DINUGUAN!

Did you know that Dinuguan(Blood Stew) is also an exotic food?

Dinuguan are very common Filipino cuisine. It is usually paired with a Puto (RICE CAKE).

 Its made from pork blood and its digestive tracts. Its typically made up of intestines, heart and other pig's internal organ, together with spices like garlic, onion, chili pepper, a coconut milk and lemon juice.There are also Beef and Chicken Dinuguan.

There are many ways of cooking Dinuguan. Here are some recipes to help you with.

Pork Dinuguan(Pork Blood Stew):

Ingredients:

1½ Lbs. of Pork belly (pork butt is fine)

10 oz. of Edible pork blood (Orientex)

2 Cups of Chicken stock (water is fine)

1 Cup of Vinegar (Datu-puti)

3 Tbs. Fish Sauce (Rufina)

4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 Medium onion sliced thinly

1 Bay leaf (Laurel leaf)

4 Pcs. Finger peppers

½ Tbs. Ground black pepper

1 Tsp. Msg (Aji-no-Moto)

½ Tbs. Kosher salt

Oil for sauteing

Directions:

1.   Prepare pork blood by straining it and separating the blood that is in a jelly   form in a separate bowl.

2. Next add ¼ cup of water and break up the jellied blood with your hands and set aside. Slice pork into small bite sized pieces and set aside.

3. Using a casserole dish, heat 1 Tbs. of corn oil, add the pork, and spread it evenly on the bottom of the casserole dish. Cover and let it cook on medium low heat for three minutes without stirring it. Remove cover, stir the pork, and drain the liquid accumulated.

4.  Add garlic and saute for one minute, then add the onions, stir, and cover. Let it cook for another minute. Next add fish sauce and bay leaf and saute for 3 minutes. Then add ½ cup of vinegar, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Add the chicken stock and salt and let it simmer for five minutes. Add the jelly formed pork blood first, stir for about a minute, then add the rest of the pork blood and the finger peppers.

6. Continue to stir for about two minutes, cover, and let simmer for another five minutes. Add another ½ cup of vinegar. Again cover and let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust the taste by adding salt & pepper if needed.

 Beef Dinuguan in just similar to Pork Dinuguan recipe. the Only difference in the meat. :)

Chicken Dinuguan(Chicken Blood Stew):

Ingredients:

• 500 grams boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced in bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 oz chicken blood or pork blood (can be found in freezer section of oriental stores or ask your local butcher)
• 4 fusimi chilis or jalapeno peppers, cut in three pieces each
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbs vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine chicken, vinegar, salt and pepper and garlic (reserve 1 tsp for sauteeing). Marinate for one hour.
2. In a wok or saute pan, heat oil in medium heat.  Add onions, garlic and tomatoes and cook until soft.  Add chilis.
3. Add chicken with the marinate and cook in medium heat until boiling.  If  dry, add about 1/4 cup water and  continue cooking.  While boiling, add blood and stir. Turn heat to low, continue cooking chicken until thick.  Remove from heat.  Adjust seasoning by adding salt or pepper as needed.  Serve over steamed rice or with steamed rice muffins.

 Those are some common recipes of Dinuguan. if you want to make it really tasty and delicious add Coconut Milk thats our secret in our place.. shhsss thats a secret. :)

 If you have time to cook try those recipes . hope you like it. :) The chicken is the best promise.. Happy Eating!!

Difference between an Exotic Food and a Gourmet food.

This two kinds of food are opposite to each other.

A Gourmet Food is a well prepared food, its like there is an art in preparing it. It is skillfully prepared with fresh ingredients. You can judge the foods taste by just looking at it. 

 

yummy right?

and an Exotic Food is more like a delicacy its unusual taste and look makes people curious about it. Its made from insects, bugs, snails, worms, snakes, bats, tarantulas, scorpions, rats, dogs, tongues, hearts, intestines, stomachs. its unique ingredients make it different from other foods but the taste is extraordinary.

 yum yum yum...

so what do you prefer to eat?

Do you have a strong stomach? try eating these exotic foods. you'll like it.

why do you call it exotic food?

From the word itself exotic you can already picture in your mind what king of food it is.

EXOTIC means unusual and different, foreign but exciting. It is a positive word, and usually connotates beauty and wonder as much well as strangeness. 

so an Exotic Food is a unusual and different food  which is not popular in you place. It is so strange that you cant think that is edible to eat. Here are some picture of exotic foods in the Philippines.

It really doesn't look good right? Its the difference of exotic foods and gourmet foods, its not the appearance, its the taste.  

List Filipino Exotic(weird) Foods you should try,

Here are 5 Filipino Exotic foods you should try eating first. These are my favorites Pinoy exotic  Foods. If you haven't tasted any exotic foods yet these are some nice food to start with.


1.  BALUT. Its a duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Its also believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack. Here's a tip on how to savor the taste of balut. First, hold up the egg with the wider part on the bottom. Crack the tip and make just a small hole then put a pinch of salt in it and take a sip and savor the taste of the broth. after you sipped all the juice. slowly widen the crack, add pinch of salt and slowly bit on the egg yolk to savor it each time , you must eat it with passion to enjoy the sweet and unique taste of balut. You can also add a vinegar with a hot chili peppers for those who like spicy foods. You can buy balut on the vendor roaming on the streets holding a basket shouting "BALLLUUUTTT' . 

2.   ISAW is a chicken or pig intestine skewered on a stick. it is cleaned inside and out before it is boiled and grilled. The taste is unique to other barbecue ,its slightly bitter because of some fecal mater left inside the intestine.  I think thats what makes it exotic. it is usually dipped in KURAT a Filipino term for especially made vinegar with onions and other flavour enhancers. its like a Filipino version of gravy. its sold on the street most of the Pinoy's buy isaw for pulutan. a beer or a gin and an isaw  = a happy drinking session.  

3. BETAMAX is chicken or pig blood that is set aside to dry and form a gelatinous substance. it is cut into rectangular cube like a betamax tape, skewered on a stick and grilled. i cant actually describe the taste because its unique just like any other Fillipino exotic foods. i suggest you try eating it.

4.  GINATAANG DAGA . hmmm yummy. one of the strangest food I ever tasted. Ginataang daga is not made from rats inside our house. its called DAGANG BUKID these are  found in rice fields in the Philippines. I actually had an experience catching these rats and I find in more enjoying than actually eating it. The best time to catch this is during rainy season because the rat hole are filled water and they get out of their hole. thats the opportunity to strike them with a bat or a stick. cooking it is just like cooking a ginataang manok. but it takes a longer process because you need to remove that skin, cut the heads and boil it  times to remove the smell. but thee taste is similar to a chicken. yummy huh. beeing a bikolano i like it when its spicy, THE BEST. 

Why I am Passionate about Filipino Exotic Foods?

        I love eating that's the reason why I'm Big. Why? We probably have reasons why we eat . Some of us eat to be healthy or simply to live. But me, I eat a Lot specially when I'm stressed, when in a bad mood, when I'm happy and sometimes I just eat because I just like eating, specially EXOTIC foods. yeah those disgusting and dirty looking food sold by street vendors like ISAW,BETAMAX,Ulo ng Manok, etc . It really doesn't look good but is taste so yummy specially the Filipino's most favorite BALUT. Its a duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Its also believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack. It really doesn't look good but its healthy. 

"Extraordinary" that's what I like about exotic foods.