cooking hack – Jellybeans in the City

Ulam in a jiffy: Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods

With the holidays coming up, home cooks will be in for quite a busy spell.

With all the food preparations for holiday feasts and virtual clan gatherings – not to mention the regular family meals – home cooks will surely have their hands full and will need all the help they can get.

Plus, despite the sheer variety of food options for the holiday spread, home cooke can count on their families to opt for the kind of dishes that are homegrown and possess familiar flavors.

At the Pinoy table, Filipino food does reign supreme.

Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods

For those with #PanlasangMakabayan, Ka Tunying’s brings its signature dishes in frozen packs that can be easily reheated and ready to eat in a few minutes!

Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods are MSG-free and additive-free, and come in microwaveable containers with reheating instructions conveniently printed on their plastic seals

Home cooks may opt to reheat these delicious heritage dishes on a stove or through a microwave, making food preparation very easy and fuss-free.

Here’s how easy they are to prepare:

Arroz Ala Tunying

Completely thaw out the pack and remove the plastic lid.

To reheat using a stove: Transfer the contents of the pack into a pan. On low fire, stir the arroz caldo for four to six minutes until thoroughly hot.

To reheat using a microwave: Place the container in the microwave or transfer the contents in a microwaveable bowl. Reheat on medium setting while stirring occasionally for three to four minutes until thoroughly hot.

Serve topped with cooked chicken, boiled egg or toasted garlic, or just sprinkle chopped spring onions on top and serve with patis and calamansi.

The resulting dish is a gingery porridge that will warm the tummy during a cold or rainy day, or make a great merienda for the fam.

Bangus Sisig.

Completely thaw out the pack and remove the plastic lid.

To reheat using a stove: Transfer the contents of the pack into a pan. On low fire, stir the arroz caldo for five to eight minutes until thoroughly hot.

Serve topped with a sunny side-up egg.

I’m glad that there’s healthier version of my daughter’s favorite dish. While it may be drier than the regular sisig, you can add a small dollop of mayonnaise to add some creaminess.

Beef Caldereta.

Completely thaw out the pack and remove the plastic lid.

To reheat using a stove: Transfer the contents of the pack into a pan. On low fire, stir the arroz caldo for five to eight minutes until thoroughly hot.

Serve topped with grated cheese and enjoy white steamed white rice.

The resulting dish features melt-in-your-mouth beef in a hearty serving of rough-chopped veggies in a rich tomato sauce.

I bravely volunteered to whip up the fam’s weekend lunch all by my lonesome, knowing that it’s going to be done in a jiffy, thanks to Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods..

Home cooks, if you want to have a tasty yet effortless addition to your holiday spread, or want to serve your fam a delicious meal you won’t have to slave over in the kitchen, Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods may just be your best bet.

Get this set of Ka Tunying’s Holiday Heats (250g Bangus Susig, 400g Arroz Ala Tunying and 450g Beef Caldereta) for only Php895.

Other Frozen Goods sets include:

Ready to Cook Set (Php1,390): 6 sticks Pork BBQ, 250g Chicken Tocino, 8pcs Longganisa Recado, 12 pcs Lumpiang Shanghai, 8pcs Longganisa Batutay)
Heat & Eat Set (Php2,590): 370g Bilo Bilo, 250g Pork Sisig, 250g Bangus Sisig, 250g Beef Caldereta, 450g Classic Kare Kare, 400g Arroz Ala Tunying, 450g Chicken Caldereta, 300g Roasted Lechon Belly)
Complete Frozen Set (Php3,890): combination of Ready to Cook Set and Complete Frozen Set

Stock up on Ka Tunying’s Frozen Goods for your family meals or as holiday gifts to your loved ones by calling +63 995 2376684.

