Quail Eggs And Shrimps Special

Ingredients:

24 pieces quail eggs, boiled and shelled

1/2 kilo fresh large shrimps, shelled and deveined

200 grams sweet green peas

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced mushrooms

1 cup diced ham

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 Tbsp. Virgin Olive oil

1 Tbsp. Minced garlic

1/2 cup diced onions

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 piece Knorr chicken cube

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

Melt half of the butter in a saute pan and quickly stir fry the cleaned shrimps just until they turn pink, you may do this in batches. Set aside the cooked shrimp. 

On the same pan melt the rest of the butter and add the olive oil, stir fry the garlic, add the onions, cook for a minute until onions are translucent. 

Add the carrots, the green peas and stir fry for two minutes. Add the mushrooms and the ham, continue cooking for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Sprinkle the flour into the vegetables and ham, continue stirring and stir frying for a minute until you do not see any more flour. 

Add to the mixture in the pan the Knorr cube and all the water, bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat, continue to stir until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Add the cream to the mixture in the pan, stir and allow to simmer on low heat for a minute. 

Add the quail eggs and the cooked shrimps last so that it will not be overcooked, until they are just heated and mixed well to blend with the other ingredients. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving plate. 

Serve and Enjoy!

OYSTERS ADOBO

Fresh oysters are a delicacy that abound in almost all coastal towns in the Philippines. Actually oysters are

cultured in some provinces but they are available almost anywhere. In our hometown of Orani, Bataan, oyster gathering is a source of income for the fishermen whose families do the selling in the markets or even just in front of their houses or along the roadside they are on display already in small bags or even baskets or kaings. If they are big it is better to enjoy them in their shells or if they are smaller, they are good for kinilaw or adobo. Oysters when they are freshly shucked do not shrink too much when cooked, I cook oysters adobo only when they are fresh.

Ingredients:

1 kilo      freshly shucked oysters, picked, cleaned, blanched and drained

1/2 cup   virgin olive oil

1 big       garlic head, chopped

1 cup      vinegar

2 pieces  laurel leaves

2 Tabsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp.   freshly ground peppercorns

Procedure:

In a non-stick saute pan, put the oysters, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and vinegar. Let boil but do not stir. When the vinegar is cooked, remove from heat and drain everything. Reserve the broth.

In  same pan, heat the olive oil and stir-fry the drained oyster with all the garlic until almost dry and brownish, then add the 2 Tabsp. soy sauce.  Remove from pan with the oil and set aside.

In the same pan, pour the reserved broth and bring to a boil and cook until broth is reduced to a flavorful consistency. At this point add the stir-fried oysters with the olive oil, bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Adjust seasonings.

This is good to eat with hot rice or can be served as an appetizer as toppings on toasts.              

 

BONELESS BANGUS OR MILKFISH

Department of Agriculture:  http//www.da.gov.ph/tips/milkfish.html

                                                    

                      Bangus or milkfish is my favorite fish.

                      It is abundant in the Philippines.

                      Actually, this is our national fish. There

                      are many ways by which this fish can be prepared.

                       Every family has their own style of preparing

                       bangus like plain fried, broiled plain or with stuffing of

                       tomatoes and onions, stewed in vinegar, in sour broth

                       with vegetables and or smoked.  

                     

                      The latest trend about this ever popular fish is to debone

                       it first before cooking it so we don't get those spines

                       into our mouths. Since this is my most favorite local fish I

                       tried my best to learn how to debone it.

                      I watched and learned from fish vendors in Orani, Bataan

                      who are experts in deboning bangus and here's how

                       I debone my bangus.

Procedure:

1.  Wash the fish

2. Split the fish butterfly style

3. Remove the internal organs, gills, blood and slime then wash the

    fish thoroughly

4. Remove the backbone and dorsal fins by means of a sharp knife

5. With the use of forceps, remove the spines at the belly cavity.

    This can be done easily because the spines are superficially

     embedded.

6. Debone

  Make a halfway slit along the flesh of the dorsal and ventral muscles

  with a knife. Remove spines one after the other by inserting the forceps

  between the segments of the dorsal and ventral muscles.

Continue removing the spines in similar manner on the dorsal and ventral

 areas until all spines are removed.

                                                      

From the dorsal portion, there are approximately 44 branching spines

embedded between the muscle segments. Starting from the nape along the lateral line 22 spines are embedded and along the ventral muscles are 24 spines.

Here's some extra tip: In order to remove the spines at the tail area

make sufficient vertical slits along the tail area flesh ad work the knife

to expose the spines like in the photo.

See how those spines are easily visible for me to remove them.

Do the same along the other side of the fillet.        

                                                       Freshly caught fish is harder to debone. It must at least rest to firm the

flesh or put them in ice.

After removing all the spines I use my hand to flatten slightly the flesh and it will look as if nothing happened. It will look okay.

Rub enough salt on the deboned bangus to give it flavor and to  prepare it for cooking.

This is now the finished boneless bangus and it is now ready to be marinated or cooked in whatever way I want. I prefer to make it into Lamayong Boneless Bangus. For every salted half-kilo size bangus I add 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 head minced garlic and 1 teaspoon powdered black peppercorns. I marinate the fish in a tightly covered plastic container and store in the refrigerator for at least overnight. The boneless bangus can be fried and serve with chopped tomatoes with chopped onions and mashed salted egg. Delicious!