BORACAY VOWS Recipe – Pork Sinigang

Blake loves to watch Krista eat. In Chapter Three of Boracay Vows, they have their first “date”. Here’s a snippet:

“Krista tucked into her meal with gusto, leaving Blake enthralled by the way she puckered her lips after taking a sip of the broth from her sour sinigang soup. He had to mentally shake himself to pay attention to his own food.”

Sinigang, one of the most popular viands in the Philippines, is a sour and savory soup. It’s usually made with pork, but can also can be cooked using beef, shrimp, salmon or just vegetables. The typical sour ingredient is green tamarind fruit, but other fruits like kamias (bilimbi), guava, or santol can be used as well. As fresh tamarind is hard to find here in the US, I’ve taken to using a tamarind seasoning mix as a shortcut.

Sinigang na Baboy sa Sampalok

Ingredients:

1 pouch soup base mix (I recommend also Mama Sita’s Tamarind Seasoning Mix)
2 lbs. pork (I use pork belly, but other parts like shoulder or neck are fine, too)
10 cups water
1 cup tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup onion, quartered
2 cups green beans, cut into 2″ length (Filipinos use sitaw or long beans)
2 cups radish
2 cups eggplant
1 pc. long green pepper (Anaheim or other)
2 cups leafy vegetables (spinach or kangkong/morning glory)
patis (fish sauce) to taste

Instructions:

In a saucepan, bring water, pork, tomatoes, and onion to a boil. Cook until pork is tender. Approximately 30 minutes. Simmer for five minutes.
Pour in soup base mix. Increase the heat and bring to a roiling boil.
Add green beans, radish, eggplant, green pepper, and fish sauce. Cover and simmer for five minutes.
Turn off the heat and add the leafy vegetables. Cover to steam-cook.
Serve hot with rice.

Like Krista in the book, I eat it with fried fish–tilapia, bangus (milkfish), or galunggong (mackerel scad)–but it can be served on its own.

Enjoy!

Boracay Vows is available in eBooks and paperback from major online retailers. Signed paperback copies can be purchased on this website.

BORACAY VOWS Recipe – Pancit Bihon

The second recipe I’m sharing with you is pancit bihon, one of the three variants of pancit mentioned in Boracay Vows.

In Chapter Three, Blake included pancit bihon among his favorite Filipino dishes along with adobo and lechon.
In Chapter Seventeen, Krista ordered pancit canton at the restaurant.
In the Epilogue, Krista’s mom cooked pancit Malabon for her and Blake.

Usually stir-fried, pancit or pansit is a noodle dish the Filipinos adapted from the Chinese. It can be eaten for lunch, snack, or dinner and is a staple during fiestas and especially during birthday celebrations to accompany the wish for long life.

Again, there are as many ways to cook pancit bihon as there are islands in the Philippines. This is my version.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. cooking oil
minced garlic (from 2 cloves to a whole head)
1 onion chopped
1 cup boiled pork (or chicken, and/or shrimp), sliced
1 small cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, strips
2 tbsps. soy sauce (add more for desired taste and color)
1 1/2 c. broth (I use chicken)
1 bunch Chinese leeks (or green beans)
1 bundle first class bihon (rice noodles)
1 tsp salt
(Optional) 2 pcs chorizo de bilbao or lap cheong (Chinese sausage)
spring onion, chopped
calamansi (or lime/lemon)

Instructions:

Saute garlic in cooking oil, add onion, pork, carrots, and cabbage. Season with soy sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add broth and simmer, add the leeks (or green beans). If using shrimp, add here.
When the vegetables are cooked, mix in softened bihon noodles and season with salt.
Garnish with chorizo and spring onions. Serve with calamansi.

Boracay Vows is available in ebooks from all your favorite etailers and in paperback from Amazon. An autographed copy can be ordered on this website.

BORACAY VOWS Recipe – Adobo

I am so happy that several of the reviews for Boracay Vows have mentioned the food.

An Amazon customer titled her review, “Made me sooo hungry,” and proceeded to say, “I also loved the setting and learning a little about the Philippines and the amazing food that I HAVE to try!”

An iBook reader enthused, “Congratulations and now I want Filipino foooooooood!!!!!”

A photographer friend endorsed Boracay Vows on her page and inspired the quote I used here, “… it’s got plenty of steam and mouth-watering descriptions of food.”

In the Author’s Note, I promised I will post recipes here and I’m starting with adobo, the unofficial national dish of the Philippines.

On Chapter Four, Blake and Krista had their first meal together. Blake ordered chicken and pork adobo, one of his favorite Filipino dishes and raved about it.

““Hmm, sarap!” The garlic saltiness of the adobo sauce and the perfect tenderness of the meat hit his taste buds and made him groan in satisfaction.”

With 100 Million Filipinos scattered over 7,100+ islands, it is not surprising that adobo is cooked in a variety of ways. Pork and chicken are most commonly used, but other meats, seafood, and vegetables can substitute as well. This recipe is the way I’ve cooked it for more than 20 years. It serves four and can be prepared in as short as 2 hours to as long as 10.

CHICKEN AND PORK ADOBO

Ingredients:

1 lb. pork belly (loin for leaner option), cut into 2-inch pieces
1 lb. chicken (boneless/skinless for lower-fat), cut into serving pieces
2 tablespoons garlic, minced or crushed
4 pieces dried bay leaves
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce (low-sodium, if available)
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 cup water
salt to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Instructions:

Combine first seven ingredients and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Best if left in a closed container overnight.
Heat pot, put in meat, marinating liquid, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for one hour, or until meat is tender. If necessary, add more water.
Strain the meat from liquid, then set aside. In a skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the crushed garlic. Stir in the meat and cook until all sides are browned. Pour the liquid over the meat and continue simmering until sauce thickens.
Serve hot over rice or with your favorite pancit.

Boracay Vows is available in ebook from your favorite etailers and in paperback from Amazon and The Ripped Bodice.