Poqui-poqui, an Ilocano Recipe

This is one of my favorite foods when we were growing up. My late mom used to cook this and I remember I always have this in my packed lunch along with fried fish and rice when I was in high. I didn't know the name of this recipe and I think my mom didn't know it either because she never told us. I remember one of my boardmates in Baguio during my college days used to cook this and she even added carne norte and it added more flavor. That boardmate of mine was from Laoag City but she never mentioned the name of this recipe and I never bothered to asked her. 

I kept cooking this recipe not knowing its name because I love it. I even posted this recipe here but at that time I didn't know its name yet. It was only lately that I came to know the name of this recipe and it's called Poqui-poqui! It's one of the popular recipes in the Ilocos Region. The name sounds weird and it could be the reason why they never mentioned its name, lol! Whatever the name is, I assure you this taste good. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 eggplants

3 eggs

fish sauce (patis)

1 onion (sliced)

4 cloves garlic(crushed)

3 tomatoes (sliced)

salt

ground beef or carne norte (optional)

Procedure:

1. Grill the eggplants until it's cooked. Removed the skin then sliced and mash the eggplants.

2. Beat the eggs and put a little salt.

3. In a skillet, put cooking oil and saute the garlic and onions. Add the ground beef and some salt. Brown it and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mashed eggplants and cook for a few minutes. Add more fish sauce if needed. Add the eggs and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from fire and serve with rice and fried fish.

Ginisang Sitaw (Sauteed String Beans)

I grew up in a simple home with simple foods most of the time. When we were young, my late mom used to cook for us some sauteed vegetables and they were really good. One recipe that she used to cook was the ginisang sitaw or sauteed string beans. It was always a hit to me and my siblings. My mom was a great cook and I learned a lot from her. This recipe is so simple to make with just a few ingredients. Here is the recipe from my mom.

Ingredients:

1 bundle of sitaw (string beans) cut 2 inch length

1 med chopped onion

3 cloves garlic chopped

1/3 lbs ground pork or beef (optional)

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar 

2 tbsp oil

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Boil the string beans until it's tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Saute garlic then onion. 

3. Add ground pork or beef and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

4. Add some salt and pepper  and continue cooking the meat in low heat.

5. Add the string beans, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and stir fry for another 5 minutes or so.

6. Serve with rice.

Eggplant with Eggs and Tomatoes

My late mom used to prepare this recipe for us during my younger days. It's another method in cooking eggplant aside from frying it with eggs. I love this food and whenever I eat this, it reminds me of my mother. During my high school days my mom used to packed this together with fried fish for my lunch that I take to school. Those good old days, sigh! I miss my mom.

Here's the recipe from my mom.

Ingredients:
4 eggplants
3 eggs
fish sauce
1 onion (sliced)
4 cloves garlic(crushed)
3 tomatoes sliced)
salt

Procedure:
1. Grill the eggplants until it's cooked. Removed the skin then sliced and mash the eggplants.
2. Beat the eggs and put a little salt.
3. In a skillet, put cooking oil and saute the garlic and onions. Add the tomatoes and fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mashed eggplants and cook for a few minutes. Add more fish sauce if needed. Add the eggs and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from fire and serve with rice and fried fish.

Mung Bean Sprouts With Beef, Veggies and Tofu

Years ago, I didn't like sprouted mung beans. Of all the veggies, this one didn't appeal to my taste buds. When hubby and I arrived in the Philippines almost 3 years ago, my late sister loved to cook this recipe and she gave me some. The way she cooked it didn't taste bad so I learned to like this food. Now, I tried to cook it myself because it reminds me of my sis. It's just simple and I just used the available ingredients from our refrigerator.

Ingredients:

1 pack sprouted mung beans
1/4 lb green beans, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 chayote, sliced
2 pcs tofu, sliced
1/4 lb ground beef
4 cloves garlic
1 onion
cooking oil
1/2 cup water
soy, fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Clean the mung bean sprouts very well to remove any unnecessary particles. Heat the pan and put oil and sauté garlic first. When the garlic becomes light brown you can now put your onion. After this you can now put your ground beef. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the tofu and put fish sauce. Cook for a 5 minutes then put the green beans, carrots and chayote, mung beans sprout and put some soy sauce into it as you pour the water. Checks the taste if it is okay; if not just sprinkle some more salt and black pepper into it. Finally, remove from heat and serve with rice.

