Hello everyone. I thanks God that I’m now having a time to join in this great Asean Hive Community Challenge #128 hosted by @justinparke. I really have a hard time managing my time because I do a lot of home chores, laundry and taking care of my baby which are my routines daily and inserting an online venture is a lucky day for me. These days, I’ve been so stressed because my baby’s father seems to avoid supporting his daughter. If I reach him out, he has many excuses. This is the reason why I’m planning to work abroad and I’ll leave my baby to my mother. It hurts leaving her at the young age and I couldn’t imagine how I’ll miss her when I’ll be away. Currently, I’m planning to do a lot of paperworks so I’ll be finally working. These days, I’m emotionally, physically and financially drained but I need to step up to begin a new life. While I thought about my plans and the stressing reasons of doing it, I just amused myself by doing the basic multitasking at home, including the cooking.

Stewed Pork

Today, I stewed a pork with veggies. Stewed pork is we named here, “Linat-an or Lin at-ang baboy. Linat-an is a Visayan word. When you hear this viand in Mindanao, expect a tender meat and the milky color of the soup as it is added with yam. You can also expect the tempting aroma of the lemongrass that makes you wanna sip immediately especially during rainy season. It’s a perfect combination of rice. To avoid an oily soup produced by pork, I picked a lean pork meat. The main ingredient is the meat, but it tastes great if mixed with vegetables.

Ingredients:

String beans, lean pork, yam, string beans, red bell peppers, lemongrass, onion, ginger, water and spring onion.

To cook:

• Heat the pot for a few minutes and add water.
• Boil the water and add red bell peppers, onion, ginger and lemon grass.
• Boil the water with ingredients.
• Add the lean pork and cook for an hour to tender the meat. Our secret to do it faster than a couple of hours is to add atleast two forks in a pot while cover the soup for an hour. We also add papaya branches.
• When the meat is tender, add yam and wait ‘till it’s cooked.
• Add the string beans.
• Spread the spring onion.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kare-Kare

When you hear Kare-Kare,” you can expect a soft beef meat that is dipped in an orange-sticky sauce composed of peanut butter, atsuete seeds and bagoong. Bagoong is a salty shrimp paste famous in the Philippines as it has a tempting smell but in a cheaper price. This recipe has the main ingredients of meat, string beans and eggplant. Or you can add banana heart or puso ng saging. Yet, because beef meat of expensive here, I replaced it with pork, ‘coz why not?

Ingredients:

Pork, pechay, peanut butter, atsuete seeds, garlic, onion, cooking oil, cornstarch, bagoong, salt and black pepper.

To cook:

In a warm cup of water, pour down the atsuete seeds. Soak for 10 minutes. When the color is red after 10 minutes, separate the seeds. Set aside the water in an atsuete color extracted from the seeds.

• In a pot, boil a water.
• Add the pork meat. Cover for 20 minutes to cook.
• Separate the meat from the boiled water.
• In a different pot, heat oil.
• Sauté garlic and onion.
• Add the pork meat and sauté for two minutes.
• Add water and boil for one hour ‘till it is tender.
• Add peanut butter and atsuete water and stir. Cook for 5-8 minutes.
• In a cup, pour cornstarch and water. Pour it in the pot and stir for five minutes.
• Add salt and black pepper to taste.
• In a different pot, steam the string beans and eggplant for five minutes.
• Steam also the pechay for two minutes.
• Add steamed vegetables to the pork and in its sauce.
• Serve with bagoong.

Bam-i

Bam-i is a recipe with the main ingredient of vermicelli noodles and Pancit Canton. Some people also call this recipe (especially in Luzon) Pansit. In Butuan, they call it “Bam-i.” Some people mix it with shrimps, mushrooms and fishballs. In my mother’s version, she replaced it with chicken since she forgot to buy those ingredients and it was the only pork she saw in the fridge. What she did?

Ingredients:

Vermicelli noodles and Pansit Canton,Cabbage, Baguio beans, red bell pepper, carrots, chicken, garlic, onion, spring inion, water, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

To cook:

• In a cooking pot, boil the chicken to make tender for 40 minutes. Separate the chicken meat from the bones. Put the meat in a platter and set aside.
• In a bowl with water, soak the noodles and pansit canton.
• Heat the pot.
• Pour a cooking oil.
• Add onion and garlic.
• Pour down the chicken meat. Stir.
• Add soy sauce and water.
• Add salt and black pepper to taste.
• Add the sliced carrots, beans, cabbage. Stir.
• Pour down the Bihon and Pansit Canton. Serve.

I must stop here friends. I hope you like it.