Pinoy Style Wild Mushroom Fried Rice

Since I wasn't able to join in on the Food Blog Challenge, which has some amazing participants. I did the next best thing. I enter myself in a Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge from Marx Foods. I wasn't always a lover of mushrooms. As a child, I always thought of them as "icky" knowing the fact that they were a fungi. Though, I know better now and love them like Mario loves them to to grow into Super Mario. (That was a Super Marios Bros reference, if you didn't get it) I like learning of the different varieties too. In which I had no idea there were to many aside from the onces found on your supermarket shelves.

I've been saying for the past several weeks how I wanted to start cooking again. Though, due to time constraints and work that made it a little difficult for me to do. So when I received word of the challenge I figured why not. This was my chance to get back in the kitchen. Grabbing the opportunity while it was there.

So, I received a little 1/2oz  package sampler of dried mushrooms that are currently in season. Morel, Matsutake, Black Trumpet, Lobster and Porcini. The smell of them when you open the box was just awesome.

Participants can use some or all the mushroom and create a dish and must be posted by October 11th. I'm posting mine today. Then the folks at Marx Foods will open it up to voting for you lovely awesome interweb friends of mine to choose which recipe you like best. You will vote for mine...right? Winner receives 3 shipments of fresh wild mushrooms. Can you imagine the mushroom dishes one can make with that????? Seriously...think about it. Mmmm...

So on to my entry into the Mushroom Recipe Challenge. I used the morel, lobster and black trumpet mushrooms for this. I'm reaching into my Filipno roots for this one. And cooked up a simple, yet delicious Pinoy Style Wild Mushroom Fried Rice. 


Thanks again to Marx Foods!!


Serves 3

Pinoy Style Wild Mushroom Fried Rice.

1/2 oz dried morel mushroom
1/2 oz dried black trumpet mushrooms
1/2 oz dried Lobster mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves - fine shopped
1 Tbsp margarine
extra virgin olive oil
3 c cooked white rice
1 tsp garlic salt
water

Note: leftover rice is also okay.

Bring a small post of water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add all three dried mushrooms. This is to rehydrate them. Let them soak for about 15-30 minutes, then drain. Give the mushrooms a nice rough chop. (bite size pieces) You can save the broth and use it for soup or a different dish.

In a non-stick skillet heat some olive oil -- Enough to coat the pan. Cook the garlic until slightly brown, then add the mushroom. Saute then for roughly 2-3 minutes. Add the margarine.

Once all the margarine has melted, add the rice. Be sure to stir and toss constantly to break the rice apart also to keep it from sticking to the pan. Add in the garlic salt and stir again to fully combine.

Serve warm.

Pinoy Style Fried Rice Redux

The one thing I love about fried rice is the different combination you can create with them. Then again the same rule applies to cooking. There's no one way to make a dish.

With lent approaching fast, we'll get into that later, I'm slowly eating the last bits of meat I have stocked in my fridge and freezer. What's left are few bacon strips and two hot dogs with cheese (click here to know what I'm talking about). I do have a whole cornish game hen and some ground pork that I need to cook up. But I'll make something those in the coming days, if I haven't by now.

Saturday morning consists of a trip to the farmer's market. Sometimes when I get home, I'm pretty hungry. This is where leftover white rice comes in handy. A Filipino breakfast is usually some fried rice (called sinangag in tagalog) and whatever have in the fridge (eggs, sausage, etc). So I cook up the traditional pinoy fried rice. Instead of adding  butter I cooked the rice in some of the bacon drippings. Cooked the garlic until crisp and gave the hot dog some nice char marks,. Add the rice and mix in the egg, causing it to coat every morsel. Top it off by crumbling the bacon in. Mmmm... a Filipino breakfast redux. You can serve it with a side of white vinegar or ketchup. It's a one plate kind of dish.

Serve 2-3

Pinoy Style Fried Rice Redux

3-4 c cooked rice
6 bacon strip
2 hot dog links - sliced into 1/4 to 1/2-inch coins
2 eggs - beaten and season lightly with salt
2 garlic cloves - minced

In a non-stick skillet, cook the bacon until browned and crisp. Place the strips on a paper towel to drain. If there's a lot of bacon drippings in the pan, remove but 1 tablespoon of the dripping. Then cook the garlic until it's browned then add the hot dog.

