Putting Twists to Pinoy Dishes

I'm currently attending 3 summer classes in school for advancement. One of the subjects is Asian Cuisine that is interesting and pleasurable. On Mondays, we bring our chosen Asian recipes. We create strategies and game plan to have systematic procedures for the hands-on proper. Time or Speed is an important factor in the cooking process because we are graded based on the effectiveness of our game plan. After the class, we go to a grocery store to buy everything under our market list.

Last Wednesday, our section cooked different Pinoy dishes and merienda. Our group was assigned to prepare beef caldereta and banana fritters or maruya. After getting the utensils and cookwares, we started doing the initial procedure - peeling and cubing of vegetables and preparing other spices.

The ingredients was checked by our professor at 2 pm. Completing it was a cue that we can start cooking.

Beef Caldereta Ingredients:

- 1/2 kg beef ribs

- 6 cloves garlic

- 2 white onions

- 4 tomatoes

- 400 g baby potatoes

- 200 g carrots

- 1 chorizo sausage 

- 1 red bell pepper

- 1 green bell pepper

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1 cup or 237 ml tomato sauce

- 1 can liver spread

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 50 g green olives

- salt and pepper to taste

Preparations:

Trim the beef. Cut into 5-cm or 2-in cubes or, if using spare ribs, cut into 5 cm pieces.

Crush, peel, and mince the garlic.

Peel and chop the onions.

Peel and chop the tomatoes.

Clean and wash the potatoes with a brush. Leave unpeeled.

Peel the carrots. Cut and shape into 1.5 x 1.5 cm or 1/2 in mini carrots.

Slice the sausage crosswise into 1-cm or 1/4-in rings.

Seed and slice the red and green bell peppers into 2-cm or 3/4-in strips.

the smoke with a pungent smell, :))

Cooking:

Place beef pieces in a pot. Add the water. Cover pot. Just when the water begins to boil, immediately reduce to simmer 82ºC or 180ºF and cook for 3 hours or until beef is fork tender. Remove beef from stock and set aside. Reserve beef stock for making sauce.

Just before serving, preheat another pot. Pour in oil. Sauté garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add beef, tomato sauce, liver spread, soy sauce, reserved stock, potatoes, carrots and sausage. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add bell peppers and olives. Continue cooking until potatoes are done.

Season with salt and pepper.

For the garnish, we made some food carvings but since we are just beginners, we still need to improve and learn more about this work. 

our professor, as she savors our cooked food, hehe

We got reasonable grades so we were satisfied and relieved. Our professor commented that the beef was so tender and flavorful and she also appreciated our presentation.

Next to our plan was the maruya or banana fritters - saba bananas coated with a certain batter and fried until golden brown. 

Maruya Ingredients:

Batter:

4 ripe Saba Bananas

1 cup Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

3 1/2 tbsp Sugar

6 tbsp Milk

1/3 cup Water

1 Egg

Others:

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil for frying fritters

1 tablespoon Vegetable oil for caramelizing Nata de Coco

1 tablespoon Cinnamon for glazing

Ice Cream (Vanilla and Strawberry)

1 cup diced Nata de Coco

For Chocolate Syrup:

40 gm cocoa powder

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup fresh milk

1 tsp vanilla

Cooking:

Prepare the chocolate syrup first.

Put a skillet or wok over medium heat and add the cocoa powder and sugar and stir constantly.

After 20 seconds, turn to low heat, add the milk and stir thoroughly until the powder is completely dissolved.

Adding of excess milk depends on the thickness that you want to have.

Transfer it to a separate cup and add the vanilla. Stir the mixture and let it cool.

For the maruya:

Peel the bananas and cut in 1/2 inch square then set aside.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, water, and egg.

Mix thoroughly with a whisk until completely dissolved.

Transfer and mix the banana in the batter.

Place a frying pan over medium heat then add 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil.

Put chopped Nata de Coco then stir for about 2 minutes and set aside.

Using the same pan over medium heat, add 3/4 cup vegetable oil.

Once oil is hot, you are ready to fry the batter.

Scoop a large spoon full of batter into the hot oil.

Using a wooden spatula or turner, gather the sides of the fritters to shape it.

Do this in batches of 3 or 4.

Turn over the fritter after about 1 minute or when its golden brown.

Cook the other side then transfer the fritters in a plate.

Repeat the process until all fritters are cooked. While it's hot, glaze it with cinnamon powder.

Serve in an attractive plate with two scoops of ice cream then garnish with caramelized Nata de Coco and top with chocolate syrup.

she really liked it

She really admired this more than the caldereta. The mild sweetness of chocolate and the fritters which was lightly glazed with cinnamon was a perfect afternoon snack with a twist of ice cream and nata de coco. You can also try to prepare this at home even without the ice cream and cinnamon. Brown sugar can be used as an alternative to cinnamon. As logically computed, the cost is only P40 per serving. This traditional maruya with a twist looked like a restaurant specialty. 

After you learn cooking, you should now learn to cook by heart.