Penoy!

This is the Penoy.

It is actually just a duck egg, no frills, no special spices, just a plain duck egg boiled in water.

There's this Balut vendor that drops by our office every 3:00 pm. He sells Balut (boiled duck embryo), two kinds of penoy, the one pictured above and the other kind, a bit runny, or "soupy", which I favor, but is usually sold out by the time he gets to our office.

I bought some balut and penoy to snack on this afternoon but I had one penoy left over. I was thinking of how to use it for dinner so it wouldn't go to waste. I came up with the recipe for the Shrimp & Crabstick Spring Roll (see previous post) planning to slice the egg and use it as a center for my spring rolls.

I proceeded to cook the spring rolls. Slicing the veggies, soaking the noodles, peeling the shrimps, sateeing, stuffing, then taking pictures of the finished dish... then out of the corner of my eye, I see the penoy, sitting on the countertop, alone... I made the spring rolls so I could use the egg and I ended up leaving it out!

No worries, I sat down and enjoy eating the spring rolls, then after finishing them, I got the penoy, peeled it, dipped it in a bit of salt, enjoying every bite. Nothing wasted. :D

Shrimp & Crabstick Spring Rolls

My sister gave me a pack of spring roll wrappers because she didn't know what to do with them.

I dipped the wrappers in water for a couple of seconds and put them aside under a damp kitchen towel so they wouldn't dry out.

I soaked about 50 grams of vermicelli in tap water to soften.

I had some shrimps and crabsticks, the shrimps I pealed, the crabsticks were shreded. I cut a carrot in fine strips, same with the red onions, a clove of garlic, shitake mushrooms. I also chopped some spring onions and coriander.

In a little vegetable oil, sautee the onions garlic and shitake mushrooms, when the onions are translucent, add the shirmps and crabsticks, then add the virmicelli. Mix them a bit then added the carrots, spring onions and coriander. Season with salt, pepper and a few drops of sesame seed oil. Turn off the heat then stuff them into the springroll wrappers.

A really great, light meal!

Grilled Eggplant & Yogurt Dip

This is a quick and light meal.

Just grill some eggplants, cover them for a few minutes to make the removal of the charred skins easier.

Chop a clove of garlic finely. In a bowl, mix in yogurt, olive oil, salt and pepper and serve!

Great on crusty bread or as a side dish for any grilled meat!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I'm 40 years young today!

And yes, life does begin at that age, for me at least.

There's so much to do and there's nothing stopping me from doing anything and everything!

Watch out life, here I come! :D

Tuyo Pasta

This Pasta dish is made with Tuyo (salted sundried fish).

Remove the scales, bones and head of the fish. Chop the meat finely.

In a pan, heat some olive oil and sautee some white onions until they are transluscent. Add some minced garlic, capers and the chopped tuyo. Sautee until the tuyo gets incorporated with the sauce. Toss in the pasta, add some freshly grated queso de bola or parmesan.

Great with white wine!

Callos

This recipe was taught to me by my sister's mother-in-law.

It has tripe, beef, ham, bacon, chickpeas, chorizo, tomato paste, garlic, onions, dried chillies, salt and pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

Soak the dried chickpeas overnight then boil till soft The tripe needs to be cleaned and boiled till tender, same with the beef. Then the garlic, onions, ham and bacon are sauteed in olive oil, the tomato paste added then simmered for a few minutes. Add the meet then cover with water or stock and let simmer until all the meat is tender.

Goes very well with crusty bread and butter!

Lumpiang Dulong

This dish is very easy to prepare.

You'll need fresh Dulong (a very small fish native to the Philippines), ground turmeric, salt and pepper, and lumpia wrapper (Spring Roll Wrapper).

Just mix the dulong, turmeric, salt and pepper together then wrap in lumpia wrapper.

Deep fry till golden brown.

Enjoy with a squeeze of lemon or calamansi and steamed rice or with a very cold bottle of beer!

Cucumber Salad

This is one of my mom's favorite side dishes.

It's very simple to make. Just slice some cucumbers and coursely chop some coriander. Then toss them in a vinegrette dressing made with cane or white vinegar, olive oil, a clove of garlic, chili flakes, salt and pepper.

Chicken Congee with Dried Baby Shrimps and Green Onions

I had leftover sticky rice which would make good congee so I sauteed some white onions, garlic ang ginger on medium heat, making sure just to get them soft and transluscent, then I added some dried baby shrimps, stir-fried them a bit then added water and around 2 cups of cooked sticky rice. When the soup has turned creamy, i added chicken meat cut to bite-sized pieces and some fish sauce to taste.

When ready, just place in a bowl and add some chopped green onions and more fried baby shrimps on top. Also great with a squeeze of kalamansi (Philippine Lime) and more fish sauce.

I ended up making so much that I brought the pot to work this morning which was able to feed around seven people! A very cheap and yummy breakfast! :D