Ka Tunying’s also operates physical restaurants open for dine-in, takeout and delivery located at:

88 Brgy. Vasra, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City
UG Level, Mega A Building, SM Megamall,Ortigas, Mandaluyong
4th Floor Food Hall, NAIA Terminal 3, Pasay City

Follow Ka Tunying’s on Facebook or Instagram to know more about its latest offers and promos.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate this feature story.

Go on a virtual food trip with Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Flavors of Asia

While I do enjoy traveling to new places here in the country and abroad, what I really look forward to are the new and exciting dishes I get to try.

I do travel through food and whenever possible, I include my family, especially my kids, in the experience. For me, delving into local cuisines is one of the best way to get to know a foreign culture. It paints a picture of the area’s agricultural scene as well as tells the story of its history, food traditions, values and influences.

However, traveling can be quite costly, time-consuming, and during a time a worldwide pandemic, well nigh impossible.

The solution? Going on a virtual food trip at home.

We might not have the means to always be ordering food from various restaurants to be able to go on our virtual food trip, but we can try to whip up exotic dishes ourselves for the fam to enjoy.

If you find cooking foreign cuisines quite intimidating, brush your fears aside. We now have a set of handy kitchen aids that will help us in achieving our lofty culinary goals.

Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Flavors of Asia

These new additions to Del Monte’s line of mixes and sauces are set to make cooking exotic dishes so much easier not just for kitchen newbies, but also for more experienced cooks who may not have the time to study unfamiliar recipes.

Perfectly seasoned and blended to approximate the authentic taste of Asian dishes but still appeal to the Pinoy palate, Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Flavors of Asia packs are made with real ingredients, bringing out real deliciousness in each dish with every bite.

By following the recipes in the packaging like I did, anybody can whip up real sarap Asian dishes at home, while saving on time and effort in securing and preparing various ingredients.

Get ready for your culinary adventure with these!

Teriyaki Marinade 80ml

Teriyaki is a cooking style used in Japanese cuisine wherein food are grilled or boiled with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin and sugar.

Made with real ginger and soy sauce, Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Teriyaki Marinade brings out the signature sweet and savory flavors of a Japanese-style Teriyaki dish!

Chicken Teriyaki

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken breast, filleted and cut into thin slices
1 80ml sachet of Del Monte Quick n Easy Teriyaki Marinade
1/4 cup spring onions sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

Procedure:

Marinate the chicken in Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Teriyaki Marinade for at least 30 minutes.
Place the marinated chicken into skewers
Pan-grill the chicken while basting with the marinade.
Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds before serving.

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Green Curry Mix 30g

Sweet green curry – also known as kaeng khiao wan – derives its name from the creamy mild green color of the dish brought about by the combination of green chillies and coconut milk.

Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Green Curry Mix contains turmeric, ginger and other spices which brings that fresh taste of Thai-style sweet green curry dish.

Green Curry with Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken breast, filleted and cut into thin slices
1 30g pack of Del Monte Quick n Easy Green Curry Mix
2 tbsp oil
1 400ml can coconut milk
1 small eggplant, sliced
1 red bell pepper sliced
1 bunch Thai basil leaves

Procedure:

Heat oil and Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Green Curry Mix in a saucepan until fragrant.
Stir in coconut milk and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add in chicken and simmer in a covered saucepan for 12 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add eggplant and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add red bell pepper and basil. Simmer for another minute.
Serve and enjoy!

This recipe makes six servings.

Red Curry Mix 40g

Curry originated in the Indian subcontinent with its name coming from the Tamil word kari which refers to a sauce or soup eaten with rice. While Indian cuisine is highly diverse, it is also highly influential: India’s spice trade with Europe sparked the Age of Discovery. Indian cuisine’s influence is present in the food cultures of Britain, the Middle East, Southern and East Africa, Southeast Asia, North America and the Pacific Islands.

Made with real paprika, cayenne and other spices, Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Red Curry brings out the spice and richness of Indian-style curry dishes!

