Pacham Series #1 - Sweet & Spicy Pork Belly with Potatoes and String Beans

I’m neither a foodie nor a pro-chef but I really like cooking my own food. I like to have control on the spices and the taste. You have to excuse me but for the lack of a better name on some of the recipes and because almost all of them are a bit experimental (tantsahan lang), I’ll just call them the “Pacham Series” (Pacham, a Filipino term short for Pa-tsamba or having to depend on luck/chance). I think this blog would be the best way to immortalize these recipes, don’t you think? 

Well to start off, here’s one for pork belly lovers. Pork belly or liempo has this distinct flavour in it so the spices blend well. This can serve 3-5. You can just adjust the chilli depending on how spicy you want it to be.

Update: My cousins said it taste just like adobo. So this maybe just a version of adobo then. hehe.. 

Ingredients:

½ kilo Pork Belly (liempo) cut into 3 inches slices

1 tie of string beans cut into 1 inch slices

5 medium-sized potatoes, quartered

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium-sized red onion, sliced

3 spoons Sugar

4 pcs of siling haba, chopped (or use any kind of chilli)

¼ cup of soy sauce

¼ cup vinegar

Salt & Pepper to taste

5 ½ cups Water

** I thought of adding in 1 cup of Pineapple Chunks but I don’t have it then so maybe some other time.

Procedure:

1)      In a deep frying pan, mix 5 cups of water, pork belly, salt and pepper then leave it in medium heat until the water completely evaporates. Stir once in a while. The pork’s fat should melt then.

2)      Fry the pork in its own oil until it’s a bit brown on both sides. Stir constantly; you don’t want it to burn.

3)      Lower down the heat and sauté the onion, garlic, and chilli with the pork for about 2 minutes.

4)      Add in the potatoes and stir for another 3 minutes. 

5)      Toss in the String Beans with constant stirring for another minute.

6)      Add in the soy sauce, sugar and ½ cup of water (substitute pineapple juice with water if you have, also add in the pineapple chunks).

7)      Reduce the sauce with constant stirring.

8)      Plate and Serve. Don’t forget to enjoy.

That's So '90s: This is My Decade

Original artwork by Bren DJ. Adofina

So there must be a million versions of write ups about this era. And it actually is getting more and more over rated. But I really miss the decade, so from now on this is gonna be one of my filters.

Whenever I remember my childhood in the 90s, it always makes me smile. Especially the Tagalog-dubbed-Japanese-made-shows. I remember the very first time I saw Dragonball, i think it was aired in ABC 5 then (now TV5).  Who would forget Bioman, Mask Rider Black, Shaider, and all other Japanese superheroes. Ultraman (for all the version that they’ve had), I remember a time when they had an episode where one of the Ultraman died and all the other versions of Ultraman got together. BTX, Magic Knights Rayearth, Flame of Recca, Ghost Fighter, Gundam Wing, Animes were a big hit for the 90s kids and kids at heart. 

“Esmuski!” the famous line of  Ang TV, an afternoon kiddie gag show that airs 4:30pm (four thirty na! Ang TV na!). Also, POWER RANGERS (the originals), with their robot dinosaurs that combines and forms a gigantic Megazoid (This is the only Power Ranger Show that has been made into a movie, oh what I give to have a complete set of those).