Pakbet Tagalog recipe.

Ingredients: 1/4 lb pork, thinly sliced 1 large egg plant, chopped 1 medium-sized bitter melon, chopped 1/4 lb squash, chopped into 21 inch cubes 3 pieces large tomato, sliced 1 piece onion, sliced 1 tbsp ginger, minced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 6 to 8 pieces okra 1 bunch string beans cut in 3 inches length 4 tbsp shrimp paste 1 cup water 3 tbsp cooking oil Salt and pepper Cooking Procedure: 1. Heat the pan and put the cooking oil. 2. When oil is hot enough, saute the garlic, ginger, onion, and tomato 3. Add the pork and cook until color turns light brown (about 5 to 8 minutes) 4. Put-in the shrimp paste and cook for 2 minutes. 5. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until pork is tender 6. Put-in the squash and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until texture becomes soft 7. Add the remaining vegetables and mix with the other ingredients.Simmer for 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked. (Do not overcook the vegetables) 8. Serve hot with steamed white rice. Share and Enjoy! Chicken Halang Halang is the guinataan version of chicken tinolathat is popular on parts of Visayas and some areas in Mindanao. Halang halang literary means chili hot. Some versions of halang halang dont used coconut milk but use a lot of ginger and chilies, some of these versions are cooked semi dry. Sliced pork or beef strips are also used instead of chicken but with out the coconut milk, but stir cooked with a lot of ginger and chilies On my version of chicken halang halang cooking is similar to a chicken tinola the only difference is the addition of coconut milk and the broth is reduced to a saucy consistency of whitish coconut cream. The usual chili tendrils or malungay leaves can be added to the dish if available. The recipe is simple and here it is. Ingredients: 1 kilo chicken 3 thumb size ginger, cut into strips 1 small size papaya, cut into wedges 1/2 head garlic, choped

1 medium size onion, chopped 3-5 pcs. green chili 1 cup coconut milk powder 1 bundle dahon ng sili (if available) 1-2 stalk lemon grass 2 tbsp. peppercorns 1/4 cup patis salt cooking oil Cooking procedure:

Cut chicken into serving pieces with the bones intact. Wash thoroughly and drain, set aside. In a sauce pan saut garlic, onion and ginger. Add chicken and patis, stir cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add in lemongrass, green chilli, peppercorns and 2 to 3 cups of water and 1/2 cup of coconut milk powder diluted if 1 cup of water, bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until chicken are tender. Then add papaya and the remaining coconut powder diluted in 1/2 cup of water, cook for another 5 to 8 minutes or until papaya are cooked and the broth is reduced to a saucy consistency. Season with salt if required. Add in dahon ng sili and cook for another minute. Serve hot. Chicken Tinola, back in the province tinolang manok would be made of native juvenile chicken or chicken hen that start to lay eggs. At least fresh chicken is available here as mentioned in my previous post that will do on my tinola dish tonight. Sometimes chili tops or dahon ng sili is available in one of the neighborhood Asian store but not today, so spring onion and siling pangsinigan would do the trick. On this recipe I also used lemongrass or tanglad to further enhanced the ginger flavor. I like my tinola with a bit of sweetness. I normally use papaya that is

beginning to ripe this give a sweetness flavor of the broth, its not available also so a tablespoon of sugar will do the job. Ingredients: 1 k. chicken 2 thumb size ginger, sliced 1 small size papaya, cut into wedges salt 1/2 head garlic, minced cooking oil 1 medium size onion, chopped 3 siling haba 2-3 stalk spring onions or dahon ng sili 1-2 stalk lemongrass 2 tbsps. peppercorns 1/4 c. patis 1 tbsp sugar Cooking procedure: Cut chicken into serving pieces with the bones intact. Wash thoroughly and drain, set aside. In a casserole saut garlic, onion and ginger. Add chicken and patis, cook for 2-3 minutes or until meat change to golden brown. Add in lemongrass, peppercorns and 8-12 cups of water and bring to boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes or until chicken are tender. Then add papaya simmer for another 3-5 minutes until papaya are cooked. Season with salt and sugar if required, garnish with spring onions and sili and cook for another 1 minute. Serve hot. Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon is an Ilocano version of chicken tinola. This dish is best with native chicken hen preferably those that have started laying eggs. For this reason the dish is something special that is served at Ilocano households to important or especial guest. Bitter guard in a chicken ginger soup might not sound right to most Pinoys especially those who shy away from ampalaya, but I assure you it is a delicious dish. Of course any chicken can be used should a free range native chicken is not available. Here is the recipe. Ingredients: 1 kilo chicken 1/2 kilo sotanghon, vermicelli noodles, soaked in water 2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips 2 bundle ampalaya tendrils, remove from stem 1 bundle chilli tendrils, remove from stem 1/2 head garlic, chopped 1 medium size onion, chopped 3 pcs. siling haba, green chili 1/2 cup patis, fish sauce

salt and pepper cooking oil Cooking procedure:

