Frogs With Coconut Milk (Ginataang Palaka)

It's been ages since the last time I ate frogs. What I'm saying is the edible and native frogs that my late grandma used to cook for us. I remember when we were kids, during rainy season, some vendors use to come to our house and sell live frogs to my grandma. She would then buy it and clean the frogs by herself. She was very good in removing the skin, the feet and the head. After cleaning it, she would then cook the frogs with coconut cream. It was so yummy I tell you.

The other day, a lady came to our house in the afternoon and sell live native frogs. She wanted Php300 for all of it My brother Celso and I decided to buy it all as long as she will clean it. She agreed so my brother and I split the cost and it turned out that there were 86 pieces all in all. I got 46 pieces of frogs and my brother got 40 because he chose the bigger ones. The reason I dislike buying frogs is because I don't know how to clean it. I think it's a lot of work doing it but the lady did a good job in dressing the frogs. She made it really clean. I told hubby that I bought frogs and I asked him if he likes it. To my surprise he said he do like it and he told me that he was just a small kid the last time he ate frogs.

So I cooked the frogs for supper the other day. There are quite a few frog recipes like fried frog legs, frog adobo, frog tinola and frog with coconut milk (ginataan). Of course I chose the latter because of the fond memories I had with my grandma. Ginataang palaka was her specialty and it's one of the famous Ilocano recipes. I really don't remember how my grandma cooked it before so I asked my brother how to cook it and he told me. It was just easy and I got all the ingredients needed. After I cooked it, hubby and I ate it with rice. It was so delicious and nutritious. The sauce was really good but the major setback are the bones. Hubby said I should have deboned the frogs first before cooking, lol! We never did that here in the Philippines. We eat frogs with bones and just debone it when we eat it. Anyways, it was really delicious and nutritious. I still have some uncooked frogs in the freezer. Maybe I will just fry it next time. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs of dressed frogs
1 head garlic, crushed and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
4 to 5 pcs medium size tomatoes, chopped
1 small size ginger, sliced thinly
1 can coconut cream
1 tsp salt or fish sauce  to taste
ground black pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions:

1. In a pan or casserole, heat the cooking oil and add  in garlic and continue frying until slightly brown.
2. Add in onion and continue sautéing until translucent.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes with some salt and let it cooked partially.
4. Add the thinly sliced ginger and let it simmer. 5. Add the dressed frogs and fish sauce and continue cooking with occasional stirring until the frog renders its own liquid.
6. Continue simmering until the meat is partially cooked through. Add in freshly ground pepper and continue cooking.
6.  Lower the heat and add the coconut milk and continue simmering with the lid off.
7. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Continue cooking until they are cooked through and sauce is reduced and has thickened to a gravy-like consistency.
8.  Transfer the dish in serving plates. Serve with rice. Enjoy!