Mystery Green Leaf Vegetable

stir-fry of malabar spinach and wild mushrooms

I bought an unlabeled package of leafy green vegetables and nobody at the Korean grocery knew what it was. I bought it anyway thinking it might be water spinach (kangkong) or sweet potato tops. When I opened the package to wash and prepare the vegetables they didn't look at all like kangkong but resembled crinkly spinach. The leaves are dark green with tender but easy to snap stems. I didn't want to eat something I'm not familiar with so I searched online for a similar leaf vegetable comparing the close-up photo of the leaf and found malabar spinach in no time. There is a red-stemmed variety which looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I've seen them. I proceeded to cook the vegetables sauteing them with some fresh shiitake and dried wild mushrooms seasoned with garlic, ginger, scallion, soy sauce, and salt. When I tried it I knew right away I've eaten it before because of its slightly mucilaginous tongue feel which my daughter said is similar to seaweed. I again went online and looked for the red-stemmed Filipino alugbati and I was right, malabar spinach IS alugbati, although the green-stemmed has crinklier leaves than the red-stemmed. Alugbati is one of my favorite vegetables back in the Philippines. I used to add them to boiled and sauteed mung bean soup as alternative to malunggay (horseradish tree) leaves or simply stir-fried like the dish I prepared today. I still love this vegetable and will buy it regularly.

mystery no more, these are green-stemmed alugbati or malabar spinach

Garlic Fried Rice, Corned Beef Hash, And Fried Egg: A Filipino Breakfast

The theme for this week's Lasang Pinoy Sundays is BREAKFAST and one of our all-time weekend favorites is Corned Beef Hash with garlic fried rice and sunny-side-up or over-easy fried eggs.

Corned Beef Hash
corned beef
1½ pounds beef brisket
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon pickling spice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, quartered
¾ teaspoon pink salt, optional (if you prefer the cooked meat with red hue)
water

corned beef hash
cooked corned beef
2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
1 medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into very small cubes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

• Cook the corned beef: Put brisket in a pot large enough to accommodate the brisket. Add the rest of the ingredients and enough water to cover meat. Bring to a boil, cover, turn heat down to medium, and boil for 2 hours. Remove cooked meat and transfer into a plate. Leave until cool enough to handle.
• Prepare the corned beef hash: Slice the brisket across the grain into 1½-inch strips. Shred the meat using 2 forks or with (gloved) hands. Set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry potatoes until slightly brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
• In the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon oil and sauté garlic and onion and cook until onion is soft. Add tomatoes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the shredded brisket and potatoes, stir fry for 1 minute. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir fry for another minute. Serve hot with garlic fried rice and fried or scrambled eggs.

homemade Corned Beef Hash is better than the canned pap

I also love corned beef with chunks of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and turnips or white kohlrabi.
To make Corned Beef And Cabbage: Double the ingredients. Remove meat after boiling and transfer to a platter. Strain the liquid and discard solids. Adjust seasoning and return liquid into the pot with the brisket and vegetables. Boil for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve with grainy Dijon mustard or bottled horseradish sauce.

Poached Pears

don't you just love the bright red color of these poached pears

The other day my daughter was surprised to see pears on my kitchen counter and asked me what I intend to make with them. She knows I am not a fan of pears because of their grainy texture, although I enjoy snacking on well-chilled Asian pears. Sometimes I buy pears for making jellied candies or pâte de fruits. This time I bought them because of their very bright red color. I love the color red and I have a few bright red kitchen items, they make food preparation a little bit, what else, bright.:=)

These pears called Starkrimson have very smooth skin, are large-ish and when fully ripe they turn bright red all over. They are also less grainy and their slight floral scent and flavor make them acceptable to me. And they will definitely look pretty in gift baskets or fruit bowls. I poached 3 of them in sweet red wine and sliced beet to maintain the red color of the fruit. The beet does not alter the flavor of the pears and gives the poached fruits its sweetness and of course its vivid color. The color is only skin deep but you have to agree they look beautiful and they're yummy too, specially with homemade Irish Cream frozen yogurt.

Poached Pears
3 large Starkrimson or red Bartlett pears
3 cups sweet red wine
1 large beet, sliced thin
1 two-inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoon sugar
parchment paper

• Peel the pears, cut into halves or quarters leaving stem on, and then core. Put the rest of the ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low and add peeled pears. Cut the parchment into a round the same size as the saucepan. Cover the pears with the paper and poach for 45 minutes or until tender.
• Remove parchment and discard. Remove the pears and transfer into a serving dish or bowl. Boil the poaching liquid until syrupy, about 15 minutes. Strain and discard solids. Pour syrup over the pears.

Starkrimson pears

the beet that my heart skipped

This is my entry to this week's LaPiS which you may have guessed is RED. Check out the other entries by clicking the button at the top of the page.

Chicken Tandoori Sandwich

It seems all I cook these days is chicken. I actually cook other stuff but get lazy writing and posting about them. A week ago I smoked a 4-pound ham (which btw is waaay better than store bought) that I will feature in a future breakfast post. Anyways, last Sunday I read a tandoori chicken slider sandwich featured in a magazine restaurant review and I drool each time I see the photos of the sandwiches. I love tandoori-style chicken and the sandwich version looks really good. And it is so good, at least the one I made.:=)

For the tandoori I diced the chicken meat instead of ground and used aluminum rings for making crumpets to keep the meat patties from crumbling. I wanted to charcoal grill the patties but the weather was threatening (to rain) yesterday. Frying in very hot skillet worked just fine. I served the sandwiches with tzatziki broccoli slaw, shaved mini cucumber, and lots of tomatoes. Yummy! My daughter slathered homemade Greek yogurt cheese on the bottom bun and added tzatziki on top of the chicken for a triple dose of yogurt. Yummier!

My tandoori-style chicken recipe is here.