Meatballs & Vegetables In Oyster Sauce

The meatballs in my ingredients are the excess of the Lumpiang Shanghai (Meaty Spring Roll) mixture I was making earlier with Andeng for tomorrow's Media Noche (New Year's Eve) Celebration. Andeng is my hubby's cousin. She's staying with us until she gets her work visa and leaves for Bahrain. Here's the recipe.






Ingredients:

• cooking oil for frying
• 12 pcs meatballs
• 2 tbsps sunflower oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 medium (75 grams) red onion
• 2 medium (75 grams) red plump tomatoes
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsps oyster sauce
• 1/2 head (250 grams) cabbage
• 1 pc (100 grams) potato
• 1 small (80 grams) carrot
• 1 pc (30 grams) red bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

thickening agent:

• 1 tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Procedure:

Fry the meatballs until golden brown. Set aside.

Meanwhile, cut the cabbage into chunks. Julienne the potato, carrot and red bell pepper. Cut into half the onion & tomatoes. Slice thinly. Finely pound the garlic. Combine the thickening agent in a small bowl. Mix well.

In a wok, place over medium-high fire. Heat moderately. Put the sunflower oil and garlic. Saute until golden brown. Follow with onion and tomatoes. Saute until soft. Pour the fish sauce. Saute and mash until aromatic.

Add water, oyster sauce, cabbage, potato, carrot, red bell pepper and black pepper. Pour the thickening agent. Mix well. Cover. Cook until veggies are done, about 4-5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

"Arroz Ala Cubana"

Good for 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsps cooking oil
• 6 pcs ripe plantain bananas, cut lengthwise
• 2 small pcs (160 grams) sweet potato, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 large red onion
• 6 pcs (225 grams) red ripe tomatoes
• 375 grams lean ground pork
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2-1/4 tbsps fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 pc (40 grams) carrot, chopped
• 1/2 pc (15 grams) red bell pepper, minced
• 2 sachets (14.5 each) raisins
• 1/2 tbsp white sugar

thickening agent:

• 1 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 3 tbsps water

Procedure:

In a pan, over medium-high fire, heat thoroughly. Put 1/3 of oil, fry the bananas until golden brown. Remove from pan. Drain in paper towel.

Back to the pan, put half of the remaining cooking oil. Heat again. Stir-fry the sweet potatoes until sides are lightly brown. Remove from pan. Retain oil.

Put the rest of the oil in the pan. Add garlic. Saute until golden brown. Follow with onion and tomatoes. Saute until translucent. Mash. Put the ground pork, black pepper, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry until pork separates and sauce thickens or dries up.

Put water. Cover. Bring to boil. Then, reduce heat to low. Simmer for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, put the thickening agent ingredients. Mix well. Set aside.

Increase fire to medium heat, put the carrot, bell pepper, raisins and sugar. Mix. Lid on. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes and thickening agent. Mix well. Bring to boil.

Serve with fried bananas, rice and usually with sunny side up egg, in which this time I did not, we had too much of eggs this week (",)

"Cheesedog with Green Onions"

Green onions are a variety of onion harvested immature before the bulb has formed. Both the green leaves and white bulbs are used raw or cooked for their mild but still pronounced onion flavor. They are also known as scallions or spring onions.


Good for 3 servings


You'll need:

• 3 tbsps of cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 pcs footlong cheesedog
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• a piece of finger chili (siling haba), seeded and minced finely
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 tbsps oyster sauce
• 2-3 tbsps banana catsup
• a bunch (25 grams) of spring or green onion, minced

Here's how:

Slice the cheesedog at 1/2" thick at an angle, approximately 14 slices per cheesedog.

In a non-stick pan, heat over medium-high fire, put 1/2 of cooking oil. Fry lightly the slices of cheesedog. Drain in paper towels. Set aside.

Back to the pan, add the rest of the cooking oil. Saute garlic until fragrant. Put onion. Cook for a minute. Add the cheesedog, finger chili, black pepper, oyster sauce and banana catsup. Mix. Cover. Reduce fire to very low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens a little. Remove from fire. Put in a serving platter. Sprinkle onions on top. Serve.

"Hotdog with Catsup"

I woke up late, I needed to cook something quick! It's almost lunch time. Well, I came up with this recipe again, very easy dish. You just basically dump and saute all the ingredients (",)


Good for 2-3 servings


You'll need:

• 1/4 cup of cooking oil
• a clove of garlic
• 1 pc (75 grams) white onion
• 3 pcs jumbo-size hotdog ( I used Purefoods tender juicy)
• 1/2 cup banana catsup
• 1/2 tsp rock salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Here's how:

Crush lightly the garlic, peel, then mince. Coarsely chop the onion. Cut the hotdog lengthwise, then, cut into 6 pieces at an angle (diagonal-cut).

Over medium-high fire, in a pan or skillet, moderately heat the oil. Put the hotdog. Saute for 10 seconds only. Place the hotdog on one side of the pan. Put the garlic. Saute until light brown. Add the onion. Stir. Cook the onion until transluscent. Pour the catsup. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Reduce fire to very low. Mix until well-blended. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until sauce thickens.

Serve as rice topping or "pulutan".

"Giniling na may Itlog ng Pugo" (Ground Pork with Quail Eggs)

I have red ripe plump tomatoes in my fridge. A piece of green bell pepper, a carrot and a potato. A box of quail eggs. I was wondering what to cook with these ingredients ... I thought of this recipe. This is not my first time to cook this dish. All I need was ground pork. I bought some in a nearby "talipapa", it's a small wet market.


Good for 4-6 servings.


You'll need:

• 1/4 cup of cooking oil
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 medium red onion, finely minced
• 250 grams red ripe plump tomatoes, finely minced
• 1 medium potato, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 450 grams lean ground pork
• a teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 2 tbsps of fish sauce
• a small piece of green pepper, seeded and finely minced
• a cup of water
• a piece of pork cube
• 1 heapful teaspoon of white sugar
• 2 dozens of hard-boiled quail eggs

Here's how:

In a pan, over medium-high heat. Put oil. Saute garlic until rich golden brown. Add onion and tomatoes. Cook until very limp. Put potato and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes. Place the ground pork, pepper and fish sauce. Cook for 8-10 minutes. Stirring often to separate the ground pork.

Put the green pepper. Saute for another 5 minutes. Add in the water, pork cube and sugar. Mix. Cover. Bring to boil. Then, reduce fire to low. Simmer for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, shell the eggs.

Add the quail eggs. Stir. Cook until it boils again.

Serve over warm cooked rice or as filling for your white bread.