Homemade Smoked Salmon

Today, i made smoked salmon today and it was fabulous. I got the recipe from my mum who attended a demonstration on making smoked salmon by a chef at her weekly mother's club get together.

What you need:
Utensils:

A Smoking Pan... i didn't have any so what i did was i used a very thick pan or wok and used a rack to place salmon on. My pan had a lid but when i was smoking it already, the smoke was coming out of the sides so the Chef's suggestion was to use aluminum foil instead. Please note that the pan has to be very thick. A thin one will make your salmon "oversmoked" and may cause a small fire and result in having a bitter smoked salmon.

Ingredients:

4 Salmon Fillets about 1 to 2 inches thick
1/4th cup lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

1 cup Cherrywood or Applewood shavings however if you can't find any of these you can use 1 cup of uncooked rice
bunch of fresh taraggon
bunch of fresh dill
bunch of fresh rosemary

First, coat your salmon with lemon juice and season it with salt and pepper. You may add herbs on the salmon if you want but it's optional.

in the pan, add the uncooked rice and herbs. put rack over the uncooked rice and herbs and place salmon over the rack. Cover. Turn on heat to high but when it starts to smoke, put heat on medium. Smoke the salmon for 15-20 minutes.

In my experience, i had to turn the salmon after 10 mins then finish the smoking time otherwise, the salmon will have one pinkish color and the other kinda yellowish.

After 15-20 minutes, turn off heat. Put on gas mask if you want coz the smoke kind of irritates the eyes and nose. Another tip, if you don't want your whole house to stink of smoke, open the lid outside your house.

The salmon is wonderful with mango salsa or tartar sauce and the leftovers are good to make for brekkie like scrambled egg and smoked salmon.

Battle of Halo Halo

One of my favorite filipino snacks is Halo Halo. Halo Halo is a mix of sweet preserved beans, macapuno (coconut sport), leche flan (custard), purple yam (ube), sweet potato, sweet corn kernels, sweet banana, tapioca and topped with shaved ice and milk. Some even top it with ice cream. Hence the name Halo, which means Mix in filipino. Over the years, i've tried halo halo from different places and my top three choices were Chowking's Halo Halo, Razon's Halo Halo and Jurado's Halo Halo.

Chowking's Halo Halo is as traditional as it can be. The taste is soo filipino and the sweetness is just right. I like the fact that Chowking will give a small container filled with milk for consumers to adjust it according to their taste.

Razon's Halo Halo is very different in a sense that they put more macapuno in it and the ice shavings are very fine which makes it easier to eat.

Jurado's Halo Halo is the most unique of all. I have tasted Jurado's Halo Halo in Pampanga on way home from a hike at Mt. Arayat. According to the locals, Jurado's Halo Halo is more popular and better than Razon's. When I tried it, I was amazed at the texture of the beans. In fact, you won't even see the beans. It was actually all the sweet beans mashed with Leche Flan and it looks like a jam. Then topped it with Macapuno balls and has a surprise of pastillas de leche. The ice was not as fine as i would like it to be tho. But it was sooo good. Among all halo halos i've tried this is the best. I just wish the ice were as fine as that of Razon's but it's good enough. Jurado's Halo Halo is a must try for everyone.

Pickled Balsam Pear (Ampalaya Atchara)

I've always hated Ampalaya or Balsam Pear/Bitter Gourd because of its bitter taste. However, last christmas a neighbor gave us Pickled Ampalaya and to my surprise it wasn't bitter at all. I liked it. So i decided to come up with my own recipe. I've always known how to make atchara using green papaya. I was taught by my grandmother when i was younger. So for the Ampalaya, i've used the same recipe of vinegar mixture to pickle it.

Choosing the right ampalaya is not really hard. All you need to do is choose the greenest ampalaya.

Recipe: (for 2 jars)
1 foot of Ampalaya
2 cup white vinegar
1 cup of sugar
2 bay leaf
2 clove of smashed garlic
2 small slice of ginger

First, Slice off the ends of the ampalaya, discard it. Half the ampalaya lengthwise to remove seeds and white stuff. Use a spoon to remove it. Thinly slice ampalaya and put all in bowl with water. Let it soak for about 3 hours or longer to remove the bitterness. What i do is, i change water at least every hour.

In a saucepan, boil water. Regarding amount of water, it's up to you. I usually use about 2 and a half cup of water. In a strainer, place the cheesecloth or any thin cloth you have, drain amapalaya. When water is boiling, pour it over the ampalaya to at least "cook" it. In other words, blanch it.

Now for a foot of ampalaya, i usually use two glass jars. Do not use plastic jar as it will melt when you pour the hot vinegar mixture in. So, add the smashed garlic, ginger and bay leaf in each jar. Go back to your ampalaya and using the cheesecloth, squeeze out all the water from the ampalaya. It will be hot so i usually rub my hands on ice and squeeze it. When all juice/water is out, divide ampalaya equally and put it in the jars.

