Crabs with Alavars Sauce

Crabs have been one of my favorite.  A friend invited me over for lunch and as soon as we learned that crabs will be served, we took the opportunity to learn how she prepares them.

First things first, how to kill a crab.  One can be brutal, by putting live crabs in hot couldron or cutting it half while alive or one can be a little bit humane with freezing them:

1. Wash crabs in running water.

2. Place live crabs in a big pan, put ice then add water just enough to cover half of it.  

3. The ice cold water puts them to sleep after 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

6 kgs jumbo crabs

3 white onions

3 garlic bulbs finely chopped

Tub of Alavar Sauce

Salt

Oil

4. On high heat, heat pan, put in the crabs, sprinkle with salt and cover to steam.  The crabs will produce its own fluids, if there's none, add a little bit of water.

5. Cover the pan to steam.

Halfway, cut and remove the straw tied to its claws/body.

6. Continue cooking until orange.

7. Remove from fire, then clean with water, remove the abdomen, carapace (top shell), gills, and other undesired parts and then chop.  See this link http://www.chow.com/recipes/30377-basic-steamed-blue-crabs for step by step instruction how to clean it.

8.  Heat the same pan with a little oil, saute chopped onions.

9. When it is half done, add in and saute the chopped garlic.

10. Add in the chopped crabs.

11. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

12. Pour in a tub of alavar sauce for a wet saucy mixture (like the cooked crab below). If you prefer to have it just slightly coated, half a cup of alavar sauce to one jumbo crab will do.

Alavar Sauce can be bought from Zamboanga.  

I bumped into this facebook account that sells them in Cebu but haven't bought from them:

www.facebook.com/alavarsaucecebu

Contact number: 09772154208 for P250 for half a kilo or P400 for a kilo.

13. Mix together.

14. Remove from fire and transfer to a serving plate.

Wow that was easy.  Now i'm hungry again. 😋

Steamed Rice Cebu Style

We call this steamed rice Cebu style because steamed rice is usually associated with plain white rice while any Cebuano would associate it as a rice in a bowl with meat toppings as popularized by Ding Qua Qua and so many other hole in a wall restaurants.

1/2 kg diced pork tenderloin with a little fat

8pcs shrimp

1 small onion

3 cloves crushed garlic

3 tbsp kikkoman soy sauce

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp shaoxing rice wine

2 tbsp constarch

1 cup chicken or pork broth

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 cup cold water

4 cups plain white steamed rice

1 tbsp kikkoman

Prepare thr rice:

1. Over high heat, saute garlic in hot pan.

2. Add rice and tbsp kikkoman soy sauce and fry.

3. Remove from fire and set aside.

Prepare the topping:

1. Saute onions and garlic in hot pan with oil until cooked.

2. Add pork until tender, almost cooked.  

3. Add shrimp until almost cooked.

4. Add 3 tbsp soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.

5. Over medium heat, add chicken or pork broth and let it boil for 5 minutes.

6. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Set aside.

7. Add worcestershire sauce.

8. Add the cornstarch mixture. Stir continuously until thickened to desired consistency.

Spinach dip

Onion

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat.

2. Add sour cream and chopped spinach. 

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Blend mixture to desired consistency.

5. Heat in microwave when ready to serve with grated mozzarella.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

1 pack elbow macaroni

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2c milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1. Cook elbow macaroni as directed on the package.  Once cooked, drain and rinse with running water to avoid cooking further. This keeps it al dente and prevents it from getting soggy.

2. Melt 2 tbsp butter, add 2 tbsp flour and make a roux over low heat.

3. Add 2c milk, stir constantly with a whisk. Turn heat up to medium.

4. Add spices: salt, paprika, mustard, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder.

5. Add 1c velveeta cheddar cheese, whisk to melt. Add another cup, whisk to melt.

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni.  Bake for 150C or 325F for 30 minutes.

Tender Juicy Crispy Pata

Another comfort food is the crispy pata.  Not all can serve it right.  What's the secret to tender juicy crispy pata, fried or baked?

