Home-made Spanish Style Sardines

  As a native Filipino,part of our weekly food list in Philippines is a tin of sardines. We cook this with any vegetables around or just serve it with tomato and onion. I don't buy it since I learn how to cook it. It is really fantastic,nutritious food. You can serve it with your favorite salad,it goes well with cucumber,tomato,scallion and a squeeze of lemon....love it!


    INGREDIENTS:

         1 kilo SARDINE (tamban)
          or 1 kilo BANGUS
         1 medium size Red Bell Pepper. (cut into strips)
         1 pc. pickled cucumber, sliced crosswise
         1 med. size carrot, sliced crosswise
          bay leaf
          peppercorns
          Bird's eye chili (siling labuyo) (optional)
          olive oil or corn oil
          salt

       8-9 pcs. 8 oz wide neck glass bottle for Sardines(tamban)
      6 pcs. 16 oz wide neck glass bottle for bangus


    METHOD;

Clean fish and cut head and tail off leaving the mid section, length according to bottle’s height. Remove fish innards and wash thoroughly, place in a colander and let drain until almost dry, wipe off all traces of blood. Roll fish in salt and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Now remove excess salt off the fish and put inside the bottle, insert at the side of each bottle 2-3 sliced carrots, 2-3 sliced pickled cucumber, 2-3 strips of bell pepper, 2 bay leaf, 5 peppercorns and siling labuyo (if using). Pour oil up to the neck of each bottle, put on the bottle cap and loosely close. Put a rack inside the pressure cooker and arrange the bottles. Pour water into the pressure cooker up to about an inch below the bottle neck. Cover and seal the pressure cooker and turn on the heat, when the pressure cooker starts to whistle lower the heat and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the heat and release the pressure before opening pressure cooker. Check the level of oil on each bottle, add more oil as necessary, let cool down to warm temperature and lock the bottles. Wash the bottled sardines. Keep the bottled sardine for 2-3 days to cure before serving. But its ready to eat whenever you want. Enjoy!

Claypot Rice

   I love this recipe because it is very easy to prepare and deliciously enjoyable if you  are a rice lover like me. Ingredients can find in every Asian supermarkets in UK. Soppused to be cooked in claypot but I did cooked it in our rice cooker. It will come out nicely to a non-stick rice cooker or pot.

  INGREDIENTS;

       500g Chicken
       4 cups rice
       1 stalk spring onion (chopped)
       2 inches ginger
       6 shitake mushrooms (soak in hot water for 30 minutes and cut into halves)
       1 small piece salted fish (cut into small pieces)
       2 Chinese sausage (sliced) – optional

 Seasoning for Chicken:

        3 tablespoons oyster sauce
        3 tablespoon soy sauce
        1 tsp. chicken boullion powder
        1 teaspoon corn starch
        1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
        1/4 tsp. pepper
        1/2 teaspoon sugar
        2 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry

  For the Rice;
       4 tablespoons soy sauce
      1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
      2 teaspoons cooking oil
      1 pinch of salt

 METHOD:


Cut the chicken into pieces,add in the seasoning and marinate for at least an hour in the fridge.
Rinse and clean the rice in a rice cooker as if you are making steamed rice after the chicken is marinated for an hour. Rinse and clean the rice in a rice cooker as if you are making steamed rice after the chicken is marinated for an hour,add the rice seasoning as well. At the same time, heat up a wok with some cooking oil. Add in the chicken and shitake mushrooms. Quickly stir-fry the chicken until half-cooked. Add in the chopped spring onions. Dish out and set aside. Deep fry the salted fish and set aside. Add the chicken into the rice cooker when the rice is almost dry. Leave the rice cooker on “Warm” for about 25 mintues before serving. Top the chicken rice with fried salted fish and serve immediately.