Crispy Pata

We use to cook this a lot when we were growing up but I haven't made it in years. I love this, especially the crispiness of it.  This dish is a staple and very popular at Filipino gatherings.

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IT'S VERY DANGEROUS PROCESS TO COOK THIS CAUSE OF THE WATER AND HOT OIL. ONLY COOK THIS DISH IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE DANGER IN THE PROCESS AND ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR POSSIBLE DAMAGE AND HARM IT MAY CAUSE.
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Ingredients 

• pork hock
• onions
• salt & pepper
• oil for cooking

I took pork hock and boiled it for about two hours to soften it. I boiled it with some onions, salt and pepper added to the water. After boiling it, I let it cool.

Fill a tall pot, I used a pasta pot, ⅓ full with a high smoke point oil such a peanut or avocado oil. Slowly place the cooled pork hock a few pieces at a time into the oil. Be prepared to quickly cover the pot. Since the pork was boiled it will have water in it and will cause the oil to splash, take precaution to prevent from getting burn by the oil. The splashing oil can also cause fires if it lands on an electric burner or the flames of a gas stove. ************************************************** THIS IS A DANGEROUS COOKING PROCESS, ALL PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN, ONLY PERFORM THIS IF YOU UNDERSTAND AND ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR POSSIBLE DAMAGE OR HARM IT MAY CAUSE **************************************************

To make the pork hock really crispy, take a spray bottle and set to spray, not stream, lid the pot cover a crack and spray water into the oil. This will call the pork, especially the skin to cook really crispy. ***VERY DANGEROUS*** ************************************************** THIS IS AN EVEN MORE DANGEROUS COOKING PROCESS, ALL PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN, ONLY PERFORM THIS IF YOU UNDERSTAND AND ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR POSSIBLE DAMAGE OR HARM IT MAY CAUSE **************************************************

After the pork hock has cooked, place on paper towels on top of a cooling rack to cool. Then cut into pieces and serve.

Sweet, Spicy & Sticky Asian Ribs

This was a dish that Lisa made for New Year's Eve. It was really yummmy!


Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoon and 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon chinese five spice
• 2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger + more for aromatic mixture
• fennel
• garam masala (indian spices)
• 2 tablespoon ketchsup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• pinch of ground allspice
• 1 cup Frank's RedHot sauce
•  6 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• ½ cup Hoisin sauce 
• 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
• toasted sesame seeds
• chopped green onions 

Ingredients for the rub: 2 tablespoon sea salt, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoon chinese five spice, 2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground ginger	Put all the ingredients for the rub in a bowl
Mix all the ingredients together	Take a slab of pork ribs and apply the rub to the ribs
Apply the rub liberally on both sides	Wrap the ribs in foil
Create an aromatic liquid using water, fennel, garam masala (indian spices) and ground ginger.	Add some aromatic liquid to the ribs in the foil. Place the ribs in a 275° pre-heated oven and slow cook for about 2 hours
While the ribs are cooking, make the glaze. The glaze is made in three stages. For the first stage mix 2 tablespoon ketchup, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of ground allspice	Ingredients for second stage: 1 cup Frank's RedHot sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons of first stage mix, 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon black pepper
Put all ingredients for second stage in a sauce pan over medium heat	Bring mixture to a boil, stir occasionally then let the mixture cool.
Ingredients for third stage: mixture from second stage, 1 tablespoon Sriracha, ½ cup Hoisin sauce	Put ingredients for third stage in a pan over medium heat, stir occasionally. Bring to boil then add 1 table spoon of grated fresh ginger. Mix well, let simmer for a couple of minutes then let mixture cool.
To test if the ribs are done, poke with a tooth pick. The toothpick should be able to move thru the meat easily.	Apply glaze to the ribs, place back in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, flip the ribs oven apply glaze to the other side and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Take the ribs out of the oven and let rest	Cut the ribs between the bones and plate. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
The ribs were juicy, sweet and between mild to medium spicy.

