I love how easy it is to make pudding. I topped the pudding with custard sauce for an extra dose of yumminess. Good tasting home-cooked food shouldn’t lead you to the laser spine institute, at least, not if you can help it. Some of the better tasting food that found their way to our dining table were the easiest to cook, with just a reasonable amount of ingredients.

I used my daughter’s iTouch to take these photos. It’s just easier that way.

For the bread pudding recipe, go to THIS POST. Feel free to substitute, say,  whole milk with soy milk (like what I did!).

Repurposing is a very good thing! Cheers, y’all!

Puto and kutsinta come in different kinds and sizes.  This particular kind of puto is called “puto calasiao”.  I am addicted to this puto!  If I eat any more, I just might end up in one of several  california rehab treatment centers, that’s if they treat puto addiction at all! :D

I was pleasantly surprised when the puto-kutsinta vendor said the price for puto/kutsinta is 3 (brown bags) for P100.00, the same price from 3 years ago!  When we got home, I realized after transferring the puto and kutsinta to a plate that the little brown bags are now just half-filled.  Oh well.  Everything just costs too much nowadays.  But I’d still buy 3 bags of these for a hundred pesos! ;)

Mabuhay!

We’ve always been huge fans of Lapid’s Freshly Popped Chicharon.  There are a lot of chicharon stalls with the Lapid name but we always make sure to buy only and ONLY the “freshly popped” brand. ;)

A large bag of chicharon with laman (meat) has a price tag of Php 185.00 (about $4.22).  If my memory serves me right, it was about Php 135.00 the last time we bought some…over 3 years ago.  Lapid’s dipping vinegar is the only vinegar my vinegar-aversed hubby dares consume.  I still don’t get why. :P

I’m ticking food items on my “must eat” list one by one.  Cleansing will have to wait until I get back to domestic diva life. :D  I don’t even want to think about that just yet!

Mabuhay, y’all!

I am eating faster than I could post!  It’s been more than a week since I landed in the “Pearl of the Orient” and I take photos of almost everything I eat.  But so far, you’ve only seen two of them, halo-halo and taho.  Allow me to add to the list.

One of two popular Christmas staples, specially during the season of Simbang Gabi (dawn masses) is the bibingka.  They are available year-round in a  number of Filipino restaurants but during the Christmas season, stalls selling these native delicacies sprout like mushrooms, usually near churches.

I had my first dose of bibingka when we got back from Boracay via Bibingkinitan…

These, definitely, are not the best-tasting bibingka this country has to offer, but they’re the first ones I laid eyes on and they just called out to me like crazy.  Bibingkinitan is a combination of two words bibingka (rice cake) and balingkinitan (slender/skinny).  True enough, these bibingkas are mini and about a quarter of the size of a regular bibingka.

A bibingkinitan is worth Php20.00 a pop, Php120 for a box of 6.  I’m not crazy about them but they just might be good enough to satisfy your bibingka craving just a teeny tiny bit.

I had a much much better-tasting bibingka after tonight’s dinner.  Tell you about it in upcoming Pilipinas food trip posts. Promise. :)

Taho, if you should consult Wikipedia, ” is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup), and pearl sago (similar to pearl tapioca).”

Meet Mr. Taho Vendor…

First, he scoops some of the silken tofu into a cup…

Then, tapioca pearls and caramel are added to the silken tofu.

I easily forgot that a cup of taho was worth Php 25.00.  It wasn’t as easy, however, forgetting bikini-clad girls and shirtless boys who didn’t seem to get rid of chest acne.  Hee hee.  Anyway, my daughter loved her taho and wanted to have some again the very next day.  But we had to pass. :)

That’s another comfort food just ticked-off my “must eat” list. ;)

Mabuhay!

Puto Pao is steamed rice cake with pork filling.  I’ve made puto pao a couple of times already and believe me, they’ve gotten very good reviews from family and friends. That only goes to show how well loved I truly am!  Hahaha! :)

The pork filling I use is the same one I use for my barbecued pork siopao (Steamed Pork Bun). I know of at least two friends who are waiting for my puto pao recipe.  In case you’ve been looking for the recipe yourself in a cooking /food web directory, you can take a little break now. :D  Without further ado, here’s the recipe…

Pork Filling

1/2 T oil
1/4 cup diced onions
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T catsup
3/4 T sugar
1/2 T oyster sauce
1/8 t garlic powder
1/4 c water
1/2 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water
3/4 C diced cooked barbecued pork

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a wok/pan, heat the oil then add the onions.  Cook in high head for about half a minute.
2.  Add all the other ingrediencts, except cornstarch and barbecued pork.  Allow to cook for another minute.
3.  Add the cornstarch to thicken the sauce.  Then mix in the diced cooked pork.  Set aside and cool.

Puto Pao

3 C all purpose flour
2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 C milk
1/2 lb butter, melted
2 T baking powder
pork filling

DIRECTIONS:

1. Line the puto molds or individual silicon muffin cups with cupcake liners or cut banana leaves.
2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together, except the pork filling, until smooth.
3. Fill 1/4 of the molds/cups with the puto batter. Then carefully put a teaspoon of the pork filling at the center of the batter.
4. Add more puto batter in the molds/cups until it is 3/4 full.
5. Place the puto molds in a steamer. Cover it with a wet towel before putting on the steamer cover.
6. Steam for approximately 10-15 minutes.

