Monggos is the ultimate winter comfort food. I love the smell of the ajos, sibuyas, and kamatis sizzling in the pot before you add the rest of the ingredients, and how everything comes together in one big pot of deliciousness. Serve with rice and you’re in business.
My kid and I recently had an opportunity to cook and share a number of meals of monggos with our neighbors through our Oakland Town Fridge/Community Kitchens home chefs program. I was excited to share a bit of my heritage with our community!
This can be made vegan, pescetarian, or meaty. It’s up to you!
half a large yellow onion, sliced into thin half-moons
half a head of garlic (6 cloves), minced
1 tomato, diced
1 bunch of spinach
2 tsp. salt
fish sauce, if desired
1-2 cups crispy fried onions, or chicharron
Process:
Soak the dried beans in 3 cups of water in a stock pot for 30-60 minutes. While the beans soak, prep the rest of your ingredients.
Bring the pot of beans to boil over high heat. Turn the heat down and simmer the beans until they get soft, about 30-40 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the means are done, heat up a pan of the oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onions to the pan and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes until the tomatoes are soft.
Once the beans are soft, smash them in the pot using a big spoon or a potato masher.
Add the onions, garlic, tomatoes, and the remaining water (2 and 2/3 cups) to the stock pot. Season with salt.
Bring the pot back to a boil before adding the spinach and turning off the heat. You may also add fish sauce/patis.
Serve hot over rice, and top it with crispy fried onions or chicharron.
Fun family stories related to monggos:
My godfather used to get made fun of because his said was said to be shaped like a monggo :D
My godmother as a kid would run home to report that monggos was being cooked at the site of the latest funeral or wake.
My mom’s paternal grandmother would ask, “Unsay sud-an (what’s the main course)?” When “monggos” was the response, she would retort, “Sud-an ba na (you call that a main course)?!”
Cooking with Mommy Ebet: Salmon with Soy & Oyster Sauces
This recipe is almost literally as the name implies, and gets you in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes! Plus, it’s been Tita and Tito approved:
“I made it up,” Mommy Ebet says, laughing. “I cooked some, and then I asked your Tita Jing Jing to try it, then your Uncle Dan. And they both liked it.”
Cooking with Mommy Ebet: Baked Salmon with Onion Soup Mix & Lemon Mayo
This recipe has been a family favorite for literally more than a decade (Mommy Ebet started cooking this back in 2008, and my mom made a slightly different version even before that!). Can’t say salmon slathered with mayo is the healthiest choice, but it’s damn good. All in moderation!
Mommy Ebet is the eldest of my dad’s siblings. She also happens to be my ninang (godmother), and was one of our primary caregivers when when we were growing up. So having the chance to learn some of her recipes is extra special. Not to mention, everything she cooks is DEEEEE-LICIOUS, so lucky us!
Says my cousin Stacy of the dish, “It’s delicious! It has that French-oniony thing to it. It just reminds me of Mommy Ebet.”
“Why?” interjects Mommy Ebet. “I look like a salmon?”
“No! I could taste her love into the salmon.”
I’m sure you will, too!
BAKED SALMON WITH ONION SOUP MIX & LEMON MAYO
Makes 4-6 servings (the dish pictured is double the recipe)
Rinse the salmon in water, then place it salmon in a baking tray. Pat it dry with a cloth or paper towel.
Meanwhile, empty the contents of the onion soup mix packets into a bowl, and give it a good massage to even out the mix. (You can also skip this step)
Sprinkle about half of the onion soup mix onto the salmon; flip the salmon and sprinkle the remaining onion soup mix onto the flip side.
Cover the baking pan with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent the salmon from drying out while it bakes in the oven for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the mayo with the lemon juice and Salad Supreme seasoning. Adjust the ingredients to your taste. Ideally, the mixture will be tart. Set aside the bowl in the fridge.
When the salmon is done baking, pull it from the oven and uncover it. Increase the oven temperature to broil.
Retrieving the mayo from the fridge, spread it onto the salmon so that it completely and evenly covers it.
Place the salmon uncovered back in the oven on the top rack and broil for 5 minutes, or until the mayonnaise is slightly browned. You may also rotate the salmon after 3 minutes of broiling to ensure it gets evenly browned.
Savory Radish and Goat Cheese Muffins via TheKitchn
This isn’t a family recipe, but has definitely found its way into my go-to breakfast recipes. Who woulda thunk that radishes could shine (or even just belong!) in a muffin?! This recipe from TheKitchn’s Kelli Foster proves that they can and certainly do. Oh, they do. Just ask Aurelia, who ate them all up!
The muffins are buttery, soft, and cakey, and the goat cheese reminds me of the Pilipino bibingkas that are topped with sizable chunks of cream cheese. *Lightbulb!*
What a natural hand modeler, amirite?!
Can’t wait for the next time I get to make/eat these!
My family love love lovessss champorado. What’s not to love about chocolate rice porridge? When we made this recipe for the blog we also introduced it to Aurelia for the first time and she couldn’t get enough. There’s a slight bitterness to the tsokolate tablea that takes the edge off the sweetness, which I love.
This is a delicious breakfast comfort food that you can enjoy on cold, rainy days, or even in the middle of summer!
Aside from the rice (mom uses half regular, half sweet), the starring ingredient of this recipe is tsokolate tablea (Pilipino/Spanish translation: chocolate tablet).
Tsokolate tablea, also referred to as “tablea” for short, is exactly what you’d imagine chocolate tablets to be, and when it disintegrates under high heat it has a gritty and raw texture. Cacao was introduced to the Philippines by its Spanish colonizers, who would’ve acquired the plant from its other colonies in Central and South America (yes, the connections!).
I’m lucky in that a number of family members and friends have brought tsokolate tablea back from their travels to the Philippines, but tablea can be found at Pilipino markets or online.