Ginisang Chayote

I love eating ginisang chayote so I often buy chayote in the market or whenever we go to my brother-in-law's house, we always get chayote from their backyard. It grow there pretty good. In fact, we just went there last weekend and I got some chayote including the tops. So the best recipe for it is of course ginisang chayote.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced thin
3 chayote, sliced
Patis (fish sauce), to taste
Ground pepper

Directions:

Heat pan to medium heat and saute’ the ground beef in a tablespoon of oil until it turn brown. Add garlic and saute until it becomes fragrant, 1-2 minutes then add the onions. Cook for a few more minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the chayote, stir fry for a minute or two then add about 1/2 cup of water. Season with patis or salt and pepper, cover and simmer until the chayote is tender. Adjust seasonings and serve over steamed rice.

Sauteed Organic Vegetables

I love eating fresh vegetables especially if it's free from insecticides. That's the reason I prefer buying veggies that are organic and free of pesticides like squash, okra , string beans and bitter gourd. You can't beat these fresh, organic vegetables. Hmmm....Yummy!!!

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 whole kalabasa (squash) peeled and cut into big cubes
1 bundle of sitaw ( string beans) sliced into 1-2 inches
10 pcs okra
2 medium size bitter gourd, sliced
1 med. onion ( sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 cup ground beef
1 cup water
salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a pan put olive oil.
2. Saute garlic and onion.
3. Add ground beef and continue cooking until golden brown or fully cooked.
4. Add fish sauce, kalabasa (squash), sitaw (string beans), okra, bitter gourd (ampalaya) and water.
season with salt & pepper
5. Simmer for a few minutes or until vegetables are tender.
6. Serve hot with rice.

Ginisang Pechay (Sauteed Chines Cabbage)

Here's another Filipino recipe to add to my lists. I learned to cook ginisang pechay from my late mom who was a very good cook herself. I remember she had a pechay garden in our yard when I was a kid. I love this recipe because I love eating veggies mixed with some meat. This is easy to prepare, delicious with ground beef, and is rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus and other nutrients. We just had this the other day.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef
4 to 5 stalks of pechay, roughly chopped (around 3 to 4 cups)
5 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely sliced
3 pcs. tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsps vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare pechay leaves by trimming ends and chopping to bite-sized pieces. Separate white ends from darker parts.

2. In a pan, heat vegetable oil. Over medium heat, saute onions and garlic until softened. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tender.

3. Add in ground meat. Saute ground meat until lightly browned.

4. Pour in fish sauce. Continue to stir and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Pour in water. Add more as necessary to simmer the meat in and to maintain one cup for when the dish is pulled together. Allow to simmer until meat is fully cooked. Skim off scum that may aggregate on top.

6. Add in white ends of pechay leaves. Cook for around one minute. Combine in dark parts of leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until leaves are slightly wilted, around one to two minutes.

Ginataang Kalabasa At Sitaw Once Again

I love cooking and eating veggies. Squash or kalabasa is one of my favorite vegetables. My garden in Texas was full of squash last year and I cooked a lot of it when I harvested. I even gave some to my Mexican neighbor and she said it was good. See how coconut milk enhances the taste of this recipe. I cooked this recipe before and posted it here.

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
a bunch of sitaw (10-15 pcs)
8 pcs okra
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of ground beef or
1/4 kilo of shrimp (whatever kind of your choice from the small one to the big ones)
1 cup of coconut milk
oil for cooking
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste or ginisa flavor mix

DIRECTIONS:
Put oil on a saucepan and saute the garlic and onion, after that put your choice of "sahog" (beef, pork or shrimp), then put the squash and saute for a while then add the okra and the sitaw then again saute again for a while then add the water. Cook for a few minutes and then add the coconut milk and cook until the veggies are done then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste or some ready ginisa mix if you want. Then serve with steam rice.

Chop Suey

One of my favorite Chinese recipes is chop suey. I just love vegetables mixed with some meat and this recipe is just perfect for a veggie lover like me. In fact we had this during our wedding anniversary. It was gone so quick.

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef or round steak
Vegetable oil for cooking
4 pcs carrots, sliced
1 c. onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
8 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 lb green beans, sliced
1 medium size cabbage, sliced
2 pcs. chayote, sliced
1/4 lb mushroom
2 c. water
6 tbsp. cornstarch in 1 c. water, mixed

Cut steak into slivers. Brown in small amount of vegetable oil. Add garlic, onion and saute. Then add soy sauce and 2 cups water. Simmer for a few minutes. Add all the vegetables. Add 2 more cups water. Thicken corn starch with 1 cup water to thickness wanted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if desired. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Squash With String Beans

I just love eating squash with string beans mixed with ground beef, ampalaya and okra. We just had this the other day and it's so delicious I tell you. I won't get tired eating this over and over again. It's one of my favorites. It's good to eat this with rice, Hmm, yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
10 pcs okra
2 pcs ampalaya, sliced
salt or fish sauce
cooking oil
ground beef
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Pout the cooking oil and sautee the garlic and onion. Put the ground beef and brown it. Add water and let it simmer. Add salt or fish sauce, and all the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Serve with rice.

