Adobong Alimango/Crabs

Main:  Seafood Dish

This dish first came to our attention when we visited this crazy, adorable family last summer.  Sounded so crazy-good the way they described it that I harassed them non-stop until they shared with me the recipe.  We first met +buchoy macasaet, +Carol Soriano and their Cheetos-loving son, Tomas, the first time we were all in Singapore. When we were leaving Finland, they were in the process of settling in.  Now both our families are in the western part of Northern America.  

"family" portrait with Pugsley and Pongo

This dish was actually created by +Mila Banzon and here's a link to her original recipe

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/118691/the-secret-to-this-hit-adobong-alimango-and-its-finger-licking-sauce

I found the task of removing manually the crab fat/aligue way too daunting and I really hated the idea of destroying my mani (because am really cack handed).  The following adjusted recipe is way easier and less time consuming.  It really is crazy good, it has replaced  chilli crab as one of our favourite crab dishes and it has tied for first place with Salted Egg Crab.

Only found at Irvin's, "Singapore's Most Handsome Restaurant"

Ingredients: (enough for a hungry family of four)

• minimum of 15 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 pounds of crab (I use legs of Alaskan and Dungeness crabs because it's what's available in the grocery); I cut them at the joints to make it easier to cook
  
• 16 prawn de-veined (it is used as "extender" because crabs are expensive)
• half a jar of Thai crab paste
• a teaspoon of chilli with garlic
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons (or more) of fish sauce/patis
• handful of roughly chopped coriander
  

Process:  you can easily do this ala minute ie, right before having your meal because it's that easy and fast

1. in a small bowl, mix your crab paste, lemon juice, fish sauce and chilli garlic
2. heat oil in wok and brown the minced garlic; remove from wok with a slotted spoon.  Set aside.
   
3. with the garlic infused oil, quickly fry your prawns and crabs until they turn orange.  Set aside.
   
4. in your hot wok, cook for about 2 minutes, until it bubbles, your crab paste mixture
5. return your cooked seafood and toss very well
6. place crabs on your serving dish and pour sauce over it
7. top with your cooked minced garlic and the chopped coriander
   
   
   

   

   Best eaten with lots of steamed rice!

New Gadget: Spiral Slicer

Spiralizer, Zoodler or Spiral Vegetable Slicer

In our never-ending quest to eat healthily (juicing is soooo before), this new, handy kitchen gadget caught my eye.  Friends on Facebook have been raving about it, even +Poggi Bonsi, a place where we buy kitchen thingamajigs, will hold a class this weekend sharing ways one can use this gadget.

This Huffington Post article will give you a basic idea on what brands are available, what it is exactly and what dishes you can do with it (a lot!).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/vegetable-noodles-are-going-to-change-everything_n_5112928.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

After reading user reviews on Amazon.com, I finally decided to get the Cuisavor brand. The blades seemed sturdier than Kitchen Basics because it has "sharp Japanese stainless steel blades". Any comments on Kitchen Basics or other recommended brands would be greatly appreciated.  Due to limited kitchen counter space, I just ordered the hand held version.  +Maite Crawford is very happy with her kitchen counter-top version.

My hand-held gadget.

The Spiralizer has been with me for less than a week.  So far, have mainly used it for salads.  First veggie combination I did was zucchini and yellow squash.  I made sure both zuch & yellow squash would fit the spiralizer ie, not too thick, not too thin. For first attempt, not bad at all.  You don't have to peel both zuch and yellow squash but since I had the peeler on hand, I mindlessly peeled them.

I roasted some sesame seeds and tossed the veggies with a Japanese brand deep roasted sesame dressing.  The core is stuck inside the funnel part so the seeds are not included in your salad.  So convenient.  It's dishwasher safe but I just easily washed it with a brush to ensure the core left is really washed away.

Addendum:  

• I spiralize (is it a verb now??) my cucumber, yellow squash and zuch noodles into a colander, sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt and mix it with my hand. 
• place the colander in a sink and let it drain for 30 minutes

  

  Liquid collected after only 15 minutes.

• rinse very very well with cold water and refrigerate the colander of veggie noodles for at least an hour.  
  
  This will allow the veggies to dehydrate a little.  It will be more "firm".

My second attempt was with cucumber + carrot.  It was more of a struggle.  They didn't come out as "long" as the zuch and yellow squash.  They just came out shredded.  I guess I have to practice more.

Now am thinking I would need at least a dozen veggies to come up with a main pasta dish.  Hmmmm.  I don't think I have the energy for this.  Will keep you posted.

Albondigas - Mexican Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Main:  Minced Meat

I like this recipe and it has become a family stand by because there is no frying or browning involved therefore, kitchen is way easier to clean. 

The original recipe uses 100% ground pork but in our attempt to eat a little more healthily, I combined minced pork and turkey.

Tomato Sauce/Tomatillo Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 can whole tomatoes, drained
• 1 medium onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 of either green or yellow bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt & pepper

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Albondigas Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion minced
• the remainder or 3/4 of the bell pepper, minced
• 1 tablespoon or so of chilli flakes
• salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon of the powder version

• 1 pound of minced meat (either half/half of ground pork & turkey or a whole pound of ground pork)
• pepper
• a tablespoon of liquid seasoning
• 2 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs (a slice of bread)
• 1 egg lightly beaten in the big bowl where you will mix the meat mixture

Process:

1. heat oven 350 degrees
2. in skillet, saute for 4 minutes minced onion, bell pepper, chilli flakes, ground coriander, salt and nutmeg.  Let cool.
   
3. process or hand blend the tomatillo ingredients.  Place the tomatillo dip in a serving container.
   
4. in the big bowl where you lightly beat the egg, combine very well the minced meat with bread crumbs, liquid seasoning, pepper and the onion/bell pepper saute mixture
5. form into balls
6. place on foil-lined baking sheets and bake 15 - 17 minutes
7. serve the albondigas with warmed tomatillo sauce (nuke in micro) and garnish with the chopped cilantro
   

The tomatillo sauce is so refreshing, I usually add to the batch because it makes a great light pasta sauce.

Anna's No-Fail Pork Spareribs

Main:  Pork Dish

During our first round of living in Singapore, I met +Anna Castro who used to be my hubby's ad agency colleague and so with her husband, +Ron Castro, who was more senior.  Anna became my regular ciggie + coffee companion and really energetic retail therapy partner.  We were each others' rocks too going through the emotional roller coaster of going to a fertility expert doctor to have our second child and their first-born.

After a few years and residing in different countries,
our families meet yet again in Singapore part II and we
even lived in the same condo complex.

Every Friday afternoon, we would all meet up at their condo for tennis matches.  The piece de resistance was the pot-luck dinner after the friendly, albeit competitive, tennis matches.  A consistent favourite was Anna's Pork Spareribs which she perfected during their stay in Sydney.  It was such a low-maintenance recipe.  She just left the tray of ribs in the oven on low while we play tennis and it was tenderness perfection when we've all freshened up for dinner.