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Tasters' set of microbrew at Canmore's The Grizzly Paw

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A one-pot, two-dish Filipino recipe for under $10

2 Comments April 14, 2011

Ginisang bitsuelas and torta

Ginisang bitsuelas (sautéed green beans) Frying torta Ginisang bitsuelas and torta Stack of torta Torta and banana ketchup

My mother taught me another recipe from our family’s archives the last time we visited her in Everett. It was an instant hit in our household, not only for its economy but for its amazing versatility. I’ve been tweaking and perfecting these variations for my non-Filipino and vegetarian guinea pigs; they insist that it’s time to share the details with them (and the world).

Since this recipe can make two different dishes, I’ve separated the ingredient lists and steps below into the base sautée, the green bean variation, and the potato variation.

Our favourite way to take advantage of this? We make the base, use a third of it for the green bean stir-fry to serve immediately, and use the same pan to make the potato variation from the remaining base, which is reserved in the fridge and then finished for a hearty breakfast the following morning.

When you try it out, let me know how you vary the recipe to suit your household’s palate.

The base sautée

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 lb lean ground pork [vegetarian: omit or substitute diced extra firm tofu]
  • 2 tablespoons a) fish sauce, b) tamari soy sauce, or c) light soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 medium tomatoes, diced

Directions

  1. In a large wok or skillet, sweat garlic and onion in oil over low heat until onions are translucent. Don’t burn the garlic.
  2. Increase heat to med/high and add pork, fish sauce, and water. Stir to break the pork into tiny chunks. Cover and boil for 20 minutes until pork is cooked and liquid is completely absorbed.  [Vegetarian: skip step or use tofu and soy instead.]
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in tomatoes and cook until soft and thoroughly incorporated.

Dish #1: Ginisang Bitsuelas (sautéed green beans)

Ginisang bitsuelas (saute?ed green beans)

Ingredients

  • 1/3 of the base sautée, above
  • 1/2 lb green beans, thinly sliced on the oblique
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • Freshly cracked ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Using a sharp knife or mandolin, thinly slice your stash of green beans at a steep 20 degree angle. (That’s about as steep as the slant of a sandwich board.) If you’re really handy with a razor blade or are as old-school as my mom is, take a razor like the one above and shave off the slices like you would peel a carrot. Just don’t catch your wrist in it…

Razor blade, by scottfeldstein on Flickr

Razor blade, by scottfeldstein on Flickr (Creative Commons)

  1. Stir the green beans into the base sautée. Cover and cook on low/med heat until green beans soften and intensify their verdant colour. Don’t overcook – you want ‘em al dente for best mouthfeel results.
  2. Add butter and pepper to taste. If it isn’t salty enough, reseason with fish or soy sauce. Serve on a mound of steamed rice.

Dish #2: Torta (Filipino frittata)

Torta and banana ketchup

Ingredients

  • 3/4 of the base sautée, above
  • 1 medium Russet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • Freshly cracked ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Add potato to base sautée. Cover and cook on low/med heat until potatoes are softened.
  2. Transfer to a large bowl and cool mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. At this point, you can also call it a night and do the rest in the morning.
  3. Whisk eggs. Pour into cooled base and mix thoroughly.
  4. Heat oil on low heat in non-stick skillet or wok. Pour in a circle of the egg batter – about 3 heaping tablespoons’ worth. Season with pepper if desired. Cook, covered, until egg is firmly set.
  5. Flip over – using a plate if the torta is larger than your flipper – and cook reverse side for 1 minute or till lightly browned.
  6. Served with steamed rice and a side of (banana) ketchup or sweet and sour sauce.

Categories: Breakfast, Dinner, Filipino, Food, Recipes, Savoury

My recipe for Lumpiang Prito (pork and vegetable spring rolls)

4 Comments July 25, 2009

Lumpiang prito

Lumpia is one of my favourite Filipino foods to eat in the summertime. There are several types of lumpia, ranging from the fresh lumpiang sariwa to the meat lover’s lumpiang Shanghai. I myself am partial to lumpiang prito, which typically comes in the format of vegetables (and optionally pork) stir-fried, stuffed, and deep-fried in large egg roll wrappers.

You can get creative with the vegetables you choose. Sometimes we put in potato matchsticks, diced water chestnuts, chopped celery, green beans sliced on the diagonal…but the recipe below is our standard base and the one that our guest prefer.

Ingredients

That's a lot of knife work

  • 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ matchsticks
  • 1 head of chinese cabbage, shredded
  • 600g of bean sprouts
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 30 large egg roll (wonton) wrappers, thawed
  • Oil for frying (canola, grapeseed, sunflower)
  • 1 lb of ground pork

Directions

Lumpiang prito

  1. In a large wok, sweat garlic and onions over low heat until fragrant.
  2. Increase head to medium-high and sauté ground pork until meat is no longer pink.
  3. Add soy sauce to taste.
  4. Toss in carrots and stir-fry for at least  5 minutes or until slightly softened.
  5. Add shredded cabbage and stir-fry for at least 5 minutes or until colour perks up.
  6. Rinse and drain bean sprouts and add to wok, stirring until incorporated. Taste mixture and season with soy and/or fish sauce till you are satisfied with the flavour.
  7. Drain mixture of excess moisture and transfer to a storage container. Refrigerate until cool. This will be the filling for the lumpia.
  8. Wrap 1 tablespoon of cooled filling  in each egg roll wrapper. Place in a single layer on a large flat surface and let dry. If you are going to cook them right away, let them be; if you will keep them for later, store them in a single layer in the freezer until you’re ready to cook them up.
  9. In a deep fryer or pot, heat oil to 180C and maintain at this temperature.
  10. Drop a single layer of lumpia into the oil and cook 3 minutes on each side or until a very light golden brown (they will darken to golden brown as they dry).
  11. Drain on a plate of paper towel and serve promptly.

Makes 25 – 30 lumpia.

Categories: Blogathon 2009, Blogging for Social Change, Dinner, Filipino, Food, Lunch, Recipes, Savoury

Pinpin contest results: and the winner is…

1 Comment May 29, 2009

…TS of [eatingclub] Vancouver! Congratulations!

Pinpin Contest Winner: TS of [eatingclub] vancouver

TS has won a $30 gift certificate to Pinpin, my favourite Filipino restaurant in Vancouver. That should be enough for you and a friend with room for dessert. For that, I suggest any of the sago at gulaman, halo-halo, or leche flan.

Thanks to all 19 of you who participated in this contest. Some of you named dishes that I love: sinigang, kare-kare, lechon kawali, lumpiang prito. Some of you are enticing me to try sisig, which I can’t recall ever having before. And some couldn’t remember some of the dishes by name, so here’s my attempt to find them for you:

Banana BBQ

Darren, on deep fried plaintains – you may be thinking of Banana-Q (above) or turon (above, behind the flag), which is a deep-fried caramelized banana, often accented with jackfruit, wrapped to look like an egg roll and drizzled with caramel.

Tortang talong

Debbie, on eggplant and sinigang – the eggplant dish is likely tortang talong, and I have a tortang talong recipe on Tiny Bites for you.

Sentro: sinigang na corned beef

I also recently posted a recipe for corned beef sinigang, but the prep for the meat is more involved than it should be for regular sinigang. I’ll think about posting the recipe for the baby back ribs variant that we normally make in our kitchen.

Congratulations again to TS – I will contact you by email to spirit the gift certificate to you straight away.

Filipino Restaurant Series to date:

Categories: Events, Filipino, Food, Recipes, Restaurants, Sunset

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