My Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce

My chili plants are very abundant nowadays. Everyday, as I water my plants in our backyard, the chili plants would greet me with several red ripe fruits which I will pick happily. It is a nice and warm feeling to harvest fruits from your plants. As the chili fruits get accumulated and dries, I decided to make them into a chili-garlic sauce. So, here it is... It is made of oil, garlic, chilis and soy sauce.

Lola Lita's Homemade Bagoong & Indian Mangoes From Our Backyard

Our merienda. The mangoes are harvested from our own tree, in our backyard. It's brimming once again with fruits. Eating mangoes wouldn't be complete without "Bagoong" (Fermented Shrimp Paste). It is made by Lola Lita, whom I considered my second mom, specially for us. It's the only bagoong that my husband would eat beside my homemade bagoong.

Here's the recipe...

It is made from fresh tiny shrimps, wash and drained well.You should remove also the shells and tiny fishes in it. This is important, if you skip this step, your tiny shrimps would render a foul smell after sometime. Mix with a generous amount of salt. Leave it for 4-5 days in a container, should be properly covered to avoid the pesty flies diving into the mixture. Then, cooked in vinegar until all liquid has evaporated. Now, you should saute it, in tons of garlic and onion. Also with finger chilis and some brown sugar, for that extra sweet flavor and aroma.

"Ginataang Alamang" (Tiny Shrimps in Coconut Cream)

Ingredients:

• 2 pcs matured coconuts
• 450 grams fresh tiny shrimps (sariwang alamang)
• 4 tbsps cooking oil
• 1 head garlic, finely pounded & minced
• 2 large (100 grams) red onion, finely minced
• 2 tbsps fish sauce
• 3 pcs finger chilis
• salt (optional)
• 1/4 tsp dried pepper flakes or a pc of minced red hot chili pepper (labuyo)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Procedure:

When I bought my coconuts from the market. I let the vendor squeezed them for me. Actually, he had a jack pump that did the work for him, though, it was manually controlled. Good thing and less work for me then! (",)

Put the tiny shrimps in a colander. Remove any seashells or tiny fish you see. Wash in running water twice. Let it sit there until needed.

In a wok, over medium high fire. Heat moderately. Add garlic. Saute until rich golden brown. Follow with onion Saute until limp. Put the well-drained tiny shrimps and fish sauce. Stir-fry for 18-20 minutes or until all liquid has been gone.

Add the coconut cream, chilis and black pepper. Mix. Bring to boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until desired thickness of the coconut cream. Adjust taste if necessary.

Let it cool. Packed in air tight bottle or container for future use. Also, you can serve this with hot steaming rice.