Sugpo sa Aligue at Gata - KCC February Challenge

Technically speaking, it's still February 28 here so I still made the February deadline albeit I am late yet again.

This month's theme stumped me completely as I had to come up with a Filipino dish using food with aphrodisiac properties. An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire and in the Philippines, balut and the notorious Soup No. 5 are just examples of foods that have aphrodisiac properties. Why? I don't know.

I initially wanted to do either a strawberry dessert or a fried banana dessert drizzled with chocolate and honey but I had a craving for anything cooked in gata (coconut milk) so I decided to go with prawns (an aphrodisiac) with crab fat and chilies (also an aphrodisiac) and coconut milk.

This is not an everyday fare. This dish is meant to be eaten once in a blue moon. Why? Because crab fat is not exactly the healthiest of food. But since it's Happy Hearts Month, let's make our hearts and appetites happy. lol!

Sugpo sa Aligue at Gata (Prawns In Crab Fat and Coconut Milk)

600 grams prawns or shrimps, whiskers trimmed, unpeeled

vegetable oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (or go loco and use an entire head of garlic)

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

1 onion, chopped

3-4 siling mahaba (green finger chilis), sliced

1 cup aligue or crab fat

1 cup coconut milk

1-2 tablespoons fish sauce ( if using thai fish sauce, you might need to add more)

juice of 1 lemon or 2-4 calamansi

sriracha (optional)

cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a skillet or pan that is big enough to accommodate the prawns. When the oil is hot, saute ginger, onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the chilis and the aligue. Cook until the aligue softens and oil separates. Add coconut milk and continue to cook. Add fish sauce and lemon or calamansi to taste. Add sriracha if you want it spicier.

Add the prawns and remove from heat as soon as the prawns are cooked. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with rice.

PS

I added scallops to the dish too :)

Kare Kare - KCC January Theme

I joined Kulinarya Cooking Club October or November of last year and I've been meaning to joinfellow KCC members in their monthly kitchen adventures but life and work and the daily commute got in the way. Not to mention that I am, yet again, late in posting. But hey, better late than never!

This month's theme is "What Filipino Dish (savoury or sweet) would you like to have on your birthday?"

I celebrated my birthday in the earlier part of January and we had all you can eat Korean Barbecue but if I had my way, I'd ask my dad to cook my ultimate comfort food, Beef Pinapaitan or have my mom make her Pinoy Spaghetti . However, I've already posted those two dishes on my blog, so I decided on another favorite of mine, Kare Kare.

Kare Kare or oxtail and peanut stew is something that I learned to cook when I moved to this city. I learned by watching my uncle cook it for dinner and then added a couple of things I learned from my mom.

My version of kare kare is nothing like the authentic version where you have to use roasted peanuts and annatto seeds. I simply don't have the time. I use a kare kare mix (boo!) but I use it mostly to impart color not flavor. I also don't put banana blossom or puso ng saging because, well, I don't know how to prep it. Sometimes I use the cut of beef meant for stewing because oxtails are pretty expensive. One thing I do know is that Ludy's peanut butter can tramp Skippy's anytime!

So here is my version of Kare Kare (as always, I don't measure when I cook so adjust the seasonings to suit your taste).

1 package oxtail ( pre-packed when i buy it in the groceries)

tripe (i'd say about 1 - 1 1/2 lbs i used the what they call "honeycomb")

1/2 of an onion, sliced

2 T garlic, minced

1 - 1 1/2 cup peanut butter, or one bottle of Ludy's peanut butter

salt & pepper to taste

sugar to taste ( i don't add sugar when I use Ludy's PB)

1 pack Kare Kare mix ( i use mama sita)

2 chinese eggplants, sliced diagonally

green beans or string beans

pechay or bok choy

Wash the tripe and oxtail thoroughly. In a pot, combine the tripe and oxtail and cover with water. Bring water to a boil. Boil for a few minutes then drain and rinse oxtail and tripe in cold water.

Place oxtail and tripe in a pressure cooker and cover with water. Pressure cook for about 20 to 25 minutes or until oxtail and tripe are tender. (if the tripe is still tough, you can transfer the oxtail to another bowl and set those aside.) Once the tripe is tender, drain and cut into serving portions. Reserve the broth. You can dissolve the kare kare mix in it.

In a pan, saute onions and garlic. Add oxtail and tripe. Season SPARINGLY with salt and pepper.

Add the dissolved kare kare mix and the peanut butter. Adjust seasonings accordingly. Add sugar if you wish or more water if needed. Let it simmer.

In another pot, boil water. Add green beans and eggplants. When the eggplants are almost tender, add pechay or bok choy. Transfer vegetables to a bowl under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Then drain the vegetables and add to the stew.

Serve warm, with bagoong.