It’s pretty crazy after a week of enhanced community quarantine. Although I am not really affected because I work from home, the fact that stores were closed, it affected our daily routines.
We live in between two grocery stores and we couldn’t buy stocks, not that it is closed but the lines were just crazy as limited people are only allowed inside for social distancing.
So for the past days, we relied on the remaining food stores that were open nearby.
I know a lot of us are trying to be creative when it comes to food and we’d usually get canned goods. I thought I would share my usual way of cooking them to at least spice it up.
How to cook corned beef
This is literally my favorite. My mom would cook it to double the servings of our meal and I grew up having this as a go-to meal. Too bad my husband is not a fan of it.
To prepare it, just cook your corned beef as usual and the pork and beans at the end. You may simmer it down but I prefer it to be saucy.
I love my Baguio beans, you can have it steamed or buttered or sautéed with ground beef/pork. If you want to have veggies to conceal the “unhealthiness” of canned goods then adding veggies is an option.
You can even try Sayote here or Sigarilyas totally up to you. It is prepared the same way, so no sweat.
This is a classic. Who wouldn’t try a corned beef with potatoes? It’s like a continental breakfast. Some would level this up by adding eggs as an omelette but as is it’s delicious.
You may opt to fry the potatoes separately so you will have a little crisp and faster cooking time.
How to cook canned tuna
As usual, you can sauteé the canned tuna to heat and add garlic and onion. You can level this up by converting it to an all blown “Sisig” all you have to do is have onions, green chili, red chili, calamansi, and egg.
Drain the tuna first, heat it until the remaining liquid simmers down. Add the green chilis or siling pang-sigang, add the diced onions, add calamansi juice (2-3 calamansi), add your red chili, and finally add the egg.
It’s just like your normal sisig but you used tuna instead of pork.
This is no brainer tuna recipe, simply adjust the ratio of the egg to have like a pancake, hotel-like omelet, or just sautéed thick tuna.
Creative egg recipes
This is not my original recipe, I came across this at the Asian Food Channel. It was chef Michael Roux who made this but my version wasn’t a legit frittata.
I just got a regular Kimchi in sachets and chopped them (I used scissors because it stains the chopping board). Set them aside. Beat 3-4 eggs, depends on how thick you want to be.
Heat up a pan, add a little oil and butter. Pour the beaten egg.
Once it starts to form add your Kimchi and spread it evenly.
Here’s the fun part – add lots and lots and lots of cheese. I go normal Edam cheese here or if you’ve stocked up well, mozzarella will be amazing.
In the original recipe, Chef Michael used a cast iron and baked/broiled it afterward. For me, I flipped it to get the crust on the other side.
Now, this needs another video from another source because it has cooking techniques. But if you know Tamago Sushi or Dashi Tamago and you loved it just like I do, you’ll appreciate it.
Great fix for Japanese food cravings!
So what you need are eggs, mirin, salt. sugar, soy sauce, (Optional: Dashi Stock and Bonito Flakes). Beat them all together and cook it. The cooking technique I was talking about is when you ladle the mixture one at a time and you roll it to the other side of the pan then ladle another mixture.
Sounds, complicated? Go to YouTube after reading this post.
Desperate cooking
Let’s say you’ve really run out of livestock or canned goods to cook but you still have the basic seasoning. Here are my two “Pantawid Gutom” recipes that’ll you find handy.
I did this when I was still 10 or 11 years old. My parents left us for a road trip and made me in charge of the household. We are saving funds so I thought of cooking a dish without the meat.
So you need bullion cubes, onions, calamansi juice, soy sauce, and water. All you have to do is boil the water with the beef broth cube, add your soy sauce, add calamansi juice, and simmer the onions.
I usually add sugar on my bistek to balance the taste, but you get the idea.
My siblings were happy with this. We paired it with steamed rice.
For the longest time I have been cooking, it became a hobby to guess the ingredient or spices used by restaurants. So when I tasted the Mang Inasal soup I know it’s a sinagang mix.
If you want to have this famous hot and sour soup, all you need really is boil tomatoes and onions, add a pork broth cube, and the sinigang mix. Boil to perfection and poof you have Sinigang the Mang Inasal way.
If you have leafy vegetables, you can add water spinach (Kang Kong) or Kamote tops.
Eating healthy during a quarantine
As much as possible if you had a chance to stock up during this time, make sure to prepare a balanced meal for the family. I know it’s not easy even myself don’t eat healthy at all.
But if you can, please do, nutrients from food will surely boost your immune system.
What’s your favorite from the list? Or what will you try after reading this?
Please stay indoors!
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