May Palacpac, Storyteller

It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard it said. I heard it too at the national homeschooling conference four years ago. Many of the things that are supposed to be rooted home have become commercialized, and in effect, has uprooted families from their homes.

The point of that conference was actually to stress the importance of family in healing and rebuilding our nation. It was a message that resonated strongly to me so when Knorr’s Brand Manager for Bouillon and Seasonings, Dhiren Karnani, started talking to us mom bloggers about bringing the family home through homecooked meals at the Knorr #LutongNanay event last August 12, I couldn’t agree more.

And when Mr. Karnani talked about how our mom’s cooking becomes our standard for good food, we were all nodding vigorously and smiling from ear-to-ear.

I, for one, have asked my mom to give me a run-through of some of her recipes when the kids and I stayed over during Jay’s recent trip to Singapore. I’m not a bad cook, but there’s always about my mom’s cooking that brings back the joys of my childhood.

As a child, I’ve enjoyed her versions of Kare-Kare, Batangas Batchoy, Tinola, Adobo and Sinigang.

I’ve tasted her Sampaloc-based Sinigang, but my mom is a woman who keeps up with the times, and upon their introduction, she was quick to discover how much time and energy she was able to save in food preparation by using Knorr Sinigang mix and all the different-flavored cubes, haha!

Chef Kai’s Sinigang Variations

The Knorr #LutongNanay event was so much fun! Chef Kai, a well-respected chef and fellow mom, first showed us how to cook Sinigang sa Sampaloc na Liempo while we oohed and aahed at the new preparation techniques that we were learning from her.

After which, we were grouped into four and were challenged to prepare different Sinigang variations based on recipes that were handed out to us.

Sinigang na Liempo

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kilo liempo (pork belly), sliced in 2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 liter water
• 2 (22 g) pack Knorr Sinigang na Gabi
• 1 bundle kangkong leaves
• 3 medium taro root (gabi), peeled and halved
• 3 medium ripe tomato, halved
• 2 medium yellow or white onion, quartered
• 2 cups string beans (sitaw), cut in 2 inch length
• 1 large Chinese eggplant (talong), sliced
• 12 pieces okra
• 3 to 4 pieces long green pepper (siling pansigang)
• Fish sauce (patis) to taste

PROCEDURE:

1. Boil the water in a cooking pot.
2. Add the tomato and onion. Set the heat to medium and continue to boil for 15 minutes.
3. Add the pork belly and gabi. Continue to boil in low heat for 1 hour or until the pork gets tender. Add more water, if necessary.
4. Add the Knorr Sinigang na Gabi mix. Stir.
5. Add the long green chili and boil for 3 minutes.
6. Stir-in the okra, string beans, and eggplant and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add the kangkong and fish sauce. Stir. Cover and turn off the heat. Let it stay covered for 5 minutes.
8. Transfer to a serving bowl.
9. Serve with warm rice.
10. Share and enjoy!

I think we were given the best task – Sizzling Sinigang. It sounded strange to me at first, but we were given the better end of the stick when it comes to plating it because we didn’t have to deal with a lot of broth. Ours had gravy-like sauce made from butter, then later on, added with cornstarch, that we carefully poured over seared vegetables and meat.

Look at our accomplishment! The truth is that I have to give it to fellow mom blogger and team mate Que, who plated it quite beautifully.

Knorr Sizzling Sinigang Recipe

• INGREDIENTS:
• 500 grams Beef Short ribs
• 10 shallots or baby red onions
• 12-15 cherry tomatoes
• 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 2 tsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 5 cups water
• 2 strings French beans
• 2 Knorr Beef Cubes
• 1 ½ Tbsp Knorr Sinigang Mix (add more if preferred)
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 ½ tsp. patis
• 2 tsp. Knorr Liquid Seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
• Roux: 3 Tbsp. butter + 3 Tbsp flour

PROCEDURE:

