Filipino Recipes | Sauteed Chayote

This dish is one of my favorite Filipino dishes that my Papa made us as a kid. He would change it up adding in ground pork/beef, chunks of pork and shrimp. Every single time he made it, it was delicious and my plate was always finished. I decided to make it for my family. Haidyn loves just about anything Filipino, while Waymon is a little harder to convince. I can’t blame him since our food is completely different, but I’m so glad he tried this dish. He liked it, but I’m pretty sure that once is enough for him. Haha! This dish was easy to whip up and to change up using the ingredients I have on hand. With my sayote dish I used, shrimp and ground turkey.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 chayote (sayote)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• ½ lb lean ground pork ( I used ground turkey and  11/2 cups of shrimp)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or 1 tsp salt
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare chayote by peeling off skin. This process is slimy and may cause irrigation so be cautious.
   
2. Cut the peeled chayote in half and remove the seed.
3.  Cut the halves in quarters and then slice each piece crosswise into thin slices/cubes.  Set aside.
4. In a skillet, heat oil, add garlic and tomato.
5. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until tomato has softened.
6. Add pork (turkey in my case) until cooked.
7. Add fish sauce (or salt), chayote and shrimp, mix thoroughly.
8. Add water, cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until chayote is crisp tender.
   
9. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste. You may put this on a low simmer for 20 minutes if needed.
10. Serve with steamed rice.
    

Filipino Recipes | Crockpot Chicken Adobo

The days that I make Filipino dishes for my family are my favorite. There is nothing more satisfying than cooking your native dish and your family loving it. It’s a way for me to share my heritage with my husband and to introduce it to my daughter. This dinner is extremely simple for weeknight dinners. My Papa cooked this for us every other week at home and he spent hours making the meat as tender as possible. Sorry Pa I ain’t got time for that! Dinner is served at 6:45pm at our house and if it isn’t someone is not happy ( hint it’s not me [: ) So I made the crockpot do all of the hard work for me to create a meal that  you think I spent hours slaving away at. Win-Win

INGREDIENTS

• 3 -4 lbs pork (cut in 2-inch cubes) or 3 -4 lbs chicken (cut into serving pieces) ** in this meal I used chicken breast, you can use any part of the chicken you’d like **
• ¹⁄₂ cup vinegar ** I use Filipino vinegar, found in any local Filipino store. **
• ¹⁄₂ cup soy sauce ** I use Filipino soy sauce, found in any local Filipino store. **
• 1 cup water
• 2 -3 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons peppercorns (whole) ** I used fresh pepper to make it baby friendly**
• 4 cloves minced garlic 
• diced potates ( optional) 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt (optional, you may put more soy sauce to your taste instead.)
• Dash of sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker.
2. Allow meat to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.
3. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours until pork/chicken is done.
   
   
4. Serve with rice.
   
   
5. To freeze and combine all ingredients in a freezer bag and freeze flat until ready to serve.
6. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before pouring contents of bag in Crockpot. Cook as directed.