ala jollibee spaghetti

This is post is especially for Sharon, one of my avid blog fans, lol!

She asked me to share the ala-jollibee spag recipe that I learned from my Pinay friends here in Taiwan. To make it easier for me, I tried to search the recipe in the web (which I usually do, I even checked from the Jollibee websited if they have it published but of course, they’ll not do that otherwise, their spag will not be “unique” anymore) but didn’t really find one. I grabbed a near resemblance and did 50% editing. Lol!

Sha, I’ll be happy to hear from you later that this recipe has satisfied your craving, if I may say so, for JB-spag.

PS. Agluto ka ah. Pinagrigatak daytoy, hahaha.

Ingredients

• 1 kg. spaghetti noodles
• 1 kg. ground beef or pork ( 1/2 kg could be enough though)
• 1/4 kg. hotdogs, diagonally sliced (hotdogs here are different from the Filipino versions and I don’t think they will go with the sauce so I skip this ingredient)
• 1 kg. tomato sauce ( if you can find banana ketchup, the better)
• Evaporated Filled Milk 370 mL or the biggest can size
• Sweetened Condensed Filled Milk 168mL or the smallest can size (I think they come in three sizes, 370mL is the L, 250mL is the M and 168mL is the S)
• 2 green bell peppers, diced (I also skip this ingredient. Diced carrots could be added as well)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 head garlic, minced (the more the better, I love the scent it generates when it is being sauteed)
• 3 tablespoons of cooking oil (again, I recommend Olive oil. Maybe adding butter will help, I never really tried it, hhmmnnn, I can try next time)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (or more, depends on your preference. Cheddar cheese is recommended for a creamier taste.)

Instructions

• Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions. There you go; it is not stated “cook noodles as usual anymore” hahaha.
• While cooking the noodles, boil the ground meat in a separate pan. Simmer for at least 10mins. Drain afterwards. You can separate the “soup” if you desire and have it used in another recipe later. (It can be stored in the freezer for future use huh!).
  • PS. Others don’t boil the meat separately, its your choice.
• In a separate, sauté garlic and onions in cooking oil.
• Add ground meat and cook until the meat turns light brown. Since it has been boiled earlier; that is, if applicable, it can quickly turn into light brown.
• Add bell pepper and/or carrots.
• Add tomato sauce, condensed milk, evap milk, salt, pepper to taste then let simmer for 10 minutes. (Tantiya-tantiya kadi will do. Balance the sweet-sour taste. I think we look for that sweet taste, right?).
• Add hotdogs (if applicable).
• Add the cheese (Yup, it makes a difference when you add the cheese while cooking the sauce. Make sure you check how salty the cheese is so you would know how much salt you’d add otherwise, it may turn out so salty. If that happens, you can neutralize it by adding sugar or milk if you have extra on hand)
• Mix sauce and noodles. (They can be served separately of course). Top with grated cheese.

Yummy! You can have toasted garlic bread along with it. HHmmmnn, I’m suddenly hungry.

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Pasta anyone...

I usually cook during the weekends. I guess it has somehow served as my outlet for either good or “not so good” emotions. Definitely, cooking at the height of good emotions would result to a more delicious outcome. Spaghetti, Filipino style (sweet tasting), is the usual recipe I deal with. That would mean that we have to drop by the Pinoy store to buy Eden cheese, spaghetti sauce, evaporated milk and condensed milk. Hmmnn, the last two may be something not known to many. (I learned this from my friends here in Taiwan and I tell you, the taste resembles that of Jollibee’s spag). On Sunday, I thought I am tired of that taste and remembered the pasta one of my friends serve to us several months ago. The taste lingered not only in my tongue but in my mind as well. There were few attempts to cook it but not having the ingredients stopped it from happening. But last Sunday, the drive was there. I thought there is no need to go to the Pinoy store this time since the grocery near us offers a variety so off we went to check what we could get from there and indeed, we found all that we need. The good thing that came with it is the bottle of 2L coke that was sold at almost 50% off its selling price.