Cut chicken into serving pieces with the bones intact. Wash thoroughly and drain, set aside. In a casserole saut garlic, onion and ginger. Add chicken and fish sauce, stir cook for 2-3 minutes or until meat changes to golden brown. Add 8-12 cups of water and bring to boil, simmer for 1015 minutes or until chicken are tender. Then add vermicelli noodles and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until noodles are just cooked. Season with salt and pepper if required. Add inampalaya tendrils and green chili and cook for another minute, now add the chili tendrils. Serve hot. Boneless Crispy Pata. I was watching a video of an episode ofDelicioso hosted by Sam Oh and Jackie Ang-Po, the guest cook is no other than the amusing Chef Boy Logro. On the video Chef Boy Logro explain how to debone a pork leg. Click here to see that Delicioso Video (Then I got inspired to make a simple boneless crispy pata that I could share. I know its not easy to debone a big pork leg. Here is a better and easier way to debone and cook boneless pata. You would not need all those methods that chef boy Logro explained in the video, it is however important that you watch the video to learn how to debone a pork leg. For my method select a moderate or small size pata. Ask the butcher to cut the pork leg in two at the joint, cut and discard the ends where the nails are (if you wish you may keep it for other use). Now that the pork leg is cut into two pieces it is easier to debone and of course cook. When the pork leg is deboned, straight away boil it till tender with the aromatics and generous amount of salt. Do not bother wrapping it with cloth, during boiling the pork leg will spring back to shape. Boiling is somewhere between 1 to 2 hours but do not overcook we dont want the skin to disintegrate. See my previous post of crispy pata. Before frying using a fork prick the entire skin, do not worry of over doing it, prick as close as possible similar to the Lechon Macao

recipe. Fry in hot oil otherwise it will stick to the bottom of the frying pan. BigWARNING though expect a lot of oil splashing. Here is the recipe of my Boneless Crispy Pata, again watch out for those hot oil.

Ingredients: 1 whole pork leg, cut in half, deboned 1 small can Sprite or 7-up 1 whole garlic 1 tbsp. peppercorns 2-3 pieces bay leaves 1 tbsp. soy sauce salt to taste cooking oil

Cooking procedure: Wash pork leg and place in a big pot. Add Sprite or 7-up and enough water to cover the pork leg. Add 3 tbsp. salt, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves and soy sauce. Cover and bring to a boil, simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours or until tender. Remove all scum that rises. Remove pork leg from the pot and place in a colander and let sit for a while so the liquid will drain. Dry with paper towels if necessary. Keep refrigerated for several hours. Before frying using a fork prick the entire skin as close as possible. In a large wok heat enough cooking oil and deep fry leg until golden brown, turning occasionally and blisters starts to appear on the skin. Drain on paper towels. Slice crispy pata into rings and serve hot with a choice of dipping sauce.

Tinuno nga Buksit ti Baboy, Grilled Pork Belly. Tinuno or inihawis a popular way of cooking fresh meat and fish in Ilocos. Using the basic or simple marinade only or just season with salt in this way the true flavors of the meat or fish is not masked but enhanced by the marinade used. Pork belly is one of the best parts of pork for grilling. Especially if the pork is really fresh, means just butchered. Just season the liempo with salt and strait to the charcoals. How I miss those fiestas in the province where backyard grown hogs are butchered just for the occasion. Ingredients: 1 kilo pork liempo, belly, cut into 1/2 thick strips 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup kalamansi juice

1 tsp. sugar Cooking procedure:

