Tale of Two Tapas

Cured meat may be farthest from todays trends towards eating natural and keeping the freshest taste of food alive but I can tell you one thing, when you want some good ole' tapsilog, theres only one wish, that you have something sweet (or salty) and tangy.

As the by product of two diff provinces, my tongue has acquired a taste for the extreme. The very sweet tooth of the Pampango, and the biting saltiness of the Ilocano.

Here is the sweet version of Tapa, from the kitchen of our long time meat supplier in Cartimar. Why she ever shared this with my mom, I'll never know. The only adjust ment mother made is all the ingredients sans the vetsin.

Tapa ni Amparing

½ kilo sirloin – pound with mallet

1 cup sugar

3 heaping tbsp salt

½ tbsp pepper

½ vetsin (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients

Spread a thin layer of meat on a plate (or marinating dish)

Layer meats and sprinkle dry mixtureover each layer

Ensure all sides are clearly sprinkled

Let sit for 12 hrs outside ref until dark liquid forms immersing the entire dish in this liquid

Refrigerate to store

When frying, use a shallow and flat frying pan and just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Allow to heat, you know the saying, hot oil cold food. As the oil gets hot, gently lay tapa one slice at at a time, allowing it to simmer. put enough slices to cover entire bottom of the pan. It should release liquid and bubble. Don't touch it too much, allowing it to toast somewhat, just moving the tapa slices occassionally to coax the sugar into caramelizing and sticking to the tapa slices. It's ready when the bubbling stops and its just the oil and meat reacting to each other, the brown caramelized sugar sticking to the meat slices that have all but turned black.

With garlic fried rice topped with an egg sunny side up (toasted sides), thats a winner right there.

Fabadas challenge - you cant beat this

This is how I do it

1 kilo of sliced pork pata
4 strips bacon
2 large Alba chorizos or 3 purefoods chorizos
3 Winner chorizo
1 med bell pepper cut into strips

for Sofrito:
1 large onion
4 med (egg size) tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
diced chopped

250 gms dry white beans - soak overnight change water 3 times and rinse

bay leaf 3 small or 2 large
salt about 1 tbsp
pepper 1tsp
sweet hot paprika 1 tbsp
chicken cube or 2 cups broth
1 cup tomato sauce
some rum or brandy
1 cup red wine
ordinary olive oil - Pomace is good

Lets begin!

Season pata
slice pata into serving pieces as big as a calling card taking care to leave some meat on the bones
sprinkle paprika, salt and pepper ensuring even coating on all pieces. hand mix, pour 1/2 cup rum or brandy then 1/4 cup olive oil, leave to marinade for an hour

Boil the beans
in a lot of water, submerged and never allow water to reduce to the level of the top of the pile of beans ABSOLUTELY NO SALT

Make your sofrito
1/2 cup olive oil heated until smoking
sautee onions garlic and tomatoes very gently to prevent burning the onions and garlic
low fire and cook until tomatoes disintegrate or oil acquires a nice even deep orange color
set aside to cool
DONT CLEAN THE PAN

Prep to cook
in 1/4 cup olive oil fry bacon in same pan until almost brown and crisp almost hah not yet then set aside
brown pata evenly turning often
add chorizos turning them together with the pata
add bell pepper
make a space in the mixture and pour tomato sauce, allow to fry
mix thoroughly then add chicken cube, continue mixing until dissolved
add half of water and scrape goodies stuck to the bottom until the spatula slides easily
allow to boil
add sofrito, all of it allow to boil
add bacon
add rest of water

when it starts to boil add wine and bay leaf
let boil for 5 minutes then taste (actually puede na noh)

set flame to low and cover

Check the beans
beans should have been boiling for at least an hour now. check for tenderness, it should NOT be like the canned pork and beans but should have some bite to it.

check your simmering meats ocassionally
after 30 minutes taste it, it should have a strong robust flavor that means tastier and saltier than usual because the beans will absorb the flavor later.
if the liquid seems too little add water from the boiling beans a cup at a time

Lets mix it up
Drain the beans but set aside some of the water,
Combine the beans with the simmering meats mixture
stir once and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes

Taste it. the bean should acquire some of the flavor kung masarap na shut off flame let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes
that will make the sauce get thick. If it gets too thick add some of the bean water a ladle at a time.

You're looking for something that is not thick but more watery but it should not be pale.

Of course red! spanish or italian strong, robust, Rioja, Shiraz or Cabernet, never Pinot Noir, at least 12% strength.

Bread and butter to scrape the sauce of course

Callos ala Corazon

My mom just got back from a 9 month "vacation" in New Zealand and discovered the wonder of the world wide web there. She is incessant on Yahoo Messenger, on email and simply staying online and in touch.