For a change and for easier presentation, ito na ang aking tag-lish recipe na maraming side comments. Di ako particular sa exact measurement, basta tantiya-tantiya na lang.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg pasta
1 1/2 butter (use Anchor para masarap talaga)
Ginger cloves, minced
Onion, minced
Salt to taste (di kasi enough ang taste na bigay ng butter, kahit ung salted)
Black pepper, ground
1/4 kg chicken breast (boneless), diced
200gms shrimps, peeled and diced (can I say diced?)
Italian spices (rosemary, basil, thyme leaves)
1 tbsp olive oil (para mas masarap and healthy – you can use more that 1tbsp)
Parmesan cheese (optional, naka-sale gamin isunga naggatang kamin ah)

Cooking directions:

1. Cook pasta as usual (ano kaya ung usual ano? Hehehe). Ung usual ay may asin at mantika para di magdikit-dikit ang pasta. Dapat al dente ang pagkaluto, di under-cooked, di rin overcooked.
2. While waiting for the pasta to be cooked, heat small pan to melt 1 butter (di ko alam kung ano ang measurement nya eh, di naman cube or kg, hahaha). Set aside.
3. Luto na ba ang pasta? If yes, drain and mix with the melted butter. While mixing, sprinkle desired amount of spices. (not too much kasi maglalagay pa ng spices later sa pagluto nung halo). Pwede nang tikman ang pasta sa stage na ito, masarap nang kainin actually pero wait mo na lang muna ung iba. Set aside pagkatapos mailagay ang butter sa pasta. HHmmmn, ang bango.
4. Heat olive oil in a separate pan. Add 1/2 butter. (Masusunog kasi kapag butter lang ang ginamit). Add onions and garlic. Add chicken and wait until tender.
5. Add shrimp (madali lang kasi maluto ang shrimp eh). Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add Italian spices as desired. Ito na ung last na ilalagay mo.
7. Mix the cooked ingredients to the buttered pasta and toss well.
8. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese before and while serving.

Variations: pwedeng lagyan ng mushroom or brocolli.

Ito na yun. The whole family enjoyed the meal, and so did the usual friends. Of course, the priceless feeling that came after it is the joy seen in Jade’s face while eating the pasta together with Mommy and Daddy even if she has already consumed her bowl of porridge 30 minutes earlier than us. J She does have her own way of showing appreciation to what I cook. The more inspiration I got to experiment on other recipes.

Side notes:
My next target is pesto pasta kasi mura lang dito ang fresh basil leaves at simple lang din ang recipe.
Ang pinakamadaling pasta recipe so far na natutunan ko kay sa aking friend housemate sa Cavite ay ginisang corned beef pasta, mas maraming sibuyas, mas mabango at mas masarap. Chunky corned beef ang masarap ihalo.

Another side note:
Unlike the paella recipe, I was not able to take visuals of my pasta. I will do that next time.

PS.
I claim this as my own and original recipe because I can’t find one on the net as of yet. Patented kumbaga. Hehehe. But you are welcome to implement this in your kitchens. I’d gladly like to know how well you enjoyed it.

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Your life has ceased but not the good memories you have instilled in our lives...

Part of my usual lunch break activities is to surf the net where friendster.com is one of the sites I frequently visit. I usually do not look at the the posted bulletins but yesterday, a post entitled "In memoriam - R.B." caught my attention. The post came from a former colleague way back my BCF teaching days, I gave it a second look and yes, the name placed after the first two words is somebody I know. A former co-teacher that belonged to the same group that I have been part of for a while. Somebody who was fun to be with and who seemed to be carefree. And yes, he has passed away. For whatever reason, I was told it's no longer important to know. What's significant is that he has now gone into rest. I remained in a state of shock for a while, and when it sank into me, I cried inside. I realized once again that one will never know when earthly life will come to an end.

To you whose life has cheered and inspired others, go rest in peace now. Thank you for the good, though brief, camaraderie you have shared. See you in the other life.

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Sepat is over

Typhoon Sepat is over. Thanks God, we (on the northern part of Taiwan) were spared from its fury. Sadly, the southern provinces have been badly hit. Hopefully, fast recovery will start from here.

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