Weekend Eats: Dinuguan and Laing

Not everyone knows that I have a son who is in a minor seminary, it has been 4 years now since he entered. After graduating from Elementary, he decided that he wants to continue his Secondary schooling in the seminary. Yes, for the first few months I was affected, was sad and always worried. But as time goes by, we got the hang of it, at least  we get to see him every weekend when he comes home. Every 1st Sunday of the month we get to visit him, it was the seminary's family day. We start the day with a family mass (with the whole community), then we get the rest of the day to spend it with our kids.

Every visiting Sunday, I make it a point that we bring my son's favorite foods. My son is really not an adventurous eater like his dad, he prefers Filipino dishes like Kare-Kare, Pochero, Embotido and the likes. These 2 dishes that I will be sharing with you are also on my son's list of favorites and I also bring it whenever we have potlucks in the seminary. It has always been a hit to my co-parents every time I bring these dishes, a big casserole won't be enough because they would ask for more. I am happy that they liked it a lot and I always end up bringing home an empty container, consumed up to the last drop!

DINUGUAN

1 kilo campto ng baka, cut into small cubes

3/4 kilo liempo, cut into small cubes

3-4 cups pig's blood, strained and set aside

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 bulb garlic, chopped

2-3 pieces medium sized onion, chopped

3-4 pieces medium sized tomatoes, chopped

1 cup suka for every kilo of meat

 2 pieces green sili (pansigang)

fish sauce and pepper, to taste

2 pieces bay leaf

1. Heat a heavy casserole, pour in cooking oil.
2. When the oil is hot, saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes
3. Add the meat pieces and fish sauce and cook until the meat is no longer pink
4. Add the vinegar, simmer and cover for 25 minutes. DO NOT STIR
5. after 25 minutes, add the strained pig's blood, sili pansigang and bayleaf and stir. turn fire into low heat and cover and simmer until done. make sure that you stir it once in awhile so it won't stick on the bottom of the casserole
6. taste and adjust seasoning if necessary
7. when it's done, turn of the heat
8. Serve the dinuguan hot with puto (sweet rice cakes) or steamed rice.

NOTE: if you think the dinuguan is not sour enough, please do not add vinegar. All you have to do is to add a little bit of sinigang mix (to taste).

LAING

25 pieces gabi (taro) leaves, dried and shredded

1/2 kilo shrimp

1/4 cup bagoong

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 red onions, chopped

2 tablespoons ginger, minced

3-4 pieces siling labuyo

4 cups coconut cream (kakang gata)

2 tablespoons of oil

1. In a casserole, sauté garlic, ginger and onions. 
2. Then add half of the coconut cream, bring to a slight boil on low heat
3. Add bagoong and gabi leaves, let simmer for 15 minutes
4. Add shrimp, sili and the remaining half of the coconut cream
5. simmer until oil comes out of the cream
6. Serve hot with plain white rice

NOTE: If you do not want it that spicy, you can use sliced green sili (the one we use in sinigang). I prefer using coconut cream because it is much richer and taste great. But if you prefer to add coconut milk, you can do so.

Dried taro leaves are readily available in supermarkets now, just visit the vegetable section of your favorite grocery.

You can make Dinuguan ahead of time, since it doesn't spoil easily because of the vinegar. If you have leftovers, just keep it inside the fridge, It taste even better the day after. Both dishes are easy to prepare, not a lot of ingredients needed.


Next week, I'll be sharing recipes that you can have for Noche Buena. The recipes will be shared by none other than my mother in law. 

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends in the US!