VEGAN ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL PRODUCTS

If you eat beef, pork or chicken but want to curtail your intake with something lighter and without the cholesterol you should make a trip to your nearest health food store, and take a look at what products they have.

Morning Star makes some delicious frozen meals and healthy as well. Check some of their products.

Italian herb chik patties

Beef flavor burgers

Buffalo Wings

Amy's is also in the game and very popular.

Enchilada

Vegetable Korma

There's more varieties if you're looking for vegetarian/vegan foods that are ready to be heated up at home. I tried both brands and both are exceptional alternatives to eating animal meat. You should stop by your closest health food store and see if they got these two brands, I know if you hit Whole Foods you should find something there.

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©2016

VEGAN MUSHROOM BURGER

This is a vegan recipe, so there's no ground beef patty that was grilled with sautéed mushrooms on top with melted mozzarella cheese. 








Vegan Mushroom Burger no animal byproducts.

1 lb. of white mushrooms, minced and set aside.
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and parboiled to soften the mashed
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium size mixing bowl add the minced mushrooms and mashed potatoes, mix well.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and form 4 burgers.

3. In a nonstick pan, heat up some safflower oil and fry each burger until a brown crust is developed on both sides of each patty.

Serve with brown rice, or on toasted burger buns, garnish with kale, tomatoes and onions, use a vegan mayonnaise like Vegenaise, and organic yellow mustard.

Until next time
Ron Sambrano Blogger

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© 2016

BROCCOLI TIPS TIPS

Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables, the tops for salads, or in stir fries like beef broccoli, or in soups. Broccoli has a lot of good nutritional properties like Vitamins A, C, B-6, D, B-12, as well as Iron and Magnesium. And that's raw not cooked. But if you were to just follow some of my advice on broccoli to retain most of its nutrients, here is what you do.

In its raw state of being, broccoli and most cruciferous plants will retain all of its nutrients, organic would be your best bet for full healthy eats. But here is what you do if you are going to use broccoli in a cooked dish.

Stir Fries & Soups

     The best way to use broccoli and retain a lot of its nutritional value is to blanch the broccoli tops or tips quickly in hot water. Just boil the water really hot, and quickly add the broccoli in the boiling water for about 20 seconds and remove it. Slice it thin before you add it into your stir fry. Add it in last so all you will be doing is tossing the broccoli in the pan or wok just to incorporate it. Or slice it thin in its raw state, and garnish your stir fries. Or add it in last into soups.

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© 2016

TELL ME WHERE TO EAT IN YOUR HOMETOWN (Bibimbap House, Salem, Oregon)

Today on Maui I met two young ladies from the state of Oregon. And I asked them the question, "Tell me where to eat in your hometown." I was informed that they love to eat Korean and Japanese food.
Hey that's right up my alley I love Korean and Japanese food, there's nothing like a good meat jun with kimchi, or some japchae, or kalbi. Or a good katsu don, or some sukiyaki, saimin, or ramen. And sushi accompanied with miso soup... I love this conversation.

So my two new friends Holly and Casandra from Salem, Oregon told me that if I ever get to Salem anytime soon they'd take me to this dive called Bibimbap House.

"This place is really good," said Casandra. She wore a dark green tee shirt with a yellow O, I guess she's a Duck fan. "I grew up in a neighborhood with Asian families, so we're familiar with that kind of cooking. I'm a pretty good cook, and I cook some of the dishes with Korean influences." 

"I really don't like spicy Korean food, I favor more of the Japanese flavors," said Holly. "I've never had Asian food until Casandra turned me on to this place." Holly didn't wear any sports fan clothing, I took it she was more of the artistic liberal type. Nothing wrong with that just saying.

So what are their favorites?

Holly went first. "Like I said, I'm not into spicy Korean, but I love their Teriyaki Beef with veggies, in fact I'll mix it up on different visits, I'll do Teriyaki Pork too, or chicken. And their sushi is pretty amazing as well, like their New York Roll, Alaska Roll, and my favorite is the California Tempura Roll with teri sauce.. mmmm. I did like their Japchae noodle thing though. I guess I can learn to love Korean food, it's like Japanese almost."

Sheeze these girls are making me hungry.

Then Casandra stepped up to the plate, and she went off. "I love their Kalbi Short Ribs with rice. And I can't pronounce it but their spicy tender pork (Dae Ji Bul Go Gi). The tofu stew with seafood and veggies (Soon Doo Boo), Steamed Man Doo (dumplings). I like their Bibimbap with chicken, and sometimes I'll take the Bul Go Gi Combo to go, and the broiled mackerel."

Hmm, I like these girls. You see my friends, some girls are so picky when they eat, "Oh I can't eat that, I don't like that ooo can't do that, can we go somewhere else?"

Holly chimed in, "Hey their Soju is good, and they got beers too." Ah ha, so I know who the wild one is. Soju is an alcoholic beverage shared amongst Koreans. Made from rice, wheat, or barley.

So I thanked the ladies as they were on their way to get tickets for a luau. So now it's time for me to hit the computer and Yelp or Google search this place they spoke of, this, this... Bibimbap House in Salem, Oregon.

This is what I found.

Bibimbap House, 635 Chemeketa St. NE Salem, OR 97301. (505) 585-1530
Click this link for all of the information  BIBIMBAP HOUSE

statesman journal.com

yelp.com

trip advisor

This is a bottle of Soju

Go online and visit the website, there's more awesome pics. So then, if you ever get to Salem, Oregon the place to go for lunch or dinner is Bibimbap House.