This recipe was adapted from
http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2012/12/sweet-spicy-sticky-asian-ribs.html

Pancit (Filipino Noodle Dish)

This is one of my favorite dish, can never get enough of this! Please don't ask me for amounts to use of each ingredient cause this is one of those dishes that you learn with practice. This is also one of those dishes that I can't make in small batches, I don't know how to. I learned how to make this in batches like this or larger when my dad made it for family get together or parties, and when I try to make it in smaller batches it just doesn't work for me, hahahaha. My wife says I need to learn my fractions again LOL.

Ingredients 

• Chinese sausage
• side pork or pork belly
• shrimp
• carrots
• cabbage
• onions
• garlic
• oyster sauce
• soy sauce
• Achuete (annatto) powder
• broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
• Bihon noodle (rice noodles)
• Canton noodles (flour noodles - yellow)
• salt and pepper

This is a package of Chinese sausage, we usually find it at an Asian store.	This is what the Chinese sausage looks like
Cut up the chinese sausage	We used side pork or pork belly for our pancit
Cut the pork into slices...	then cut the slices...
Peel and cut your carrots. We cut it a little fancy this time but we usually don't.	Peel and clean shrimp. You don't have to get really large shrimp since they will be cut up anyways, we used size 25-31.
Cut up the shrimp	We use a wok for cooking but you can use a regular pot. Brown the pork then add the onions.
When the onions have sweated a bit, mix them with the pork then add the garlic.	When the garlic has browned, mix then add the Chinese sausage
Mix in the Chinese sausage then add the shrimp	When the shrimp has turned pick mix with the rest of the ingredients then add salt, pepper, oyster sauce and soy sauce.
This is a package of Achuete (annatto) powder	Next add annatto powder, for color and flavor
Add the carrots...	Add chopped cabbage...
Mix all the ingredients together...	Add broth, you can use chicken, beef or vegetable broth, I used chicken here. It's what we had available.
Bring to a boil. Taste the liquid for season, add seasoning as necessary	We use two kinds of noodles for our pancit. This is Bihon noodle or rice noodles.
This is Pancit Canton noodles or flour noodle (yellow color). We use the Excellent brand for our pancit. We've used it for years and it's always had the best results but there are other brands available.	We recommend that you place a fourth to half of the liquid in a sauce pan and put in low heat in another burner to keep it warm. This will ensure that you don't have too much liquid and can add the liquid back as needed. Put in the package of rice noodles (bihon). Mix the noodles in with the ingredients. Add the liquid from the sauce pan if needed to cook the noodles.
We usually use half the package of the flour noodles (canton). Mix the flour noodles in, again adding liquid as needed. You want the noodles to be soft and not crunchy but not soggy.	Mix until both noodles and the other ingredients are evenly distributed then you're done. Ready to serve.

Smoked Paprika Pork Belly Roast

My brother makes this great pork belly that he put on the rotisserie in his bbq. I wanted to try and come up with a pork belly dish that I could cook in the oven. The ideas just slowly came to me as I began to prepare the meat. I put the garlic to help season the meat and I just used smoked paprika on the deviled eggs, I really liked it, so decided to use that. The resulting dish was very moist and flavorful meat and crispy skin. In the future though, I would probably roast the garlic first before putting it on the meat to infuse it's flavor more into the meat.

Ingredients 

• pork belly
• garlic cloves
• smoked paprika
• salt and pepper

We start with pork belly. You may not be able to get pork belly from your local supermarket but you can try and ask the butcher. We get ours from an asian store.	The pork belly should have the skin still attached to it.
Cut slits into the meat and insert whole peeled garlic cloves. Place about 6 to 8 cloves of garlic	Season with salt and pepper
Liberally sprinkle smoked paprika all over the meat side of the pork belly.	Roll up and tie with twine
the look from the other side of the roll	place the roll on a rack
Brush on oil on the pork belly skin. Place the rack in a pan and place in the stove. Put watch in the pan. Roast at 375° for 60 to 90 minutes then raise the temperature to 500° for 20 to 30 minutes to crisp up the skin.	During the whole roasting process, use a spray bottle and spray the whole skin with water. This will make the skin come out more crispy.
Cut the pork into slices. The result is a very moist pork meat with hints of smoked paprika and crispy outer skin.