Oxtail Soup

This is a Filipino recipe that I grew up with. It's really good for good evening.

Ingredients 

• 2 lbs - 3 lbs oxtail
• can of diced tomatoes
• tamarind soup base mix 
• salt and pepper to taste

Wash and rinse 2 lbs - 3 lbs of oxtail. Place the oxtail in a pressure cooker pot.	Fill the pot with water until the oxtail is all covered.
Bring the water to a boil. A meat foam will form on top. This foam will need to be skimmed off.	After the foam has been skimmed off...
Place the cover of the pressure cooker and lock into place. ****USING A PRESSURE COOKER IS DANGEROUS, DO NOT USE IF YOU HAVE NEVER USED OR DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE A PRESSURE COOKER****	I set the pressure cooker to 15 lbs of pressure and cooked under pressure for 45 minutes. ****USING A PRESSURE COOKER IS DANGEROUS, AS AN ALTERNATIVE, YOU CAN USE A REGULAR POT AND COOK FOR 3 TO 4 HOURS OR UNTIL THE OXTAIL IS FORK TENDER***
After 45 minutes, turn off the heat to the pressure cooker. Wait until the pot is no longer pressurized before opening it. The oxtail should be fork tender. ****OPENING THE PRESSURE COOKER BEFORE THE POT IS DE-PRESURIZED IS DANGEROUS AND WILL CAUSE SERIOUS HARM OR WORSE****	Add water to the pot to cover the meat.
Add a can of diced tomatoes...	Bring the soup to a boil...
This is tamarind soup base. It gives a sour/tart flavor. A more popular brand of this is Knorr brand.	Add salt and pepper to your desired taste. Add the tamarind soup base mix, 1 tsp at a time. Mix the soup and taste the soup. If desired add another tsp of soup base. Taste the soup again. Continue to add soup base until reached desired taste, tasting the soup each time.
Add one head of chopped cabbage.	Bring the soup back to a boil. Boil until cabbage is just soft. For a lack of a better word, until the cabbage is al dente.
The soup is great for a cold night. Very tasty, meaty and sour soup. And the meat is tasty and soft.

Triple Cheese Bacon Ranch Pull-apart Bread

We made this for a Super Bowl get together at my cousin's house. It's very yummy, cheesy and buttery bread!

Ingredients 

• Sour dough bread loaf
• bacon
• sharp cheddar cheese
• monterey jack cheese
• parmesan cheese
• sweet onions
• butter
• ranch dip mix

Ingredients: Sour dough bread loaf, bacon, butter, sweet onions, ranch dip mix, sharp cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, parmesan cheese (not pictured)	Place bacon on a rack on a baking sheet. Place in a 400° pre-heated oven until bacon is crispy, about 20 minutes.
The crispy bacon comes out of the oven.	Chop up the bacon into small bits.
Mince the onion, place in a frying pan with some oil over medium heat until lightly caramelized.	The caramelized onions
Cut a grid into the sour dough loaf. Cut deep into the loaf without cutting thru the bread. Leave about 1/2 inch at the bottom of the bread uncut so that bread remains whole	Melt the butter and mix with the ranch dressing mix and put in a squeeze bottle
Assemble the bread. First use the squeeze bottle to pour the ranch/butter mix along the cuts in the bread. Then stuff bread, along the cuts with the three cheese, onions and bacon. Stuff one layer at a time. We put the onions first, then cheddar cheese, monterey jack, then the parmesan cheese. We then topped with bacon and then poured more of the ranch/butter mix. Note that we stuffed the bread along all the cut lines of the bread, both up and down cuts. Wrap the bread in foil and bake for 25 minutes in a 350° oven then open foil and bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.	You get a very cheesy, gooey, buttery and bacon bread. Just grab and pull a piece off and enjoy!

This was inspired by a recipe from http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/07/cheddar-bacon-ranch-pulls.html

Tripe Chaser

I learned to make this dish from my dad. He would make this as a chaser when he was drinking with his buddies. Probably when I learn to really like tripe.

Ingredients 

• beef tripe
• onions
• black pepper corns
• bay leaves
• green onions
• vinegar
• salt and black pepper

Ingredients: beef tripe, onions, black pepper corn, bay leaves, salt The tripe needs to be boiled to soften it. Boiling it with some aromatics will add the tripe's flavor and will also help neutralize the smell that the tripe gives off when boiling, which some people, like my wife, doesn't like hahahaha	When the water begins to boil,a foam will form on top of the water. Skim off this foam and discard
Continue to boil the tripe for 1 ½ to 2 hour until soft	Cut the tripe into strips...
then cut into small pieces...	Place the cut tripe in a bowl, add diced onion, diced green onions, salt, black pepper
add vinegar, mix and then serve

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.

Shrimp and Ginger Siu Mai Dumplings

One of the dishes we has on New Year's Eve. Yummm!

Ingredients 

• 1 lbs shrimp
• ½ lbs ground pork
• 2 egg whites
• 2" grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespsoon sesame oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt & ¼ black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 chopped green onions
• round wonton wrappers
• soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin vinegar for dipping sauce

Ingredients: 1 lbs shrimp, 2 egg whites, ½ lbs ground pork, 2 inch grated fresh ginger, 2 tablespoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon salt & ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 chopped green onions	To make the filling, put all the ingredients in a food processor. Run the processor until the meat is chopped and smooth but still have texture.
We use round wonton wrappers	Place a wonton wrapper on top of your hand
Dip a small spoon in ice water. Having a cold spoon will make the filling slip off the spoon easily.	Take a spoon full of filling
Place the filling at the center of the wonton wrapper	Squeeze the sides of the wrapper onto the filling
Fold the edges of the wrapper onto the side of the siu mai. Then tap the siu mai on a flat surface. This will flatten the bottom so that the siu mai can stand	Continue to wrap filling and create additonal siu mai. Steam them in any steaming device, we used a rice cooker/steamer. Whatever device you use, line it with parchment paper and place the siu mai in it without touching each other.
All ready to eat... serve with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin vinegar. You have a fresh tasting shrimp siu mai with a great ginger flavor!

This was adapted from recipe from www.foodnetwork.com

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