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  • Beef Salpicao

    Beef Salpicao

    Sundays are the times when my two college kids are at home and I usually come up with something to let them experience home cooked meals instead of the usual fast food fare they eat whenever at the university and their dorms.  I decided to cook Beef Salpicao, which is a favorite whenever we eat out in restaurants.  Most of the time, at least one of my children will order this, if it is on the menu.  Although I have a pretty good idea on how to cook Beef Salpicao, I still searched for recipes online to see if I am forgetting something.

    beef-salpicao-1During my search, it appears that Beef Salpicao is a Filipino dish.  Even with the foreign sounding name, I thought at first that this must be Portuguese cuisine introduced during the times when the Philippines was a colony of Spain.  According to the sausage wiki, salpicao is a traditional Portuguese sausage which by the way the dish is not. The Filipino Beef Salpicao is a garlicky stir-fried dish.

    I couldn’t find much on the origins of Beef Salpicao (in other words, too lazy to dig further).  But let us use some word play.  Salpicao (Portuguese) is a beef or pork sausage flavored with garlic and paprika.  Salpicado (salpicar), on the other hand, is a Spanish word that means splatter, sprinkle, dabble or pepper.  Since the dish is splattered with lots of garlic, could salpicao be just a derivative of salpicado?  I don’t know.  You be the judge.

    Beef salpicao is very delicious.  It is salty and sweet with the smell and taste of garlic.  It is as if the flavor was produced by too many spices although salpicao has very few ingredients that are readily available anywhere. It is a quick stir-fry dish with a very simple and uncomplicated cooking process.  It is a perfect main dish but is also good as cocktail food, what we call in the Philippines as “pulutan” (appetizer taken with alcohol, like beer).

    The recipe calls for beef sirloin cut into 1″ cubes but my meat shop misunderstood my instructions and cut the beef into strips.  Nevertheless, it still came out OK.

    For stir-frying, I normally use my Lodge cast iron wok because of the even heat distribution.  It looks like this:

    Lodge-Cast-Iron-Wok
    Lodge Cast Iron Wok

    Are you ready to cook Beef Salpicao?  BTW, I paired this off with Buttered Steam Vegetables and the recipe can be found HERE.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 kilo beef sirloin cut into 1-inch cubes
    • 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
    • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes
    • 2 tbsp butter
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 head head garlic peeled and minced
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions:

      1. Combine beef, salt and pepper. Marinate for about 10 minutes.
      2. Combine Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red chili pepper flakes. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
      3. In a cast-iron wok over medium heat, add butter and oil. When butter begins to melt, add garlic. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 1 minute or until garlic lightly browns.
      4. Increase heat to high and stir garlic continously to prevent from burning. When the wok is very hot, add beef and spread across wok. Allow to sear for about 1 to 2 minutes and then turn to sear on other side.
      5. Add Worcestershire-soy sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring regularly, for about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.

    beef salpicao

    Beef Salpicao

    • 1 kilo beef sirloin (cut into 1-inch cubes)
    • 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
    • 1/4 cup soy sauce
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes
    • 2 tbsp butter
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 head head garlic (peeled and minced)
    • salt and pepper (to taste)

    1. Combine beef, salt and pepper. Marinate for about 10 minutes.

    2. Combine Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red chili pepper flakes. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

    3. In a cast-iron wok over medium heat, add butter and oil. When butter begins to melt, add garlic. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 1 minute or until garlic lightly browns.

    4. Increase heat to high and stir garlic continously to prevent from burning. When the wok is very hot, add beef and spread across wok. Allow to sear for about 1 to 2 minutes and then turn to sear on other side.

    5. Add Worcestershire-soy sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring regularly, for about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.

    Check out other recipes HERE.

  • Ensaladang Kangkong (Water Spinach Salad)

    Ensaladang Kangkong (Water Spinach Salad)

    This Ensaladang Kangkong (Water Spinach Salad) recipe is very easy to make and goes well with fried or grilled meat, particularly fish.  This recipe only needs a few ingredients and takes just two steps to complete! Ensalada in English is salad.  Kangkong is known in English as water spinach, river spinach, water morning glory and water convolvulus.

    ensaladang kangkong

    In Southeast Asia, kangkong is known as Chinese spinach, Chinese watercress, Chinese convolvulus, and swamp cabbage.  Kangkong is usually available at Asian markets.  In case you cannot find kangkong in your neck of the woods, suitable substitutes are either kale or spinach leaves.

