The twins and I were craving for good ol’ Filipino comfort food. We got our fix for dinner this evening with some Calderata over rice and Vegetable Lumpias : )
Caldereta is a beef stew that is widely popular in the Philippines. My version of this dish is cooked with bean curd instead of beef. YUMMMM. I’m going back for seconds.
Here is my take on the popular Samoa Girl Scout Cookies.
I love these cookie and I’m always looking forward to buying them when they come out!!!! I found this recipe online by Thursdays with Wanda and just adapted it to my liking.
Basically, I used coconut milk in replace of soy milk and Panutsa instead of regular sugar for the coconut caramel topping.
Attempted to cook Filipino Beef Steak or “Bistek” for dinner last night for the very first time and it turned out pretty good! I used vegan “beef” and I also added potatoes to the dish. My granny used to make this dish for me growing up but instead of using lime juice for the marinade, as I did, she would use calamansi that she would pick right from our tree in our backyard. The store I went to didn’t have any calamansis so I had to settle for lime juice. I’ll definitely need to ask my mom to bring some calamansis up next time she visits so I can attempt to make this dish again.
I remember going to family parties and hoping that there would be shrimp lumpias there! They are usually made with a pork mixture with the tail left on to just hang at the end of the lumpia roll.
Here is my version of shrimp lumpia. I even left the “tail” part of the vegan shrimp out just to give it that look that I always remembered. This was my first attempt at making this. I had a strong craving and experimented in the kitchen. For my filling, I added tofu, shredded carrots, green onions, garlic, soy sauce, and ground pepper. When they were done, I dipped them in sweet chili sauce and they were HELLA good!
Amapalaya, also known as bitter melon, is a vegetable that is grown throughout the Philippines. I’ve been seriously craving bitter melon and in particular, a home cooked meal. Believe it or not, this was my first time cooking Ampalaya. I’ve never craved this vegetable before even when my Grandma cooked it. haha. I guess it’s these weird pregnancy cravings.
For this particular dish, egg is usually scrambled into it. Instead of using egg, I scrambled in Tofu : )
This is my ode to Jolly Bee’s Banana Langka Pie. hehe. Originally I wanted to make them into triangles but the way I cut the pastry crust was uneven so the dough wouldn’t have folded evenly into a triangle. This was my first time experimenting and making this so I still need to practice : )
All-in-all, my hubs liked it and it settled my cravings for Banana Langka pie! YEEEEE!
I’ve been craving for Chayote Guisado for a while. My husband can’t really cook for me because I’m so picky with my vegan food, especially with vegan Filipino food- it really has to taste close to the real deal for me to eat it. I decided to suck it up and try to cook the other day despite the fact that I still feel a bit nauseated with the smell of sauteed onions and garlic on top of that, my test buds are out of whack right now because of the pregnancy and I can’t really TASTE the food I’m cooking. If that makes sense at all.
Anyway, it turned out exactly what I was craving for…just like my parent’s cooking minus the pork.
If I can’t really handle the smell of cooking stovetop right now because of the pregnancy…there’s always baking : )
So… I’ve been experimenting with making an Ube Macapuno Cookie for the past year and I think I finally have a recipe down as far as texture and consistency ! YAY! I just feel like it’s missing one more thing….hmmm. At least I feel comfortable baking these for my friends now and I can ask what they think is missing as far as ingredients. My poor husband had to try every single test batch. haha. Will definitely keep you posted onto what the missing ingredient is! But so far so good and edible! haha.
My husband and I stumbled upon this restaurant while we were hanging out in Palo Alto last week. I’ve had Vegan Chinese food before BUT NEVER THIS GOOD! OMG! Mouthwatering and on point! We had the tofu corn soup, orange chicken, chicken chow mein, and walnut prawns. It was so good that we went back on Saturday and ordered food to go for our family get together celebrating the Pacquio Fight. The food was a smash!
Vegan Ilokana 
