Cooking Filipino

Mexica and I are working on our Filipino cooking skills. So far, we've developed a pretty good hand with Pork Adobo. Adobo is a basic Filipino food, and really pretty easy, pork, onion, garlic, soy sauce, water, bay leaf, whole peppercorns and something called "magic sarap" (which is an MSG-based flavor enhancer). Most recipes I've read for adobo call for vinegar, but Mexica's family recipe does not include vinegar. Either way, I do love adobo, it's not only easy to make, but it's delicious.

Yesterday I tried making spaghetti Filipino style, and that is a work in progress. I've mastered spaghetti in a more traditional Italian-American style, but Filipinos like their spaghetti sauce sweet and mine tasted too much of Italian spices. I'll have to try again. Today, I'm making Beef Mechado, which is a Filipino variation of a beef stew. I'll let you know how it turns out. It's been fun learning to cook in a new style!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo Beef chuck cut into large cubes
• 1 small onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 medium can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
• 2 potatoes cut into medium cubes
• 1 small carrots, cut in serving pieces
• 1 cup water or beef stock
• 2 bay leaves(laurel)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 sliced lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice alternative
• 1 red bell pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking oil

Mechado Cooking Instructions:

Heat cooking oil in pan, add in beef and sear until all sides are brown. Set aside.

In the same pan, saute garlic and onion until soft and fragrant.

Place the beef back in the pan and stir for few minutes.

Add in soy sauce, tomato sauce, bayleaves, water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for at least an hour or until the beef is tender.

When meat is tender, add in sliced lemon or a drop of lemon juice. Place in potatoes, bell pepper, and carrots. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat.

More on "Life in the Philippines"-Rental Agent

The rental agent through whom I rented this apartment has been telling me she is in contact with the condo owner, an Australian, who insists on certain terms for the rental, which I found peculiar. She promised to clarify the issues and get back to me, but she never did.

Well, today I met the owner of the condo. He's an American (not an Australian) and until he arrived in Manila today he did not even know his unit had been rented out--he had authorized renting it, but didn't know it had happened. He had to ask ME how much my rent was. He was not asking for any of the unusual terms the rental agent had requested. One of them was that I would provide 11 post-dated checks to cover the rent from now through next year. Of course he found that as appalling as I did and said he would never do it. They had asked him for 5 years of post-dated checks, but instead he makes a payment each month. He was surprised to find out that he "insisted" that I pay the condo dues. He is paying those. He was surprised to find out that those dues are 2700 pesos per month, as he is paying only 2250 pesos.

Real Estate agents in the US don't have a high rating for honesty, but this woman we are dealing with here takes the cake.