Saluyot (Jute)

I love eating saluyot or jute not only because of it's good taste but also because of the nutrients that I get from it. It's saluyot season nowadays and so we always eat pinakbet na saluyot. Surprisingly, my hubby love it too. I also love mixing saluyot with other vegetables when cooking. It gives good taste to it. I know some people don't like to eat saluyot but they don't know what they're missing.

What is in saluyot that should merit your attention? Firstly, it is rich in beta-carotene for good eyesight, iron for healthy red blood cells, calcium for strong bones and teeth, and vitamin C for smooth, clear skin, strong immune cells, and fast wound healing. In other words, saluyot is a nourishing green leafy vegetable. Secondly, it is the legitimate source of the world's raw materials for containers of rice, corn, sugar, mongo and other commodities.

Saluyot is a leafy vegetable popular among Ilocanos, pasao, pasao na bilog or tagabang among Tagalogs, and lumbal, sumpa or panigbin among Visayans. Saluyot is easy to propagate, you can start harvesting the leaves after one month. It is easier to plant saluyot than any other crop since you don't need pesticide and fertilizer to grow the crop.

Here's a good recipe from saluyot:

Saluyot With Labong

Ingredients:

3 cups rice washing
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
4 tsp bagoong isda, mashed and strained
1 cup labong
3 cups saluyot leaves
3/4 cups malunggay leaves
1 medium piece broiled bangus, cut into 3 slice

Procedure:

Boil rice washing together with tomatoes. Add bagoong sauce. Mix in labong and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until labong is cooked. Add saluyot, malunggay leaves and broiled bangus and continue simmering for 3 minutes.

Squash Casserole

I cooked this recipe a few times already. I got this recipe from one of my co-bloggers when I was visiting her blog a few months ago. I printed it and kept it. This recipe is so simple and easy to make amd most of all, it's delicious too.

INGREDIENTS:
6-7 yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cube the squash then boil for 30 minutes until softened with salt.
2. Drain well. Add all ingredients.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until it turns light brown on top.

Optional: You can add cheddar cheese if you want.

Spinach and Mushroom Stir Fry

Spinach leaves are very cheap in Baguio City when we were there. It was only P15 for a big bundle. I was really surprise how cheap t was! It's so expensive in Texas that I can hardly afford it. In Baguio I can afford to buy even 2 or more bundles but I only bought one bundle because we can't eat it all. Here's a good recipe using spinach. Mushroom is one of my favorites and mixing it together results in a yummy recipe.

Ingredients

2 tbsps peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
10 oz baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 tsp fish sauce
Procedure

In a wide skillet, heat oil. If using dried mushrooms, soak according to package directions.
Saute garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes until aromatic, around 30 seconds.

Add bell pepper and mushrooms. Stir-fry for around 2 minutes.

Add spinach and fish sauce. Continue to stir-fry until spinach leaves are wilted, around 1 to 2 minutes.

Makes 4 Servings

Pinakbet Ilocano

I'm re-posting here one of my favorite Filipino recipes which is Pinakbet. We always have this recipe in our house and my hubby love it too. There are many variations of cooking Pinakbet but I like the Ilocano style with ampalaya. I think pinakbet is not complete without it. I won't get tired eating pinakbet even everyday. Hmmm... yummy.

Pinakbet Ilocano

Indgredients:

* 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
* 2 tbsp. garlic, minced
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/4 kilo pork, thinly diced
* 7 small tomatoes, cubed
* 4 tbsp. bagoong
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 medium sized eggplants, sliced
* 1 medium sized Ampalaya
* 5 medium sized okra (ladies fingers)


Directions:

1. Heat Oil in a saucepan and saute garlic and onions.
2. Add pork and half a cup of warm water. Stir and cook until meat is soft.
3. Add ginger and tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the bagoong and remaining half-cup water. Bring to boil.
5. Mix in the Amplaya, eggplants and okra.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve Immediately.

Here's a video of Pinakbet.

I Cooked Dinengdeng Again

We'll be moving out from our house soon but I still have lots of frozen veggies in my freezer. I have to cook them all before we leave. So I had to cook again dinengdeng a few days ago. I cooked it as simple as I can. My hubby ate some but I ate most of it. I just love vegetables cooked Pinoy style. It taste a lot better than American cooking.

INGREDIENTS:
string beans
okra
squash flowers
fish sauce
water
Knorr tamarind soup base
1/2 cup ground beef
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the cooking oil in a pot. Saute the onion and then add the ground beef. Cook until the beef turn brown. Put two cups of water and fish sauce according to your desired taste and let it simmer. Add all the vegetables and cook for a few minutes. Then add the Knorr tamarind soup according to your desired taste. Cook for a few minutes more then turn off the heat. Serve with rice.

