Better Than Chicken(FROG)

Eating has always been a favorite part of many adventures for anyone who considers him or herself a traveler.

If you are up for a gastronomic roller coaster ride, try having some Crispy Frog Legs and revel in a national delicacy best had in the provinces. I can attest to that!

It was a week ago when I tried this crispy critter, but until now, I can still savor the deliciousness on my taste buds of this common amphibian.

Pampanga, north of Manila, is a province renowned for its cuisine. Kapampangans are known to be good chefs, and it takes a good cook to magically transform a lowly, slimy frog into something beautiful- in this case a batch of crispy goodness that can be appreciated and match the differing tastes of many people. Everybody’s Café in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga is known for their exotic dishes. One serving of the frog legs is good for 2 persons and only costs Php70 per order (less than USD2.00). I found the fried legs so good that it was easy to mistake to really tender chicken meat.

Everybody’s Café has a pretty relaxing ambiance. The place mimics a traditional-Filipino house of the Spanish Era. Large windows with Capiz shells, dark-brown wooden ceilings with large ceiling fans welcome visitors. Ordering food is also very simple, you just have to point at your preferred dish and they will serve it you, right there and then!

Aside from frog legs, they also have nicely fried crickets and if frog legs aren’t enough, they have stuffed whole frogs, too!


How to cook:


Ingredients:

6 frogs legs

salt and pepper

cooking oil

lemon juice (you can use calamansi in lieu of lemon)

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs


• Remove the skin from the legs; wash legs in cold water, then dry.

• Season legs with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

• Beat egg; add seasoning and dip the legs in egg mixture.

• Roll legs in crumbs and fry in deep hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes.

Crackers from the Sea

The Philippine green mussel, locally popular as "tahong", is known to all Filipinos. It is rich in iodine, iron, phosphorus, calcium, carbohydrates, protein and vitamins A, B, B2 and C.


Also known as the Asian green bay mussel, tahong is affordably cheap and has a good nutritive value. It can be prepared and served in different ways such as tinolang tahong, adobong tahong, baked tahong and ginataang tahong among others.


In Samar, in the town of Jiabong, tahong is widely cultured. It has been considered as the "Tahong Capital of the Philippines" with more than 3,000 hectares of potential mussel farms, with around 160-200 hectares devoted for tahong farming in Jiabong, and supplies the biggest volume of tahong toManila, Cebu and Davao.


With the large supply available, residents of Jiabong took advantage of this and were able to process them into tahong crackers. Tahong crackers contain no preservatives and no artificial ingredients. It is made from ground tahong flesh mixed with spices, flour and deep fried in oil (but some might not like it as it smells of rancid oil!).



To make your own tahong crackers, follow this simple recipe:
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp chopped tahong
  • 1 cup flour, shifted
  • ¼ tsp vetsin
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper
  • 2 ½ - 3 tbsp cold water or tahong broth
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • oil for frying
Procedure  1. Steam the tahong, extract the meat and remove the byssi's.
  2. Chop the tahong meat.
  3. Combine all dry ingredients and add the tahong broth or water gradually.
  4. Knead and run through the noodle machine.
  5. Cut into desired length.
  6. Deep fat fry.

Biko

Biko is n all-time favorite delicacy of the Filipinos. It is made of "kaning malagkit"�-cooked and sweetened with coco milk and oil added for a perfect taste. Perfect for Pinoy occasions like birthdays, Christmas and new year's eve celebration and many others. Its ingredients are readily available and are often made at home for festivities.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups     kaning malagkit (sumanon)

  • 3/4 kilo   brown sugar

  • 1 cup      coco milk

Procedure:

1. Cook the kaning malagkit/sumanon like the way in cooking plain rice.

2. In a separate pan, put the coco milk and just mix it thoroughly until its coco oil and lunok (cooked solid particle of the coco milk) has been produced.

3. Then, separate the coco oil and lunok.

4. Dissolve 3/4s kilos brown sugar in a separate pan and then put the kaning malagkit and then mix thoroughly.

5. Put the coco oil to the pan's surface and then mix for about 10-20 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and then put the lunok as toppings.

7. Serve it hot or cold.

BIKO is also called SAHUG in other towns of Leyte. There is also a white kaning-malagkit.

Santol Bagoong

Santol or Lolly Fruit (Sandoricum koetjape, Sandoricum indicum) originated from Southeast Asia. It is a yellow and round fruit with thick skin and lots of tasty segments inside. 

Most of the time, only the tasty segments around the seed are eaten and the thick skin is discarded.

Santol Bagoong makes use of the thick skin or meat. The skin is peeled and the meat is shredded. It is then cooked by frying it with garlic in oil, add pork with a little skin and fat on it, a generous amount of salt and a pinch of black powdered pepper. When the meat is cooked, coconut milk is added.

The delicious smell told me that the Santol Bagoong was cooked and ready for tasting. I took half a spoonful with a piece of pork meat followed by steamed rice and fried bangus… and… oh, my… sour, salty, sweet… pork, fish… the fusion of flavors made it so delicious!

Santol Bagoong is perfect for those who are allergic to shrimps or the small fish which are the main ingredients for fermented sauces such as bagoong or alamang.

