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• Adobo
• Caldereta
• Kare-kare
• Menudo
• Pansit Palabok
• Sinigang na Hipon

ADOBO

From family vignettes, I know that we had pork adobo that was stored in chinese jars with a thick layer of pork fat to seal the adobo.  The jars were then kept in the banggerahan, the wash basin in old style kitchens that had wooden slats for drying plates and glasses.

Pork adobo is cooked in a mixture of vinegar, salt, garlic and peppercorn.  Over the years, chicken was added to the pork and so was bay leaf (laurel) and soy sauce to give not only color but add flavor as well.  The soy sauce was also a substitute for salt although some still put salt with the sauce.

Pork adobo not only keeps well but tastes better when allowed to age in pork fat.  It was probably prepared for the sailors who plied the long Manila-Mexican galleon routes from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

When I first lived in Paris and was testing recipes to be included in the Aux Iles Philippines menu, I decided to use pork chops for the adobo instead of the usual pork cubes to reduce the fat and sticky sauce which usually turn off foreigners.  Chicken was also cut into well-shaped pieces instead of the random way that is usual in our cooking.

Filipinos however, look for the mass of browned meat swimming in pork fat.  Many still enjoy sauteeing the pork fat with garlic which are then added to cooked rice for the delicious sinangag (fried rice).

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)

CALDERETA

This is a dish of Spanish origin and the name comes from the Spanish word caldero which means cooking pot.  Caldereta is often found in fiestas from Batanes to Jolo.

At the Philippine restaurant I had in Paris, this was one of the popular items which was prepared with lamb shoulder, green olives, liver and other spices.

Our own Caldereta has liver with a touch of chili for added spice.  Marinating the meat is an essential step in the preparation of this dish.  Whether one’s favorite is Caldereta made of beef, lamb or goat’s meat, the prime objective is to find the blend of flavors that suits one’s taste best.

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)  

KARE-KARE

In 1965 when I published my first cookbook, I was made aware of what went into the cuisine which we call Filipino.  I felt then that the most Filipino of our popular dishes would be the Kare-Kare.  That was probably because I had traveled mostly to Europe and the U.S. and found no dish similar to it.  Today, as I am learning more about our Asian neighbors, I realized that our Kare-Kare may have been influenced by the Gado-gado in Indonesia or from an Indian dish called Kadhi.

Kare has been a favorite since the 1920s and probably even before that.  The cooking methods employed and the ingredients of various vegetables, the achuete (annatto seeds), the bagoong and toasted rice are all part of the Filipino’s culinary experience.

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)  

MENUDO

Menudo can be prepared with garbanzos (chickpeas), with guisantes (green peas) or simply with potatoes.  Recently, I tried Menudo with camote (sweet potatoes) and found it to be seasoned just right for the Filipino taste; a bit on the sweet side because of the camote.  Even with the kind of meat used, Menudo has many versions.  I have tried using ground beef and ground pork.  The most popular version however is one that is made with pork, a little pork liver, potatoes, garbanzos, raisins and tomato sauce.

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)  

PANCIT PALABOK

There are many versions of the Pancit Malabon.  The Pascual family of Malabon serve the noodles, called bihon sariwa, and the mixtures, called sahog, separate.  There would be two kilos of fresh shrimps, the dark variety called swahe, still jumping when bought, pork cubes, tinapa (smoked fish) that was shredded, newly-cooked chicharon which was pounded to bits, and sliced native pechay.

It is the sauce, called the palabok, which distinguishes one Pancit Malabon from another.  The sauce is all important which is why the noodle dish is also known as Pancit Palabok.  The sauce is usually made of shrimp stock, a dozen egg yolks, a little bit of achuete, some starch for thicker consistency, and of course the best patis and some calamansi for flavoring.

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)  

SINIGANG NA HIPON

Sinigang is an Asian soup that can be found in Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.  In the Philippines, it is a favorite.  We make sinigang with seafood - fish, shrimp or prawns - and meat such as beef and/or pork.  Traditionally, fish and shrimp sinigang stock is made with rice washing.  This seems to be a Filipino trait for I have not seen this done in  Indonesian or Malaysian cookbooks.  I know that our cooks at the Mai Thai restaurant do not use rice washing.

To give our soup the sour bite that is typical of sinigang, we use green tamarind or camias or green tomatoes.  Sometimes a twist of calamansi can bring the soup up to the desired acidity.  In Iloilo and Negros, batuan which grows wild is used to sour their sinigang.

When making sinigang with meat, I like to season the soup before I add the meat so that the flavor seeps into the chunks of meat.  If tubers are added to beef or pork, care is taken so that the tubers are done by the time the meat is sufficiently tender  Leafy vegetables such as mustard leaves, kangkong (swamp cabbage) or the ordinary cabbage are added last.

Sinigang with lots of vegetables is a good dish to serve for those on a diet or those with little time.  Last minute preparations are really minimal.

            - Nora V. Daza (excerpt from A Culinary Life - Personal Recipe Collection, Manila, 1992)