Curried Okra

I rarely buy okra because I can't stand its slimy texture. When I do cook them, it's on a very high heat dry cast iron pan which somehow reduces the slime. Yesterday, I asked an Indian lady at the store for recipe recommendation and she said to saute sliced onions, add the okra and stir fry over high heat, then add add a little curry powder just to flavor it a bit. Some coarsely chopped different colored cherry tomatoes make the dish colorful and add nutrition too.

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Black Beans And Corn Chili

Aside from lima beans, fava, and green peas, I've never seen other fresh legumes until a few days ago when I spotted black beans in the fresh produce section of the Korean grocery store. I had no idea how to cook fresh black beans. I simmered the beans in plenty of water for about an hour and they came out sweet, tender, and the beans taste way better than canned. 

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Food Friday: Tofu-rrific

A friend gave me this recipe which she says she got from her sister's friend's friend. Most probably the recipe is already on somebody's website. This vegan dish is similar to sisig without the pork. It has the perfect balance of saltiness and acidity, is rich and creamy [from the mayonnaise] and mildly spicy [from the green finger chilis]. It is very very very good, it's tofu-rrific. I never thought I'd say this about tofu but yes, this tofu dish is awesome!

Tofu with Mayonnaise
2 firm tofu bricks, diced
water
2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 cups chopped sweet onions
5 pieces green finger chili, sliced
½ cup mayonnaise, more or less to taste
3 tablespoons lemon or calamansi juice
½ cup soy sauce

• Heat 3 cups water in a medium sauce pan and add tofu. Leave for 3 minutes then drain well.
  
• Heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet. Carefully add the drained tofu, stir fry for 2 minutes. Add onions and stir cook for 3 minutes. Add finger chili, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Cook for another 3 minutes or until onions are soft. Turn heat off and stir in the soy sauce. Serve immediately.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Fried or fresh spring roll is perhaps the food Filipinos are most identified with. Our lumpia wrapper, made with just 2 ingredients, flour and water, in my opinion is the best spring roll wrapper. Because it is very thin it becomes crispy when fried and so light when used as wrapper for vegetable fresh spring rolls.

I made fresh spring rolls with tofu and chickpeas instead of the usual prawns and pork. Because I heart tofu I'm not the least bit surprised that I love this vegan version. I don't eat eat tofu every day but I don't mind having it once a week.

Fresh Spring Rolls
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup onion, sliced thin
1 cup fried tofu, coarsely chopped
1 vegetable cube
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup green beans, julienned
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup sweet potato or jicama, julienned
1 cup cooked garbanzos (chickpeas)
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts, optional
curly green lettuce
store bought lumpia wrapper
brown sauce
minced garlic

• In a wok or large sauce pan, heat the oil and stir fry garlic and onion for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add the vegetable cube and 1 tablespoon water and stir until cube has dissolved. Add the rest of the vegetables except garbanzos and lettuce.. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender. Add the garbanzos and stir until garbanzos are heated through. Transfer into a bowl and let cool slightly.
  
• Separate the wrappers and steam one at a time over simmering water or in the microwave oven covered with wet towel until soft, about 20 seconds. Lay a lettuce leaf in the middle of the wrapper leaving a few inches off the bottom. Spoon vegetable filling on top of the lettuce, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of peanuts if using. Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the bottom of the lettuce and wrap one side over the filling. Wrap the other side to cover completely, leaving the top exposed. Serve with brown sauce and minced garlic.

Brown Sauce
½ cup sugar
1½ cups water
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons cornflour

• Caramelize the sugar in a medium stainless steel saucepan. In a small container, mix soy sauce, cornflour and a little of the water until cornflour is dissolved. Add to the rest of the water. When the sugar has caramelized to a slightly dark brown color, add the water mixture; it will bubble. Let it come to a simmer over medium heat, stirring and scraping the hard sugar constantly until the mixture becomes clear. Transfer into a gravy boat or serving container.

I read somewhere that lumpia wrapper is made with equal parts flour and water. The mixture is brushed thinly on a moderately warm skillet and more of the mixture is brushed on until it is thin enough and cooked just until the edges are dry. I tried making with just half a cup each but it was a FAIL, not epic but still a fail. Some parts were too thick and the edges were too thin. I was just curious and now I know it's not that easy to make flour lumpia wrapper.

This post is for a weekly gallery of food photography, Pinoy style, hosted by Spices.

Fried Lumpia Taugeh (Mung Bean Sprouts)

fried lumpia with vegetables, mung bean sprouts and tofu

My daughter's friend is coming home from working overseas and he asked her if I can make him lumpia. Lumpia and pancit are the most popular or maybe the only familiar Filipino food here in the US. I asked my daughter what kind he likes because there are several ways to prepare lumpia:

• fresh with vegetables or heart of palm and wrapped either in egg and cornstarch mixture or flour lumpia wrapper served with a sweet and salty sauce
• fried with vegetables and prawn filling
• fried with mung bean sprouts, vegetables and firm tofu, true vegetarian but so delicious
• lumpia Shanghai filled with either prawns and ground pork or a mixture of both, the difference from 2 & 3 is these are thin and sliced into 2-inch pieces before frying, these are also served with sweet and sour sauce

My favorite is the one filled with mung bean sprouts eaten with vinegar and garlic dip. When I was working at the Asian Development Bank one of our co-workers came in the morning with all sorts of food stuff to sell and these were the ones I bought regularly. I never cooked fried lumpia of any kind in Manila and rarely here in the US because it is tedious to prepare. Separating the wrappers alone takes time and patience. We usually bought them or had them in restaurants and in Manila the maids cooked them for us and sometimes I asked my mother to make them, she is an excellent cook. This is only the second time I made fried lumpia and I was only able to make 3 decent looking ones that are photo worthy. The others are sort of ugly looking but nevertheless yummy. I'm not sure if I can make good-looking lumpia for him or if I have the enthusiasm to make them. Maybe she should bring him to the Little Quiapo restaurant near Washington, D.C. where the food is decent but not spectacular.

Lumpia Taugeh
8 cups mung bean sprouts, washed and very well drained in a salad spinner
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup firm tofu, diced
1 cup julienned green beans
1 cup julienned sweet potatoes or carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
ground pepper
lumpia wrappers
grape seed oil for sauteing and deep frying

• In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil and saute garlic and onions for 3 minutes. Add tofu, salt, soy sauce and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes then add beans and sweet potato. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in mung bean sprouts, mixing well. The mixture should be dry. Let cool for 20 minutes before filling wrappers. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown and crisp, drain well on paper towels. Serve immediately.