CHAMPORADO
Prep time: None
Cooking time: 25 mins.
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked sweet glutinous rice (we used Pamana brand)
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
6 cups water (or, according to Mom’s measurements, half the pot, ha!)
6 pieces tsokolate tablea* (may be more or less, depending on the size)
1/2 cup brown sugar + more to taste
evaporated milk
Process:
Add all the rice (both kinds) to a pot of water. Cover, and bring the pot to a boil.
Once the pot is boiling, uncover slightly, and lower the heat to a simmer. Within about 5-7 minutes, the rice should be slightly translucent.
At this point, add the tsokolate tablea to the pot. It will take several minutes for the chocolate to fully melt--you can help a bit by smashing the pieces against the inside of the pot using your ladle.
Add the brown sugar, reducing or adding the quantity to your sweetness level.
Ladle into bowls and serve hot with evaporated milk, which can be poured over the champorado.
My first recipe post naturally features my mother, Gracia Marie (Marisse for short), to whom I owe at least 95% of my cooking prowess and love of all foods. And she’s a pretty damn good cook, so lucky me! Mom will be a regular here, so more about her later.
Though I’ve always wanted to write a post about pancit itom (literally black (itom) noodles (pancit)), one of my favorite dishes even before I became a pescetarian, this session happened rather serendipitously--I’d been hoping to catch my mom cooking and she happened to have all the ingredients for this dish!
It’s a simple dish but there’s nothing simplistic about its tastes and color, which might drive some people away. It’s salty, buttery, chewy, crunchy...and black(!), due to the squid ink included in the dish.
One of my earliest memories eating squid ink was in my parents’ first house, where the dining room had a huge mirror that was almost as wide as the wall. I would shove a spoonful of rice and squid in my mouth, then run to the mirror to watch my teeth turn black as I chomped away (not something I would do in public, I swear).
Don’t be intimidated by the color and the texture of the squid. It’s a fairly simple recipe, and if done right, you will not regret it!
PANCIT ITOM
Prep time: 20 mins.
Cooking time: 25 mins.
Ingredients:
boiled squid (sliced into 1/4 inch strips) + squid ink
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
(up to) 1 cup water
16 oz. pack - “Excellent” brand Rice Stick Bihon
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup Rufina brand Pilipino Patis (fish sauce)
3 stalks celery or 1/4 head of cabbage, sliced
calamansi or lemon wedges (optional)
Process:
Assuming you already have [marinated] the squid, set aside.
In a high-sided pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sautee the garlic and onions until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add squid and squid ink, sautee for another minute or two until heated through.
Add water--you’ll want only enough to cook the noodles with; any more and you’ll water down the flavor too much or worse yet: end up with soup!
Season with salt, pepper, and add the bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.
Add patis to taste.
Add celery.
Finally, fold in the bihon. Mix together until all the water has evaporated and the noodles are cooked.
My name is Angelica and I’m a food-loving pesce/vegetarian who is interested in 1) spending time with her loved ones, 2) learning more about her family’s history and culture, 3) cooking and eating delicious meals, and 4) taking photos and writing stories about said meals. So naturally, I’m turning to food-blogging :)
My primary intent with this blog is to record the stories and experiences of my loved ones (most of whom immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines) through the lens of food. If other people end up enjoying the content, too, that’d be the cherry on top.
Recipes will range from those passed down from the homeland, dishes my family has learned of late that have become staples at our family parties, and perhaps some guest appearances of re-hashes from my favorite food blogs (thekitchn, smitten kitchen, minimalist baker, joy the baker) and recipe books (Cravings, Issa Does It).
What with all the other things going on in my life (namely, child-rearing!), blogging seemed like a far-off dream.
With a little help from my leadership coach, I realize that it neither has to be far-off nor a dream! I can make things happen with just a little resolve and commitment. I still need to come up with a concept and a name, but I think those things will come in time. The important thing is I stop making excuses for myself and just get to writing and photographing.
I’m looking forward to finally helping bring one of my long-term projects to life!
Wishing I could relive (and re-devour) this delicious Pilipino-inspired meal, brought to us by Chefs @saloseries & @eats_by_e! Check them out on @eatfeastly. YUM YUM YUMMMM -- 1) sinigang poke 2) quail binakol (I gave my foul to @ukulenny ;) 3) ginataang alimasag 4) shrimp lumpia 5) tsokolate e 6) raspberry citrus #bibingka 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾 -- #jellennyeats #jellyeatsfishy
Freshly baked #pandesal courtesy of @ukulenny! Apparently the same recipe used to "woo" me...ha!
--
Five years ago this season, I received a text from a college acquaintance and El Sobrante neighbor with whom I'd recently reconnected.
He had baked some pandesal and would I like some?
I accepted, sensing some potential (for what, I wasn't yet sure), and at the very least I was getting to share in some fresh-out-the-oven pandesal! (🙌🏾)
Little did we know that the little roll of bread would spark an endless number of cultural and carb-filled adventures together!!! Happy pandeversary, @ukulenny.
My Banh Mi experiences haven't been extensive (I'm a pescetarian, after all), but this was THE BEST Banh Mi of my life. Bread was perfectly crispy and soft, and the flavors (including chili instead of jalapeño) were so full and complex. DELISH! And for 20k dong
Today was a good day. #jellennyeats: Mango Bubble Waffle Parfait with cheesecake bites and cornflakes #jellenny #jellyeatsfishy (at Bubble Tea Shop Robson)
Smitten Kitchen's Spaghetti with Swiss Chard recipe My first home cooked meal in way too long!! Not only have I missed cooking for myself and being creative in the kitchen, but I'm also sorely in need of saving money for the wedding, so here we go 2016!!!