In a saucepan, mix vinegar and sugar on low heat. Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. When vinegar mixture starts to boil, turn off heat and pour over the jars.
Let it cool, don't close it yet. When it's cool already, you may close it and put it in the fridge. It is ready for consumption after 3 days

Mt. Arayat Hike

I was supposed to wake up at 3am but instead, woke up at 4 and left at 430am. The night before, i was excited but at the same time thinking if i made the right choice coz it was my first time to hike. By 7am, we arrived at Mt. Arayat, Pampanga and when i saw the mountain, i thought that it wasn't as steep as it should be and we have been told that it's a good place to hike for beginners as it's classified as Level 2 climb.

The picture above was just the beginning of the hike. It looks easy suuuurree but let's see how it goes later on.

This is mount arayat from the bottom.

Still from the bottom of the mountain.

On the way up to 1/4th of the mountain, we have been resting every 15-20 minutes. I was shocked at how humongous the mosquitos are and how pesky they are and we've been told by the guide that they don't carry malaria or dengue. I wondered why they were awake on broad daylight. If you plan to hike on this mountain, bring mosquito repellant but i don't think that it will be as effective as it should coz you will be sweating the whole time ergo attracting mosquitos. Going up is actually a cardiac workout. Your heart will start pounding at every step you make, will have chest constrictions and everything feels soo heavy. Resting is a must and the weather helps since it was still early, the wind was cool and a bit cloudy. Thank god we bought like 100 bottles of water and loads of gatorade.

still going up

By this time, the way keeps getting steeper and steeper that we'd rest every 5 minutes.



It was around 830am when i took the picture above and mind you, we've only gone up 1/4th of the mountain. Still a long way to go and i am soo tired and my whole shirt is drenched in sweat. It is advisable to wear long sleeves (keep cloth as thin as possible) as there are branches that can scratch you and mosquitos, ants (as in really big black and red ants) and spiders that can bite you.



I actually felt like giving up coz on the picture above, you'll see how steep it is and later, it will be even more steep. Not to mention being on all fours and climbing rocks. Everyone started asking, how are we supposed to go back?? It was scary.

Unbelievable smog! Lol actually in these pictures, it looks like smog but up there, it's actually clouds and still early in the morning. Bring camera coz if you're too shy or ashamed to take a break when everyone is on the go, taking pictures is a good excuse for you to stop

Pictures above are of me being soo stroppy. All the while i kept saying to myself, i should have never done this!

Oh dear! More obstacles comes are way and they aren't getting better!

Oh my god the rocks! Climbing them is easy but think about how to go down that effing huge rock!

Finally at the viewing deck!

Oh my god I really wanted to stop and turn back lol. I started to get hungry around 1030am. We were supposed to go to the viewing deck of the mountain and i expected a big place with railings and stuff but it was actually just a big boulder. All 15 of us squeezed in. It took us 4 hours to get to that viewing deck. The viewing deck was about 2 more hours away from the very top. We decided to eat at the viewing deck. I had my pan-fried salmon while everyone had tocino, longganisa and red egg with huge amount rice wrapped on banana leaves. The view in the viewing deck was really beautiful. So, this is the longest break we've had lol. An hour and a half break compared to 15 minute break each work out.

Going down was really scary. It was "slippery" considering the ground was too dry and too many dried leaves. Thank god that I had a really good balancing stick i found on the way up and it was very helpful.

Going down was as challenging as going up but not as tiring.

It took us about 4 hours to go down with only 4 rests compared to going up, we've had like maybe over 100 rests lol. It was about 330pm when i took the photos above. IT was about 1/4th of the mountain from the bottom. Try comparing the photo above from the earlier ones i took at about 830am. This time, sun is up and it's hot but the wind is still cool. On way down, because of so much pressure i put on my toes, my shoe broke. The cleats/soles had to be removed and while walking, the shoe finally had holes underneath that sands and sharp stuff keeps going in my shoe. Well what can i say, it's a sacrifice i'm willing to make just to get back to the comfort of my own home.

The whole experience was new to me. I've never been on a hike before and I think i did a good job at it. At the end of the hike, i feel like i've achieved so much. Sure it was tiring, hot, and obviously wake up the next day with a very sore body but rewards are priceless. This is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Ultimate Brownies

I was looking for the ultimate brownies and have tried many recipes and tried brownies bought from shop. None really satisfied me. I wanted a brownie that is chewy, not crumbly. After trying many different recipes and techniques, i finally came up with one. Try it!

1 cup melted butter
2 or 3 cups of sugar (this will depend on your taste. and i prefer to use brown sugar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (if you have unsweetned dutch processed cocoa powder like vahlrona, then better! otherwise, stick to hersheys)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chip (this is optional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder



baking pan 9x11

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour pan. Next, beat butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Sift flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda and add it to the mixture. Beat it slowly until flour mixture and butter mixture are incorporated, add chips then mix again. Pour it into the greased pan and bake it for 20 minutes or until you poke it with a toothpick and toothpick comes out slightly clean. Don't mistake melted chocolate chip from the batter. The toothpick has to have a bit of chocolate stuck to it. But if it's a lot of chocolate stuck, then it's not ready yet.

Let it cool. The brownie will be crumbly if you eat it right away. Let it cool and it will be chewy and not crumbly. Patience is a virtue.


If you are diabetic, there are sugar-free chocolates available at the market and you may use Isomalt as substitute for sugar but be aware of the amount you eat as Isomalt is a laxative. Google for more info on Isomalt.