Cook the hot dogs roughly 2-3 minutes. Give them an occasional stir. Then add the rice. Break them apart stirring constantly and mixing well until the rice is once again soft. Roughly 5 minutes of so. Then stir in the egg. Again stirring until the egg is completely cooked.

Shortly before serving crumble the bacon into the rice.

Serve warm with a side of white vinegar or ketchup.

Puto Pao

I know in spanish 'puto' has a negative meaning of sorts, but in the Philippines it's got a tasty meaning behind it.  It's commonly found in many gathering and parties as well as come in different color. But we'll just stick to the classic white for this one. It can be made into the size of a hubcap or as small as a cupcake. A good dish to pair this with is usually pancit.

The recipe below was actually given to me by my cousin, who made it for me when I was in the country last year. Traditionally, it's usually made with rice flour. but if you don't have the means to make your own or find some that's readily available, you can use cake flour instead. These cakes aren't baked but steamed. They look light and fluffy and so good to eat.

There's also the optional shredded cheese and salted egg for topping. Salted eggs are uncooked duck eggs, still in the shell, soaked in a salt and water bath for two weeks. Then after two weeks they are hard boiled and eaten.

Makes 2 6-inch cakes or 20 cupcakes

Puto Pao
adapted from my cousin's recipe

1 1/4 c cake flour or rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 c water
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 c granulated sugar
cheddar cheese - optional
salted egg - optional
banana leaves - optional


Prepare you steamer, keep the water on a low flame if not boiling immediately

Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Then mix in the water and blend. Mix it in a clockwise or counter-clockwise way. Don't use both.  Set the mixture aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until it begins to looks the consistency of meringue or marshmallow. It's best to use a mixer for this part, but if mixing by hand, whisk vigorously. Then slowly add the sugar while still continuously mixing. When the mixture looks to form stiff peaks when held with a spoon, it's ready.

Fold the egg white mixture into the flour mixture until thoroughly combine. Place the butter in a parchment paper or banana leaf lined cake pan or into cupcake liners.

Steam for 10 minutes then add the toppings. Steam once more for 10 minutes to let the cheese melt.

 

A 6-inch cake version steamed in a banana leaf

Arroz Caldo

Up next is a rice soup. A congee of sorts. Or rice porridge. Also referred to as lugaw (loo-g-ow) in the Philippines. The dish has got some Spanish influences, but mostly adapted from the Chinese. I've got wikipedia to thank for that last bit of info (here). I have my mom to thank for this recipe. She's make this every Christmas. I love it. It's probably the best I've ever eaten. I'm not saying that because I'm her daughter, but I really do believe it true. People rave about it when they first taste it.  I could eat up bowls of this soup all day long if I could with a side of bread. This is comfort food Filipino style. Yum!!

There's also no one way to make this as many Filipino families have their own recipe and tradition of cooking up this classic soup. As long as there's rice and bunch of fresh ginger and maybe some chicken, you're good to go. At first it may look watery if eaten fresh, but give it a couple hours and the water will dry out a little and it will have and creamy porridge-like consistency. Plus you can always add more stock to the mix. Serve a bowl of this with a side of fish sauce, calamansi or lemon wedges, or soy sauce.

This soup can be eaten year round. It's perfect substitute for the tried-and-true chicken noodle for if you're feeling sick. But I love to eat it during this season. It just screams holidays, doesn't it? Maybe it's the flecks of red from the saffron.

Arroz Caldo

2 c uncooked rice
1 garlic - fine chopped
1/2 medium onion - chopped
1/2 c ginger - sliced
2 chicken boullion cubes
water
1 Tbsp saffron
1 chicken breast - cubed - optional
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
2 scallion - chopped
roasted garlic pieces - optional
hard boiled egg - optional


Wash the uncooked rice thorough of any starches. Set aside.

In a stock pot, saute the garlic in a little olive oil  then saute the onions after. Add the optional chicken and par-cook the meat until the the outside are white. Season with some salt and pepper. Add the rice and saute for roughly 1-2 minutes. Then add the ginger.