1. Sear the short ribs in oil and butter until brown. Transfer the beef in a pressure cooker and add water only to cover the meat. Cook for 45 minutes or until meat is tender.
2. Remove meat and liquid from pressure cooker.
3. In a pot, add 6 cups of liquid from pressure cooker and combine with Knorr Sinigang Mix and Beef Cubes. Bring the mixture to a boil then simmer. Season with patis and soy sauce. Adjust seasoning to taste.
4. While sinigang broth is simmering, prepare the entire garnish. Deep fry shallots (unpeeled) and the garlic cloves (unpeeled) until crisp. Set aside.
5. Fry tomatoes until skin cracks. Set aside
6. Fry the chopped garlic until golden brown. Strain and set aside.
7. Sauté the French beans for a few minutes. Set aside.
8. Prepare the roux- in a skillet, add butter, when melted, add the flour. Cook for 1 minute.
9. Use the roux to thicken the sinigang broth. Add the roux at a time to the broth while mixing with a whisk.
10. Start plating. Add the beef, beans, tomatoes, garlic and shallots on your serving sizzling plate.
11. Pour the sinigang broth on top of the plated dish top with garlic chips. Best served with cooked rice.

Other variations include Knorr Surf n’ Turf Sinigang and Sinigang with Pakwan.

Knorr Surf and Turf Sinigang Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 L rice washing
• 2 pcs onions, quartered
• 2 pcs tomatoes, quartered
• 2 pcs gabi, quartered
• 1 pc green chili (sili pansigang)
• 1⁄4 kg shrimp, trimmed
• 1⁄4 kg Maya-maya, cut into serving pcs.
• 1 pack Knorr Sinigang sa Sampalok Original 20g
• 1⁄4 pc radish, sliced
• 4 pcs okra
• 1 cup long beans or sitaw, sliced
• 1⁄4 kg pork sukiyaki, sautéed
• 1 cup kangkong, sliced

PROCEDURE:

1. Bring to boil rice washing in a pot with onions, tomatoes, gabi, and green chili until gabi is tender.
2. Add shrimp, maya-maya, and Knorr Sinigang sa Sampalok Original. Simmer until cooked.
3. Add radish, okra, and long beans. Simmer for a minute then add pork sukiyaki and kangkong. Cover for a minute then serve.

Knorr Sinigang with Pakwan

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 grams Pork Belly 3 inches x 1 inch slices
• 3 tbsp Knorr Liquid Seasoning
• 2 tbsp
vegetable oil
• 1 liter water
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2
 onion, cut into 2 wedges
• 3 pcs tomatoes, sliced into quarters
• 1 inch fresh ginger, cut into fine matchsticks
• 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only
• 2 pcs fresh kaffir leaves (optional)
• 200 grams gabi, sliced into cubes
• 500 grams seedless watermelon, peeled & cut into 1inch cubes (divided into 2 parts)
• 1 22-gram pack Knorr Sinigang sa Gabi mix
• 1 cube from Knorr Beef Cubes
• 2 long green chillies, sliced
• 150 grams sitaw, cut into 7 cm lengths
• 1 tbsp
fish sauce, plus extra to taste
• ¼ tsp
freshly ground black pepper
• 100 grams okra
• 1 bunch
water kangkong
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Steamed rice, to serve
• fish sauce to serve

PROCEDURE:

1. Marinate the pork belly in Knorr Liquid Seasoning for at least 30 mins.
2. Place a large casserole over medium-high heat. Add the oil and, working in batches, cook the pork until evenly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and onions to the casserole. Add the tomatoes, ginger lemongrass, gabi and watermelon and cook for 2 minutes before returning the pork to the casserole.
4. Add the water, Knorr Sinigang Mix and Knorr Beef Cube. Cook for a further 1–1½ hours until the pork is almost tender.
5. When the pork is tender. Remove the pork from the casserole and set aside. Strain the liquid and add the fish sauce, soy sauce and pepper to taste.
6. Add the remaining watermelon, beans, and okra and cook for 20 minutes, before adding the water spinach and cooking for a further minute until all the vegetables are tender.
7. Serve with steamed white rice and fish sauce for dipping.

Of course, we all went home with a basket of Knorr goodies.

Thank you very much, Knorr and Mommy Bloggers Philippines. I had a really amazing time. I hope that our children will all love coming home to eat with family.

For more on Knorr, please visit the following links:

Website: www.knorr.com.ph/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KnorrPhilippines/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Knorr
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/knorrph/

Till next cooking!