Cold Taho

Tahooooooo........tahoooooooo...... I used to hear the vendor - magtataho - announcing his presence along our street whenI was a child. I was very curious as to what he is selling. I stopped him once as he walks past our house and asked him what taho is. 

He opened 2 big tin cans that he carry along his shoulder with a bamboo stick. Inside the first can I saw brown liquids. This is the syrup he says. The other can contains white milky like gelatin. That is the taho he said. 

Taho is made from soybeans. The milk extracted from the soybean is then made into taho. Sugar is then caramelized and made into syrup. 

I was hesistant to try the vendor's taho. I did not find the taho that appetizing after all. 

My mom then decided to learn how to make taho. Since then, I have been eating taho and I found out that it taste really really good. 

My mom's variation of taho is cold taho. The traditional one is hot taho. Sago pearls are added as part of its topping or variation. Other toppings include, mango, jackfruit, monggo, strawbeery, macapuno, and beans. 

I prefer sago pearls. It is during the summer weathers that I crave for my mom's cold taho. It sure cools not only the taste buds but the hot weather.

Boiled Cardava with Guinamos

My latest food craze.... the boiled cardava with preserved fish. 

Cardava or saba is a banana variety that is rich in nutrients - potassium especially. They help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. Potassium is also helpful for reducing strokes and regulating blood pressure because of the way it promotes circulatory health. 

The cardava is cooked broiled. I prefer my cardava to be ripe. Not overly ripe, just ripe. 

Cardava is very abundant at the province and I really enjoyed having cardava as my snack or even as my main meal, especially dipping it into the salted preserved fish sauce. I prefer adding chili in my sauce. An inexpensive meal but surely satisfies a great deal!

Tofu

Tofu originated in ancient China. Tofu is a vegetarian food made from soybeans. 

Vegetarians use this as a substitute for meat in their diet. Tofu is rich in protein, low calorie count and high in iron. Tofu, in our local dialect is known as tokwa - derived from the Chinese word, tou-kan. 

Tofu is also known as bean curd - curdled product made from coagulating soymilk and pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. 

Different varieties of cooking tofu includes frying, broiling, steamed and simmered. My favorite variety of having tofu is deep fried and the variety - tokwa't baboy. 

With deep fried, tofu is fried and soysauce is used as dipping sauce. Other variation of dipping sauce may include wasabi. 

Tokwa't baboy - a very famous Filipino dish. This can be used as an appetizer or as a side dish. Deep fry the tofu. Prepare broiled pork meat. Best to include the mask (mascara) with the pork meat. Slice thinly the tofu and the mask. Incorporate in a plate. For the sauce, calamansi and soy sauce is best.

Sate Mi

Sate mi is a spicy noodle Chinese dish. 

Cooking sate mi is like cooking ordinary sauteed noodles, only we add sate sauce to the base of the noodle dish. 

I learned to cook sate mi from my dad. 

To cook sate mi, you need to cook the spices first -- onions, garlic, pepper. Add the meat -- choice of chicken, pork, or beef. Optional of squids, fishballs, shrimps and clams can be addded as well. Then add in a spoonful of sate sauce. The amount of sauce varies. If you like it spicier, you can add more sauce. Soup stock or water is then added. Once the soup boils, the noodles is then added. Simmering until the noodles are fully coated with the sauce. Vegetables are then added to the mixture. Mixing all the ingredients well, it is ready to be served. 

It is best to use big noodles to cook sate mi rather than the small thin ones. 

I was able to serve this dish in the province. Since there are no available big noodles in the market at the province, I bought big noodles from the market in the city. The guests and staff of Tito Joseph were surprised by the size of the noodles. They never have seen such size of the noodles. They are only used to the thin ones available in the province. 

Despite their surprise of the size, they were also amazed by the taste of sate mi. A first for them as well.

Grilled Pork

Liempo... The usual and easiest food to prepare and bring during potlucks. 

Liempo is grilled pork belly, cooked over charcoal to the right wellness. 

My liempo is very simple. Before grilling, I marinate them with salt, pepper and whiskey. For the sauce, soysauce, vinegar and lots of chili. 

This dish always is a favorite of mine. Never gets tired of eating this dish.

Bulgogi

Bulgogi is a Korean dish. It consist of beef, lettuce, kimchi and chili bean paste. Chicken is also a variation for thus. But beef is the popular choice. 

The beef is marinated in soysauce and spices. It is best to marinade for at least an hour to enhance flavor. After marinating, grill the beef and set aside. Kimchi, chili bean paste, and lettuce can be bought at the grocery. 

To serve, all the components -- beef, kimchi, lettuce and chili bean paste, are set on the table. 

To eat bulgogi, you use the lettuce as wrapper. Spread on lettuce leaf the chili bean paste, add on beef and kimchi. Then roll the lettuce leaf over. Bon apetit! 

 I learned to prepare bulgogi via television. Big and I were watching cooking show and bulgogi came up. We got interested and I tried it out. It was a hit.

Pata Tim

Pata tim, also known as pork leg, is a special dish served at most restaurants. 

A whole pork leg is cooked to the right tenderness in rich soy sauce. 

To prepare this dish, first you gotta clean the pork leg. Remove hairs and dirt. After this is done, boil the sauce. The sauce consists of soysauce and spices. When the sauce boils, submerge the pork leg and let it cook to the right tenderness. 

Pata tim is a Filipino dish which is usually served during festivals and special occasions. 

I get to cook pata tim by myself when I was in the province. A pig was slaughtered to be roasted. As the legs are not needed for roasting, I took them to cook as pata tim. 

 Different variations are available to add to the pata tim. You can have the option of having pata tim with eggs, pata tim with vegetables, or pata tim with mushrooms. Any variations taste good. I like pata tim with egg the best. 

When the pork leg has reached my desired tenderness, I added boiled eggs to the sauce. Coating the eggs so the eggs become brown in color. 

I served this dish to Big and he was impressed. He literally devoured the whole leg. Never ate this kind of dish home cooked, he claimed. Hahahaha