Sauteed Green Beans, Filipino-Style

Had a big bag of green beans from the farmer's market and a super-cheap bunch of bacon ends ($1 for over a pound!), so I thought I'd make this favorite. Using canned shrimp instead of fresh made for a bit of a crumbly texture that wasn't unpleasant, though next time I'll try with fresh shrimp and a bit more patis or perhaps anchovy paste. Regardless, this turned out to be a good combination of fresh, green taste and porky richness. Never mind pancetta or regular bacon - for this dish, this stuff is the way to go!

• 4-5 oz. bacon ends, chopped into small pieces (I used a mix of pure fatty pieces and some with some meat and skin on them)
• one small onion, chopped (didn't have one, so substituted a shallot)
• 3-4 plump garlic cloves, minced (about 2 heaping tbsp.)
• 1 medium tomato, chopped (used 1 small heirloom and 4-5 grape tomatoes)
• 1  4.25 oz. can of tiny shrimp, drained
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. patis
• salt and pepper to taste
• about 1 or 1-1/2 lbs green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup water or broth

Put chopped bacon ends in a pot with about 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Turn the heat to medium and cook till the water's gone and the fat's rendered, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.

Saute onion in the rendered fat till translucent, about 2-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook till it begins to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add tomato and cook till it becomes mushy, about 5-7 minutes. Add shrimp, sugar, fish sauce and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to mix everything evenly.

Add green beans and 1/2 cup water or broth. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, till beans are tender but not mushy (I like mine with a little bite left in them), about 7-10 minutes.

Simple Chicken Soup (Nilagang Manok)

This simple but nourishing soup (pictured at the noon and 3 o'clock marks) served as a light dinner for two people fighting off a bug, a breakfast and three days of lunch. A few splashes of salty, savory fish sauce make it sing, so make sure you have your favorite (nuoc mam, patis, whatever) on hand.

My [vegetable] mise en place, let me show you it

The recipe can vary widely depending on  your mood and what you have on hand (for example, I replaced the traditional cabbage with baby bok choy); the following  is just what went into this particular iteration. I forgot to separate and weigh the potatoes and green beans (which came with a tomato in a farmer's market grab bag), so all measurements are approximate.

• 2-2.5 lbs. chicken thighs (five plump ones in this case)
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled and smashed (about 7 fat cloves)
• 3 young onions, sliced, with greens washed and tied together
• 1-1.5 tsp. salt
• 5-6 young potatoes,  quartered
• 2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chunked
• 10-12 oz. green beans, sliced
• 6 baby bok choy, stems and leaves separated and roughly chopped
• salt to taste
• patis to taste (I like about a tbsp. per small bowl)

Put the chicken, water, garlic, onions and onion greens in a large pot. Bring to a boil then simmer till chicken's fairly well cooked but not yet done, about 20 mins. Remove greens and discard.

Add salt, potatoes and carrots. Cook till the vegetables start to soften, about 7-10 minutes. Add green beans and bok choy stems; cook till beans are becoming tender, but still have a bite to them (about 5-7 minutes).

Taste and adjust seasoning. Add baby bok choy leaves, cover and remove from heat. Serve with rice and patis on the side.

Slow-Cooked Green Beans 2

The market was beautiful last Sunday, and the bags-of-mixed-veg lady ($4 per instead of her usual $3, alas, though she hopes to have the prices back down soon) had irresistible green beans and Brussels sprouts for sale.This recipe is a riff on the one in both Bittmans - just increased the amount of onion and tomato, added garlic and seasoned with fish sauce at the end.

NOTE: Apparently, I have cooked this before. While that version is good, I'm ok with the double-post because of the picture and the patis variant.

• 1.75 lbs. green beans, trimmed
• 1-1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-1/2 cup tomato, chopped (mine was a mix of hand-crushed and diced)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water, plus more if needed
• salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• at least 1 tsp. fish sauce (patis)

Combine everything in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat for at least one hour, checking every 15 minues and adding a couple of tablespoons of water if necessary.

When the beans are very tender and the liquid is gone (didn't wait quite that long in this case - they were falling apart and creamy-tender about 1-1/2 hour in), they're ready. Season with fish sauce to taste.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

It Started With a Mixx: Sinigang Na Baboy (Sour Pork Soup)

Instead of trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop, I'm trying to balance pre-made soup seasoning with from-scratch flavor. Plus, I haven't had the familiar old Knorr sinigang mix in years, and am curious to see if the reality lives up to my fond memories.

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 5-7 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 small Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 10 cups water
• 2 to 2-1/2 lbs. baby back ribs
• 1 packet Knorr sinigang mix (ended up using a heaping tbsp. more from another packet)
  
• 1 lb. green beans (12 oz. this time)
  
• 6 oz. spinach, chopped

Put oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the garlic, onions and tomatoes till soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Add water. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the meat, return to a boil, then simmer till the meat's tender - about an hour, maybe more.

Add contents of soup mix packet; stir to mix well.

Add green beans. Return to a boil and cook for 3-6 minutes, till beans are softer but still crisp.

Add spinach. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

11:30 pm: Turned out to be as strong, flavorful (with a smooth, almost creamy undertone - probably from all the pork fat and marrow) and comforting as I remember. While I'll keep making the from-scratch version (and looking out for tamarinds to try another variant with), I'll certainly treat myself to this now and then.

Catfish Sinigang 2: Rhubarb

Made this recipe, sans leafy greens and substituting 5 stalks of rhubarb for the lemon, the day before yesterday. Didn't use enough, at least for my tastes - while the rhubarb did add a nice, subtle tartness to the soup, it wasn't quite the strong sourness I was looking for. Still very tasty, though - tester #1 concurs.

Cut rhubarb into 4-inch lengths. Boil in three cups of water for 15 minutes or until tender.

Remove from water. Strain and mash with a spoon to release additional liquid into the water.

Add green beans, onion and tomato and proceed as usual.

Green Beans with Shallots

It's stormy outside right now, but we're full and happy and watching the Bosox-Orioles game. This recipe is part of a lovely, Eastern Market-provided meal of green beans (original and mostly-followed recipe here), seared tuna steaks (marinaded in soy sauce and lemon juice, as per the Bittman) and boiled corn on the cob.

• about 3/4-1 lb. green beans, trimmed (we got these and two ears of corn in a variety bag for $3, so not sure exactly how much we had)
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and cook for about 4 minutes or till they're crisp-tender. Drain them, shock then in cold water, then set them aside.

Over medium heat, saute the shallots in olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the green beans, turn the heat to high and cook for 2-4 minutes more, until the beans are done to your liking (we like ours on the crispy side, so we were closer to the 2-minute mark).

Slow-Cooked Green Beans

Work last week left me no time to cook; now, thanks to the joys that are comp days, I can get back into it at a nice, leisurely pace. This Bittman recipe (which appears in both version of How to Cook Everything) seems a perfect way to use up many of the vegetables that are turning dubious; as a bonus, the long, mostly-uninterrupted cooking time (they're still simmering as I type this) allows ample opportunity to clean, do laundry and get one's heinie handed to oneself in MLB 2K9. The original recipe is below; my alterations are in italics.

• 1-1/2 lb. green beans (12 oz., because that's how much I had on hand)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (1/8 cup)
• 1 cup minced onion (scant 1-1/2 cups, since that's how many at-risk-of-spoiling ones I had)
• 3/4 head garlic, separated into cloves but not peeled (see note below)
• 1 cup cored, peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (1 cup chopped, mix of canned and at-risk fresh grape tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup water (1/3 cup)
• salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• freshly-squeezed lemon juice to taste (started with about 1 tbsp.)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat for at least 1 hour, checking every 15 minutes and adding a few tablespoons of water if necessary. Longer cooking, for up to 1 more hour, won't hurt (I can testify to the truth of this - mine cooked for just under 2 hours).

When the beans are very tender and all the liquid has been absorbed, they're ready. Correct seasoning and remove from heat.

Serve or at room temperature, sprinkled with a little more oil and a few more drops of lemon juice.

NOTE: This turned out well, though some of the stewed garlic cloves slipped out of their skin and left hard-to-fish-out husks. Maybe next time I'll peel the garlic and let it diffuse into the dish if it wants to.

Catfish Sinigang (Catfish in Sour Broth)

I haven't made this lately, but figured it would be a good one to archive here. This recipe is a rather modified version of the "Sinigang na Bangus" recipe in Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad.

• 1-1/2 lbs. catfish fillets
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 4-5 medium Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
• 1 medium onion
• 3-4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2-3 tbsp. patis
• salt for fish
• 1 lb. green beans, cut into 2-3 in. lengths (all the better to fit into Mr. Bento's soup compartment)
• 6 oz. spinach leaves (or more if you like), roughly chopped
• 2-4 baby bok choy, chopped - separate stems and leaves (optional but yummy)
  

Cut fillets into serving or half-serving sized pieces, depending on your inclination. Salt them.

Put water, tomatoes and onions in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook till vegetables are getting tender (maybe 5-7 mins).

Add green beans (or blanch them first and reserve till you add the fish - I've never been fancy enough for that option) and baby bok choy stems, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 4-7 minutes more, till beans are softened but not quite done.

Add lemon juice and patis. Correct seasonings.

Add fish. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until fish is opaque.

Remove from heat, add spinach and baby bok choy leaves. Cover and let stand for 2-3 minutes. Serve with patis and lemon to pass around.

Sinigang na Baboy (Pork in Sour Broth)

While the pre-prepared sinigang mixes (Knorr and Mama Sita) I've used contain tamarind, I use lemon juice and patis (fish sauce) when cooking from scratch. This recipe is modified from Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for 5-6 pieces of tamarind to be added along with the tomatoes and onion. Then it should be removed, mashed with some of the broth, and the resulting liquid should be returned to the pot. Lemon juice is one substitute; another is 2-3 stalks of rhubarb - I've never tried this, but assume that some adjustment would be necessary.

• 2-1/2 lb. baby back ribs, cut into pieces
  
• 10 cups water
• 4-5 medium tomatoes, sliced (I use Roma)
• 1 large onion, sliced
  
• 4-6 tbsp. patis
  
• 4-6 tbsp. lemon juice
  
• 1 lb. green beans, trimmed
  
• 5 oz. spinach, chopped
• 2-4 baby bok choy, chopped - separate leaves and stems (optional but yummy)
  

Bring water and pork to a boil. Add tomatoes and onions. Simmer covered for 1 hour, or until tender.

Add lemon juice and patis. Taste and correct seasoning.

Bring to a boil, then add green beans and baby bok choy stems. Cook for 5-8 minutes more, or until beans have reached desired texture.

Add spinach and bok choy leaves, cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.