Seafood Black Spaghetti

This pasta recipe is nothing short of awesome. Because you can never go wrong with light on the sauce, just like Italian do. So that a little bit of garlic can be tasted and splash of white wine. Its not too saucy by still very flavorful. Serves for 2-3 person

Ingredients:

200g black spaghetti
1 squid, cut
300g fresh clams
8pcs Argentine langoustine
2 handful of basil
450g fresh red cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1 tsp squid ink paste
6 large garlic, finely chopped
4 dried chili
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Add water into pan, bring to a boil. The simmer at medium high heat. Add salt and some olive oil around 2 tbsp. Add the pasta and cook soften (al dente).

2. Mean while, heat around 4 tbsp of olive oil into the skillet at medium heat. Saute garlic and chili until the garlic turn a light brown. Do not let the garlic burn or it has a taste of bitterness. Add the squid then cooked lightly until coated with chili-garlic. Discard the squid from the pan, set aside. Then do this again with the clams and pour the wine into the pan. The wine it create steam needed to cook the clams. Also the wine adds flavor into the sauce. Remove the clam that has started open and set aside.

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By the way cook the langoustine at the same time, just drizzle some olive oil and put them into the oven at 200°C and baked for about 10 minutes on both side. Then take them out from the oven. You can also cook your langoustine into grill pan or charcoal grill if necessary.

3. Back to sauce. Add the tomatoes into skillet and stir for a minute. Then add the squid ink, stir well until combined into the sauce. Pour a 2-3 ladle spoon of boiling pasta water. Then season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 2 minutes or more.

4. Drain the pasta, add into the pan, followed by the clams, squid and basil. Mix or toss well together until the pasta absorb the sauce. Transfer the pasta into the serving dish. Then place the grilled langoustine on top of the pasta and spray some olive oil if desire.

Thai Style Stir Fry Chicken With Basil & Tomatoes

This is one of the most stir fry chicken dish opted to cook in my kitchen. It has slightly sharp flavor. It hot, sweet and sour with a hint of taste of basil. .

Ingredients:
300g ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 birds eye red chili, chopped
1½ tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
4 tbsp tamarind puree
½ squeeze of lime juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp red curry paste
20pcs red cherry tomatoes, halves
1 handful of Asean basil leaves
1 spring onion, chopped
grape seed oil or vegetable oil

Preparations:

1. Combine the sugar, tamarind puree, lime juice in mix bowl, still well until the sugar begin to dissolve in the liquid.

2. Heat the with 3 tbsp of cooking oil. When the oil is hot. Add the garlic then followed by curry paste. Stir fry over medium heat until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir fry until lightly cook.

3. Add the mix tamarind puree and stir, then followed by chili and stir once again.

4. Add the fish sauce and stir fry for a few seconds. Then cover with a lid and cooked until the chicken is totally cook for about 5 minutes.

5.Add the spring onion, tomatoes. Stir or stir the pan using your hands. Then stir with the basil leaves. Taste, then adjust the seasoning or add more fish sauce if desired.

6. Spoon into a serving dish and serve with plenty of rice.

Tocino (Pampanga Style)

Tocino or tosino is similar made out of pork ham or bacon. It has a reddish color with sweetest taste. Tocino is derived from the Spanish word is a cured meat product native from Pampanga in the Philippines. This is one of the favorites of Kapampangan or Cabalenian's and the rest of Pilipino's. This recipe is very easy and tasted like the Pampanga Best tocino product. Also you can add garlic to your tocino ingredients if you like garlic flavor.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. of meat pork with fat, sliced into 1/4 inch thick (The meat is sliced into thin strip)
1 pack of Mama Sitas or Mother's Best tocino Mix
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
red food color
Preparations:

1. Combined meat & all ingredients in a mix bowl with 2 drops of red food coloring.  Rub or toss the pork in the curing mixture. Make sure that the mixture is completely absorb the meat,  Place the pork in a zip-seal bag then place in container with lid.

2. Cover and kept refrigerated for about a week to cure. After a week of curing the meat, stacked the cure meat in a separate zip-seal bags. Make sure to push all air out of the bag before closing and freeze them for use on a future occasion.

3. To cook just put a little water in a skillet and boil. Let it cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the tocino starts to sizzle. Keep stirring to keep it from burning. 

4. Add a little drop of oil, fry until it has caramelized and brownish red in color.

5. When its done place the Tocino in a serving dish, serve with tomatoes and fried garlic rice as a breakfast. I love to eat this dish with white vinegar and plain steamed rice anytime lunch or dinner.

Gambas Al Ajillo

This garlic shrimp tapas has to be of the easiest way to quickly prepare. Just simply saute with garlic, butter and oil. The garlic butter oil sauce it goes well with crusty bread.
 Ingredients:
500g raw prawns (shrimps)
½ cup olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp finely crush garlic
1 tbsp capers
5 dried chili
1 tbsp dried or fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper
crusty bread
Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. And Place the cazuelas or ramekins into the oven. Peel the prawns, leaving the tail behind. You devein the shrimps if desire. Just pull out from the back and cut a slit at back of shrimps and remove the vein.

2. Combine the butter and olive into pan and heat gas at medium temperature. Add the garlic and chilis, cook until translucent and bubbling.

3. Add 1 tsp of salt and pepper, give a stir for a second. Then add the shrimps into the pan.

4. Saute carefully and cooked for 5- minutes or until they just turn pink. 

5. Add the capers, parsley and shake or stir the pan for a seconds.

6. Turn off the gas, take the cazuelas out into the oven. Divide the garlic into ramekins and serves along with crusty bread or it goes well to in cooked pasta.

