Five generations of secret recipes

MILLIE: We have been receiving requests from readers for more practical and easy-to-follow everyday recipes. The reason being that it is becoming more and more difficult to find household helpers who can cook. At one point, I was thinking of setting up a training center for household helpers, to train them on the essentials of “how to keep house,” including doing laundry, cleaning, putting the house in order and making beds. But the most important aspect would be teaching them how to cook, buy and store basic food and ingredients, basic table setting and service for simple home entertaining. I’ve never really found the time to put it together, however, so maybe this time is as good as any to start sharing a little bit of my knowledge to help bring joy to others.

Allow me to share some favorite recipes my Lola Asiang taught me. These are done from scratch, with no help from instant mixes, making it very special. Very few people know that my grandma, the late Engracia Cruz Reyes of The Aristocrat fame, came from humble beginnings. Her mother Luisa was known as Luisang Kari, whose five-generations-old recipe for kare-kare has been passed on to me and now to my daughter Karla.

The secret to a good kare-kare is the ingredients. I like to use oxtail and tripe and my dad likes to add the sinuso and cheeks. These are pre-boiled or cooked using a pressure cooker. The soup stock is set aside for making the sauce. I like to use only four vegetables: banana blossom, string beans, eggplant and labanos, and these are cooked separately from the meats. I normally engage my household cook to do the pre-prep and come in to just do the sauce for finishing.

 The mirepoix is the basic minced garlic, chopped onions and tomatoes sautéed in a little oil. From there I pour in 10 cups of the soup stock, then add half a cup of the ground sticky uncooked rice in powdered form, little by little, stirring vigorously until smooth before adding in a cup of peanut butter or crushed and chunky peanuts. By now the sauce has thickened to a certain consistency and then I pour in half a cup of food coloring agent made by pre-soaking the achuete or annatto seeds in water. Set to boil, add your meats and veggies and season with salt and pepper to taste. Voila! Easy steps! Don’t forget to use Aristocrat bagoong for the authentic Lola Asiang taste.

KARLA: One of my comfort foods is adobo. I could eat adobo any time of day. Whenever we entertain at home, guests would comment that our adobo is different. I, of course, learned the 2:1 secret formula for Lola Asiang’s adobo. This simply means two parts vinegar to one part soy sauce. It’s the soy that adds that special flavor and color.

To do the recipe, cut one kilo of pork into cubes and place one chicken in a casserole. We use prime cuts of pork with fat and skin on for added flavor and natural oils. Add one cup soy sauce, two cups vinegar, one head pounded garlic, about two cups of water, one laurel leaf and 10 whole peppercorns. Cover the pan and cook slowly until the meat is tender and most of the broth has evaporated. You may add salt if needed. This sounds simple but it does take a while to cook. Most times people make the mistake of not cooking the adobo enough, which will result in a bit of a sour taste from the vinegar. We have to cook acids enough to get rid of the sour taste.

The garlic, whole black peppercorns and the laurel leaf are also bare essentials, contrary to what others think. When I was a kid, I used to love adobo but hated pepper, especially those whole peppercorns mixed in with the adobo. I would literally fish the peppercorns out of the bowl one by one. We let it simmer until done and sometimes need to add more water if it was cooked too long. Simple. Easy.

Another favorite is Chicken a la King, another hand-me-down recipe my mom learned from Lola Asiang. This is probably one of the easiest recipes I’ve memorized by heart. And even when I was all the way in the US last year, I cooked this for my family in LA. The chicken cut is dipped in beaten egg, coated in flour and deep-fried, then set aside. To make things easier, I usually prepare the quick-fix Chicken a la King, which makes use of leftover fried chicken or KFC. It makes the process so much simpler, plus nothing goes to waste. The sauce is then made by melting four tablespoons of butter in a pan, followed by one can of evaporated milk. Once the milk starts boiling, add a couple of teaspoons of calamansi juice to let the milk curdle.

Mom says Lola Asiang used to play favorites and mom was lucky to be one of them. When she was younger, she and her cousins helped out in the Aristocrat kitchen to learn how to cook. There would be cooking contests at the end of summer and mom would often win because of a secret ingredient or special technique here and there, which were, of course, only taught to the favorites. I never had the chance to meet Lola Asiang, but I am sure I would have enjoyed being in the kitchen with her.

Lolo Joe relays how one of Lola Asiang’s yummiest dishes was mechado. Lolo Joe recalls how this dish was made with lots of potatoes and how Lola Asiang used to boil the beef brisket whole. When cooked and tender, that’s the only time she would cut up the slab into chunks and pieces. We normally mix it with beef tendons and it’s oh-so-yummy! Today, Lolo has been reliving those memories and has officially made mechado his flavor of the month. But we have tweaked it a bit to suit his preference, which is beef short ribs mechado served with sliced bread on the side. We buy short ribs at any Rustan’s Supermarket or at S&R Price Smart. There was a time Lolo Joe used beef heel muscle, which was perfect with the beef tendons as well.

We normally include a lot of potatoes because it helps thicken the sauce, which we love to eat with rice. Mom mashes the cooked potatoes with butter and eats it with her beef mechado, sometimes with pandesal.

MILLIE: For a sweet ending, there is Lola Asiang’s famous banana fritter, which is another great family favorite and a sure hit when served to friends who dine at home. It’s inexpensive and easy to do. The secret is to use overripe saba bananas, which we like to ripen at home. The Tagalog variety is the best to use. The banana is peeled and mashed, then rolled onto brown sugar — another secret, ha! This is then wrapped in a lumpia wrapper and deep-fried in fresh oil. Sometimes we fold in a piece of sweet jackfruit but, even without, it’s yummy as is.

We hope you enjoy our recipes for easy cooking and happier eating!

Lola Asiang’s Mechado

Ingredients:

1 k beef brisket, whole

4 pcs big onions, whole

1/2 cup vinegar

1 cup water

strips of pork fat

1 small can tomato sauce or, better still, use fresh tomatoes

6 big potatoes, peeled and cut in halves

1/2 laurel leaf

1/2 cup fat

1 tbsp. red pimiento

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a deep pot or pan, place the meat, laurel leaf, tomato sauce, vinegar and water, salt and pepper together. Cover and set to boil until meat is tender. Add potatoes, onions and pimiento and continue to simmer. When most of the broth has evaporated and the potatoes are cooked, add the fat and stir well. Serve with steamed white rice or bread.

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.