For the cooked barbecued pork that is called for in the pork filling, what I do is I marinate the diced pork with Chinese barbecue sauce/marinade and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour.  Then I stir-fry the pork.  I’m lucky I found a Chinese barbecue sauce at the Asian supermarket which leaves the pork tasting like the roast pork from a Chinese restaurant. :)

Add food color to the puto batter if you want a nice colored puto pao. ;)  Puto pao is white…usually.  The ones in the photos are pink because I served these at a pink food party. :)

Is it just me or does it look like the best wrinkle cream ever? Kidding. Hee hee.  This is so easy to make.  You don’t need a college degree to pull off this creamy snack.  Promise.  You only need 5 ingredients, two or three of which you already have: sugar, water, and coconut milk.

Here’s the complete recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1 can (14 oz.) creamed corn
1 cup coconut milk
6  cups water
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup sweet rice

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a pan, combine coconut milk, water, sugar and sweet rice and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the rice is soft and all the liquid has been absorbed.

2.  Add corn and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.

And that’s all there is to it!

You can serve this hot or cold.  I’m telling you, a second serving would be very hard to resist. :)

Have a great week, y’all!  Cheers!

Anyone who grew up in the Philippines, I’m quite sure, will have a story to share about having taho for breakfast or as a snack and buying it straight from the friendly neighborhood taho vendor.  What is taho anyway?  Wikipedia defines it as…

“a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup), and pearl sago (similar to pearl tapioca)”.

Taho traces its origin in China, which is why we usually have it for dessert whenever we eat at a Chinese restaurant.

At the Asian supermarket several weeks ago, I found myself at the section where different kinds of tofu were displayed.  I suddenly remembered a blog post on taho by one of my blogger friends, The Chef’s Wife, which also reminded me that I haven’t had taho for some time already.  Since the taho vendor isn’t coming to our neighborhood ever anytime soon, I thought it was about time I made some taho!  So I grabbed two packs of silken tofu. ;)

This is so easy to make it will blow you away!  The three components of taho are silken/soft tofu, caramelized brown sugar and tapioca pearls (sago).  All you have to do is cook the tapioca pearls as per package instructions.  I had two kinds of tapioca pearls in my pantry – the tiny ones and a the regular sized one.  I chose to use the tiny pearls because my regular-sized tapioca pearls were of different colors.  Hee hee.    After it’s cooked, set it aside.

For the syrup, I simply caramelized about 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar in 1 1/2 cups of water over medium fire.  And then, the two packs of silken tofu, I transferred to a bowl and heated them up in the microwave for about two minutes at increments of one minute.  That’s it!  Now you’re ready to put everything together. ;)

You may serve taho in a bowl or in a glass/cup.  I did both. ;)  Remember to scoop thin amounts of the tofu!  Here’s taho in a bowl…

And here’s one in a glass…

I was going to use a regular drinking glass, believe me, but all our drinking glasses were in the dishwasher when I made taho so I grabbed a wine glass instead.  ;)  It did give the taho a nice fancy touch, I think!…very different from the plastic cups they are usually served in.  Hee hee!

I know some prefer chilled taho but this kind of quick and easy fix is better served warm.  Otherwise, the tofu will be too firm and won’t be as close to the one you enjoyed back home. :D

We each had two servings of taho.  And for sure, we’re going to have this again and again and again. ;)

Now, let’s talk Puto (Steamed Rice Cake).  I was finally able to make some!  I love puto!  I’ve been looking for a recipe for the longest time.  There’s a puto mix being sold at the Asian grocery but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to buy a box…much as I miss this native Philipine snack.  :D

I tested two recipes.  The first batch I made over a month ago and the 2nd batch, I made just last week.  These two recipes are so different from each other, the first having far more ingredients than the second.   In the absence of puto molds, I used individual silicone muffin molds instead.  I think they are worthy puto molds substitute.

Puto #1

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups rice flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons melted margarine

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients thoroughly until smooth.

2. Brush the bottom and sides of puto molds with butter and fill  2/3 full with the puto batter.

3.  Steam for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I topped the puto with cheese bits.  Unfortuantely, they sank to the bottom. :D Tsk tsk.  The puto came out all right.  They were ok, to say the least.  But my taste buds were looking for a certain texture that’s somewhat cakey, which brings us to Puto #2.

Puto #2

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups rice flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 400ml can (approximately 2  cups) coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Sift all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Then add the coconut milk and blend well until smooth.

2.  Fill greased puto/muffin molds 2/3 full.

3.  Steam for 30 minutes and test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the puto.  The putos are done when the toothpick comes out clean.

I liked the texture of this second batch of puto.  They came out soft and the coconut milk gave the puto a more native taste. :D  I prefer this second batch over the first.  Hubby and my little girl prefer this batch too.

My late maternal grandmother made very good puto and instead of puto molds she used round cake pans.  She topped her puto with salted duck eggs.  I didn’t top the second batch with anything for fear that they’ll end up at the bottom.  Maybe the next batch of puto that I make, Puto #3 and so on, I’ll have the courage to try topping them with cheese or salted duck eggs.

There are so many different kinds of puto and they come in different sizes.  My quest for the best puto recipe will continue…until I find THE ONE. :D