Yema Balls

Image via Wikipedia

Yema is a Filipino term to describe sugar and soft milk mixture. 

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks 

180 g condensed milk 

120 g mashed potato 

1 tablespoon plain flour 

1 teaspoon vanilla essence 

1 tablespoon butter 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

Sugar Glaze: 

100 g sugar 

60 ml water 

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 

Procedure:

1. Combine all the ingredients and cook in a double boiler, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens (about 15 minutes). Set aside to cool.

2. Once cool enough to handle, roll into 2.5 cm diameter balls. 

3. For the sugar glaze, combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 

4. Cook until syrup is lightly caramelized. 

5. Dip the Yema balls into the syrup and set aside to cool before wrapping in cellophane paper.

Here is a video of a yema recipe making use of jackfruit.

Ube Halaya (Purple Yam)

Ube Halaya (Purple Yam) with Latik on top. Photo by dollierv

Purple yam is used in a variety of desserts, as well as a flavor for ice cream, milk, Swiss rolls,tarts, cookies, cakes, and other pastries. In the Philippines, it is eaten as a sweetened dessert or jam called ube halaya and added as an ingredient in the ice dessert called halo-halo. In Maharashtra, the stir-fried chips are eaten during religious fasting. Purple yam is also an essential ingredient in Undhiyu.

Ube Halaya is a tedious job to do that it is normally prepared during special occasions only. It requires a lot of stirring in low fire until you get the sticky mixture that is consistent with this special treat.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ube (purple yam) (powdered ube is also available in Asian stores) 

250 g sugar 

1 can condensed milk 

2 cups coconut milk 

butter 

Procedure:

1. Boil yam until tender and cut into cubes, then grind in a food processor with sugar and coconut milk.

• If you have the powdered variety found in the Asian stores, you can skip this part and just mix ingredients: powdered purple yam, sugar and coconut milk.

2. Transfer to a wok and add the condensed milk. 

3. Cook over a low fire, stirring continuously. Continue stirring until the mixture turns into a thick paste and separates from the pan. 

4. Transfer to a shallow platter or pan and brush top with butter. Allow to cool. Serve with latik on top.

Bibingka (Galapong)

Bibingka is a delicacy in Philippines that is tangent with Christmas. It is normally sold on the street during Simba De Gallo together with puto bumbong and tsaa. Simba de Gallo is the sixteen days of early morning mass before Christmas eve. Back in my town, Imus Cavite, we're blessed with a special shop that offers this delicious delicacy everyday for 365 days a year. I remember stopping by the store ordering this after every Sunday mass with my family.

Bibingkang Galapong for Easter. Photo by SDeluz

There's a number of bibingka recipes out there that is easy to make. This is one of those with the exception that it is made of galapong. milled glutinous rice is known as galapong. Milling - that is, washing and soaking the rice first, and then proceeding to milling proper - is generally preferred as this removes the unpleasant powdery texture found in glutinous rice which has been dried first and then converted to flour.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup coconut milk 

3/4 cup sugar 

1/8 cup melted margarine 

1 cup rice flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

banana leaf for lining

For topping:

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup sugar for topping

butter

1 salted egg, sliced crosswise

Procedure: 

1. Add sugar to melted margarine. Mix until creamy. 

2. Add beaten eggs to the mixture.

3. Combine salt and flour, baking powder in a separate bowl; add to egg mixture alternately with the coconut milk.

4. Add melted margarine, coconut milk, and baking powder. 

5. Pour into banana leaf-lined mold. 

6. Bake in 375 degrees Fahrenheit (200 deg C) for 10 minutes.

7. In the meantime, mix coconut cream and sugar in a bowl.

8. After 10 minutes, take it out from the oven and brush top with butter. Layer with salted eggs. Spread the coconut milk and sugar mixture next. Return in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

9. Again, take it out from the oven and distribute dessicated coconut on top. Return in the oven and bake until golden crust is formed or toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Tip: In using banana leaf for the mold, make sure to cut out the middle hard part of the leaf. You can use hair dryer in molding the leaf in the pan.

For the recipe of salted egg or itlog na maalat, click here.

