Foot and Fire

Featuring my PERSONAL HERO on our fourth week of National Heroes Day Cookfest.  My father was the chief cook when we were growing up and long before the word chef became a household word. He always saw to it then that we do have soup every day. He claims that the soup will make sure that our brains won't dry up and we will score high in our tests. Higup sabaw para indi magmala ang utok niyo. So, on the occasion of his 66th birthday, we had his sinfully delicious pata nga linaga since tasting this dish will always remind us of his cooking and his love of feeding his children. In fact, I was lucky to have reserved the pata from the meatshop whose owners were his friends. They gave me a good young portion and cleaned. Bag-ong ihaw gid kag limpyo na. Pata is the part which consists of the knee and down. The beef pata is best for linaga because it is bigger and won't easily fall off when boiled for hours to bring out the beefy taste in the broth. The jelly-like colla...

The version said to be loved by our 20th century heroes has the tomato sauce but I grew up loving pochero without the tomato sauce but instead my father would mash some of the sweet potatoes or kamote to thicken the broth.  Everything starts with choosing the right kind of beef chunk. I used the "paras" or the beef meet with some cartilege because it is tender. My mother had it cubed to a matchbox size serving already at the meatshop. 1 kilo beef chunks, boiled till tender (save broth) 250g pre-boiled white beans 2T Canola Oil Garlic, onions, tomatoes chopped Water including the broth, 1.5 to 2L 1 hand of sab-a variety of banana, cut horizontally into two 4 pcs medium sweet potatoes, quartered   6 pcs medium potatoes, quartered Salt and pepper to taste Chillies 1 head of chinese cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces, separate the hardy and soft part  Saute Garlic, onions and tomatoes then add the pre-boiled beef chunks. Add water and broth and let b...

For this beef soup, use beef with bones which carry the marrow. This is a no-sweat beef soup. The trick is to quickly boil the beef and remove the froths and sediments forming above the water. Put more water and bring to boil until the meat is tender (This is the waiting part especially if there is no pressure cooker in the house). While boiling, put the Chinese Five Spice (Please see earlier post ). I have Cinnamon sticks and star anise in the house, so aside from the powder, I put some of it as I love the woody and earthy aroma of these two spices.  If the meat is tender, adjust taste with pepper and salt. When done with the taste, put the trimmed native pechay  and let vegetable cook covered for one to two minutes . Serve piping hot.