Sopas con leche

 

Sopas is the the Pilipino/Spanish word for soup.  It's almost similar with the American chicken noodle soup except for the creamy flavor due to the addition of evaporated (evaporada) milk.  My mother likes using shell or elbow macaroni but other types of pasta can be used as well.  

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of chicken breast including the bone and skin
• 1 large carrot - diced or bias cut
• 1 small head of cabbage - cut in small pieces
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 large red bell pepper - cut into spears
• 1 onion - chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic -minced
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
• chicken broth
• salt
• pepper
• 2 cups of elbow or shell pasta

Directions:

• Boil the chicken in 8 cups of water.  When done boiling, set aside the chicken stock.  Flake the chicken breast and set aside.
• Heat the cooking oil in a dutch pan and sautée the chopped onion and minced garlic.  Before the garlic starts turning golden brown or before the onion starts becoming transparent, add the the flaked chicken.  
• Add 6 cups of chicken stock and evaporated milk.  Let it simmer.
• Add the pasta and let it boil.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Check the pasta to see if they are almost cooked.  When the pasta has softened,  add the cabbage, carrots, and celery.  Add the red bell pepper last.

Tips:

Boiling the chicken breast with the bones and skin add flavor to the soup.
Timing is essential when cooking the pasta and vegetable.  Overcooking both would render the soup mushy and thick.
Adding the bell pepper last would prevent them from over-cooking.
Some people add hard-boiled eggs but it is not necessary.

PILIPINAS

Iglesia de San Agustin (Intramuros, Manila)
San Agustin Church is a Roman Catholic church under the auspices of The Order of St. Augustine, located inside the historic walled city of Intramuros in Manila. Completed by 1607,[1] it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.[2] No other surviving building in the Philippines has been claimed to pre-date San Agustin Church.

In 1993, San Agustin Church was one of four Philippine churches constructed during the Spanish colonial period to be designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO , under the classification "Baroque Churches of the Philippines". It had been named a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government in 1976.see more...

		see more...

Nilaga

by: Rowena Tañedo Little

Nilaga is popular soup in the Philippines. It is one of the easiest Pilipino dish to prepare since it does involve very much preparation. Along with other favorite Pilipino foodies such as Halayang Ube, and various rice cakes, my family has made Nilaga a staple on the dinner table during Noche Buena - a victual feast celebrated after mass at midnight on the Eve of Christmas and Media Noche on New Year's Eve.

Ingredients

• 8 pieces of chicken (wings, leg quarters, breasts)
• 1 pound of lean beef or beef with bones
• 1 pound of pork
• 1 head of cabbage (cut into four quarters)
• 2 bunches of pechay
• 2 medium onion (cut into four quarters)
• 1/2 of green beans
• 2 stems of leaks
• 3 medium potatoes (cut each into halves)
• 4 ripe saging saba (cardava banana)
• 1 teaspoon of peppercorn
• salt to taste

Directions

• Boil meat along with onions and peppercorn with enough water to submerge the meat until tender. Ad a dash of salt
• When meat is tender, add potatoes and cardava bananas.
• When potatoes and bananas soften, add green beans and leaks.
• When beans and leaks are tender, add cabbage
• Cover and lower the heat

This dish is serve with steamed rice or by itself. Some family members use Soy Sauce as a dipping sauce for the vegetables and meat while I prefer Patis (Fish sauce). Like chicken noodle soup and arroz caldo, Pilipinos eat this dish to help them treat colds during the colder season.

Other recipes You might like
Halayang Ube	Embutido

Saging Saba (Cardava Banana)

Saba bananas have very large, robust pseudostems that can reach heights of 20–30 feet (6–9 m). The trunk can reach diameters of 3 feet. The trunk and leaves are dark blue-green in color. Like all bananas, each pseudostem flowers and bears fruits only once before dying. Each mat bears about eight suckers.

The fruits become ready for harvesting 150 to...see more

Pancit Canton

Pancit Canton is another favorite Pancit dish of mine.  This time, instead of using the traditional Pancit Bijon, Pancit Canton is used.  It is made of flour and it is yellow in color.  It has more flavor when uncooked compared to the Bijon which is pretty much rice in noodle form.