Red Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken breast, filleted and cut into thin slices
2 tbsp oil
1 35g pack of Del Monte Quick n Easy Red Curry Mix
1 400ml can coconut milk
1 bunch French beans
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 cup cilantro

Procedure:

Heat oil and Del Monte Quick ‘n Easy Red Curry Mix in a saucepan until fragrant.
Stir in coconut milk and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add in chicken and simmer in a covered saucepan for 12 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add French beans and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add red bell pepper and cilantro. Simmer for another minute.
Serve and enjoy!

So if you feel like broadening your culinary horizons, stock up on Del Monte Flavors Asia on Lazada.

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The Jelly List: Cooking hacks to turn newbie cooks into kitchen mavens

If the pandemic, along with being stuck at home, has taught us anything, it’s the value of a good home-cooked meal.

Preparing our family’s meals at home not only keeps us safe during this time of rising COVID-19 cases, but also helps us in taking more control of our nutrition – in terms of ingredients used and portion sizes – as well as in managing our food budget.

However, some people who have become used to eating out, ordering takeout or having their delivered from restaurants and fast food outlets may find themselves at a loss when venturing into their own kitchens.

Fortunately, newbie cooks don’t have to get started on their culinary journey empty-handed. With the help of these food products readily available at e-commerce site Lazada, they can skip many of the rigorous steps in preparing home-cooked dishes and get right on to enjoying their delicious meals with the family.

Purefoods Beef Tapa.

A perennial favorite Filipino breakfast is a tapsilog in which the beef tapa takes center-stage. Traditionally, the beef is cured with salt and spices, then dried or smoked to preserve the meat for later consumption.

With Purefoods Beef Tapa, the frozen beef slices just need to be defrosted then fried in oil. Served with fried rice and fried egg, it becomes a delicious and filling breakfast for the family.

Buy It

Del Monte Quick ‘N Easy Flavors of Asia Red Curry Mix.

Whipping up an exotic dish like Chicken Curry may seem like a daunting task. Buying and storing the myriad of spices need to produce the vibrant and complex flavors of this traditional Indian dish may also be costly and impractical.

Del Monte Quick ‘N Easy Red Curry Mix already combines the spices and flavorings in the right proportions to capture the unique taste of Chicken Curry. Just heat up the powder mix in oil before adding the coconut milk, chicken and vegetables, and soon, you’ll have a tasty and extraordinary dish ready to serve.

Buy It

UFC Fresh Selections Whole Corn Kernels and Coconut Cream.

Gone are the days when home cooks would have to manually shave off the corn kernels from the cob as well as squeeze and strain the cream from freshly grated coconut just to be able to incorporate these in their dishes.

Picked and canned on the same day, UFC Fresh Selections enable newbie home cooks to conveniently include healthy and wholesome ingredients in their cooking. To make this Ginataang Mais, for example, just bring a pot with malagkit rice and UFC Fresh Selections Coconut Cream to a boil, then simmer until the rice is cooked before adding the UFC Whole Corn Kernels and sugar. In a few minutes, this classic Pinoy merienda is ready for the family to enjoy.

Buy It

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Lemon Square Chocolate-Filled Lava Cake.

Many find baking to be quite intimidating. Whether it’s because of the need for precise measures or exact temperatures and baking times, some home cooks would rather avoid baking altogether, which is a shame since it’s a requirement of many scrumptious desserts.

However, my kids’ favorite snack during recess can actually be used as the cake base for a truly decadent Chocolate Dreamcake. Just crush a few pieces of Lemon Square Chocolate-Filled Lava Cake and press the crumbs into a pan before layering in the chocolate pudding and the melted chocolate to produce a truly show-stopping dessert.

Buy It

MY San Chocolate Graham Crackers.

There may be times when a fuss-free snack is in order.

A quick and delicious snack may be produced in a few minutes by bringing a pot of sugar, milk and butter to a boil, then adding oats, vanilla and salt and stirring in some crushed MY San Chocolate Graham Crackers once the oats are cooked. Shape these into balls and leave at room temperature , and soon, there’ll be a lovely treat for the kids to nibble on.