Wash pork belly, remove any traces of blood and drain. Marinate with soy sauce, kalamansi and sugar for 3 hours or overnight. Grill at medium to high heat for 5-8 minutes on each side. Baste with the marinade in between. Do not overcook, it should be moist inside, just cooked and slightly burnt outside. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Embutido, Changes are most likely the embutido you bought at your favorite supermarket or even your office mate taste like bread or flour at times you wont even recognize that embutido is supposed to be the Pinoy equivalent of meat loaf therefore should be made up of meat. The reason is commercial embutido are full of extenders to compensate for the high prize of meat and to make it affordable to everyone. Now I would like to share a recipe of a real meat embutido. If you have a steamer or can set up your ordinary pot as steamer, all you need is a rack that fit inside the pot, Making embutido is fairly easy, aside from steaming there is no other especial cooking technique. Enjoy Ingredients: 1 k. ground pork 4-6 slices sweet ham, finely chopped 1 small size carrot, finely chopped 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 3 pcs. big size egg, beaten 1 small size red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 small size green bell pepper, finely chopped 3 pcs. hard-cooked eggs, quartered into wedges 5 pcs. regular hotdog, sliced into halves 1/2 c. sweet pickled relish 1/4 c. raisins, chopped 1/4 cup cornstarch 2 tbsp. soy sauce salt and pepper Cooking procedure:

Except the hard boiled eggs and hotdogs, in a big bowl combine all the ingredients and mix until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the mixture into five portions. Divide also hard boiled eggs and hotdogs into five portions.

Prepare five square pieces of aluminium foil and place on top of each other on a flat surface. Spread and flatten one portion of the mixture onto the center of each foil, Place one portion of egg wedges and hotdog slices at the center of each mixture and hand roll until the mixture covers the eggs and hotdogs. Now roll the aluminium foil into a tightly packed log about 2" in diameter, twist and seal both ends. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Arrange the embutido side by side in a steamer and steam for one hour. Let it cool, discard aluminium wrapper and slice into rings. Serve with ketchup or sweet chilly sauce.

Dinakdakan. This dish was a requested by a regular reader, yzraph here it is. Dinakdakan is an Ilocano grilled pig head/face, it is a somewhat similar to sisig how ever dinakdakan is cut in small slices against sisig which is chopped or cut in small cubes. It is actually serve as appetizer for those who love drinking liquor but it is equally good for viand. Preparation is similar to pork kinilaw with the addition of pork brain and/or mayonnaise. Ingredients: 1/2 pig head/face, cut into two parts (including brain optional) 1 thumb size ginger, chopped finely 4 medium size onion, chopped finely 3-4 pcs. siling labuyo, chopped finely 1/4 cup vinegar 1 tbsp. peppercorn 3 pcs. bay leaf 1/2 cup mayonnaise coarsely ground pepper salt Cooking procedure:

In a big casserole boil pig head/face, peppercorn, bay leaf and salt for 30-45 minutes or until tender and skin can be separated from the skull. On the last 5 minutes of boiling pig head/face add in brain if using, boil in its plastic bag. Remove from casserole and drained in a colander until dry keep aside brain if using. Cut head/face parts into grilling size and grill until brown and crispy, Cut into small slices head/face part.

Put sliced head part in a big bowl. Toss in ginger, onion, siling labuyo, ground pepper, vinegar, mayonnaise, and brain if using. Season with salt to taste. Serve while its still warm or serve on a sizzling plate.

Paksiw sa Gata, Guinataang Tulingan. If you have a tulingan what kind of dish would you cook it. At times its a little difficult to decide on how to cook it. The smaller sizes can be of course cooked assinaing or even fried or walang kamatayang paksiw. The bigger sizes can be cut into slices best for frying, and of course you can alwayscook it as paksiw or adobo. Tulingan is also good for guinataan. The big ones are good for grilling, just grill the whole fish in charcoal. I have these 1 kilo piece of tulingan and I didnt think twice I want to cooked it paksiw sa gata and here is the recipe. Ingredients:

1 k. tulingan, skipjack tuna, about 1 k. a piece 1/2 head garlic, crushed 2 thumb size ginger cut into thin slices 1/4 c. vinegar or 3 tbsp. sampalok sinigang mix 1 medium size onion, quartered 1 tbsp. whole black pepper 2 cups coconut milk cooking oil 3 whole green chilli 3 pcs. bay leaf 2 stalks leeks, chopped salt Cooking procedure:

Remove gills and innards of tulingan. Using scissors cut fins and tails. Wash fish thoroughly drain and slice diagonally. In a pot put garlic, onion and ginger at the bottom. Arrange sliced tulingan side by side, add 1 cup of water, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup vinegar or 3 tbsp. sampalok sinigang mix, bay leaf and black pepper. Season with salt to taste. Cover and simmer in a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, add remaining 1 cup of coconut milk and green chilli, simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until liquid is reduce to thick consistency but not dry. Garnish with leeks and cook for another minute. Serve hot.

Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew)

I have to remind you, this is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted. Particularly to non-Filipinos who might find this dish in some way disturbing or strange in their culture. I understand that most often, appreciation of entirely new food only happens after actually tasting it, like in the case of Japanese Sashimi and Korean Kimchi. Without really tasting this dish, we won't

expect you to immediately like it. Dinuguan or Pork Blood Stew is a Filipino savoury stew of blood and meat or offal or a combination thereof simmered in rich, spicy gravy of pig blood, vinegar, garlic and chili. While this dish is among the top favourite and very common anywhere in the Philippine archipelago, it is considered quite bizarre and startling in the Western Culture. Due to its dark and thick appearance, Westerners sometimes refers to it as Chocolate Meat. Unusual as it may seem but actually Dinuguan has similarity with other dishes of other countries. Singapore for one has a dish called Pig's Organ soup, which differs only from the vegetables it contains and the way it is serve which is soupy rather than thick consistency. Bataks of Indonesia has a similar dish as well called Sangsang made from pork or dog meat and sometimes water buffalo meat. In the West, they have their European-style Black Sausage or British Black Pudding in a saucy stew form. In appearance and preparation it closely resembles that of the ancient Spartan dish known as Black Gruel whose primary ingredients were pork, vinegar and blood.

I believe most Filipinos have childhood memories of this extraordinary food. During weddings, fiestas, and other special occasions in the Southern Tagalog provinces of the Philippines, this is the first meat dish that is usually served to early visitors, usually on the night before the day of the main occasion. I like this dish so much that my Aunts from Quezon, Laguna and Batangas will deliberately reserve a large portion for me whenever I cant arrive the night before of their occasion. While it is regularly served with rice during meals it can also be eaten with Filipino sweet rice cake (puto puti) during snack (merienda) which makes it very popular in small restaurants, carinderia, school & office cafeterias and roadside eateries. It is difficult to find pigs offal in Sri Lanka so I will use pork head in preparing the dish. We shall need half a head of pork or about 3.5 kilograms like the one I used in cooking Lechon Sa Hurno. Thoroughly cleaned and meticulously cleaned. Yes, clean it twice. You know how the pig uses their snout, dont you? :-)

In boiling the meat to pork tender, we need 8 gloves garlic, smashed, 1 large onion, quartered, 1 large carrot, peeled and quartered, 2 stalks celery, chopped, 2 pcs bay leaves, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp whole pepper, and enough water to cover. Yes your local carinderia might just be using salt and MSG. But you dont like MSG and this is the secret to dishes like this. Dont skimp on this, it will enhance the taste of the meat and the broth. Promise!

Place the pork head in a large, heavy casserole and cover with enough water. Let the water boil on high heat. Scoop out the scum as it rises during the initial boiling stage. This is important. Lower the heat to low and add all the above ingredients and continue simmering on low heat until the pork is tender. Flip the pork head half way to assure even cooking. This will take about 1 hours to 2 hours. Add some water if necessary, 1 cup at a time, hot if possible.

When the meat is fork tender remove from the broth, let it cool and drain. Filter the broth and set aside. We are using pork head so expect the broth to be oily. Scoop out the oil that floats on the surface and set aside. You can use it in sauting later. Dice the cooled meat to small pieces and set aside.

Meanwhile prepare the other ingredients: 1 whole garlic, peeled and minced, 2 large onion sliced, 2 pcs chili pepper julienned (Im using Sri Lankan type similar to bell pepper), 2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp ground pepper, 1 cup white vinegar, 2 pcs whole chili pepper (you can add more if using finger chili) and 4 cups blood, mashed into a pulp.

