For our first recipe this year, I decided to share one of my favorite dishes — Adobo Flakes — which is another variation of the popular adobo. This recipe and our version of Adobong Tuyo has a few similarities in flavor. Both dishes exude the distinct aroma and savory of garlic. The big difference is in the texture because Adobo Flakes is shredded.

Another interesting reason why I love this recipe is that you can turn most leftover pork and chicken meat into Adobo Flakes. Your leftover Chicken Tinola or Pork Sinigang can be instantly transformed into this adobo version without the conflicting taste in your mouth. Garlic and vinegar are strong enough to overpower other flavors. Why throw and waste your food if you have ways to save time and money with leftover recipes like this? All you need is a little bit of kitchen prowess and, well,  this recipe.

Adobo Flakes can be served as toppings on rice (or fried rice) or as filling in bread. Add fried egg or salted egg and fresh sliced tomatoes on the side. Prepare it using your weekend leftover food and bring it to your school or office for lunch on Monday. You may now stop wondering how those yummy Adobo Flakes in fancy restaurants are being made. Read on to learn how.

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Our old folks undeniably love our local kakanin. My mother and father, even my lola and tita when they were still alive, are huge fans of these sweet rice cakes. They come in varieties of flavor, color, shape, and texture.

In Malabon, the town where I grew up, kakanin can be found everywhere. Go to one of our public markets and you will see a special section that sells different kinds of kakanin with names you probably have never heard of. In fact, the city is known for its delectable sapin-sapin, kutsinta, and biko elaborately served in a colorful array on a round bilao.

On this blog post, I will share to you my mother’s recipe for Palitaw. We call it dila-dila in Malabon because of its distinct shape (dila means tongue). The name palitaw was derived from how it is being prepared. Palitaw or litaw means “to appear,” or in this case, “to float,” because it starts to float in water once it’s cooked.

If you want to learn how to prepare palitaw, refer to the recipe below:

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Aah, rainy days. It’s Saturday morning. No work. Too lazy to get up. You just nonchalantly decide to spend your entire day under the warmth of your blanket. Or perhaps, you just sit carelessly on your couch, watch your favorite old movie on DVD or maybe read that book you haven’t touched since you bought it from the thrift shop last year. What else could be more pleasant than these?

A cup of coffee?

A hefty serving of sopas?

What about a nice warm bowl of tasty and gratifying Chicken Arroz Caldo, no? Now we’re talking.

Arroz Caldo is a Spanish phrase which literally translates to “rice broth.” It has many names: rice porridge, congee, lugaw…the list goes on. It’s a common merienda/minandal (snack) in the Philippines which can be served both in the morning or mid-afternoon. I’m almost sure there’s always a gotohan (a casual restaurant; an eatery that serves a variety of meals especially rice congee) within your neighborhood that serves this. Okay, maybe not. However, since this meal includes chicken and rice, a staple food in many Asian countries, it is a complete meal by itself which can actually be served any time of the day.

The recipe below is a plain Chicken Arroz Caldo dish. There are a number of side dishes that you can serve this with. You can enjoy Chicken Arroz Caldo with hard-boiled egg, lumpia (or sumpia as we call it in Malabon which is commonly known as Spring Roll), tokwa’t baboy (fried tofu and pork), etc., and your common condiments would be patis (fish sauce), pepper, calamansi, soy sauce with vinegar, garlic, and onion.

Hey, you want it, right? Then get up and start cooking! Here’s the recipe for Chicken Arroz Caldo:

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This recipe is probably an exemption to the not-so-strict rules of this blog. I once mentioned in my introduction that I won’t be using canned sauces on my recipes. Everything would be traditional as much as possible, which means no shortcuts. But for obvious reasons, I cannot apply that rule here. And besides, it’s my food blog — I can always break the rules. Hah!

Seriously, the reason is Filipino Style Spaghetti is always prepared with canned tomato sauces. If I use fresh tomatoes (which I do sometimes with olive oil –> yum!) alone, it won’t be Filipino style anymore. Tomatoes are not naturally sweet, at least that’s not how we acquired the taste; It may be too sour for our palate. Hence, we add some sugar and banana catsup to balance the sweet, sour, and savory flavor. Why? Because that’s how we like it! It’s like Spaghetti Bolognese, but sweeter.

So my brother cooked Filipino Style Spaghetti yesterday, Sunday. I took some pictures, but it’s pretty much my own recipe inspired by my Tita‘s. My Lola was not a huge fan of spaghetti. She would rather eat Chinese noodles. Some credits also go to Joe, a college friend, who told me to add milk to the sauce to make it creamier. And, yes, it’s just so much better! If you have kids, I’m sure they will love this one.

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I know a lot of people who cannot fry eggs. For instance, a perfect sunny-side up: how do you make one without burning the edges or breaking the yolk. So here’s what I’ve been thinking — what if I create a few series devoted to our favorite ingredient? I love eggs whichever way they’re prepared. I have to say that they’re one of the most versatile and most important ingredients in cooking and baking. Let me know what you think.

Below is a basic egg sandwich recipe. Some people prefer to add onions or pickles or lettuce. Include them on the list of ingredients if you wish. Spice it up with some chili and garlic powder. Spread it on any type bread or crackers. It’s all up to you! But I like mine simple. Check out the recipe below:

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