Buy It

With these cooking aids that help us skip many of the lengthy, time-consuming and tedious processes involved in preparing meals at home, budding home cooks really don’t have to be afraid of the kitchen. They can hone their cooking skills with ease and confidence, and still produce mouth-watering home-cooked meals for the family to enjoy.

Check out my Lazada picks to stock up on these pantry essentials and more.

Click Here

Photo Credit: Header by Anton Nazaretian of Unsplash.

Guilt-free recipes made with Mega Tuna

One of the more benign, even beneficial, effects of the quarantine is the renewed interest in home cooking.

In the earlier days of the lockdown, with dining out prohibited and food delivery options quite limited, the metro’s denizens took stock of their pantry and set about creating their culinary masterpieces with ingredients they have on hand.

Guess what’s invariably present in Pinoy kitchen cabinets. Canned tuna!

Tuna is one of the most eaten fish in the world. It can be eaten fresh – either raw or cooked – as well as canned, which involves pre-cooking. In the Philippines, canned tune may be available in several variants such as in oil, in water, in flakes, hot and spicy, Spanish-style or corned, among others.

Canned tuna lends itself well to home cooking. It is flavorful enough to appeal to the palate (it can even be eaten straight out of the can) yet flexible to be applied to many dishes from canapes and salads to pastas. Canned tuna is also healthier than meat, generally having lower levels of saturated and trans fats as well as higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids compared to beef.

In a Zoom event hosted by Mega Tuna last December, brand ambassador Chef JP Anglo of Sarsa Kitchen shared some new recipes made with Mega Tuna that can form part of the holiday spread.

Check them out:

Tuna Arroz Caldo

Ingredients:

Mega Tuna Spanish Style
350g white or brown rice
150g chicharon
20g fresh garlic
50g ginger
30g fried garlic
30g spring onion
5g black pepper
20ml patis
4pcs calamansi

Procedure:

In a pot, pour the oil from the can of Mega Tuna Flakes in Spanish Style, then saute the ginger and garlic.

Add a liter of water and cooked rice, and cook for twenty to thirty minutes.

Pour the arroz caldo in a bowl, add the Mega Tuna and top with spring onions, fried garlic, chicharon and black pepper.

Season with patis.

Tuna Soba Noodles

Ingredients:

Mega Tuna Sweet and Spicy
500g soba noodles
30ml sesame oil
20g sesame seeds
60ml oyster sauce
5g salt
3pc fried eggs
Chili garlic (optional)

Procedure:

Cook soba noodles in hot water (make sure not to overcook them).

Toss all ingredients with the noodles and add half of the tuna and half of the oil from the can to flavor the noodles.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and top with the remaining tuna, fried garlic, spring onions and fried egg.

I was able to try these delicious dishes since I received a box containing these dishes as well as Mega Tuna’s four variants: in Oil, Spanish Style, Sweet and Spicy and Hot and Spicy.

Hubby found the Mega Tuna variants well-suited to his midnight snacking.

The holidays may be over but we can carry over these recipes into the new year as we continue to create delectable viands from our kitchen staples such as Mega Tuna.

Mega Tuna is available in leading supermarkets and grocery stores as well as in Shopee and Lazada.

Cook-It-Yourself Packs of premium coffee grounds and hotcake mix now available in McDonald’s!

In case you missed it, McDonald’s has made it easier to prepare meals and snacks at home with Cook-It-Yourself Packs of Premium Coffee Grounds, Hotcake Mix, Hot Fudge Topping, and so much more!

Get them now at select McDonald’s stores through Take-Out and Drive-Thru as they’re available for a limited time only!

