BICOL EXPRESS

Filipinos from all walks of life, loved spicy foods. That is why they invented a dish that will suit to their taste. One province which became famous on this dish is Bicol. And they call this dish BICOL EXPRESS which name came from the train that travel from Manila to Bicol.

To achieve its great tasting dish, all you need to do is to soak chili peppers into a bowl of salt for 30 minutes then rinse and strain. Then in a cooking pan heat oil and sliced of pork until golden brown. In another pan saute' minced garlic and onions and add the golden brown pork. Add the coconut milk and bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the chili peppers and baguio beans and cook until the dish gets a little dry. Mixed the coconut cream and simmer until the sauce thickens. And lastly,you can know add the salt according to your taste. Thats the Bicol Express, easy to cook, and so easy to prepare.

Enjoy it with your whole family!

TINOLANG MANOK (Chicken Ginger Stew with Vegetables)

This dish is widely known in every province of the Philippines, because all the ingredients are easy to find and cook. It is a soupy dish with aroma of ginger that will surely love by the people tasting it. For a more flavorful taste, people from the province use native chicken or those chicken which grows naturally from the backyard.

How to prepare it is easy as a pie, all you have to do is saute' the garlic, onions, and ginger, then add the chicken and a little of fish sauce. Let the chiken absorbed the ingredients by letting the oil from the chicken comes out. Then add the rice water (the water from 2^nd washing of the rice). Add the sayote or papaya. Let it simmer for 5 minutes until the sayote or papaya is cooked.

Turn off the heat and add the chili leaves for more delectable aroma. And presto! You can now enjoy tinolang manok wih your family and friends.

EMBUTIDO (Filipino Style Meatloaf)

Embutido is one of the most favorite Filipino dish. In most occasions especially during weddings, Christmas and birthdays-table will not be complete without this dish. It is a Filipino style of meatloaf like morcon.

It is wrapped in aluminum foil and steam. It can eat after it was steam or fry if you want. Preparing this dish is also a simple one. First you have to mix ground pork into a bowl, and crush peppercorns, grated cheese, grated celery, carrots. Add the flour, beaten eggs and vienna sausages. You can also add raisins to add to its color. Add salt according to your taste.

Then into the flatten aluminum foil spread the mixture and shape it according to the size you like and sealed bot ends by simply rolling it like a candy package. Bring into the steamer and cook for an hour. Let it cool and slice into rings. It is best served with chili sauce or catsup will do.

NILAGANG BABOY (BOILED PORK )

Another and most easy to cook recipe is Nilagang Baboy, Its easy as one, two three because all you have to do is to throw everything in the pot and let it cook until tender. Many Filipinos loved this soupy dish espeially when the weather is cold and rainy season is here.

Preparing for this dish, all you have to do is place the pork in a pot of water and bring to boil until the pork is tender. Add onions, crushed garlic, scallions, pepercorns and seasoned with salt or fish sauce. Add the potatoes, beans, pechay or cabbage leaves but be sure not to overcook the green vegetables. Add saging na saba for a bit of sweet taste to the soup. Remove from heat and enjoy.

CHOPSUEY

If your a health concious and a vegi eater, chopsuey will definitely suit to your taste. This dish is a combination of meat and chicken and even seafood can also be used. Most peole considered it to be one of the Chinese origin but there are claims that it is of American. Nonetheless, chopsuey became most loved by the Filipino people, and always on the table whatever the occasion is.

It is prepared by sauteing garlic and onion, then add the pork and boneless chicken and saute for another 2 minutes. Put the chicken liver and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and let stand for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and oyster sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Then you can now add the cauliflower, cabbage, carrots. Mix well and add the snow peas and bell pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes until vegetables are cooked. For a sauce to thickened, dissolved cornstarch in water and pour into th mixture and stir until thick. Then serve and share to the whole family.

SINIGANG NA HIPON

One of the most appetizing yet east to prepare Filipino dish is sinigang na hipon. Although there are several variety of sinigang to choose from, using shrimp as the main ingredient is simply irristible.

All you have to do is cooked fresh shrimp by boiling in a sour broth (souring agent is tamarind but some also use calamansi, guava, kamias and green mango) together with onion and tomatoes. When the mixture becomes soft you can now add the string beans and kangkong. And add some fish sauce according to your taste.

Let it simmer for 5 minutes and alas! You can now enjoy the delectable sinigang sa hipon serve with plain rice.

KARE-KARE

Kare-kare or kari-kari is another popular Filipino dish especially in the Tagalog region. It is made up of beef stew flavoured and thickened in a peanut based sauce and coconut milk with vegetables. Most commonly used beef cuts fo this dish are tail, face or shank or even the combination of three will do. You ca also use round or sirloin if these are not available.

All you need to do is first tenderized the meat and saute' in garlic, onion, bagoong, annato seeds then add coconut milk. After 5 minutes of boiling add the peanut butter and vegetables ( pechay, eggplant, banana buds from banana heart and string beans. If the sauce is thick you can add salt to taste.

Kare-kare is always serve with hot plain rice and bagoong on the side. You ca also serve it with a nice salad or green magoes if available.

CHICKEN AND PORK ADOBO

Adobo is popularly known worldwide as one of the most sumptous Filipino dish. Filipinos, even they are far away from the country still cook and enjoy this delectable dish.

The way it was prepared is marinating the pork and chicken with soy sauce,vinegar, garlic and crushed peppercorns. Then simply just fry the chicken and pork until golden brown and add the marinated mixture and simmered until oil from pork and chicken come out. Then partner it with hot rice that surely everyone will love.