Stir Fry Bitter Gourd With Salted Eggs

One of my favorite bitter melon dish and opt to order this dish in local Hakka Taiwanese Restaurant. This recipe is easy to cook and not bitter at all and is coated well with salted eggs that made it so tasty and very nutritious too.

Ingredients:
300g white bitter gourd/melon, cut into slices
2 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
1 long red chili, sliced
1 spring onion, chopped
2 salted duck eggs, chopped coarsely or mashed into smaller pieces
grape seed oil or cooking oil
salt

Preparations:

1. Place a pot of water on the stove to boil. When water starts boiling, place the bitter gourd melon into the boiling water. Let them sit in the water for about 4 minutes.

2. Meanwhile; Heat up 2-3 tablespoon of oil in a wok pan. Saute the garlic, chili then follow by the spring onion and fry until aromatic but not brown.

3. Remove the gourd from the pot or scoop them out of the boiling water.

4. Add the bitter gourd immediately and stir-fry or shake the pan for a seconds. 

5. Then add the eggs and stir for another seconds. Then add around 5 tablespoon of hot boiling water from the pot that you blanched your bitter gourd. Season with salt if desired.

6. Add more 1 tablespoon of cooking oil if desired, continue to stir-fry for 1–2 minutes. Dish up and serve. If you prefer a softer bitter gourd, simmer the dish for a few more minutes.

Thai Chicken Red Curry

This coconut milk based red curry paste make an irresistible sauce. Flavored with both fresh and dried kaffir lime leaves it is a harmonious chicken dish with carrot, potato and mushroom. Finish the cooking with the addition of fish sauce to taste and serve with steamed fragrant rice. We just love to eat this curry dish along with fresh, spicy and sweet lime juice is made of lime juice, garlic, chili, sugar, fish sauce and chopped coriander. And to cut the creaminess of coconut sauce.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into pieces
200g button white mushrooms
200g potato cut into cubes
1 medium carrot cut into cubes
5 or 7 tbsp red curry paste
3 cups coconut milk
5 tbsp fish sauce
1 lime juice

12 fresh or dry lime kaffir leaves
3 red chilies
cooking oil
2 tbsp sugar or palm sugar if any
Preparation:

1. Put the coconut milk in casserole pan or wok and simmer over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile heat the pan with 2 tbsp cooking oil and fry the chicken and working with batches into pan until skin turns brown on both sides just enough to crisp the outer skin of the chicken.

3. Then fry the potato, mushrooms and carrot into pan and until start to brown, set aside.

4. When the coconut milk start its boiling. Add the red curry paste, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce.

5. Stir well to combine the flavor or until red oil comes to the surface. 

6. Add the chicken and sauteed carrot, mushrooms, potato.

7. Follow by lime leaves, chilies into the pan.

8. Cover with the lid bring to a boil until the chicken is fully cooked. By the way adjust the heat into medium low heat.

9. Turn off the gas, taste then adjust the seasoning if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander.
Thai Red Curry Paste
4 dried long red chilies
10 fresh small red chilies
2 lemon grass stalks,
1 inches galangal,
1 teaspoon finely chopped lime kaffir leaves
5 garlic cloves, chopped
5 shallots, chopped
6 coriander roots, chopped
2 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste
Blend all together in food processor or mortal and pestle until the ingredients forms a smooth paste. Refrigerate or freeze and use as required. To avoid thawing the whole quantity, freezing could be done in small packs required for one use each. Note: Just double the quantity of the ingredients to make extra curry paste.

Rib Eye Steaks With Mushroom Sauce

This is my absolute favorite steak recipe. Great served with a little grilled or roasted vegetables, and it goes well with roasted garlic. Note: You can make this sauce ahead and rewarm just before serving.

Ingredients:
4 pcs Rib eye steaks 12oz each
chicken fat oil
1 spring of fresh rosemary
1 spring of fresh sage
rock sea salt
black pepper 

For The Mushroom Sauce:

3-4 tbsp butter

250g  Shitake (sliced)
150g chopped yellow onions
1 cup pork or beef broth
½ cup red wine

4 tbsp A- Steak sauce
½ tsp dried tarragon
½ tsp fresh or dried parsley
1 tbsp corn flour mix with 3 tbsp water

salt & pepper
Preparation:

1. In a copper pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, add the onions and stir for a minutes. Then add the mushroom cook and stir-fry until they are translucent, then season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

2. Stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender.

3. Add the A- steak sauce, stir well until combined.

4. Add the red wine and broth. Stir, cover with a lid and bring to a boil and until the liquid is reduced to about half. Stirring occasionally.

5. Add the tarragon, parsley and stir, follow by the flour mixture, stir well and simmer until the sauce is thickened. Season with more salt if desired. Set aside and keep warm.

6. Meanwhile, sprinkle the steaks evenly with salt, ground pepper, rosemary, sage and fat chicken oil or olive oil.

7. Rub into the entire surface of the steak. Repeat this process on the other side of the steaks. 

8. Spray or rub the heavy grill pan with oil over medium-high heat. Add the steaks, in batches if necessary.

9. Cook for 5 minutes per side or until desired degree of doneness. Take the steaks out of grilled and let stand for a minutes.

10. To serve; Lay the steak on each plate along the roasted vegetables or mashed potato or anything you want to compliment your steak. Top the steak with mushroom sauce and enjoy!