See the full list of Cook-It-Yourself packs below:

Coffee Grounds (80 g or approx. 7 cups) – Php 99 per pack
Hotcake Mix (1 kg or approx. 27-28 servings) – Php 149 per pack
Hotcake Syrup (1 kg) – Php 199 per pack
Tonkatsu Sauce (1 kg) – Php 199 per pack
Mayonnaise (1.5 kg) – Php 399 per pack
Hot Fudge Topping (2 kg) – Php 399 per pack
Caramel Topping (2 kg) – Php 399 per pack

View the list of participating McDonald’s stores here and follow McDonald’s Philippines on Facebook to stay up to date on all announcements.

Header photo by Natanja Grün on Unsplash

Ready-to-eat dishes from San Miguel Foods and Petron Treats

Momshies, does working from home still leave you with little time to prepare and cook your family’s meals?

Worry no more, because San Miguel Foods has a line of pre-cooked dishes that are sure to be showstoppers at the dinner table.

With these ready-to-eat dishes, you won’t have to stress yourself out in the kitchen: all you have to do is heat, serve and enjoy!

I was able to serve some of these to my fam for lunch. Check them out:

Cook Express Chicken Karaage (Php424 for 1 kilo). Karaage is a Japanese cooking technique in which food items – mostly chicken – are marinated and lightly coated in flour prior to frying in light oil. After I’ve heated the chicken karaage in my oven, I found it close to restaurant quality, especially when accompanied with Japanese mayonnaise.

Cook Express Lechon Paksiw (Php495 for 1 kilo). I usually encounter lechon paksiw the day after big celebrations like fiestas or Noche Buena because this is the Pinoy mom’s answer to “”What happens to all those lechon leftovers?” (at least those not carried away by the Tupperware-toting guests, hehehe!). The leftover lechon is simmered in vinegar and the liver-based lechon sauce resulting in a dish with fork-tender roasted pork meat in sweet-sour-savory sauce that’s good for another family mealtime.

Cook Express Beef Kare Kare (Php693 for 1 kilo). I have great appreciation for kare-kare every time it is served to me at the dinner table because I know how much effort went into making it. My mom used to grind peanuts herself, meticulously clean and boil the animal parts prior to cooking up a great tasting peanut-y beef stew. This one has the same tender meat and peanut sauce I love and is enjoyed best with bagoong. Add in some veggies string beans, eggplant slices and pechay and it’s almost like the kare-kare that my mommy used to make.

Chef’s Selection Fresh Corned Beef (Php655 for 900 grams). Corned beef is called that because in the process of salt-curing the meat, it is treated with large grains (or “corns”) of salt. Today, it is one of my favorite breakfast food when served with fried rice and a sunny side up egg. This corned beef version differs from the canned iteration because the beef comes in chunks, not flakes. Still, it can be sliced up thinly to be sauteed with garlic and onions, or added to beef broth and veggies for a fresh take on nilaga.

So momshies, there’s no need to sweat it out in the kitchen. Just order these ready-to-eat dishes and more from San Miguel Foods through this website and schedule pick up at your nearest Petron Treats store.

Thanks to Harvard of AlwaysHungry.PH for sharing from his ulam stash!

#QuarantineCookbook: Sausage Pasta with The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomatoes

Today, I was faced with a Mommy Problem: What do you do when dinner time is near and all that’s left in your freezer are some Hungarian sausages?

How did I get to this state? Well, I blame it on the quarantine… and, okay, on me too.

I thought I stocked the ref with two week’s worth of meats for the fam’s ulam, but apparently, I was one day short. Here’s the thing: during the quarantine, my city imposed specific market days when residents of a certain area can go to the wet markets or grocery stores to restock on food items.

When is our area’s next market day? Tomorrow. When did we run out of beef, pork or chicken for our ulam? Today.

Yikes!

Fortunately, I espied a package of Hungarian sausages and some fusili pasta that I bought at the nearest Landers branch during my last grocery run. Plus, a friend of mine recently sent me a bottle of Creamy Sundried Tomato from The Saucier.