Do you remember all that comfort food your mother used to make? This is one of them.

A lot of people are going to tell you that authentic callos calls for day long simmering of tripe and an endless process of scrubbing and cleaning until the "off" smell is gone. Truth be told, why eat callos if even just a trace of that off smell or tripe smell is gone? It will pretty much be like cooking a piece of leather.

That's why if the tripe smells bad at the outset, dont even use it. Go somewhere that cleans the tripe before serving. Normally a US Tripe or Australian would be clean otherwise, please smell it before you buy it. Monterey is generally reliable.

One conversation I had with my mom, she recounted how Juan of Reina Castilla restaurant had taught her his version of Callos Madrileno. It is a country dish and uses simple country ingredients. Even if he was from Barcelona, he had been a chef for different restaurants in Madrid. I managed to squeeze the recipe out of her so here goes:

Me: i am not going anywhere mom, just here
Mom: pata ng baka maybe just one then (pressure cook for 25 minutes)
Me: 1 kilo of goto for us (Pressure cook for just 20 minutes)
Mom: boil separately
Mom: throw boil water of the goto
Mom: dont make it too soft
Mom: soup of the pata you can save
Mom: sautee onions, garlic no tomato (I add tomato and a spoonful of paprika)
Mom: add one cup tomato sauce one cup tomato paste (let the simmer with the aromatics
Mom: add the goto then pata then potatoes (cut them into bite sizes using scissors)
Me: put chorizo and bell peppers and onion leeks (slice chorizo into coins)
Mom: dont forget to put vinegar while sauteeing the goto and pata, about one serving spoonful about 1/2 cup
Me: tabasco
Mom: salt and pepper
Mom: use canned bell peppers so it wil be soft
Mom: finally add the stock
Mom: add garbanzos - canned remove the skins put these last
Mom: as it simmers and the oil starts separating from the mixture, its good to go
Me: splash of liquor to soften it - wine or brandy to soften the flavor
Mom: No

1 kilo clean tripe
1 kilo Ox feet sliced
I cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 large onion chopped fine about 1/2 cup
4 small tomatoes chopped fine about 1/2 cup
I bunch of large onion leeks cut into two inch lengths
1 medium red bell pepper baby's fist size
1 small pack tomato paste
1 small pack tomato sauce
1 chorizo (El Rey, Alba, or Rustan's chorizo pamplona)
1 small can garbanzos
1/2 cup cane vinegar
1 tsp spanish paprika mild
Salt and Pepper to taste

I tried this the other day and couldn't find any ox trotters so ended up with pig's trotters. It does work just as well but it can only be as good as the ingredients you use. Don't overboil the pork trotters. Try the chorizo el rey, in its absence, go to any Alba's restaurant, in Makati or Tomas Morato and buy the chorizo there by piece.

I swear by this,

The world's best scrambled eggs

This started out as a kid watching my grandma who was a kusinera for an old rich Capampangan family.

She would use a wok and start off with a clean seasoned one. I use a teflon pan of course.

You heat this up over a high heat.

While heating it break up 4 eggs into a bowl.

Add about 1 tbsp of oil into your wok and continue heating until a slight wisp of smoke comes from it.

Lower your flame to the lowest possible and sprinkle a pinch rock salt onto the pan then pour the eggs into the heated wok.

Stir vigorously, but dont spill anything! As the eggs congeal, run your spatula over the eggs, like a kind of cutting motion over them, then fold the mixture in over itself. Do this continuously, without allowing the eggs to rest even briefly, its a continuous cooking motion, that makes sure the eggs don't set. You can turn off the fire at this point.

on your last fold, while the mixture is still a bit wet, like soft dough, turn it onto a plate.

serve at once otherwise you will eat it all yourself

You Should Open a Restaurant

How many times have you heard this?

You probably even actually entertained the thought of having one of your own, your dream restaurant serving only grilled food that you are just sooo good at; or maybe that chinese noodle house just like North Park only done the way you like it; perhaps even one with all the tasty goodies you grew up with - that special adobo, or that fantastic callos, or maybe even just the way you make scrambled eggs.

But let's face it. That is NOT going to happen.

You are destined to forever share that recipe with just your closest friends when you get together for a drink, or with family at your next reunion. It will forever be lost in the mists of the memories of some family recipe cookbook you always wanted to keep, and who knows, that could be the last time anyone would ever taste it again.

I created this so you can share what you cook at home that is truly truly something to share. Something as simple as the seasoning for the tapa that yaya made, or the barbecue you had. Share technique, stories, recipes, flavors, places, just one condition - make it food. . . good food.