If you like anything you see in the gallery, click on it for the recipe!
The recipes above have step-by-step instructions with details, descriptions and any advice I may have because I want these recipes to be as successful and delicious for you as they are for my family.
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PERSONAL NOTES:
In this gallery are my family recipes. All these dishes, desserts, cookies and breads have been an integral part of our family life. Food not only brings us nourishment, but also sentimentality and memory.
Many of these recipes are quick and easy. Some are more challenging and time consuming. But all of them are do-able. I have tried to simplify as much as possible, but did not want to skimp on detail and description because I so understand the frustration of not knowing if everything is going the way it’s supposed to go – especially if preparing something new and unfamiliar.
As I always say, my recipes are less about what is traditional or trendy and more about what my family enjoys. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
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A little bit about Filipino food:
Many dishes above are Filipino.
Filipino dishes are vibrant, bold and colorful. Sour, salty, sweet, even bitter flavors along with lots of garlic and ginger are prominent in so many of the dishes. Soups, stews and saucy braises are ladled along side steamed white rice for comforting and filling meals.
Desserts, too, are vibrant and sweet and often center around fruits, flans, jellies and sticky rice cakes. They can be as simple and pure as fried bananas coated in sugar or as delicate as the Sans Rival – layers of crispy cashew meringue and vanilla buttercream. Filipinos take dessert as seriously as the main meals.
Street food is a whole other category in itself – also bold and flavorful. There are always stands and stands of vendors grilling skewers of tasty meats over hot coals or frying balls of fishcakes to be dipped in spicy vinegars. They sell roasted or boiled peanuts, roasted ears of corn, empanadas, even bowls of Arroz Caldo (rice porridge) and Mami (Filipino noodles). One of my all-time favorites was Taho, silken tofu with tapioca pearls in warm brown sugar syrup. I remember vendors only sold Taho in the morning. Street food is a truly huge and much-loved part of Filipino cuisine.
For an in-depth look into Filipino cuisine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_cuisine