Tag Archives: adobo

Sunday Game Plan – Filipino Restaurant Week 2018

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Happy Mother’s Day! I grew up eating homecooked Filipino food – adobo, sinigang, tinola, pancit, kare-kare and lumpia. The first meals I’ve made as a child were rice, lumpia and turon. These meals were very cost-effective and it would be difficult to open a successful Filipino restaurant because every Filipino would prefer their home cooked meals. However, over the last few years, there have been growing number and popularity of Filipino restaurants that opened in New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. My personal speculation is that Filipinos have become more educated and business savvy to successfully market what is considered authentic Filipino food.

Starting tomorrow May 14 thru May 26, Filipino Restaurant Week will take place in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. The goal will be to celebrate the various flavors of Filipino cuisine with special prix-fixe authentic and fusion meals. It’s $25 for lunch/brunch and $35 for dinner.

Last year, a group of my girl friends attempted to take advantage of the brunch pre-fixe at Jeepney in New York City, but, instead we chose the bottomless brunch for $29 with a side of kamote fries. The unlimited mimosas both in mango and kalamansi flavors were so good. Below are images of the entrees we ordered as part of the $29 bottomless brunch deal.

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Chola Burger $17 (ala carte)

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Longsilog $12 (ala carte)

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Kamote Fries

After reviewing the menus and offers for this year’s Filipino restaurant week here is my proposed game plan for New York. There is little chance I’ll be able to head to New Jersey let alone Philadelphia.

  1. Kuma Inn (113 Ludlow St., 2nd Floor) – cash only
  2. Maharlika (111 1st Avenue)
  3. Mountain Province (9 Meserole Street) – lunch/brunch
  4. Talde (369 Seventh Avenue)
  5. Tama (147 Lewis Avenue)
  6. Tito Rad’s (49-10 Queens Blvd. )
  7. Ugly Kitchen (Kamayan Night)

We will continue to keep you posted; check out my Instagram and follow me: tablespoonsandteaspoons. Stay tuned.

Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday – Pork Dishes Filipino & Thai style 

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Today’s first Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday post of 2017 is a double duo, filled with cultural and food experiences that I can identify with – Pork. 

Although pork is forbidden in some cultures, it is also one of the most popular types of meat in eastern Asia especially in the Philippines and Thailand. 

Pork, the product of the pig comes in a variety of forms and there are many ways of preparing them for consumption. 

In the New Year, one of the lucky foods to consume is pork because the pork is said to be rotund, which signifies prosperity. Since it is derived from the pig, the animal itself “roots forward” symbolizing progress.  Not only pork brings good luck it is also healthy. 

Health Benefits of consuming pork include: 

– Protein for growing and maintaining muscle

So, given this information for the occasion I decided to turn back time to several posts here as well as my own experiences to attempt a healthier yet authentic version of the Filipino adobo and Thai grilled pork (moo ping).  Better yet the cost to make both of these dishes was under $10 and it serves 4 people plus leftovers. 

Pork Belly Adobo

The pork belly was sliced and marinated in 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of tamarind sauce, 4 tablespoons of datu puti, garlic, onions, ginger and bay leaves. The only addition added was star anise. The dish was marinated for 3-3.5 hours at room temperature.  The dish was prepared as described in one of my earliest post: Chicken Thigh Adobo. 

Moo Ping – Thai grilled pork

One of father’s favorite Thai dishes is moo ping, translated in Thai for grilled pork. Inspired by one of the best pork dishes at Ayada, I attempted to replicate the dish while keeping it healthy. 

Pork shoulder was sliced and marinated in garlic, cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar for 3-4 hours prior to grilling. Normally this dish is prepared in skewers. 

So today we covered a throwback recipe and a flashback dish at a restaurant to make two lucky cultural pork dishes for the New Year. Hopefully this double duo will help Tablespoonsandteaspoons progress to bigger and better 2017. Cheers! 

Traditional Tuesday – Chicken Thighs Adobo

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I know it’s officially no longer Tuesday, but I want to keep my word on posting a dish involving ingredients from the Sunday Game Plan.  One of the dishes from the Sunday Game Plan is Chicken Thigh Adobo.

Adobo is a popular dish in the Philippines.  Adobo in English means “vinegar braised”.   The main marinade of the traditional Filipino adobo dish is soy sauce and vinegar.  This dish can be made using any type of meat or even vegetables.  Personally the best adobo dish to make is pork belly, but for now, we will use chicken thighs.  Chicken thighs is a great piece of meat to cook with because it has all the flavors and juices in it.  Plus, it’s definitely healthier than pork belly.

Making this dish brings memories from my grandmother and mother who tried to pass on this family recipe.

Chicken Thighs Adobo – Serves 5

5 pieces of chicken thighs = 239 calories/piece of chicken thigh

5 tablespoons of Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce = 10 calories/tbsp.

5 tablespoons of Datu Puti Native Vinegar (any vinegar will work) = 0 calories

3 garlic cloves, sliced = 13 calories

3 bay leaves = 6 calories

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper = 4 calories

1 teaspoon of brown sugar = 17 calories

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Ingredients for marinade

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Chicken Thighs

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Combine all marinade ingredients

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Pour marinade on the chicken thighs and let it sit on room temperature for approximately 90 minutes.

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Turn the chicken thighs over and let it sit for another 90 minutes.

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After 90 minutes, turn on the heat on medium/high and let the mixture boil.  After boiling, add as much water to your preference (personally I love the marinade so I add approximately 4-6 cups of water so the mixture won’t be too concentrated).  Turn the heat on low, cover the pan and let it simmer for 30 minutes, turning once halfway.  After 30 minutes, open the pan and let it cook for another 20 minutes on low heat until the liquid is reduced.

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Transfer the chicken thighs on a plate.

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Pour the marinade over it.  This appears really greasy, but it’s the chicken fat with the marinade ingredients.  No oil was added during the entire recipe.  Serve with rice.

Current pantry: Soy sauce, native vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, ground black pepper and brown sugar.

Chicken Thighs: On sale at Stop & Shop for $0.88/lb. but it comes in 4-5 lb. packages.

Calories/serving: 289 calories.