Even the pork can be substituted with tuna flakes for those avoiding red meat in their diet.

Biscocho

Biscocho is known as the Filipino toasted bread. It is coated with butter, milk and sugar. It is derived from the Latin words "bis coctus" which means "twice baked". It is best matched with hot cocoa or a cup of coffee. You can find some biscocho that is topped with garlic also.

Here is a simple homemade biscocho recipe that you could try: (Source: www.filipinodesserts.net)

Ingredients:
• slices of bread (leftover bread can be used)
• butter
• sugar
• cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
1. Apply a thin layer of softened butter or margarine on the sliced bread. Don't be tempted to apply a thick layer of butter since it will make the bread soggy.
2. Dab the sliced bread on a plate of sugar.
3. Place sliced bread in oven toaster for 450 for 2 minutes, turn to toast for another 2 minutes.
4. Let cool.
5. Serve.

Insarabsab is an Ilokano dish made up of quickly broiled or grilled pork strips, then sliced to serving pieces. The pork is then tossed with finely diced ginger and onion with Iloko vinegar. The dish is similar to dinakdakananother popular Ilokano dish except that dinakdakan is made up of grilled pre-boiled pork face and ears whileinsarabsab could be any other choice of pork cut but usually the pork belly. Insarabsad literally means quickly seared in open flame, this is prepared during the slaughtering of a pig during feast or fiesta celebration, wedding reception or other any especial family event. Those persons involved in the slaughtering and cooking would usually cut off slices of the very fresh pork meat and quickly sear it in the open flames, sliced or dice then toss as I previously mentioned with chopped or diced garlic and ginger, vinegar is then added to further cook in vinegar the half cooked pork. Insarabsab is enjoyed with a local gin, whiskey or rum by the cooks. Some of you might have heard about insarabsab, now you know how it is usualy served and today I will share to you how it is made, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork in 1” thick slices, pork belly

1 large size onion, finely diced

2 thumb size ginger, finely diced

2-3 pieces hot chili, chopped or sliced

1/4 cup vinegar, sukang Iloko

salt and pepper

Cooking procedure:

Generously rub the pork slices with salt on all side. At high heat broil the pork for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until lightly charred in open charcoal flames, do not overcook. Now cut the pork in slices or cubes and place in a big bowl, add in the ginger, onion, chili and a few dash of pepper and the vinegar. Toss the mixture and let stand for a couple of minutes for the vinegar to seep in to the pork. Serve immediately.

Eggplant Omelet

A very simple pinoy recipe that is easy to make and budget-friendly.

Eggplant Omelet or Tortang Talong:

Ingredients

• 2-4 eggplants, medium size

• 2-3 eggs, beaten

• Salt (and pepper) to taste

• Cooking oil for frying

Procedures

1. Broil the eggplants until tender and the color of the skin appears black or charred.

2. Let the eggplants cool for a while. Peel off its skin but retain the stem and crown once cool.

3. Carefully flatten the eggplants using a fork on a flat surface, avoid poking holes in it. Set aside.

4. Beat the eggs. Season it with salt (and pepper) in a separate bowl.

5. Heat cooking oil in a pan over medium heat.

6. Dip each eggplant into the beaten eggs and place it on the heated oil.

7. After 2-4 minutes flip the eggplant to fry the other side.

8. Fry until both sides are golden brown.

9. Serve while it's hot.

You can also add ground beef, onions and tomatoes, or cheese depending on your choice and imagination.

Nutrition Facts                              Serving Size 258.0g

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Amount per Serving

Calories     147           Calories from Fat    85

                                                  % Daily Value*

Total Fat    9.4g                              14%

     Saturated Fat            1.6g            8%

     Trans Fat                 0.0g

Cholesterol 93mg                           31%

Sodium    113mg                             5%

Total Carbohydrates     13.2g            4%

     Dietary Fiber             7.7g          31%

     Sugars                     5.5g

Protein      5.0g

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Vitamin A 3%   •   Vitamin C 8%   •   Calcium 3%   •   Iron 5%

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* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Insarabsab

Insarabsab is an Ilokano dish made up of quickly broiled or grilled pork strips, then sliced to serving pieces. The pork is then tossed with finely diced ginger and onion with Iloko vinegar. The dish is similar to dinakdakananother popular Ilokano dish except that dinakdakan is made up of grilled pre-boiled pork face and ears whileinsarabsab could be any other choice of pork cut but usually the pork belly. Insarabsad literally means quickly seared in open flame, this is prepared during the slaughtering of a pig during feast or fiesta celebration, wedding reception or other any especial family event. Those persons involved in the slaughtering and cooking would usually cut off slices of the very fresh pork meat and quickly sear it in the open flames, sliced or dice then toss as I previously mentioned with chopped or diced garlic and ginger, vinegar is then added to further cook in vinegar the half cooked pork. Insarabsab is enjoyed with a local gin, whiskey or rum by the cooks. Some of you might have heard about insarabsab, now you know how it is usualy served and today I will share to you how it is made, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork in 1” thick slices, pork belly

1 large size onion, finely diced

2 thumb size ginger, finely diced

2-3 pieces hot chili, chopped or sliced

1/4 cup vinegar, sukang Iloko

salt and pepper