Paksiw na Pata (slow cooker recipe)

I never knew how to cook this until my husband and I accidentally added too much vinegar while preparing Chicken Adobo.  To balance the flavor, we decided to put in more soy sauce.  Unfortunately it became too salty so we kept on adding sugar until we ended up with Chicken ala Paksiw na Pata.

Again, a very simple recipe.  If you know how to use a measuring cup and squish garlic, then you can make this for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 kg. pork knuckles (ask your butcher to slice it crosswise)
3-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 pack dried banana blossoms
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 - 3 pcs. dried bay leaves
 whole pepper corns

Place dried banana blossoms at the bottom of your slow cooker and put pork knuckles on top of it.

In a separate bowl, combine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic and stir. Pour mixture in the slow cooker.  Add bay leaves and pepper corn.

Set slow cooker on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

*notice the dark spots on the meat?  Those are the parts that were not submerged in soy sauce/vinegar mix.  I will add water and adjust soy sauce/vinegar mix the next time I make this to make sure there's enough sauce to cover the meat.

Chunky Creamy Chicken

This chicken and cream combo can be eaten as an open-faced sandwich (just add lettuce), make it a pasta dish or like me, I just eat it as is.

Ingredients:

oil for sauteing
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 pcs. boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 small can of sliced button mushroom (Shiitake mushrooms can be used)
1 tetra pack all purpose cream
3-5 tbsps. oyster sauce ( amount will depend on your taste)
salt and pepper

1. saute and sweat garlic
2. add chicken pieces until slightly browned
3. toss in the button mushrooms
4. mix in a pack of all purpose cream
5. add the magic ingredient, oyster sauce and stir well.

Easy Tuna Pasta

I prepare this dish whenever we have unexpected guests or I'm too lazy to whip something up for dinner.  It's fast, easy and budget friendly. 


Ingredients:

• 2 cans of tuna in oil ( i use a combination of one can spicy  and one in original flavor ) 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• butter
• olive oil
• fresh or dried basil 
• pasta noodles

Cook pasta according to package instructions.   Drain the canned tuna and save the oil.  Saute garlic in butter and olive oil then add tuna.  Let the tuna absorb the garlic flavor for about 2 minutes then stir in the cooked pasta.  

Sprinkle basil and grated  cheese before serving.  

* i forgot to buy a new bottle of basil. Hence, the lack of green specks. 

Korean Beef Stew (Slow Cooker Recipe)

This is my husband’s favorite dish whenever he eats at Kimchi’s. I Googled for recipes specially made using a slow cooker but failed to find one that is simple and hassle free to prepare.  So I tried and tweaked a recipe that I found in one of my recipe books.  The end result is a fall off the bones, juicy ribs in a spicy sauce.

Ingredients:

500 g. to 1 kg. beef short ribs

4 cups water

5 tbsps. soy sauce

½ cup sugar (I used light brown sugar because that’s the only kind available in our fridge.)

1 red siling labuyo, cut into small pieces (use more if you like it extra spicy)

2 thumb size ginger, sliced

1.5 – 2 tbsps.  sesame oil

Half a tbsp toasted sesame seeds (toasting the seeds will add more flavor to the dish)

Put the ribs in the slow cooker and add water, making sure the meat is fully submerged.  Set slow cooker on high for 2 hours.

Add soy sauce, sugar, sili, ginger and stir a little. Adjust the setting of your slow cooker to low for 1-2 hours.

Stir in sesame oil and sprinkle sesame seeds and serve.

It’s that simple! I made a mistake of adding 3 siling labuyo instead of 1.  It was so spicy that I added about a quarter cup of sugar to balance the flavor. 

Please let me know if you've tried this recipe. I'd love to hear from you.