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    A key ingredient that makes this salad very tasty is bagoong.  Bagoong is a Philippine condiment made from fish or tiny shrimps (krill) that are salted and fermented for several weeks.  In general, bagoong made from shrimps produce  a firmer and more colorful paste.  Bagoong made from fish is in liquid form and is darker.  For this recipe, the preferred bagoong is of the shrimp paste variety.  Amazon carries a wide variety of bagoong from the Philippines.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 bunch kangkong blanched and drained
    • 4 pcs medium tomatoes sliced
    • 1 pc medium onion chopped
    • 4-5 tbsp shrimp bagoong sautéed

    Instructions:

    1. Put everything in a bowl and toss until completely mixed.
    2. Serve with fried or grilled fish and steamed rice.

    Ensaladang Kangkong

    Ensaladang Kangkong

    This ensaladang kangkong recipe is very easy to make and goes well with fried or grilled meat, particularly fish.

    • 1 bunch kangkong (blanched and drained)
    • 4 pcs medium tomatoes (sliced)
    • 1 pc medium onion (chopped)
    • 4-5 tbsp shrimp bagoong (sautéed)

    1. Put everything in a bowl and toss until completely mixed.

    2. Serve with fried or grilled fish and steamed rice.

    Check out other recipes HERE.

  • Lentil Soup

    Lentil Soup

    A few months back, I was in Laguna Central for a meeting. My wife, daughter and granddaughter stayed at Paseo de Sta. Rosa while waiting for me. My wife, while at Paseo, decided to buy lentils and Spanish chorizo from Santi’s Delicatessen. We love the products available at Santi’s.  This is where I get my bottles of red wine too!  So I figured it is time to make Lentil Soup.

    Lentil soup is a favorite of mine so I figured, why not post a recipe. Not wanting to waste these very good ingredients, I searched the web for a good recipe and found one at San Pasqual’s Kitchen.     This recipe is exactly how my grandmother used to make this soup when I was still a kid. I just remembered, every time my grandma cooks lentil soup, I would conveniently be at their place right before lunch to enjoy this very good dish.

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    The lentil comes from a bushy annual plant from the legume family and known for its lens shaped seeds. Lentils have the second-highest ratio of protein per calorie of any legume, after soybeans. Canada and India are the world’s largest producers of lentils.

    This lentil soup also has chorizo. Chorizo (Spanish) is a type of pork sausage that traditionally uses natural casings made from intestines, a method used since Roman times. Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with pimentón – a smoked paprika and salt. It is generally classed as either picante(spicy) or dulce (sweet), depending upon the type of pimentón used.

    Why don’t you give this recipe a try? I bet you will not regret it.

    Ingredients:

    • 1¾ cups lentils
    • 1 chorizo sliced, 9 oz
    • 4 cloves garlic unpeeled
    • 1 medium onion diced
    • 1 large potato peeled and diced
    • 2 carrots peeled and diced
    • 1 tbsp Spanish paprika
    • Olive oil for sautéing
    • Salt to taste

    Instructions:

    1. Wash lentils.
    2. Place lentils, chorizo, whole garlic cloves, carrots, and potatoes in a large pot.
    3. Pour water at least 3 fingers over total.
    4. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Let cook uncovered stirring occasionally.
    5. Fry onions in a pan with olive oil until slightly browned, then add Spanish paprika.
    6. Add onions to the pot of lentils. Salt to taste.
    7. Cook for 45 minutes.
    8. Remove the cloves of garlic, squeeze garlic from its skin and mash.
    9. Return to the pot. Salt to taste.

    lentil soup

    Lentil Soup

    This Spanish lentil soup (lentejas con chorizo in Spanish) is a great tasting dish. Try this authentic Spanish recipe at home!

    • 1¾ cups lentils
    • 1 chorizo (sliced, 9 oz)
    • 4 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
    • 1 medium onion (diced)
    • 1 large potato (peeled and diced)
    • 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
    • 1 tbsp Spanish paprika
    • Olive oil for sautéing
    • Salt to taste
    1. Wash lentils.
    2. Place lentils, chorizo, whole garlic cloves, carrots, and potatoes in a large pot.
    3. Pour water at least 3 fingers over total.
    4. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Let cook uncovered stirring occasionally.
    5. Fry onions in a pan with olive oil until slightly browned, then add Spanish paprika.
    6. Add onions to the pot of lentils. Salt to taste.
    7. Cook for 45 minutes.
    8. Remove the cloves of garlic, squeeze garlic from its skin and mash.
    9. Return to the pot. Salt to taste.

    Check out other recipes HERE.