The names sounds funny I admit but I love these gorgeous Filipino Orange Tinged Battered Chicken & Quail Eggs. Who ever thought about how to concoct this Filipino snack is heaven sent from above. You see, it starts with a boiled egg and then it gets coated with an orangey batter then deep fried….teamed up with a fantastic vinegary or sweet based sauce and you got a winner! Out in the streets in the Philippines, Kwek Kwek and Tokneneng are served as a quick street snack.
Kulinarya’s theme for the month of May 2011 is FLORES DE MAYO (Flowers of May).
I think the floral design of my toppings fits the KCC “Flores de Mayo” theme and I can’t help but post this recipe under this theme even though it has been more than a month late.
Arroz Caldo has been a favourite snack for many Filipinos while still growing up. When I was studying high school in the Philippines, this is a “must eat” teamed up with Tokwa’t Baboy (Tofu/Pork Mix with Soy/Vinegar Dressing). This is usually served as afternoon snack or when one is sick, it is also a good starter for babies who gets introduce for the first time to solids as the plain congee is easily digestible.
This dish brings me happy memories of cold rainy days and just hanging around with my high school pals after school. I consider this as the Chicken Noodle Soup of the Philippines…feeds your soul as well as your tummy.
What inspired me to cook Orange Chicken was my cousin’s Facebook picture of his take on this dish. So, I would like to thank my cousin M in California for inspiring me to try out this dish. I’ve tasted Orange Chicken in restaurants and it never crossed my mind on making my own version at home (so wrong!). There are dishes that I leave the professionals to make, Orange Chicken is one of them. I thought it would be hard to make but actually it’s quite easy once you’ve done your prepping.
This Roast Chicken (with Bacon, Apple & Onion Stuffing) was taught to me by my TAFE teacher ages ago (when MC Hammer was still cool!). I love the stuffing as it is not too salty and the combination of diced apples and bacon makes it so good=) The last time I’ve cooked this was when I still lived with my parents and that’s about 10+ years ago. So when Christmas came up, I’ve searched my scribbles and luckily found my old tattered first recipe book.
I will show you how I trussed my chickens when I cooked my roasted chickens last Christmas. This is not the proper way to truss a chicken, because there’s a right way to do it to avoid the string marks across the breast part. The reason why I double string my chicken wings is that I seal my chickens in the frying pan and I find the standard way of trussing makes me frustrated as the wings flap out from its tucked in position, every time I flip my chicken to seal all parts using my pair of tongs.
I always go to Inala Civic Centre almost every weekend and last week, to my delight, I found some freshly boiled BALUT!
Balut is a boiled fertilized duck egg with an early stage developed embryo. In the Philippines, Balut are sold around late afternoon till early morning as street food. They are kept warm in large cane basket with heavy cloth insulation alongside Penoy (an infertile incubated duck egg). Rumoured to be an aphrodisiac, giving “strong knees” for the male species as old people use to say in the Philippines. You can spot Balut vendors around bus terminals, jeepney stops and outside the cinemas. Other vendors choose to walk the streets with a familiar sing song chant of “BAAaaaluuuut, PEeeenoOY! Bili na kayo nang BAAaaluuuut, PEeeenoOY!” (Balut, Penoy! Buy some Balut, Penoy!).
Since I’ve started food blogging late last year, I have been reading a lot of rave reviews about Momofuku’s Fried Chicken and its Octo Vinaigrette sauce. Mind you, I’ve also search how much that Momofuku Cookbook is, and at the moment I don’t have the ‘moolah’ ($) for it, wish I did. I’m still trying to save for my ultimate two wants…..a Kitchen Aid mixer and a Canon DSLR (I got a looooong way to go, btw!). But the stars were smiling at me and I found a site that provide extracts of the Momofuku Cookbook….original recipes of Momofuku’s Fried Chicken and Octo-vinaigrette links can be found here.
Kulinarya’s theme for the month of January 2010 is ADOBO.
Adobo is considered as one of Filipino’s soul food. There are many different version of Adobo, some add potatoes, some recipes have sauce, others are drier and others add coconut milk. This dish was called Adobo during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, but it’s totally different with Spanish Adobo which is a combination of seasoning widely used in Spanish cooking.
