March | 2015 | silver chopstix

Chicken Arroz Caldo (Rice Porridge)

Most countries in Asia have their own version of rice porridge. It goes by many different names: congee in China, juk in Korea, okayu in Japan and lugaw in the Philippines. Filipino rice porridge is typically served as a mid-afternoon snack or what we call “merienda”. It is also considered comfort food specially during the cold and rainy season. When I was growing up my mom would always make us arroz caldo when we are feeling under the weather. The reason being it is easy to digest. Lugaw is also…read more

Hibiscus Tea

I chanced upon some dried hibiscus flowers while browsing the aisle of a farm market in Southern Jersey. When we visit a town I almost always go to a food store in search of local specialty it has to offer. The dried hibiscus was not a local product but it still is a rare find since it’s not something my local food store carries regularly. They say that hibiscus tea helps lower blood pressure and is a very good antioxidant. After searching the web I decided on the most simple…read more

Blood Orange Salad

I spotted some blood oranges at the grocery store last week. This is a seasonal fruit (usually from December – May) and are sometimes difficult to find. Blood oranges as the name implies has a deep red or almost blood colored flesh. It has a raspberry undertone aside from it’s citrus taste and is less sweet than a regular orange. To prepare, cut a bit of both ends of your orange. Stand the fruit on one end and remove the peel and pith by running your knife down the side…read more

Cheese Pimiento Spread

As a child, cheese pimiento was one of the things my mom used to make for us. Pre-made spreads or store bought fillings were unheard of in our household. My mom makes her own egg or chicken salad and even ham spread for our school snacks and lunches. I must admit I was not really fond of cheese pimiento back then since I really don’t like cheese that much as a child. But that changed as I grew up and my taste buds matured and developed. I made this yesterday…read more

Filipino Corned Beef Hash

I have enough leftover corned beef from the sinigang I made last week to create another dish. When I make the traditional corned beef and cabbage for my family, I usually make a Filipino style corned beef hash from our leftovers. I posted a recipe for corned beef last year and this recipe is similar except for the addition of diced potatoes. I did not use all the cooked corned beef for my sinigang, from what is left I sliced the meat as thin as possible and cut it into…read more

Spring Onigiri

I was in the mood to make another Onigiri after the last one turned out really well. I did another Spring themed onigiri since the past few days have been really warm and sunny. This time I added sakura denbu to half of the onigiri ball while the other half remained to be just plain rice. Like before I used a plastic wrap to create the rice balls. I then decorated the top of the onigiri with flower cut outs from fish cake and sesame seeds. Using fish cake is…read more

Corned Beef Sinigang (Corned Beef in Tamarind Broth)

Posted by SilverChopstix in Beef, Dinner, General

This dish was created by a chef from a famous Filipino restaurant in the Philippines. She wanted to give a modern twist to a very popular and traditional dish Sinigang. Sinigang is a soup flavored with a souring agent. The most commonly used is tamarind. For those unfamiliar with this dish it is comparable to the Thai dish Tom Yum soup. I have posted a recipe for fish sinigang earlier this year. I wanted to re-create this dish after reading much about it on the internet. You can get corned…read more

Sakura Onigiri

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms symbolizes Spring. They bloom for a very short period of time, around 2 weeks. In Japan, cherry blossom viewing or Hanami is a tradition that has been practiced for centuries. They usually go with family and friends to view the flowers and celebrate by picnicking under it’s branches. I was fortunate enough to experience this when I became an exchange student to Japan during my Junior year in High School. Cherry blossoms are not indigenous to Japan, they grow and flourish in countries in the Northern…read more

Piggy Bento

This is not the first time I made a pig kyaraben bento. My first attempt at it was posted here. It’s been a while though since I made another kyaraben bento. The last one I remember making was from the previous summer. To make the pig onigiri, I again made use of sakura denbu to color my rice pink. I discussed this in my previous post on “My Melody Bento” and “Elephant Bento“. For the ears, nose and trotters I used sausages and for the eyes and mouth nori cut…read more

Kintaro Onigiri

Kintaro is a legendary hero from a Japanese folklore, a boy with superhuman strength. Kintaro is still very popular in Japan and is depicted in storybooks, manga, anime and action figures. To make this onigiri, shape your steamed rice into a tri-oval shape by using a plastic wrap. The edges should be more rounded rather than pointy. Cut your nori in the shape of the hairstyle you want your onigiri to have. What I did was cut a sheet of nori in half. I then made a semi circle using…read more