Shrimp Pasta Soup

Heat is to the extreme X now. It rains a little , but only to make the weather hotter. To the max to the x !

Well, you can't beat mother nature. Might as well join her.

For lunch with my girls today, I checked my pantry. Nothing's in there. We actually just arrived home from a long weekend getaway. Although I brought home some fresh catches from the sea , there were no greens to nourish a dish. But I had _ spag noodles, milk and choices of shrimp, squid ,crab or fish.

I came up with very hot to the x _ shrimp pasta soup ! Why not ?



We indulge on icecream during rainy season even in the middle of a typhoon. A hot soup would surely feed our perspiring soul on this El Nino weather.




Mother knows best ! My girls loaded their tummies until bloated. They loved it ! They love everything I invent in my humble kitchen. . . actually ! Ofcouse, I save cups of it for J's part.

For those who want to try this hot dish on this max hot weather , so easy :



prepare :

- 1 cup cooked shrimp
- 1/4 kl cooked pasta noodles (preferably spaghetti)
- a can of evaporated milk
- italian seasoning to taste
- salt & pepper to taste
- chopped 1 med onion bulb
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1&1/2 glass of water
- dash of cooking oi
- optional : knorr seasoning

on stove :

- saute' garlic & onion
- add on the cooked shrimp
- add on the liquid ( water, milk), until bubbles appear
- add on the cooked noodles
- sprinkle seasonings ( italian, salt & pepper, knorr)

Serve hot and smoking ! !

from the sea to my kitchen

Fresh catches from the sea_ of my hometown G.Q.

6 hours drive from Manila, here are my rewards! Fresh,prime quality and cost 50% cheaper from Manila markets.







Taking them home to my urban kitchen I try to be a lil' creative, add some colors and texture to these gifts from mother ocean.






- greens for this sea food soup

- saute' everything ( crabs,prawns & squid) in garlic,onion & ginger. submerge them in broth and sprinkle with chopped greens. salt & pepper to taste.

















-turns the blue-ness of these crabs to orange-ness

- steam the crabs











- and pair with my own vinegar dip concoction














- out of the shell and a cake creation

- crab cake recipe * see in my Sept. archive_ posted as "Crab Cake"












- lace the prawns with white sotanghon thread in a piping hot soup
- submerge the prawns in a sea food broth. add in sotanghon noodles and petchay.













- balance the sea saltiness of the shrimp with the sourness of the tamarind in an all time pinoy favorite sinigang soup

- create sinigang broth with natural fresh tamarind or use prepared powdered pack. add in the veggies and last in the shrimps.











- all in now_ Fiesta Palabok

- see recipe in Oct. archive_posted as "Pancit Palabok"






Serve to and enjoy by my family of voracious eaters. Prepare and cook by a frustrated chef of the family=> meeh!!!

Sizzling Hot Pepper Steak

I've seen this resto first at Festival Mall, one time we had our weekly grocery there. The place was packed with diners and we had to wait for a seat outside. While waiting, I noticed some uniqueness of the set up of the place. Each table had its own overhead exhaust ( I don't know the right term for it, so I'm just describing) and the sizzling plates were served with paper headbands circled around.



Then, we were served a table. When we were seated, it occured to me that I had already dined in the same resto twice or thrice, only in another branch.


So we ignored the video presentation on how to cook the steak in the middle of the busy restaurant and proceeded to order. We ordered four different pepper steak rice dishes so we could compare. I just added salad and soup.




It might be the bulk of people that day or whatever, but our food took a little while to be delivered. So we busied ourselves watching the instructional video anyway. We noticed the how does it work page in the menu which proudly emphasized their use of "expediently fast patented hot plate system".




Then came our salad and soup. Not bad, even tastier_especially the salad. Followed by the sizzling plates.




Our table got clouded with smoke and immediately went on with the advised procedures, to cook the steak right away so as to prevent the meat to harden. We ate and went home.

And then we forgot all about it not until my kid talked about it to her cousin while we were shopping at the mall lately and it was lunch time. We were at Glorietta and found one branch at G5.




This branch was a lot smaller but had tables outside_al fresco. My cousin and her kid wanted inside so we waited for a table.




While waiting outside, the crew asked for our order (how nice!). I guided my cousin according to our previous experience of the menu.








We ordered the same, except the kids wanted to try the kids meal so we added the pork and shrimp platter.








My cousin was happy with the colors and freshness of the kani salad.




Our rice teriyaki pepper steak plates arrived and I thought it was not as smokier as it was when we had it the first time. You have to quickly turn the meat to other sides or they would harden.




Then immediately mix them all together_the rice,meat and veggies.




While we were busy starting to savor our steaks, there were people in the table who were starting to get grumpy. The kids! Their meals hadn't arrived yet.




Finally, the food arrived and the girls found their smiles back to their faces.



Saikoro and shrimp. I was wondering if the kids would like them. But the waiting made them hungry, I guessed they would finish them and so I thought. They left the shrimp actually. They were not happy with a hint of oil in their tongues when they took a bite.




Unsatisfied with her plate, my girl attacked my left over. The serving was quite big for me.




There was one happy plate in the table thu'. The verdict: see for your self.