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.

Shanghai Lumpia

I love making lumpia and while in the US, I made it a few times. I love to give it away to my friends too. Our pastor and his family love it so every time I make lumpia, I have to make sure to give some to them. My step-kids and their kids love it too. Here's my recipe and anybody can do it. It's easy to make, crunchy and yummy to the tummy.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or pork
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 packages of spring roll wrappers
1 1/2 quarts oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine, ground beef, onion, and carrot. Make sure to completely mix everything. I suggest getting down and dirty and use your hands. Knead the meat in the bowl if you must.

Gradually blend in the soy sauce , black pepper, oyster sauce, garlic, and salt until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Cook it in medium-high heat until the meat turns brown stirring constantly. Taste it whether it's salty or not and try to adjust it according to your preference.

Remove from fire and drain the excess grease. After the stuffing mixture has cooled down, begin wrapping it immediately

Lay out a few wrappers at a time on a flat surface, and place about 1 tablespoonful of the filling in a line down the center of the wrapper.

Take the bottom and top edges of the wrapper and fold them towards the center. Take the left and right sides, and fold them towards the center. Moisten the last edge of the wrapper to seal. Now repeat using the rest of the wrappers.


To cook the lumpia, fill a frying pan with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently place the lumpia into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides.

Place the fried lumpia on paper towels and serve immediately with sweet and sour sauce. Click here for the recipe.

My Firmoo Sunglasses

Summer in Texas is so hot. The heat and the sun is unbearable and wearing a pair of sunglasses when going out is a must. I have an old pair of sunglasses that I use but it's kinda loose on my face. I really wanted to have one so just imagine the joy I felt when I was given the chance to review the sunglasses from Firmoo. I was not given just one but 4 sunglasses for free to review, one for each 4 blogs of mine that they approved. What a blessing! I ordered 3 larger frames and one small frame (just to try how it looks on me). I think the larger frames fit my face very well. Not too tight and not loose. The small frame don't suit the shape of my face but still I will keep it. 

I love my Firmoo wrap around sunglasses because they are light, fashionable and chic. So glad that I found this site where I got these sunglasses for free. If you are thinking it will be hard to find the perfect glasses online, you don’t need to worry! Firmoo have a Virtual Try-On System that helps you see how you would look with the specific glasses or sunglasses in order to help you find the right pair for yourself. You can search through Firmoo’s eyeglasses by price, shape, material, frame or size. Here's one of the sunglasses given to me by Firmoo. See the other sunglasses I got by clicking here.

 

Sweet and Sour Sauce

If you love eating lumpia, I'm pretty sure you would love to dip it with sweet and sour sauce. You can make your own sauce by just following this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water

In a small pan, combine vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, water, sugar and salt, and boil for 2 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch mixture.

Have fun cooking and enjoy!

Nectresse Natural No Calorie Sweetener

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NECTRESSE™Sweetener for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm careful of what I eat especially sweets because I don't want my blood sugar to go up. I was told by the doctor a few years ago that my blood sugar was high. I also read that sugar feeds cancer and since I am a cancer survivor, I am cautious of my sugar intake. If I use sugar, I prefer the natural sweeter. Boy, was I glad to know about the NECTRESSE™Sweetener that was sent to me to try! This product is made from the goodness of real fruit - monk fruit extract, available where you shop! It is 100 percent natural and zero calories per serving too! I really like the taste of this sweetener more than any other sweeteners out there. Instead of using sugar in my favorite apple pancake, I used the Nectresse Sweetener to give me an all natural sweet taste without all the calories of sugar. It was the perfect substitute for sugar and I loved that I didn't need to use that much! My hubby loved it and so did I. Here' the recipe I made using Nectresse.

Apple Pancake

Ingredients:

 1/4 cup butter, melted

 1 egg

 1 cup milk

 1 cup shredded tart apple

 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1 tablespoon NECTRESSE™ Sweetener

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, milk and apple. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir flour mixture into apple mixture, just until combined.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

These pancakes are so delicious, yummy, moist and nutritious.

You can use NECTRESSE not only in cooking and baking but also in your favorite beverages and a delicious variety of foods. It is available in both convenient single-serve packets (40 servings) and easy to hold canisters (140 servings) with a multipurpose lid for sprinkling, pouring or spooning. You can buy it now from your grocery stores, drug stores, supercenters and online for suggested retail prices of $3.99 (packets) and $6.99 (canisters).

Visit their website and get a FREE sample of NECTRESSE™Sweetener to try for yourselves. For recipes, samples and more information on NECTRESSE™ visit www.NECTRESS,com. Check out also the video of Lisa Ling below and share it to others. 

 

 

 

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.

Baked Salmon

I love eating fish. In fact I can eat fish anyway you cook it. I love fish more than meat. Salmon is so good and I love it baked. Here's a recipe that I got from my good friend Sofia. The first time my hubby and I ate this was when Sofia invited us for supper in their house when they were still residing in our city. I have cooked this recipe many times and hubby and I really love it. I won't get tired having this on my table every now and then. The only problem is that salmon is getting expensive but it's worth it though with all the omega 3 that we can get from it. Anyhow, here's the recipe of the baked salmon. This is really delicious.

Ingredients
1 lb salmon fillet
1 cup sour cream
1 cup crab legs imitation, shredded
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt
black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the salmon in a baking dish.
Sprinkle salt and black pepper to the salmon.
Mix together the sour cream, shredded crab leg imitation, lemon juice and a dash of salt.
Cover the salmon with the mixture and bake for 30 minutes.