In a large thick pan heat about 2 tbsp of oil collected from the broth and saut garlic, onion and julienned chili pepper. Add the diced meat and continue sauting. Add salt and ground pepper and lightly stir. You can now smell the goodness of pork at this point. Before adding the liquid ingredients, you might want to lessen the amount of oil in the pan or take it out completely. I forgot to do this and my kids arent happy. :-)

Slightly lower the heat, add the vinegar and let it boil uncovered without stirring. When it boils, add in about 4 cups of the broth (just enough to over) and continues simmering on low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly. It should be slightly salty to accommodate the addition of blood later. If your blood has salt in it, you should consider that. When you are satisfied with the taste, combine your mashed blood and continue stirring. Add the whole chili pepper and cover, stirring from time to time until everything is fully cooked. If the sauce is too thick for you, adjust it by adding a small amount of broth.

There it is. Your Dinuguan is ready. Enjoy. c,) We have steamed rice but not puto. Pity me. Next time I will cook it using beef intestines and tripe in combination with some pork meat. I really miss the offal in Dinuguan. Cmon, as I reminded you right from the start, this is not for the faint of heart.

Lumpia or Lumpiang Prito or Lumpiang Gulay (Vegetable Spring Roll)

If you are thinking that lumpia, as most Filipinos have known it, is only popular in the Philippines, you are mistaken. It is also widely available and called by the same name in Indonesia. In fact, lumpia generally, are pastries similar to spring rolls that originated in China. The term lumpia was actually derived from a Hokkien language lunpia. The recipes for both fried and fresh versions were brought by the Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province of China to Southeast Asia and became well-liked where they settled in Indonesia and the Philippines.

You can also find the dish in the Netherlands and Flanders where it is called loempia which is the old Indonesian spelling for lumpia. There, it has also become the generic name for spring rolls. Another popular variant is the Vietnamese lumpia; which is wrapped in a thinner piece of pastry or wrapper. It is prepared in the same size of a spring roll though the wrapping closes the ends off completely like in a typical lumpia. The Filipinos have strong fascination to the dish. It is greatly appreciated that there are several varieties of lumpia in the Philippines all widely prepared and consumed. Among them are: lumpiang shanghai that uses minced meat in the filling and which I have already featured here for pork andhere for fish meat; lumpiang sariwa or fresh lumpia or fresh spring rolls that consist of minced ubod (heart of palm), flaked chicken, crushed peanuts and turnips in a double wrapping of lettuce leaf and a soft yellowish egg crepe or wrapper. It is sometimes called lumpiang ubod when heart of palm is the major ingredient. Other types are: lumpiang hubad which literally means naked spring roll and basically an unwrapped or no crepe lumpiang sariwa; banana lumpia or turon which is a traditional dessert made of thinly sliced ripe plantain bananas, a slice of jackfruit, dusted with brown sugar, wrapped and fried and which I also posted before; and finally the most common type called lumpiang prito or fried lumpia which is the one being referred to when only the generic word lumpia is mentioned. Fried lumpia consists of a briskly fried crepe or wrapper filled with sauted bean sprouts and various other vegetables such as string beans, cabbage and carrots. Minced meat or seafood may also be added. It is the least expensive among the variants, but the preparation could prove difficult and labor-intensive. It is usually eaten with spiced vinegar or a soy sauce-and-calamondin juice dipping sauce. To prepare the crunchy spring roll, we need the following veggies: 2 cups bean sprout, head cabbage, finely chopped, 2 carrots, julienned, 1 cups green beans, sliced diagonally, 1 leek, roughly chopped, 1 stalk coriander finely chopped, 1 large onion, roughly chopped and 8 gloves garlic, peeled and minced.

The other ingredients are as follows: 1 cups boiled chicken, finely diced, cup boiled pork, finely diced, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tbsp fish sauce or patis, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 chicken cube seasoning, 1 tsp ground pepper and 1 tsp salt or to taste (might not be necessary at all). Later on, we shall also need lumpia wrapper and enough oil for frying.

To prepare, first cook the filling. In a large wok or pan, heat the oil. Fry garlic and onion. Add in pork and continue frying. Add the fish sauce and continue sauting until the pungent smell escapes. Add carrots and green beans and continue sauting.

When the carrots and beans are partially cooked through, add leek, coriander and chicken. Add in soy sauce and ground pepper and continue sauting. Add the cabbage and cook for several minutes more. Taste and adjust saltiness by adding salt if it is still necessary. You can also add some more ground pepper if you like.