Ingredients

1 whole pig's leg

3 lemon grass (stalk only)

1/2 onion

2 tbsp Oyster sauce 

6 pcs bay leaf

2 tbsp whole peppercorn

6 pcs star anise

6 tsp rock salt

2 tsp black pepper

3 tsp garlic powder

15 c water

10 c cooking oil

Procedure

1. Pour water in a deep cooking pot, let it boil.

2. Add lemon grass, bay leaf, whole peppercorn, star anise, 2 tsp salt, oyster sauce. Simmer.

3. Add the pig's leg in the simmering pot over low-medium heat until meat becomes tender for about 3 hours.  The pig's leg can be just half submerged in water.  Slow cooking makes the meat tender.

4. Remove the leg and set aside and hang to cool and dry. Keep it in the ref overnight uncovered.

5. Scor the leg (scar horizontally using a knife). Baste with oil, rub the leg thoroughly with garlic powder, black pepper and salt.  This keeps it dry.  Allow it to absorb the rub for 15 minutes.

6. Heat a pot with oil.  Deep fry the leg with medium heat until one side becomes brown and crispy and then flip it to cook the other side. 

For a healthier alternative or should i aptly say less sinful way, you can bake it at 475F for 30 minutes, then lower it to 375F for another 20 minutes.

7. Turn off heat. Remove leg and drain excess oil.  Serve with sprite, soy sauce, onion, salt, pepper for dipping sauce

Fried Chicken ala Sunburst

Fried chicken is anyone's comfort food.  It looks very simple but why do KFC, Popeyes, Jollibee, Sunburst serve it better with tender juicy meat and crispy skin than any home cooked fried chicken.  I bumped into Skip to Malou's modern asian series on fried chicken ala Jollibee and tried it out.  My jollibee chicken turned out to be ala sunburst looking, my family thought we bought it from the local restaurant.  The technique was indeed successful but the taste needs a little tweaking.

Ingredients

8-10 pcs chicken parts

Marinade:

Lemon

2tsp rock salt

1tsp black pepper

1tsp garlic powder

1/2c all purpose flour

1/2c cornstarch

1tbsp garlic powder

1tbsp five spice powder (ngohiong powder)

2tsp salt

1tsp pepper

Procedure

1. Thaw chicken completely. Clean and drain excess water.

2. Toss chicken with lemon, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  I once omitted this step and found it very bland.

3. Prepare the batter, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder and five spice powder.

4. Heat oil in a deep wok, cast iron is best as it retains heat longer.

5. Dredge the chicken with the flour mixture. Coat it in between the skin and meat as well, this gives body and makes the skin crispy. Make sure all sections are properly coated and dried. Shake off excess flour mixture.

6. Drop a few flour mixture, if it immediately floats, the oil is hot enough.  Make sure it's not smoking otherwise you'll burn the chicken. Drop 5-6 pcs into the pan at a time.

7. Deep fry until golden brown for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat. Occasionally turn it around to prevent from burning if the bottom sticks to the pan.  Never under cook chicken, but overcooking makes it tough.

8. Remove from fire and drain excess oil.

9. Wait a minute to heat the oil again the cook the second batch.

How to Make Soft and Tender Squid Rings or Calamari

For the longest time, I've been wondering how some restaurants manage to serve calamari that is really soft and tender to bite.  Nowadays, google is the best source of information and it led me panlasangpinoy.com for their easy calamari recipe and tweaked it a little bit.

Here's the secret:  To make the squid soft and tender, soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hours.  Marinating it overnight is best.  It is believed that the lactic acid found in fresh milk makes it less tough.  Another technique is never over cook it.  A cheaper alternative would be to soak it in water with baking soda.

Calamari Recipe

Ingredients

1 kg squid

2 c fresh milk

3/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp dried parsley flakes

4 c vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Clean the fresh squid thoroughly and remove the skin leaving it all white.  Slice the squid crosswise into squid rings about 1/2 inch thick or your desired thickness.

2. Soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hrs or overnight, keep it cold in the refrigerator to avoid spoiling.

3. When ready to cook, prepare the batter.  Whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powser and parsley flakes.

4. Heat the cooking oil in a deep wok.

5. Strain the squid out of the milk.  

6. Dredge the squid rings one at a time on the flour mixture, make sure its completely coated lightly.

7. When oil is hot enough, deep fry the squid rings for about a minute until it turns very light brown.  Do not overcook the squid.

8.  Remove from fire and drain the excess oil.  I normally place it over kitchen table napkin (tissue paper).

9. Serve with lemon wedges.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

150g flat rice noodles

1/4c oil

1 bulb garlic, chopped

1/4c sliced shallots (small red onions)

1/2c chopped onions

1c thinly sliced chicken breast

1/2c peeled shrimps

1c fish tofu and/or lobster balls and/or squid balls

3/4c chicken stock

3tbsp tamarind paste

1/4c fish sauce (Rufina patis)

3tbsp brown sugar

1tsp red curry paste or 1pc chopped chili

3c bean sprouts 

Green onions

Yansuy

Eggs

Lemon or line wedges

Chopped peanuts

Chili sauce

Procedure:

1. Soak rice noodles in water for 30 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

2. In a wok, heat oil and saute garlic until light brown.

3. Add shallots and onions.

4. Add chicken.  When chicken changes color, add shrimps and tofu/balls.

5. Add chicken stock, tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, red curry paste.

6. Bring to a boil, add in the noodles. Toss and cook and cover until done. Season to taste.

7. Add bean sprouts. Cover for a minute. Mix then remove from heat. Top with green onions and yansuy.

Omelet:

8. Beat 2 eggs for every portion.  

9. Heat oil in an 8 inch non stick pan. Add eggs. Cook like omelet. Spread thinly until almost cooked.

10. Put one portion of the noodles on top of the half circle. Fold, to form a crescent.  

11. Transfer to a serving plate.  Serve with lemon or lime wedges. Garnish with chopped peanuts and chili sauce.

Custaroons

I just came from a thai cooking class with Caro and Marie, at the end of the class, Chef Rosemarie Lim, gave us a few servings of custaroons, red velvet cupcake and chocolate decadence cupcake.  I am on dukan diet and having any form of carbohydrates is absolutely not allowed.  Well, well, well... not when these treats are right in front you.  The custaroons was so good that I finished it up before I thought of taking a picture of it.  I've tried the famous Gigi's custaroons and this one was equally good.  So here I am back in the kitchen to experiment:

Custaroons is a combination of custard (leche flan) and macaroons.  Some say it was accidentally discovered by underbaking macaroon.  I'm a fan of leche flan but not of macaroons since I don't like dessicated coconuts.  However, this combination is quite a hit for me.

Yield 12 muffin sized or 24 mini macaroon sized

Ingredients:

1 can (395g) condensed milk
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/4 c melted butter
1/2 c export quality fine dessicated coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Procedure:

1.  Preheat oven at 325F for 30 minutes.
2.  Prepare the muffin pan with muffin baking cups. 
3.  Prepare a heat bath called Bain Marie.  Place the muffin pan on top a larger pan that can hold water.  Fill up the larger pan with boiling water upto half way of the muffin pan.
4.  Using a whisk, in a bowl, beat eggs lightly, add and mix in the rest of the ingredients including the dessicated coconut.  Do not over mix.
5.  Fill each muffin cup upto 3/4 to the brim.  The mixture does not rise so much.  In between, mix the mixture lightly to ensure the ingredients especially the dessicated coconut is evenly distributed.
6.  Bake for 30 minutes.  The dessicated coconut will float to the top as it bakes.  Insert toothpick to check its doneness. Perfectly baked ones should show no signs of browning.
7.  Remove from the oven then cool at room temperature.  Refrigerate, best served cold.

Easy!