Fill the pot 3/4 full of water. and add the chicken boullion, if not adding chicken meat. Bring the mixture to a boil then down to a simmer on medium to low heat until the rice is cooked. Then add the saffron.

Top with some slices of egg ot a couple quail eggs, scallions and roasted garlic. Serve with a side of fish sauce, calamsi or lemon slices, or soy sauce.

Note: if it looks watery, don't worry. After a couple of hours some of the liquid with lightly dry out and the soup will have a porridge consistency.

Snow Pea Fried Rice

I happened to be released early on set the day I decided to cook this and even though I was super exhausted, I still wanted to cook something for other members of the household. In the fridge was some left over white rice. This is a great way to use up any left over rice you may have from those Chinese takeouts. Then I happened to glace at the snow peas that I nearly forgot about. Oops. I grab a couple of eggs while I was still at the fridge.

I blanched the peas in some boiling water and cooled them in some cold water to stop the cooking process. Pop out the little peas from inside and kept a few of the shells. Then I did a quick saute of them before adding the rice. Mixed in the egg and did the constant stir and scrap move until the egg was fully cooked. Served with a sprinkle of paprika on top. That part is optional.

Serves 2

Snow Pea Fried Rice
1 c snow peas - blanched, steamed or from frozen
3 c cooked white rice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs - beaten
salt

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the peas and saute until cooked and tender. Roughly 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Then add the rice. Break the rice apart while stirring until soft.

Constantly stirring and scrapping the side to keep the rice from sticking. Once the rice is soft once again. Stir in the egg. Be sure to season with a little salt before adding.

Again constantly stirring until the egg has fully cooked.

Serve warm.

Pinoy Style Fried Rice (aka Garlic Fried Rice)

Garlic fried rice is the Filipino version of the traditional fried rice found in Chinese cuisine. No carrots. No peas or chicken. Just garlic and little bit of margarine and an optional scrambled egg mixed in.

This dish holds a very special place in my heart because it's the very first thing I ever learned how to cook. I was probably in the 4th or 5th grade then. Can you imagine a ten-year-old alone in the kitchen? And I wasn't making toast. Never had a home economics class either. It was from watching my mom cook this over and over that I learned to make it myself. I remember I wanted to surprise my her with a nice meal when she got home. I pretended that I had my own restaurant. On the menu was garlic fried rice and slices of pan-fried spam. (Filipinos love that spam!!) I remember printing out little menus and drawing fancy borders on them then putting it in a pee chee folder. My restaurant then was called J & J Restaurant. The other "J" being my mom. It's a simple dish and the Filipino way of comfort food.

The rice. No Asian household is without a rice cooker. It's a must and very essential. To cook rice over the stove, click here. I'd tell you myself, but I've never cooked it over on stove pot. Except maybe for Arroz Caldo. (Chicken Rice Soup) That will be for a future post.

If you've got left over white rice from your Chinese take-out, use that too. For the margarine in this recipe, I use Star Margarine. It's a product of the Philippines that's been around since the 1930s. I believe it's now sold in the Asian aisle of some super markets here in the US. Not just in the local Asian markets. It's really good on toasted pan de sal or sliced bread with sugar sprinkled over it. But you can use any margarine of you choosing.

The memories are flooding back. Now 15 years later, I'm still cooking it.


Garlic Fried Rice

1 Large Garlic cloves (sliced or minced)
3 c Cooked Rice (rough estimate)
2-3 Tbs Margarine
1 Tbs Oil (vegetable, olive or canola)
Salt to season
1 egg (beaten - optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan, pot or wok. Cook the garlic until they start to turn brown, then add in the rice. Toss constantly for a couple of minutes, then season with a little salt and add the margarine. Again tossing constantly

When the margarine has dissolved into the rice you can add the optional egg. Again toss for another minute or so or until egg is cooked, then serve.


If you feel like adding more garlic or margarine, go right ahead. You can eat this for breakfast (most Asian cultures eat fried rice for breakfast), lunch or dinner. Either alone, with a fried egg or a side dish of your choice. I usually like to eat this with a freshly diced tomato or my personal favorite some banana ketchup. More on that later. Yum!