I Cooked My Squash

As I mentioned in my previous post, I cooked one of the squash from my garden last night. I just mixed it with other veggies from my garden like okra, ampalaya and tomatoes. I just added a little ground beef, onions and garlic and liquid aminos. I really enjoyed it. I still have some leftover from last night and I will eat it again tonight with rice. Yummy, it would surely fill my tummy!!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
10 pcs okra
2 pcs ampalaya, sliced
3 pcs tomatoes, sliced
salt or fish sauce (I used liquid aminos)
cooking oil
ground beef
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Pout the cooking oil and sautee the garlic and onion. Put the ground beef and brown it. Add water and let it simmer. Add salt or fish sauce, and all the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Serve with rice.

Ginataang Kalabasa At Sitaw

I already harvested a lot of my squash from my garden, also string beans and okra. I even gave some to my Filipino friends. So yesterday, I decided to cook ginataang kalabasa at sitaw and I added okra too. All my veggies were freshly picked from my garden. My hubby love it. I even gave some to my neighbor here. Here's the recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
a bunch of sitaw (10-15 pcs)
8 pcs okra
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of ground beef or
1/4 kilo of shrimp (whatever kind of your choice from the small one to the big ones)
1 cup of coconut milk
oil for cooking
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste or ginisa flavor mix

DIRECTIONS:
Put oil on a saucepan and saute the garlic and onion, after that put your choice of "sahog" (beef, pork or shrimp), then put the squash and saute for a while then add the okra and the sitaw then again saute again for a while then add the water. Cook for a few minutes and then add the coconut milk and cook until the veggies are done then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste or some ready ginisa mix if you want. Then serve with steam rice.

Green Bean Casserole

Here's one recipe that I love to cook and eat. It's easy to prepare and it taste yummy too. I first tasted this recipe on my first Thanksgiving here in the US. Stacy cooked it and I really like it. here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 (15 ounce) cans green beans, drained
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken and mushroom soup
* 10 3/4 fluid ounces milk
* 1 (6 ounce) can French fried onions
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the green beans with the soup and milk. Gently stir in half the French fried onions. Transfer to a non-greased 9x13 inch baking dish, and season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining French fried onions.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve hot.

Ginisang Munggo (Mung Beans Stew)

Ginisang munggo or mung beans stew is just easy to prepare. That's one reason I often cook this aside from the fact that this taste so good to me. We used to have this in our dining table in the Philippines. My American husband love it too and he often request me to cook it. I gathered some ampalaya (bitter gourd)leaves and fruits in my garden and I mixed it with my mung beans. I used the split mung beans because it just take a short time to cook. Instead of patis (fish sauce), I used salt because I run out of it. The result was still good. Here's my own recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups split mung beans
4 cups of water
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium-sized onions, sliced
salt to taste
1 cup ampalaya leaves (bitter gourd leaves)
1 ampalaya fruit
1/3 lb ground beef

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put 2 cups of dried munggo in a pot and add water.
2. Bring to a gentle boil and add water if necessary as it boils and the liquid gets absorbed into the beans.
3. Continue cooking for until the beans soften and there is just a little liquid left in the pot (depends how soupy you like it).
4. Then in another pan, heat up oil, sauté garlic and onions .
5. Add the ground beef and cook until it turns brown.
6. Mix this in the pot with mung beans and then add some salt and simmer for 3 minutes.
7. Add the ampalaya fruit and then after a couple of minutes add the ampalaya leaves and cook for 3 minutes.
8. Add some ground ginger.
9. Turn off the heat and serve with rice.

Stir Fry Collard Greens

I harvested some of my collard greens already and the rest are all ready to harvest. At first, I didn't know any recipe for collard greens because we didn't have that in the Philippines. But I had to think of how to cook it so I came up with a recipe. I remember we used to cook pechay in the Philippines and the collard greens belong to the same family as pechay. So I cooked it the same way as we cooked pechay and to my surprise it turned out good. My hubby who didn't like collard greens said he didn't know that it can be cook that way and tasted so good. In fact, he didn't eat collard greens before he met me but this time he ate a lot of my recipe. So I had to cook again today after I harvested some stalks of my collard greens and my hubby was all praises with my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

3 stalks collards greens, washed and sliced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups water
2 tbsp cooking oil
soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the cooking oil in a medium pot. Saute the garlic and onions. Add the ground beef and the salt and cook until the beef turns brown. Add the tomatoes and simmer. Then add the collard greens and soy sauce. Cook until the leaves and stalks are soft. Add pepper. Remove from heat and serve with rice.