Patatas, Potatoes, Taters, Kamja, etc... Meals

Several days ago when I went downstairs to throw wet trash in the food garbage bins behind the admin office of our buildings, I saw a couple of guys unloading boxes. I asked what was in the boxes and they told me they were freshly harvested potatoes. And one box (with over 20 kilos of potatoes in it) would cost only 10,000 won (a little over $10). I thought it was a great deal so I bought one box.


Now here's my dilemna, there's only three of us in our house and one of us is a little 8 year old boy. What to do with over 20 kilos of spuds? I could always give some to my friends but then, it would still leave a lot of taters with us. I foresee a lot of potato meals in my post soon.


A couple of nights ago I baked some potatoes for supper. Hubby had his baked potato (topped with sauteed onions and bell pepper strips) with baked ribs while Billy had his (smothered and drowning in butter) with fried chicken. I ate mine with butter, some salt and pepper. There's nothing more heavenly than a perfect baked potato (soft and creamy inside).



The rest of the baked potatoes were reincarnated into hash browns for breakfast. To make hash browns, just peel a cold baked potato and coarsely grate it on a plate. Grab a handful and form a firm patty between your fingers. Heat up some oil in a nonstick pan and drop the patty in. Press down with a spatula and let cook over medium heat until one side is golden brown. Turn over and cook the other side until its golden brown and crispy.

Hubby enjoyed his with scrambled egg and crispy bacon on the side. Billy wanted just bacon with his hash browns, so this is his plate. I usually sprinkle some iodized salt and ground black pepper on the hash browns before I serve them. For my hash browns, preferred them done a little differently...

I wanted my potatoes to be cut into little cubes before frying them golden brown. I also wanted it to be folded in with the scrambled eggs. This is variation of a Spanish tapa meal which consists of fried potatoes in a quiche-like omelet. In the Philippines, I remember my grandmother, Mamang Chit< would simply cut up potatoes into julienne strips and fry them and then just cover them with scrambled eggs. It was a favorite breakfast of mine.


I had some fried little korean sausages with my egss & potatoes. I didn't eat any bread since there were enough carbs on my plate already. :)

Fresh from the Garden Pinakbet

What do you do when your neighbor gives you some bountiful vegetables from her garden? Pinakbet of course! I already posted the recipe for pinakbet in an earlier post - You Bet Pinakbet!

My neighbor, Elena (she's Filipina too but married to a Korean), has a huge vegetable garden about 3 blocks away from my apartment. She gave me japanese eggplants, tomatoes, squash blossoms and green beans (not in the picture).

I plan to make green bean casserole later but here's a picture of my very tasty Pinakbet dish with squash blossoms...

Meet the Newest Member of My Family - Chai

Last Saturday, June 21, while Typhoon Frank was raging in the Philippines, my sister gave birth to a healthy baby girl.


Weighing in at 7 lbs. and 3 ounces, the newest addition to the Pacion clan had a set of lungs that can rival Mariah Carey. My sister told me that she can wail like a banshee.

She had her mom's face and fair, translucent skin. She was perfect!


Welcome to the world Audrey Antoinette! Y'all can call her Chai for short. :)

Tokwa't Baboy (Tofu and Pork dish)

A few days ago, I was feeling kinda peckish. I wanted something savory, something homey and simple, something from home. I remembered Tokwa't Baboy, fried tofu and pork slices marinated with soy sauce, vinegar and garlic.

I went down to the mom and pop store in front of our apartment building. I bought a block of tofu for 70 cents. Hmm, not bad. In Korea, where freshness is valued above everything else, fresh tofu is delivered and sold in little shops like these. I cut the block of creamy tofu in half and saved it for later. I squeezed some of the water out and cut it into 1 inch strips. I then heated some oil in a pan and lightly fried them until golden brown.

I also had some cooked fatty pork (if you have read some of my recipes, you will find these couple of words mentioned A LOT of times) in the fridge. I usually buy a huge slab of pork when it is street market day. I then usually freeze it for future meals or cook it tender to add to stews or stir-fry. I sliced a cup and fried it lightly too.

Now comes the three magic ingredients - soy sauce, white vinegar and minced garlic. These three usually is combined to make the usual Filipino dipping sauce for grilled meat, fried fish, lumpia (spring rolls), etc. The ratio would be 2:1, 2 parts vinegar, 1 part soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced onion and a teaspoon of minced garlic. I usually add a lot of minced garlic 'coz I love garlic. Mix your 2 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and your choice of amount of garlic in a bowl and pour all over the pork and tofu slices. Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes. My father reminded me that in Cavite City, my home town in the Philippines, we have a special name for this dish - "Kulao". I remember the kulao my mom and my aunts would make out of a pigs head and ears. The thin, fatty slices of pork ear are both chewy and crunchy. :)

Now what to pair with the tokwa't baboy? I had a bowl of leftover rice and decided I can make Lugaw or Rice Porridge. I had 2 cups of chicken stock in the freezer and defrosted it. I added the rice and stock in a pot with a couple of slices of ginger. I let this boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until the rice breaks down and becomes wonderfully thick and gooey. Add chopped spring onions or chives on top plus fried minced garlic. (See? I told you I love garlic)

Now I have my soup and my tofu dish. Time to dig in and let my homesick blues melt away. Sigh... tummy happy now.

Fish Curry (my version)

I found this at our local E-Mart grocery store...

Fish pieces, odds and ends, priced at a relatively low cost of 2,000 won per package (about $2). I figured, hey, I can make a couple of meals out of this.


So, I checked my fridge and found that I had...
> half a squash (a wonderful gift from my neighbor who has a huge vegetable garden)
> half an onion (the other half was used by hubby for his stirfry the previous night) and...


> a bunch of chili leaves.
Filipinos love to add chili leaves to their soups and stews. The chili leaves add another dimension to the flavor of the dish. One tip for those who want to use this wonderfl garnish, don't add it while the soup or the stew is still cooking. The leaves will taste bitte. Add it after the dish is cooked and let the leftover heat cook the leaves.


My friend, Elena, sells this to Filipinos living in this area. It's coconut cream with spices added to it (garlic, ginger and salt). It makes it a much more savory base for the stew instead of adding plain coconut cream. If you can't find it, I have a substitute for it in my recipe below.



Recipe: Doddie's Fish Curry
1 cup diced fish (any firmed flesh fish would do)
1 cup diced squash cubes
1/2 onion, diced
1 handful of chili leaves
1 package of Knorr Cook-It-Fast Coconut cream (or use 1 cup of plain coconut cream with sauteed minced garlic and ginger combined with it)

1. In a small pot, add 1 cup of water and the Knorr Coconut cream and mix very well. Turn on the heat and set it to medium.

2. Add the squash cubes after two minutes and let simmer for five minutes. Add the fish cubes and the onion. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the fish is done.

3. When the fish is done, turn off the heat and add the chili leaves. Cover the pot and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Open the lid, serve as a rice topping or as a side dish.

Me 9 years ago

Not Feel Good

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This is how I feel today. It is not a good day. It's that time of the month again that plagues all women all over the world. Mine is not good. I have dysmenorrhea and no, I will not explain what it is. Google it or something.

This time of the month not only brings urges to maim, violate and kill but also crazy eating habits like devouring a whole can of cheese balls, followed by a Hershey's chocolate car (dark) and then a bag of roasted squid. Now the craving is for sushi and lots of it, preferably dunked and smothered in soy sauce.



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After satiating the eating monster in me, I feel good, full ... and bloated as the Goodyear blimp.

I hate this time of the month.