Tips on Cooking Fried Rice
Topic: Rice
I always love fried rice since I was a child. The first time I made a fried rice was when I was 13 years old and from that on, I always tried to cook different variations until now. Base on my experience, I learned some tips to achieve the perfect fried rice. Here are my techniques:

1. WOK is the best tool to fry the rice, if you don't have it, then its okay, it still manageable though tricky.

2. COLD and DRY cooked rice works well, it prevent the rice from clumping. One night old is the best. If you don't have it, then you can refrigerate the warm rice for an hour.

3. USED OIL from previously fried meat is good to fry the rice, not the dark one of course. The taste of the meat will remain on the oil, hence it will be a nice contribution to the fried rice's taste. If you don't have it, then try using butter. (note: if you want to use butter, then use ordinary pan instead of wok)

4. HIGH HEAT, always make sure that the wok is really hot before starting to cook, aside from preventing the rice to stick, it will also prevent the meat or seafoods to be juicy.

5. DON'T MASH the rice to separate the grains, it will destroy it's texture and you might break it. Use your hand to separate the grains, it will make your fried rice looks perfect.

Eggplant with Oyster Sauce
Topic: Vegetables
When I was a kid, I never eat any vegetable. I only started to eat vegetables when I was in high school and eggplant was not in my list. When I was in college, I learned to eat any vegetable served in the dining table, asked me why? The answer is I don't know, now eggplant is one of my favorite.

The first time I cooked eggplant with oyster sauce (some named it braised eggplant), I just cooked it plain and it doesn't look good, however it taste good as well, and my hubby is very particular with the way how the foods look, he want the foods to be attractive, that's why whenever I cooked braised eggplant now, I add mixed vegetables (carrots and green peas).

Ingredients:
4 medium size eggplants, sliced diagonally
1/3 cup chicken breast, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, quartered
1 tbsp. garlic (minced)
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
1 medium size green bell pepper, slice into strips
3 tbsp. cooking oil
pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat a skillet. Pour in the cooking oil until start to smoke. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds, then add the chicken and soy sauce. Stir to blend well until the chicken are fully cooked.
2. Add the eggplants, cook for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot.

Fish Teriyaki
Topic: Fish
Teriyaki is a Japanese cooking sauce for fish or meat which has been cut or sliced and broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade.
Basically, teriyaki sauce is a combination of sweet and salty sauce which are sugar and soy sauce. After being boiled and reduced to the desired thickness, the sauce is added to the meat which is marinated and then grilled or broiled. Using honey also taste good, this time I tried using pineapple juice.

Ingredeints:
500 gm fish (lapu-lapu, tuna, tangegue, etc.)sliced crosswise
1 medium carrot sliced
100 gm baguio beans, each cut into 2 inches long
1 can 234 g sliced pineapple (reserved syrup)

MARINADE

1/4 cup Banana Ketchup
1 Tbsp white sugar
1/3 tsp iodized fine salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce
reserved pineapple syrup

Directions:
1. Mrinate fish for 30 minutes. Drain. Grill on pan, brushing with marinade until brown. Turn only once. Set aside the remaining marinade.

2. Saute carrot and baguio beans until cooked. Set aside. Simmer remaining marinade and Sliced Pineapple for 3 minutes. Add sauteed vegetables and fish. Allow to simmer. Serve hot.

Maja Maiz
Topic: Desserts
I started cooking Maja since I was a kid because it was one of my favorite during those days. I tried adding many ingredients like nata de coco, kaong, corn kernel, buko, fruits and peanuts. Here's one of my Maja recipe, I used combination of roasted sweetened coconut and ground peanuts as a topping.

Ingredients:
200 g cornstarch
200 g white sugar
4 cups coconut milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup cream-style corn
butter cooking spray
roasted sweetened coconut
ground peanuts

Directions:
1. Spray the buttom and sides of a baking dish with the butter cooking spray.
2. Disperse the cornstarch in the milk until completely dissolved.
3. Combine coconut milk and sugar in a pot. Set over medium-high heat and cook, Bring to a boil. Add the corn, blend well.
4. Reduce to a low heat and add the cornstarch and milk mixture and cook. Stir constantly in one direction until the mixture are thick and no longer cloudy. Remove from heat.
5. Pour into the buttered dish and leave to cool.
7. Chill and garnish before serving.

Chicken Tetrazzini
Topic: Pasta
Tetrazzini is an American dish comprised of cream sauce, grated cheese, mushrooms, served on some spaghetti-like noodle, with one of various kinds of non-red meat, usually seafood or chicken. Here's a recipe for the one with chicken.

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken breast, broiled, chopped
1 tbsp. pimento
1/3 cup cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz. spaghetti, cooked

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients except half of cheese. Cover with foil.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
3. Remove foil and add remainder of cheese and heat until melted.
4. Serve hot with Garlic Bread. (next time I will post the garlic bread recipe)