The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

My Parent In laws just got back from the ocean this weekend, and we asked them to get us some tuna bellies.  I grew up eating a lot of tuna belly (grilled), it’s part of our usual Sunday lunch with family.  Now that I’m married to my hubby, it makes me laugh to see him eat tuna belly like a typical Filipino.  He loves it big time!  He savors it like the layers of meat are the most delicate type of fish meat ever!  I always tease him that if it was not for me, he would be missing a lot in the world of tuna belly:).  So this is very simple dish, I marinated the belly with a little soy sauce, olive oil, pepper and garlic. Grilled it 4 minutes each side.

Yesterday afternoon we dropped by at the asian market (Seafood City) at Tukwila, and I got some yummy Filipino products.  I got some produce like bittermelon (ampalaya) and kangkong (water spinach).  I only get to buy these veggies in an Asian market thus I rarely get to prepare and eat them.  To add more yummyness to the kangkong, I also prepared lechon kawali( fried pork belly) and garlic chips.  I planned to prepare asian food this week (poor hubby) to make use of my asian goodies!

Recipe credits to “panlasangpinoy.com”

Adobong Kangkong

Ingredients:

1 bunch water spinach (kangkong), leaves separated and stalks chopped in 1 inch length
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup vinegar
1 head garlic, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking procedure:

1. Heat a cooking pot and pour-in the cooking oil.
2. When the oil is hot enough, put-in the garlic then brown.
3. Pour the soy sauce, vinegar, and water in the cooking pot and let boil.
4. Add the Kangkong stalks and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Sprinkle salt and ground black pepper then stir.
6. Add the Kangkong leaves and gently stir to mix with the other ingredients. Cook for 30 seconds at most.
7. Transfer to a serving plate and top with toasted garlic.
8. Serve. Share and enjoy!

I got this recipe online (www.howsweeteats.com).  It looked so easy and yummy!  I had most of the ingredients that I needed to make this tonight, Hubby said it’s “OK” but then again he’s not really into egg dishes. I will most likely prepare this again for “brunch” with friends!

Caprese Baked Egg Cups

makes 4 cups [2 x 3 1/2 in ramekins]

4 or 8 eggs (depending on if you want 1 or 2)

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

3-4 ounces mozzarella cheese, chopped (I used marinated mozz from Trader Joe’s, hence the seasoning)

8-10 fresh basil leaves

2 teaspoons cream or milk

salt and pepper

softened butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter each ramekin and fill with a few pieces of tomato, cheese and basil. Crack one or two eggs into each and season with salt and pepper, then add 1/2 teaspoon of cream to each egg to prevent them from drying [used this tip from Ina Garten]. Add a few tomatoes, cheese and basil on top and set on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-8 minutes, then turn on the broiler and bake for about 5 minutes more [this resulted in slightly firm yolks for me, broil less if you them runny]. Watch carefully to determine how runny/firm you want your yolks. Serve hot with toasted, crusty bread.