Baked Mussels “Tahong”

My mom’s colleagues went on a vacation but since my mom had some things to take care of, she wasn’t able to join them and so, we just cooked some baked mussels for her colleagues to bring along and eat. Mussels is good for the health. It is a source of many vitamins and minerals like protein, iron, vitamin C, folate, phosphorous, zinc, and vitamin B.

Instructions:

 

1. Boil the mussels in water with a bit of salt.

 

 

 

2. Dispose the half of the shell where the mussel is not connected.

 

 

 

3. Prepare the ingredients: mayonnaise, friend minced garlic, pineapple bits, and grated cheese.

 

 

4. On top of the mussel put first the mayonnaise, followed by the pineapple, the grated cheese, then the garlic. After topping the ingredients put the mussels in the oven or turbo broiler. Just wait until the cheese melts and its done. Easy as that!

Tupig

As we wait for the bus to arrive I took a photo of this delicious native delicacy. Tupig is made from glutinous rice and grated coconut wrapped in banana leaves. As you can see from the picture it is cooked over hot stones, those stones were put over live coals. What makes tupig different from other native delicacies is the burnt aroma of the banana leaves. It’s definitely one thing Filipinos and tourists can’t resist.

Homemade kimchi

I first tasted kimchi when my father bought some in the grocery store. For some time, for years actually, we settled from the bottled kimchi that are available in the market. But then we realized how much we spend buying the commercial product so we decided to research for instructions in the net on how to make kimchi. For months now, there is always a container of kimchi in our refrigerator ready to serve.

I’ll share to you guys how we make kimchi in our house. If you have comments to make our kimchi better or if you have questions regarding the instructions, feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to answer those. By the way, when we cook in our house or prepare food we don’t actually use measuring tools or utensils, we use the estimate then taste way.

Instructions:

1. Prepare the ingredients. Cabbage, carrots, leeks, onion, ginger, garlic, salt, chili powder, fish sauce, and sugar.

2. Wash the cabbage with water. Then, rub salt to the cabbage. Apply it leaf by leaf. Don’t worry if you use too much salt because we will still rinse it off later. Also, cut the carrots to your desired length then sprinkle it with salt. Let this sit for about two hours.

 

 

3. Place the peeled ginger, onion, and garlic cloves in a food processor. Process until you form a smooth paste.

 

 

4. Mix the fish sauce, the sugar, and the chili powder to the processed ginger, onion, and garlic. Make the mixture a little bit sweet to counter the super sourness of the fermented kimchi. There was a time when we made kimchi and we only put a little bit of sugar. After it was fermented, I tasted it and it was like extremely sour and with a bittery taste.

 

5. After 2 hours, wash the salted cabbage and carrots for about three times to remove the salt. Drain the cabbage then pat it dry. Cut the cabbage and the leeks to your desired size. Then combine the cabbage, leeks, carrots, and the chili mixture. The kimchi is done. Leave it under room temperature for about two days then, you can store it in refrigerator.