one filipino dish a week

Risotto has a certain kind of mystic. At least to me it does. It’s something that I’ve only eaten at a restaurant. So it has to be complicated that only trained chefs can make it right? Well here it is, my first attempt at making risotto. As I’m looking at different recipes on how to make it I say to myself, I know it’s rice but the only way I make rice is in a rice cooker. Press a button and when the beep goes off you’re done. This one not so ’set it and forget it’ kind of procedure. Why can’t Ron Popeil come up with an easy solution for this? It’s time to over come some unsubstantiated fear of not being able to make it right and just get it done. Here’s what I did…
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I come home and I see T on the couch relaxing and she looks at me and says, ‘I made the dinner that we planned to have tonight. We’re having monk food.’

I was utterly confused at this statement, ‘Huh?!? I thought we were having split peas with spinach?’

‘Yes’, she said. ‘It’s like monk food.’
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Yay mongos! T and I rejoice every time we have it. It’s our favorite. I’ve always liked mongos growing up. Unlike my love - hate - love cycle relationship with eggplant, mongos has always stayed true. What is mongos? Well it’s apparently something that originated in India -thanks wikipedia. These are small beans green in color that makes lovely soups! I do associate mongos with lent because it is what we ate when I was growing during the lent season when no meat is allowed on Fridays. It’s perfect over white rice (but what isn’t?). Trust me Filipinos eat everything with white rice. I think the texture really has a lot to do with the character of the dish. True to most Filipino dishes there’s a few variations. I highlighted some common variations.
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Tonight I had an excellent dinner prepared by T. This is the first vegetarian paella I’ve had and it was fantastic! We bought a paella pan the other week and wanted to try it as soon as we could. This isn’t a traditional paella since there’s no meat but this was fantastic. Growing up I remember eating paella only on special occasions and it always had seafood. We’ll have to just to revisit paella in the future and cook the different versions.

This had fantastic flavor and texture. The contrast of the rice and crunchy cashews, the taste of the olives, bell peppers and the spice from the chili powder were great. Here’s how she made it…there’s an overwhelming amount of ingredients but don’t be afraid that’s why it tastes good.
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Stir fry to me is the ultimate quick weeknight dinner. It’s the go-to dish when it’s been a long day at work and I’m starving when I come home. There’s not too much fuss about stir frying. Mix veggies together (and some meat if you like) add a little bit of some kind of sauce serve over rice and you’re golden. It’s all about just putting things together that you like. This time around T and I made bok choy and snap peas stir fry over white rice.

The Asian store in Jersey City carries vegetables that you normally don’t see at the standard box grocery store. You’ll find bok choy at the grocery store every now and then but not most times. So we go to the Asian store for them. I’m actually quite conflicted with buying vegetables at the Asian store. As a food blogger I’m quite aware of the different movements for better food out there: local, organic, and sustainable to name a few. But when I’m buying at the Asian store I know that none of those are really taken into account. It’s just price. Quality is even second to price. Looking at these vegetables they don’t look like they’re the best. So I’m always conflicted because I understand that I probably should be doing more to save the planet and my health but I’m also on a tight budget. Am I being a bad food promoter? Am I letting the factory farms and big business win? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this topic if you have any comments.

Now that I’ve aired my thoughts out there it’s on to the cooking. For this evening’s stir fry it’s just bok choy, snap peas, shallots minced, garlic minced, ginger finely chopped, soy sauce, spicy chili sesame oil, vegetable stock, salt and pepper to taste, and oil for frying. This is really what was in the fridge that night but it’s really anything you like. You can put carrots, green beans, mushrooms, baby corn, green/red peppers, etc.

Put about 2 tablespoons of the frying oil in your wok or pan on high heat. Once the oil is nice and hot (right before it starts smoking) saute the garlic and shallots for a couple of minutes. Add the snap peas, ginger, and bok choy and fry until the vegetables are soft but still firm. Touch it, feel it, smell it. That’s the fun part about cooking. Then add vegetable stock and soy sauce probably about a 1/4 cup total. Whatever looks right for your amount of vegetables (it shouldn’t be like soup but it shouldn’t be completely dry). Salt and pepper and give it a try and add until it tastes good. Turn the heat off and add about 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil and mix. Serve over white rice. Eat right away! Clean up later.

What’s your go to weeknight dish?