Diok Pit He

Description:
"Diok Pit He" or Stuffed Prawns always remind me of childhood memories in Binondo where my Uno barkada would have potlucks and my friend Kris would bring this dish. This afternoon, I learned how to make this dish (with a one-on-one cooking session with Linda) and I felt a sense of fulfillment. I will keep this recipe with me until I'm old and gray, but until then, I will cook this for my family, especially my kids. I now share this recipe with you.

Ingredients:
300-350 g medium shrimps

Meat Filling:
250 g ground pork
1 cup minced singkamas
1/2 cup minced carrots
2 pcs. red onion, minced
1 egg
4-5 Tablespoons camote starch, the mealy type
Salt



Directions:
Remove shell and veins from shrimps, but leave the tails intact. Make slits in the shrimps "belly" to straighten the shrimp. Set aside.

Combine all the ingredients for the filling.

Wrap each shrimp with the filling, making sure that the entire shrimp is encompassed by the mixture. Wrap the shrimps while a wok with oil (a lot, for deep frying) is being heated through.

Drop each piece in hot oil and cook over low heat. Do not overcrowd. This will take a while because we want to make sure the filling cooks through. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve with catsup or sweet chilli dip.

Grilled Liempo Char Siu Style

Description:
This dish is very Asian being marinated in Char Siu sauce, but it's quite Pinoy too being grilled "liempo." I pan-grilled the pork using a stainless steel pan; I just cooked the pork without oil. Make sure the pan is really hot to properly sear the meat to get a nice crust! This is really good plus it's a breeze to make.

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork liempo

Char Siu Marinade:
100 g Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce
3 Tablespoons mirin
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons calamansi juice
1 Tablespoon catsup
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients of the marinade, then add in the liempo. Marinade overnight.

Pan grill until done, which will take about 2 minutes per side.

Color of the Day

Guess what's the color of the day. Haha, yup, yellow. Brenzie is wearing yellow shorts, but it wasn't shown in the photos, and he's eating yellow corn too. That's me behind the kids in the second photo.

Birthdays this weekend

Made two birthday cakes this week- chocolate cake for my bro-in-law Bryan and carrot cake for Quincy :)

Little things worth remembering

Our stray cat (who is very good in catching mice btw) has recently given birth to two kittens.  Trixie named them Carla and Marla.  The mommy cat is now Leela.


We saw plenty of ants in our wall and there was also the queen ant.  I told Trixie that the biggest one was the queen ant.  This is what she told me, "Mom, that's not a queen ant.  It's an ant wearing a costume."


Trixie, while packing away her toys, told me, "Mom, I think we need a bigger house.  My things don't fit anymore!"


We have been watching our family videos recently, and we came across a video taken at our previous house when Trixie was smaller.  She said, "Mom, why do we have our old things in our new house?   We have the same bed, same table, same pictures on the wall!" 

Trixie's Dream

While in the car, Trixie shared with me her dream the night before...

Trixie:  You know, Mama, I dreamed about a burger last night.

Me:   Really?  What was it about?

Trixie:  I dreamed about the bread, the vegies, mayo and the burger.  I tasted the mayo!



Hahaha, this one is priceless.  Made me think about the movie "Inception."