Cooking preparation is pretty much the same with slight variation in some ingredients and the noodle is not soaked in water.  It is a common staple in Panciterias (restaurants where Pancit dishes are the main attraction) and Carinderias (bistro) also knows as "turo-turo"(point-point) where you literally point at an array of dishes you want to order.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of Pancit Canton 
• 1 lb. chicken 
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil 
• 1 med. onion, finely chopped 
• 1 head of cabbage - cut in pieces 
• 3 stalks of celery - cut in pieces 
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt 
• 1 lb. pork 
• 2 garlic cloves - minced 
• 1/4 cup of soy Toyo (soy sauce)
• 1 cup of French cut fresh green beans 
• 1 large carrot - peeled and cut julienne style 
• 1 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper

Directions: 

• Boil chicken and pork in 2 cups water until meat tender. 
• Shred the chicken and cut the pork in small pieces.  Save broth.
• Sautee garlic until golden brown in a wide sauce pan or wok.  
• Add onion until it is transparent.
• Add the shredded chicken and pork.  Cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the broth that has been set aside.
• Add the cabbage, carrots, celery, and green beans.  Reduce heat.
• Stir all the mixture together until vegetables are half-cooked.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Add the Pancit Canton.
• Keep stirring to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the sauce pan.
• Cook for another 10 minutes. 

 Tips:
Like most Pancit dishes, Pancit Canton is best eaten with a squueze of fresh Calmansi or Lemon or Lime.
Since Pancit Canton is made of flour, over-cooking it will make it soggy.

Turo-Turo

Pancit Palabok

 

Of all the Pancit dishes, Pancit Palabok or as we call it in my dialect, Pancit Luglog is my favorite one.  Maybe it's the achuete that gives it the colorful look which makes it so enticing, or the thick flavorful sauce, or the variety of toppings.  Nonetheless, it is also has the longest preparation time due to its smorgasbord of ingredients.

Like other Pancit, Pancit Bijon is also used as the noodles.  However, Miki (pronounced as Mee Kee), a type of fresh egg noodle is used as a substitute.   

Ingredients:

•  1 packaged of Pancit Bijon
• 1/2 lb of ground pork (chicken or beef)
• 3 cups of pork broth
• 1 large onion - chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced
• 5 tablespoons of corn starch
• 2 tablespoons of Patis (fish sauce)
• 1/2 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (canola, corn, olive, coconut)
• 3 tablespoons of achuete

Preparing the sauce:

• 1/2 lb of ground pork (chicken or beef)
• 3 cups of pork broth
• 1 large onion - chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced
• 5 tablespoons of corn starch
• 2 tablespoons of Patis (fish sauce)
• 1/2 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (canola, corn, olive, coconut)
• 3 tablespoons of achuete

Preparing the toppings:

Tinapa

• 1 cup of chicharones (pork rinds) - crushed or pounded
• 3 hard-boiled eggs - sliced
• 1 cup of Tinapa (smoked fish) - shredded
• 2 stalks of fresh scallions or green onion- cut into fine pieces
• 4 tablespoons of fried minced garlic
• 4 to 6 pieces of calamansi or 2 lemon or lime wedges
• 1/2 cup of fried pork cut into pieces (or shrimps, peeled and steamed or boiled)

Directions:

•  Soak the Pancit Bijon for ten minutes in warm water.  Drain and set aside.
• Add the ground pork into the preheated 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a sauce pan and cook until golden brown.
• Mix the 3 tablespoons of achuete and 3 cups of pork broth.
• Add the achuete and pork broth mixture to the ground pork and stir. 
• Add the Patis (fish sauce) and stir.
• Add the 5 tablespoons of corn starch little by little and while stirring it slowly.
• Add the fresh ground pepper.
• Lower the heat and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

How to serve:

• Grab the Pancit Bijon that has been set aside and place it onto a plate.  Just put enough for you will need space for the sauce and the toppings.
• Pour the sauce on top of the Pancit Bijon just like what you do on spaghetti sauce into the spaghetti noodles.
• Add the toppings (chicharones, shredded Tinapa, hard-boiled eggs, fried garlic, green-onions or scallions, and a slice of calamansi or lemon or lime wedges which will be squeezed on top.

 Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servigs:  4 to 6 servings


Other Pancit recipes

Pancit Bijon Guisado	Pancit Canton