A celebration of life

Today, 13th of July, I've turned 37 and I'm wearing it proudly like a badge. We made the celebration a day earlier to accommodate those who have work and school on a Monday. Its just a small and simple celebration in fact its just my family, my parents and siblings, my mother in law and my bayaw with his family and a few pamangkin. Their presence made my birthday complete.

As I have mentioned in my previous blog about our plans for this day. Well it didn't turn out the way we wanted it last Saturday. Instead we just went out for a grocery and some happy meals for the kids.

The following day which is a Sunday, I woke up early and proceeded to Balintawak Market tagging along our new house help. I bought a weeks meal menu list. The pata I used was pre ordered a few days ago from my Kuya so that I could enjoy a huge discount on it. Eventually, my kuya gave me two large whole fresh tuna. He said its his gift for my birthday. Each tuna weighs about 2 kilos. So I was really thinking what to do with it.

At around 10:00 am after an hour and a half at the market, I hurriedly cook my pata and clean the tuna I got from my kuya. Still pondering on what to do with it. Should I cook it with coconut cream?, steam it with fresh herbs?, grill it?, or simply make a ceviche out of it. Ceviche is the Latin American version of our "Kilawin". Some say the name Ceviche was coined from the Spanish word "Escabeche" which means to marinate or from the word Cebo, a name given to corvina fish commonly used in Panama or Peru as main ingredient for their Ceviche.

I was really bent on going for a Ceviche but on the other hand I'm also thinking of our kids and a my nephew and my niece. They should also enjoy a fish recipe that a Ceviche may not be appropriate for them because of its sourness and spiciness. Finally I decided to grill it. What better way of grilling it is to marinate it with soy sauce, white wine, some ginger and garlic, a dash of pepper and sugar, and finely chopped chili's.

I sliced both Tuna and make medallions out of it. I placed them all on a bowl and pour my mixture and let it marinade for 3 hours inside the ref. Also I prepared a sour cream dip for an added tangy taste. Listed are my ingredients for the Tuna Recipe.

2 fresh whole tuna (1.5 to 2 kilos each) cut into half inch thick slices.

1 cup of soy sauce

1 cup of white wine (Chinese cooking wine or rice wine will do)

Dry sweet Sheree wine can also be use

5 cloves of crushed garlic

2 red chili chopped finely

Sugar (add according to desired sweetness)

pepper

Preparation:

After slicing the tuna into half inch thick. Place them in a shallow bowl and pour in the marinade mixture. Let it stay inside a refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. make sure to turn each slices a few times to evenly distribute the marinade. Grill them until a bit brown. Do not overcook them as they will become too flaky and may stick too much on your grill.

Dipping sauce:

2 box of Nestle all purpose cream

6 pieces kalamansi (juice extract)

pepper

dash of sugar (to balance the flavor)

finely chopped mint leaves

Pour 2 boxes of Nestle all purpose cream in a bowl. Add the kalamansi juice on it without stirring it. Let it stay for a while and you can notice the cream curdling up due to its reaction to the acid. After 10 minutes add the sugar and pepper and finely chopped fresh mint and stir it making sure the sugar is well dissolved. Place it inside the ref and just pull it out when you are about to serve the dish.

They enjoyed my tuna so much and ask me what kind of marinating mix I used. Also they find my dipping sauce just right for the tuna and perfect for the fried spring rolls my wife made. Its just a few hours of enjoyment, a few hours of laughter, of different stories to share, of eating and drinking. But to me that was one of the best birthday I ever had. They are all here, the people I held very very dear to my heart.

My Pata

Another year is passing and I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday this 13th of July (I never got out of 30 lol). My wife and I has made plans for that day. Since its a Monday, we'll be having a family date on the Saturday which is the 11th probably to watch a movie or anything that will make my kids happy. Then by Monday we'll just stay at home and prepare some good dinner. My wife is really craving for pasta and miracles of miracles, she volunteered to cook a pasta dish for me. I told her not to go for pesto base pasta since it'll be a little bit hard for her to prepare (she's 5 months preggy by the way). So I suggested a tomato base pasta using fresh tomato instead of canned or sauces. Its her call if she'll be using sea food or meat on it. As for me I'll be preparing a Chinese dish which we Filipino has learn to embrace and devour literally. Its called Pata Tim.

I usually use the front legs of the pig for this or for any other pata dish because its leaner and has smaller bone structures unlike the back part that has the elbow part which is a large bone thus lesser meat. In buying a pata or pork knuckles or feet, Make sure that it has lesser hairs and is well cleaned. Also look for skin ruptures in between its toes and if it has a bad smell even how little DON'T BUY it. Those are common signs of a Foot and Mouth Disease which are deadly to swine and may harm human if eaten. So go get your pork feet at the grocery stores or look for NMIC certificate if you'll be buying from a local wet market.

So how will I cook this and what are my ingredients? My mother, who by the way has been my mentor and inspiration in every meal I prepare (aside from my wife and kids of course :D) has taught me her way of cooking it. On every occasion she never misses out this dish and has gained popularity from our relatives and our loyal customers at my Mom's Carinderia (local diner). In fact she always get request and orders for this dish.

Listed below are my ingredients:

Pork Pata (front leg) - 1 whole piece with hooves removed and cleaned

Crushed or Chunk Pineapple in can - 1 medium size can.

Star Aniseed - 1 clove

Soy sauce - half cup (just add it little by little depending on your taste)

Whole pepper

Sugar - add according to taste

Carrots - 1 medium cut and sliced using shaped cutter

Leeks - at least 2 stalks

Procedure:

First is to boil the Pata in a casserole full of water. If your pata is 1 kilo just add 1 tbsp. of salt unto the water before boiling it. Let it boil until the meat become a bit tender. Do not over cook it then remove and let it drain for a while. Prepare a wok deep enough for your pata to be fried. Once again do not over fry it. Just enough until the skin gets a Little brown. Remove it from the wok and set aside. In a bowl mix together the soy sauce, sugar, the juice from the canned pineapple chunks. Taste it first before pouring it to the pork. It must have that salty and sweet taste with a hint of pineapple juice. Then, using the casserole before, place the pork in it and pour in the soy sauce mixture along with some pepper corns and the star aniseed. Make sure that it is at least 3/4 below the liquid mixture. If your sauce seems to fall short of that measurement, use part of the water we used to boil the pork before. Let it simmer until the sauce thickens.This will make the meat more tender to a point that it can easily fell off from the bone and the aroma and taste more flavorful.

Serve it on a platter and top with carrots sliced and shaped thinly for decoration purposes and some fresh leeks. Enjoy!!!