Soy Lecithin

The other day I made salad dressing, refrigerated the half cup left-over, and naturally the oil gathered on top. No matter how I shake the dressing, it's so stubborn and wouldn't want to socialize and mix with the vinegar, unlike store-bought dressing. Then I remembered I have soy lecithin I bought a while back. It's supposed to aid in emulsifying everything from candy bars to sauces to hand cream, and it's also used to make breads rise higher.

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Grapefruit Salad

We've been drinking fresh grapefruit juice mixed with grated fresh ginger because all of us had a bout with the pesky flu. I'm really liking the bright and refreshing color of pink grapefruit and thought why not make Thai-style salad with them. I added some fresh mandarin orange segments (yes I peeled them one by one), grape tomatoes, tiny cucumber coins, and served on top of mixed spring greens. The slightly tart, salty, and sweet Thai-style dressing goes well with the salad. Yummy!

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Spanish Potato and Chorizo Mini Tortillas

For a grab-and-go breakfast, snack, or baon (packed lunch) these mini tortillas are very convenient and good either warmed in the microwave oven or at room temperature. I made them Spanish potato tortilla style. Next time it'll be bacon, spinach, and cheddar cheese or maybe all-vegetables with white cheese. The possibilities are endless. Just mix and match your favorite ingredients, add them to beaten eggs and you'll have a satisfying and nutritious on the go meal or snack.

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Green Jackfruit and Tamarind Soup

I cooked this soup a month or so ago but I went on a break from the blog at the time. I got the recipe, Sinampalukang Langka (green jackfruit in tamarind broth) from Yummy online magazine. I thought at first the ingredients are a bit unusual but I'll eat any sour soup flavored with fish sauce. I like its uncomplicated flavors and will make it again for sure.

Fresh green jackfruit is not available here in the US. I buy the Thai canned ones whenever there is a need for it. If it's available, use the fresh ones. Green jackfruit is a good ingredient for vegan recipes because of its texture and ability to absorb seasonings.

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Garlic Fried Rice with Salted Egg Yolk

Kulinarya Cooking Club challenge is finally back after a loooong break. The food chosen by Trisha is salted duck egg, called itlog na maalat (salted egg) in the Philippines, a long-time favorite side dish. I haven't met a Filipino who has not eaten salted duck eggs or doesn't like them. The eggs are usually served simply sliced with chopped fresh tomatoes.

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Red Rice

crispy pork hock with steamed red rice and roasted vegetables 

There are various Philippine heirloom rice available to buy online but I find the prices of the rice too steep. I had to settle for the cheaper, at $10.00 for a 5-pound bag, Thai red rice which are sold in nearby Asian grocery stores. Thai red rice is a long grain non-glutinous rice similar to brown rice but the color of the bran is red. According to Wiki, only the husks of the rice grains are removed during the milling process, retaining all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals intact in the bran layer and in the germ. Red rice is a good source of thiamine, riboflavin, fiber, iron, and calcium.

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Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bacon! Yes, these cookies have crispy bacon chips and they go really well with extreme bittersweet chocolate chips. When I read about these unusual cookies I just had to make some. They are not too rich nor greasy; they're sooo good.

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Matcha Daifuku

We've been addicted to mochi ice cream since we first tried them 24 years ago. Nowadays we buy a variety of sweet filled mochi called Daifuku from the Asian store but mochi ice cream is still our favorite.

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Cider and Black

For Christmas last year we had a drink called Cider and Black, a mix of dry hard cider and blackcurrant cordial. Hard cider, which has the same alcohol content as beer at about 5% in volume, is becoming popular at least here in Virginia. I like the combination of hard cider and blackcurrant because it's very light and slightly sweet. It's a ladies' drink, I guess.

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Crema Catalana

I've had this Spanish dessert just once in a restaurant many years ago. I don't know why I never prepared it at home but then again I've never made its French version, Crème Brûlée, either. The Spanish sweet cream is lighter than its cousin as it has fewer egg yolks and uses milk instead of heavy cream.

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Homemade Rice Wine

I was trying to make Manapla-style puto which I was told years ago has wild yeast or rice yeast as leavening agent. I looked online for white rice yeast, found this website about Philippine rice wine called tapuy and several other blogs on how to make rice wine at home, then quickly abandoned the puto. White rice yeast from the Philippines is impossible to get here in the US but I was able to buy from our local Asian store a packet of Chinese red rice wine yeast. I used this yeast and a cup of black glutinous rice and followed the recipe from the Filipino website. 

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