Transfer in large bowl and allow cooling. Remove the excess liquid that will accumulate in the bottom and set aside. This is good in making sauce for lumpiang sariwa which I will feature next time.

Now, prepare the lumpia. Using the same type of wrapper I used in my lumpiang shanghai and fish shanghai posts, take about 4 tablespoon of the filling (depending on the size you want) and wrap into rolls completely sealing the sides. Continue wrapping until the filling is all used up or you have enough lumpia and want to reserve some for next time. I usually wrap everything and freeze the excess lumpia for easy cooking next time.

In a small frying pan or sauce pan, heat about 1 cups oil. Fry the lumpia in batches. Cook each batch in moderate heat until golden brown. Flip over to cook the underside. Maintaining the correct temperature of the oil is essential to attain good results. Too hot and it will burn the wrapper, not enough heat and oil will enter the roll. Drain excess oil from the cooked lumpia using table napkin.

Serve warm and crispy accompanied with a dipping sauce of natural vinegar heavily spiced with garlic, onion, salt, sugar, ground pepper and lots of chilies and fermented for several days. Yummy! Its truly mouth watering. :-)

This could be served as a snack, appetizer or as main meal if serve alongside some fried noodle dish like pancit bihon andpancit miki. It is quite inexpensive but very delicious. Enjoy! c,)

Filipino Menudo Recipe (Pork & Liver Stewed with Potato and Carrot)

To be honest, I am not so much a fan of the Filipino dish called menudo. Given the necessity to cook, I would rather prepare adobo or estopado or even mechado. But since a friend requested the recipe of the dish, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, take another look, set aside my personal (and probably biased) reservations and prepare it for posting here. And I'm glad I did. after enjoying the dish, truly, I now have a better appreciation of the rather simple but delicious pork menudo.

Menudo is a common cafeteria or canteen or turo-turo or roadside eatery or small restaurant dish. It is actually exceptionally popular to most Filipinos, except me but including my better half (even if she does not eat liver), both in the provinces and in the cities. It is also a regular fare in most Filipino banquets and feasts during family occasions, special holidays and important gatherings. It is simple enough to quickly prepare but tasty enough to satisfy even choosy guests. The dish is a typical tomato sauce-based stew using small cubed pork and liver. Several types of vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, green peas, chick peas or garbanzos can be added as well as hotdog or sausage. The liver provides its distinct flavor while the veggies and especially raisins, if using, give its hints of flavorful sweetness.

While for me kasim or pork shoulder is the best cut of pork to use in this dish, the readily available (in our area) pork cube could well serve the purpose. Of course, other cuts of pork such as belly or liempo, round or pigue and leg cuts can also be used if its what you have. To cook this mass-based popular Filipino stew-style dish, we need about 850 grams of pork and about 300 grams pork liver, both to be cut to about inch cube.

Since it is difficult to find pork liver in our area of residence here in southern Sri Lanka, I then have substituted it with the ever-reliable chicken liver including its heart. The chicken liver is to be cubed as well while the heart can be halved.

The other ingredients needed are as follows: 6 gloves garlic, minced, 1 large onion (I could have used more..next time), chopped, 3 pcs hotdog or chicken sausage, lightly fried and diagonally sliced, 1/4 cups raisins, 3 pcs bay leaves, 1 cup sweet-style tomato sauce, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 medium potatoes, diced, 1 large carrot, diced, 1 pc green bell pepper, cubed, tsp ground pepper and tsp salt or to taste. Additionally, we need about 2 tbsp cooking oil and about 1 to 2 cups pork or chicken broth.

In a thick pan or wok, heat the oil and fry the garlic followed by the onion. Add in cubed pork including the halves chicken heart. Let the meat renders its own liquid and continue simmering on low heat until it is just tender. Add broth if the liquid is drying out.

Add in hotdog, raisins, ground pepper, bay leaves and salt. Continue sauting for a couple of minutes more. Add in soy sauce, tomato sauce and some broth and simmer until the meat is fork tender.

Add in potato, carrots and bell pepper and continue simmering. Add in cubed liver and cook for several minutes more or until the liver and veggies are well cooked through.

Transfer in serving bowls and serve with lots of steamed rice for a main meal or some crusty bread for breakfast or snack. This is simply tasty! :-)

The chicken liver did just well. Its soft and smooth texture even added richness to the sauce. Luscious.Enjoy! c,)