chickpea adobo

as i was sitting in my living room this evening trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, i knew i wanted filipino food, but what?????  although adobo is one of the easiest filipino dishes to cook, i haven't attempted to cook a vegan filipino adobo dish yet just because i wanted to stray away from using "fake chicken" or tofu.  i wanted to create something different.  so, as i was thinking about what to cook for dinner today, i was like "hey! why don't i use chickpeas!" i thought of one of my favorite indian dishes, chana masala.  if chickpeas work for that dish, i'm sure they'll work for adobo!!!!

adobo is a popular filipino dish, usually made with chicken and/or pork that is cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, bay leafs, garlic and at times browned in oil (just the way i like it).

when the spanish colonized the philippines in the 1500's, "they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar, which they then referred to as adobo, which is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade" (wikipedia).  rather than the spanish having an influence on this dish, we had an influence on them.

i really just put this dish together on a whim using my families basic adobo recipe.  rather than using chicken or pork, i used a can of chickpeas.  i also added potatoes to get a startchy consistency.  when most of the liquid evaporated, i added some canola oil and browned it a bit.  sorry, i didn't measure the ingredients and will update this post with the exact measurements of the ingredients.

tinola

tinola is a soup-based dish in the philippines.  it is made with chicken, chayote, garlic and ginger.  i usually eat this dish when i'm sick or when it's a cold rainy day.  this is definitely a filipino comfort food.

vegan sinigang (filipino soup)

sinigang is a soup dish from the philippines that is sour in taste because it is flavored with tamarind, calamansi, or gauva.  this soup usually made with beef, pork, milk fish and shrimp and stewed with onions, tomatoes and veges.  here's my take on vegan sinigang, which is really easy to make.  just don't add meat! ha.

                                        

vegan arroz caldo (filipino rice porridge)

arroz caldo is a filipino rice porridge, which literally translates to rice soup.  it's usually made of shredded chicken, garlic, ginger, and chicken broth.  this is the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold night or to have when you're trying to get over a cold.

the version i cooked today for dinner is far different from my dad's recipe (i may have to just keep that in the family, right bryan??).  this type of arroz caldo is what you will usually encounter at a filipino restaurant.  this particular arroz caldo recipe takes me back to going to max's restaurant with my mom after school and having a merienda, or afternoon snack. yum.

vegan sayote (chayote) guisado

i grew up on this dish. topped over hot rice, this dish is comfort food to me.

guisa is a general term in ilocano/tagalog that means to saute in tomatoes, onions, and garlic.  there are many varations to this vegetable dish. sometimes my parents would cook it using other vegetables like beansprouts or cabbage.   pork or shrimp are usually sauteed into this dish as well.

vegetable filipino empanadas

Empanada is a bread or pastry that is stuffed with a meat and vegetable filling  The origin of this dish is said to come from Arab countries and introduced to Spain and Portugal.  Literally, the term empanada comes from the Spanish and Potugese verb empanar, which means to wrap and coat in bread.  I'm pretty sure emapanadas were introduced to the Philippines when Spain colonized us.
 source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada

Filipino emapanadas are usually baked and filled with seasoned ground beef or chicken, onions, vegetables, and raisins.  Although, the empanadas in Ilokos Norte are huge, fried, and filled with mongo beans (mung beans), chorizo, and an egg.  This empanada is usually eaten with Jufran or garlic vinegar.  I've tried these particular empanadas at a street cart vendor near my dad's home town and personally, I like the Ilokano version better.  I have yet to try making the Ilokos Norte empanada version... maybe I'll be inspired when Dime and I head back to the Philppines next summer.  Yum... can't wait.

Last weekend, my mother in-law showed me how to make her version of empanadas....I just veganized her recipe.   I made two versions- vegetable empanadas and pineapple emapanadas.  I'm actually not going to publish the pineapple recipe...this was my mother in-laws own creation and I think I'm just gonna keep it in the family. haha.

tofu sizzling sisig

sisig is a filipino dish that is made of minced parts of a pig's head (ears, nose, cheek, etc.) that is seasoned with calamansi juice and chilli peppers.  it is usually served on a hot sizzling platter and eaten as a pulutan (appetizer).  anthony bordain actually tastes sisig when he does an episode of No Reservations in the phillippines....check it out on you tube.

i was inspired to make this vegan version of sisig after i had the tofu version at Intramuros in South San Francisco.  here's my version of sisig.

vegan puto (filipino rice cake)

puto is a steamed rice cake that is popular in the philippines.  it is usually eaten as a desert but is also eaten with many filipino dishes like pancit malabon and dinuguan.  puto comes in many variations ranging from different flavors, shapes, sizes, and colors.

i went ghetto and made my own version of a steamer.  i bought a cheap $10 roasting pot and all i did was add a baking rack on top.  instant steamer!

granny's pancit bihon...veganized (filipino noodle dish)

pancit is a filipino noodle dish that has many different variations depending on the way it is cooked, the ingredients, vegetables and the type of pancit or "noodles" used.

the dish i made today is made with thin rice noodles, also known as bihon.  pancit bihon is usually cooked with soy sauce, chopped pork, chicken, shrimp, chinese sausage, and vegetables.

today i cooked my granny's pancit.  i love her way of cooking pancit bihon.  there's something about the way she cooks it, that really brings all the flavors together.  in this recipe, i used vegan chicken and vegan shrimp.

afritada with tofu strips (filipino stew)

** photo taken with my iphone...please excuse the blurriness.**

afritada is a filipino dish that reminds me of a stew. it's usually made with chicken or beef. after taking a bite out of this dish, you can definitely taste the spanish influence on philippine cuisine.

this is my version of a vegan afritada. instead of using chicken or beef, i used tofu instead. you can incorporate the tofu into the dish or on the side as i did...OR not at all!