come from.

GREEN PAPAYA SOUP

1 large green papaya, peeled, seeded and sliced thinly
handful of camansi slices
handful of string beans, cut into slices
300 grams pork bones or ribs
1 large ginger
3 cups water
2 tbsp. boneless bagoong

In a medium pot, simmer ginger and pork bones in water. When meat is tender, season with boneless bagoong. Then add papaya, camansi and string beans. Cook for about 7-10 minutes over medium heat or until they are tender. Remove from fire and serve with steaming white rice.

BAGUIO BEANS are known in the country as a vegetable typically produced in Baguio City, maybe that is why Pinoys call it as Baguio Beans. Then it triggered my sleepy brain, how do other countries call this Baguio Beans? Then my lazy fingers immediately typed google and searched for Baguio Beans. These Baguio Beans are universally known as SNAP BEANS. The “Snap” term is used as a method to break these green beans. You may also know that you are buying a fresh and firm Baguio Beans when you get a good snapping.

SAUTEED BEEF WITH BAGUIO BEANS

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 kilo ground lean beef
1/2 kilo Baguio Beans, trimmed on both ends and sliced thinly
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. sugar
salt
pepper

Heat a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat.

Pour vegetable oil, wait for few seconds, then add the lean ground beef. Stir fry for 3 minutes, just to slightly brown the beef, and then add the garlic and onions. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until meat is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Add soy sauce and water. Then add the Baguio Beans. Cook for another 5 minutes or until Baguio Beans are almost cooked.

Season with salt, sugar and pepper. Cook for another minute or two until beans are tender.

Transfer to a plate and serve.

PICADILLO is a spicy meat concoction, much favored in South American counties. In Cuba, warm picadillo is served with rice and beans as a main course. Vietnamese picadillo is served with warm four tortillas, lettuce or crackers. In Mexico, Picadillo is a filling usually used for tacos. Filipinos love to modify dishes from other countries like Chicken Curry of India and Pork Asado of China. Pinoy version of Picadillo is fragrant soup dish made of pork, sometimes beef, lots of garlic, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. This stew is traditionally served with steaming white rice.

I previously wrote about Picadillo using pork cubes. But here is the ground pork version for Pinoy Pork Picadillo.

PINOY PORK PICADILLO

1 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium onion, peeled and crushed
1 medium tomatoes, sliced
1/2 kilo ground lean pork
1 cup water
2 finger chilies or siling haba
fish sauce
pepper

Heat cooking oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and onion until aromatic. Add in the tomatoes. Cook until soft, stirring constantly. Add the ground pork into the pan and cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add water. Bring to slow boil. Add potatoes, covered, stirring often until cooked. Add finger chilies. Season with fish sauce and pepper. Serve with hot white rice.