Beef Sisig

Beef Sisig. Photo by besighyawn

Sisig is normally consistent with pork. History even points out its origin in Angeles City, Philippines. Lucia Cunanan of Angeles City has been credited with inventing sisig. The Philippine Department of Tourism has acknowledged that her "Aling Lucing's" restaurant had established Angeles City as the "Sisig Capital of the Philippines" in 1974. Cunanan's trademark sisig was developed in mid 1974 when she served a concoction of boiled and chopped pig ears and cheeks seasoned with vinegar,calamansi juice, chopped onions and chicken liver and served in hot plates. Today, varieties include sisig ala pizzailo, pork combination,green mussels or tahong, mixed seafood, ostrich sisig, spicy python, frog sisig and tokwa't baboy, among others.
Here is the queen of sisig herelf Lucia Cunanan fondly knowns as Aling Lucing , talking about how sisig came about.

For those icky with using porks ears, snout and brain as part of their recipe, beef is a good alternative among others.

Ingredients:

1 pound of sirloin or rib-eye beef

onion 

dash of soy sauce

lemon juice or calamansi

1/4 cup vinegar 

2 big jalapeno peppers or siling labuyo

egg (optional)

Procedure:

1. Option A

• Put beef in the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit (175 deg C) and cook it for an hour. 

    Option B

• Boil beef in water with salt and pepper plus onion wedges. Cover and let boil for an hour. Then grill.

2. Chop up the onion and jalapeno peppers into small pieces.

3. Likewise, chop the beef into bite sized pieces.

4. In a heated pan, saute onion and beef. 

5. Add in vinegar, dash of soy sauce for coloring plus salt and pepper to taste.

6. Toss in jalapeno peppers and serve immediately while warm.

For additions: If using sizzling plate, you can crack an egg on top and mix together with calamansi or lemon juice. 

For pork sisig recipe, click here.

Pork Sisig

Pork Sisig with Calamansi. Photo by besighyawn

Sisig also refers to Sizzling sisig, a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers. It is a constant companion of beer and thus a good "pulutan" due to its oily contents. 

Preparing sisig comes in three phases: boiling, broiling and finally frying. A pig's head is first boiled to remove hairs and to tenderize it. Portions of it are then chopped and grilled or broiled. Finally, it is fried with onions and served on a sizzling plate. Variations of sisig may add any of the following: eggs, ox brains, chicharon (pork cracklings), pork or chicken liver, and even mayonnaise. Recently, local chefs have experimented with ingredients other than pork such as chicken, squid, tuna and even tofu.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs pork cheeks (or 2 lbs deboned pork hocks)

1/2 lb beef or pork tongue

1/2 lb beef or pork heart

1/2 lb liver (pork, beef or chicken)

2 cups water (for boiling)

1 cup pineapple juice (for boiling)

1 tsp whole black peppers (for boiling)

Marinade:

1 cup chopped onions

3-4 finger hot peppers (siling labuyo) (seeded and chopped)

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup calamansi juice (lemon juice)

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp whole black pepper (crushed)

1 pc bay leaf (crushed)

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Combine pork cheeks (or deboned pork hocks), heart, and tongue in pineapple juice, salt, water and crushed whole black pepper and bring to a boil; simmer for about 1 hour or until tender.

2. Drain and cool to room temperature.

3. Slice pork cheeks/hocks, liver, heart and tongue, into 2″X3″ X 1/4″ thick pieces.

4. Place in bamboo skewers and grill over charcoal briquettes until pork rind is crisp and browned.

5. Chop the grilled pork cheeks/hocks, liver, heart, and tongue into 1/4 inch sized cubes.

6. Mix the chopped meat with the marinade seasoning mix of garlic, ginger, onions, vinegar, calamansi (lemon) juice, hot peppers (siling labuyo), bay leaf, salt and pepper.

7. Keep the marinated mixture in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving.

It is a tasking recipe but worth the wait.
This is a video in Tagalog. A different version of pork sisig with tofu. Don't mind the background music. 

This one has an Englisg subtitle. Much easier to follow. 

This one is done first in the oven which is the same as that of our beef sisig recipe.