So I had an idea: why not make a Sausage Pasta using The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomato?

In the culinary industry, a saucier, also known as the saute chef, prepares the sauces, stews and the hot hors d’oeuvres as well as sautes food to order.

As I discovered, if you have a bottle or two of The Saucier’s homemade and preservatives-free sauces and dressings, it’s like you have your very own saucier in your kitchen.

Sun-dried tomatoes, in case you’re wondering, are made by drying out ripe tomatoes in the sun after treating them with salt so that they lose most of their water content. This is a traditional way of preserving tomatoes in Europe, guaranteeing a steady supply that can be enjoyed and provide nutrition during the winter months. Sun-dried tomatoes also have a more intense sweet-tart flavor than fresh tomatoes, making their use popular across a variety of dishes throughout the world.

The Saucier’s Creamy Sun-dried Tomato is made of sun-dried tomatoes, cream, olive oil and spices, definitely no preservatives. Since it already has cream incorporated in the sauce, it saved me the effort of experimenting the ratio of cream to sauce that would have plagued me if what I had on-hand was just plain sun-dried tomato. Whew!

Wanna know how my bright idea turned out? Here’s the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

250 grams fusili pasta, cooked according to package instructions and drained well
5 links of Hungarian sausage, boiled for twenty minutes until cooked, then sliced thinly
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 chicken bouillion cube, dissolved in 1 cup hot water (my substitute for 1 cup chicken broth)
1/2 cup The Saucier’s Creamy Sun-dried Tomato
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (apparently, I also ran out of this cheese, so I used the remaining half tablespoon of parmesan and substituted the rest with ordinary cheese)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a large saucepan or casserole over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the garlic, and cook for up to two minutes, stirring frequently until fragrant.

Whisk in the flour for one minute until it turns light brown, then gradually whisk in the chicken broth whisking constantly for up to two minutes until the flour is well incorporated into the broth.

Stir in the creamy sun-dried tomato, cheese and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in pasta and sausage until these are well-coated with the sauce.

The resulting pasta dish is rich in taste and has a creamy texture.

Well, if the emptied-out casserole and the happy faces of my fam are any indication, I would say this makeshift dinner was a success, thanks in large part to the new and wonderful flavors introduced by The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomato.

For more details or to get your hands on The Saucier’s sauces and dressings, as well as its tasty Mushroom Burger (more on this coming soon!), visit The Saucier on Facebook or call +63 2 76233600, +63 2 79015526 or +63 917 8870125.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

Recipe: Cheesy Baked Salmon

I was going through my recipe books, trying to decide on what to prepare for our Noche Buena meal, when I came across the recipe for Cheese Baked Salmon.

I had my first taste of Baked Salmon at Conti’s a few years ago and I developed quite a liking for it.

Wanting to prepare something similar for my family, I scoured the internet for a recipe which I tweaked, considering available ingredients.

It’s quite easy to make but the ingredients are a bit costly so I only make this dish during special occasions like Noche Buena.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of salmon fillets, at least half a kilo each
9 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (use 2/3 of this for the marinade and 1/3 for the cheese topping)
Juice of half a lemon
1 box (250 grams) Emborg Cream Cheese
5 tbsp Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise
Marca Pina Parmesan Cheese
1 pack of frozen peas, corn and carrots
2 tbsp butter

Procedure:

To marinate the salmon, season it with salt, pepper and garlic then sprinkle it with lemon juice. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
Using a hand-held mixer, whip the cream cheese until softened and fluffy then add the mayonnaise, garlic and parmesan cheese to taste
Pat the marinated salmon dry and place it in an oven pan. Generously spread the cheese topping over the fish and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Bake at 170 degrees C for 35 to 40 minutes or until the topping turns golden brown.
Serve with vegetable sauteed in butter.

This recipe serves 6 persons at 270 calories per serving.

Check out my other recipes: