Homestyle Recipes, Kitchen Tips and Hacks
Have you ever wondered why adding bay leaves suddenly makes a dish taste like menudo or caldereta? Or why a little oregano can make tomato sauce remind you of pizza? Certain herbs and aromatics give a dish its distinctive flavor, so they cannot always be replaced or omitted. Ginger, for example, is essential in chicken …
I have been using MSG or vetsin since I started cooking, and trust me, the taste of the food just gets better. I even mix a small amount of vetsin with salt when I dip fresh mangoes for an extra boost of flavor. MSG, or vetsin, has always been a normal part of cooking in …
Bicol Express is known for its creamy, spicy flavor. It’s one of my favorite dishes, and I use the hottest pepper I could find whenever I cook it. Although it’s called Bicol Express Recipe, the term “Bicol Express Recipe” unfortunately did not originate in Bicol. It was coined by Cely Kalaw, a native of Laguna, …
There are varied opinions and practices about whether garlic or onion goes in first. A lot of people say that onions should hit the pan first because they take longer to soften and release their sweetness, while minced garlic is fragile and prone to burning. For many home cooks, the vibrant, pungent kick of toasted …
I know how you feel. The stress and frustration of peeling a stubborn egg (where egg white sticks to the shell) is indescribable. Honestly, it’s easier to chop the egg in half and scoop the egg with a spoon. But here is a simple way to make peeling hard-boiled eggs easy (you can skip to …
Frying in pans made of iron, steel, and aluminum was challenging during my early years of cooking. I won’t forget the first time I fried Tilapia fish in an aluminum wok (kawali). When I flipped it, half of the fish stuck to the pan, and the other half stuck again when it landed back in …
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. It comes at no extra cost to you and helps me create more free content! The manual pressure cooker: My dad first introduced me to this piece of equipment when I was young. The noisy, rhythmic hissing and rattling that went …
I was 7 years old. My dad gave me a food infused with hot pepper and warned me it was hot. I said I could take the heat. So I happily took it, bit, and chewed it. A few seconds later, I could feel the intense heat. Soon, I was crying. My dad and older …
I discovered this technique out of necessity. I don’t specifically remember what occasion it was, but I forgot to press the “cook button” in my rice cooker. And by the time the visitors were arriving, I panicked when I found out about my carelessness. But I came up with a brilliant idea and saved the …
Newly harvested Calamansi.
