Happy 2024! How was the start of the year at your end? Hoping it was great! Speaking of the recently passed holidays, I know everyone prepared many foods. I have been seeing some blogs about it, and that is what I am sharing for now. Yet, to begin with, I am not a good cook 🤣. I know simple dishes like frying, tinola, and sinigang (Filipino dish). Thus, I am trying my best now in preparation for being a Mom!
I went home on December 30th for the New Year's celebration since I didn't have a work schedule due to the holiday. While on the bus, I thought of frying a milkfish but wanted it to be cut precisely like sun-dried 🤣. Then, I will sprinkle bread cramps to ensure the crispiness! Just thinking of it feels like I am drooling already (pregnancy thing.)
It cooked perfectly to my preferences! Just like what I imagined, it was crispy and went well with sawsawan.
What I disliked about milkfish was that, unlike other fish, the cooking oil splashes so much that if you don't cover the pan, you will have burns.
Aside from this, I was also craving for sinigang. Some might get confused, but we have several flavors, such as Miso, Tamarind, Gabi, and Shrimp. You may use meat from pork, chicken, beef, fish, and shrimp. some meat won't taste good in every flavor, like fish, which tastes better for tamarind and Miso flavors but not in Gabi. What I wanted to eat was Sinigang sa Gabi, and pork meat was the best to use.
What are the ingredients?
- Pork meat
- Kangkong
- Raddish
- Gabi (Taro)
- Chili (the long green one)
- Knor Sinigang Mix
Thus, I apologize if I couldn't take photos of the preparation as my sister-in-law left her three toddler kids in my car for a while. So I was cooking at the same time, attending to their needs once in a while.
For a brief instruction, all you need to do is;
- Saute the pork with onions and garlic and simmer for a minute. Then add a cup of water, just enough for the meat and the veggies to be tender later. Once boiled, you may add the Taro, so it will stew well and add creaminess to the soup. As for me, I took all of it when it was soft enough and mashed it. Yep, like a mashed potatoes! Then add it back and add the radish, kangkong stems, and chili. Later, add the leaves and the *Sinigang mix after a while.
The soup looks creamier here now since I already added the mashed Taro.
It wasn't plated well as I took a photo directly of how I cooked it (I am already dining, so only a few veggies were left.) For the meat, since I wouldn't say I liked the taste since I got pregnant, I put it all in a serving bowl add some soup and gave it to sister in law 🤣. My baby was satisfied that day, and I felt that she/he was happy as I felt well!
I prepared only Fruit salad for the dessert later as it was the easiest!
I only buy a small fruit cocktail, cheese, all-purpose cream, condense milk, apples, and grapes. Mix it all, and I am done 😃.
One thing I only made sure of was it was not too sweet as my Mother and some sisters-in-law are watching their sugar levels. So, after tasting it, MIL commended me for doing a great job. Lol! Well, I am also trying my best to avoid sweets as I don't want to have a problem with my lab test 😃.
What about you? What did you prepare for last Holiday?
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All photos are mine otherwise stated
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