Back in the Kitchen

One of my New Year's Resolutions is I want to cook more. . .  I love cooking!   I cook A LOT when I'm in the US visiting hubby.  Zola's Dad and I are a tag team when it comes to the kitchen.  Cooking is also one of our "fun things to do" as a couple.  And I'm proud to say that he is actually a better cook than me when it comes to Filipino food!  (Yes, I'm a lucky one.  I have a husband who can cook and get this. . . loves to do the laundry!  Haha!  No joke!)

But when I'm back home here in the Philippines, cooking takes a back seat because we are lucky to have somebody who does it for us.  

Last week, I cooked one of my favorite Filipino food. . . Menudo!  I tried cooking this a couple of years ago while visiting hubby.  I'm proud to say that I cooked it all by myself! *pat on the back*

My first Menudo!

For the Menudo recipe I used, I got it from Panlasang Pinoy (one of our favorite recipe sources).

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork belly (about 1 kilo)
• 1/2 lb pork liver (about ¼ kilo)
• 
1 cup carrots, diced
• 
1 cup potatoes, diced
• 
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 
1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 pc lemon or 4 pcs. calamansi
• 
1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 
2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Cooking Procedure

1. Marinade pork with soy sauce and lemon juice for approximately 1 hour
2. Heat pan and place cooking oil
3. Fry potatoes and carrots for about 5 minutes and set aside
4. Sauté garlic and onion in the same pan where the vegetables were fried
5. Add the marinated pork belly and water then simmer for 15 minutes
6. Add the pork liver and tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes
7. Add the fried carrots and potatoes, red bell pepper, and brown sugar then simmer for another 5 minutes
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Number of servings (yield): 6

Make sure you have lots of rice to go with your Menudo! LOL

Happy Cooking . . and Eating!