Picadillo

   Ground pork or beef cooked with garlic, onion, soy sauce, tomatoes, and potatoes and frequently with carrots, raisins, and bell peppers.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
4 cloves garlic
1 medium white onion (chopped fine)
1 small green pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup beef stock
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 small potatoes (peeled and diced)
8 to 10 green olives (pitted)
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for sauteing

How to Cook:

• In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.
• In a frying pan, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onions, green pepper, and garlic until soft.
• Add the ground beef mixture, beef stock, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
• Add the diced potato. Cover and cook another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are done.
• Remove the cover. Add the olives and cook uncovered 15 minutes or until the liquid is fully evaporated, but the meat is still moist.
• Serve the picadillo warm with rice.

Asado

  

   Braised meat in a soy sauce and brown sugar liquid. Also refers to dried sweetmeats as well as dried red-colored meats with sweet taste similar to Chinese barbecued pork. A stand-alone dish or used as a filling in asado siopao, a variation on Chinese baozi or steamed filled bun.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs pork
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cooking rice wine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 cups water

How to Cook:

• Combine soy sauce, five spice powder, garlic, cooking rice wine, and salt then mix well.
• Marinade the pork in the combined mixture for at least 1 hour.
• Heat a cooking pot then put-in the pork along with the marinade and water then let boil.
• Add brown sugar and stir to distribute evenly.
• Simmer for about 40 minutes flipping the meat after 20 minutes or so to tenderize the other side.
• Turn off the heat and remove the meat from the cooking pot.
• Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes then slice.
• Transfer to a serving plate and top with the thick sauce then serve.
• Taste and Enjoy.

Banana Cue

A popular filipino mid afternoon food miryenda. Deep fried Saba bananas coated in caramelised brown sugar.

Ingredients:

15 pieces of ripe banana (saba type)
bamboo bbq sticks
half a kilo of brown sugar
half a liter of cooking oil

How to Cook:

• Peel your bananas. Heat your deep frying pan with half a liter of oil. Once the oil becomes very very hot, put gently all your bananas (it depends on the size of your frying pan).
•  Cook your bananas by mixing them constantly, after about three to five minutes add your brown sugar. It will melt and caramelize. Continue mixing gently the caramel and the bananas. 
•  If you wish a caramel well melted on your bananas, you can continue cooking this for about five more minutes. Or should you prefer a crunchy sugar coating on your bananas, you should immediately cut the fire. 
•  Take them off one by one and let the oil drip. Skew them on your bamboo sticks, approximately 3 bananas per stick.

Kwek Kwek Tokneneng Filipino favorite

   A tempura-like Filipino street food, made by deep-frying orange batter covered hard-boiled eggs. Tokneneng uses duck eggs while the smaller kwek kwek use quail eggs. Try this one and enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs, choose quail or chicken
cornflour for coating
bamboo skewer
oil for deep frying
Batter:
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
red and yellow food colouring
Sauce:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 teaspoon soy sauce

How to Cook:

• Boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from pot and let cool then peel the shells.
• Prepare the batter by putting a few drops of red and yellow food color into the water to get a deep orange color. Add salt and pepper to the flour. Pour in the water mixture into the bowl of flour and mix well until there are no lumps.
• Heat oil in wok until hot. Dredge the peeled eggs into the cornflour then drop them into the batter so it's fully covered. Then I use the skewer to poke the eggs to drop them into the hot oil and deep fry until the batter is crispy. 
• Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• To make the sauce: Mix all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Stir and let cool.
• Serve the eggs with a side of dipping sauce.