Until next time

Ron Sambrano

Blogger

            

© 2016

TELL ME WHERE TO EAT IN YOUR HOMETOWN (Huntington Beach, So. Cal)

Another day on Maui, and meeting my friends visiting the island is lots of fun. Earlier today I met Fred and Clarita from Huntington Beach, Southern Cal. No pics like most of my peeps they don't trust me just yet haha. So my thing is this I walk up to them unannounced, with a ski mask on and a fake Glock 9mm and ask them "Excuse me, tell me where you from, and where should I eat if I go there?"

FRED: You like Mexican food Ron?
ME: Hell yeah, I like the soups, torta, everything man.
CLARITA: There's a place we go to just minutes south of where we live it's called Avila's El Ranchito.
FRED: They got good stuff. Look them up online.
ME: So what do you like to eat there Fred?
FRED: Hey brah, don't get me started. 
CLARITA: Yeah, he'll eat the whole kitchen.

Mind you these two are probably in their late thirties, and they got two kids back home, two boys 8 and 12 years old.

FRED: If it's the weekend we'll go for breakfast, I'll eat several items depends. One would be their Chorizo con Huevos, it has rice and beans. I love Chorizo. Or menudo. Or the Mexican Omelet with Chorizo.

CLARITA: I like their Chilaquiles.

RON: Okay for lunch or dinner?

FRED: Lunch would be a Fiesta Burrito with grilled chicken, with beans, pico de gallo and rice. 

CLARITA: For lunch I'll get Enchiladas or Quesadillas maybe a Flautas.

RON: Okay dinners?

FRED: The half pound steak grilled Mexican style, the Carnitas is good, or Steak Fajitas.

CLARITA: I like the Shrimp in garlic butter, and the salads are awesome too.

FRED: Really reasonable priced, great desserts too.

So I said goodbye, and now I'm on my MacBook Pro Googling the place. Hey they're on Facebook. And yeah they weren't kidding the prices are reasonable.

Fred didn't have his smartphone with all his foodie pics so I went online and got some of these from Avila's.

avilasranchito.com

yelp.com

trip advisor.com

yelp.com

So there's a few photos that looks really nice, for more information on this chain in So Cal, check out AVILA'S EL RANCHITO MEXICAN RESTAURANT

Until the next TELL ME WHERE TO EAT IN YOUR HOMETOWN 

Ron Sambrano

Food Blogger

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© 2016

SINIGANG NA BAKA

This is a simple beef, with veggies with tamarind based soup. Very easy to prepare, and will take about an hour to prepare and cook. Filipino cooking is simple, soups are made quickly without roasting bones.

Ingredients 
Serves: 6 

2 tbsp canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1    inch cubes
• 1 quart water
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 1/2 lb. trimmed green beans
• small head boy choy cut into 1 1/2 inch strips
• 1 bunch of broccoli tops cut into halves
• 1 fl oz tamarind juice
• 
  

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• 
  
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Directions
Prep:15minutes   

Cook:45minutes to1hour 

1. Heat oil in medium stock pot and saute onion and garlic until tender. Then add beef to pot, and saute until browned. Pour in water and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Place tomatoes and green beans in pot, and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in bok choy, broccoli and tamarind juice. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

         

© 2016

LOCALS LOVE FRIED MENPACHI

Photo from Yelp, Fresh Crispy Menpachi for Broke Da Mouth Grindz.
Note: This blogger is not making money off of this blog post.

Locals love to eat fish, small fish, midsize fish, large fish, humongous fish. We love us some fish. 

My favorite fish is Ahi, no doubt. Ahi raw is the best, of course the primo grade ones. Even the Big Eye Ahi is kick ass. Now as far as that other tuna the Skip Jack, not too many people like that fish. However, that fish is more potent than the Ahi, where the Ahi is sweeter, the Aku is more... gamey. But if you dehydrate Aku and make jerky, that's good for drinking beer during Super Bowl Sunday. Or fried Aku bones with shoyu and sesame oil and lots of ginger and green onions, that's a winner. Though some stuck up chefs can't stand Aku, well most chefs are anal holes anyhow, I can't stand those bastards! Haha.

But, in this blog post I'm going to talk about one of my favorite small reefers, and that is the Menpachi, These little guys are tasty fried. Fishermen in Hawaii will use light tackle to catch them usually by whipping. The Menpachi by nature is nocturnal hence his big eyes. The eyes to catch his prey. 

Most local cooks will clean out the fish, and heat up a hot wok outside of the house especially of there was a huge catch, and by frying in a large wok it makes good for drinking and talking story or conversations with cold brews.

After frying to a crisp, a drizzle of shoyu, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and green onions would suffice. However Hawaiian chili pepper water is always a favorite. Or Tabasco works well, or fish sauce too. Served over white rice with some lomi salmon is epic all of the time. Try it out if you get a chance, and the best place to eat this is at someone's house where the  men go fishing and the men are the outdoor wok fryers. As we say here in Hawaii, "No can beat!"

              

© 2016

KIMCHI PORK AND SHRIMP MEATBALLS

Twist up that meatball recipe, make it Korean style, it's easy to do. All you will need is a pound of ground pork and 8 oz. of shrimp, shelled and cleaned out, and minced fine.




Other ingredients.
2 eggs beaten
2 pieces of white bread soaked in milk, broken apart and drained a little
1/2 cup panko flakes or any bread crumbs
1/2 cup of chopped kimchi cabbage (bottled store bought)
1 tsp. sambal oelek or more if needed
1 tbsp. minced green onion
1 tbsp. minced round onion
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

Makes 12- 2 oz meatballs

Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well, make 12- 2 oz. meatballs, and bake them.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a baking sheet.

Bake meatballs for about 20 minutes, or when a crust forms on each meatball.

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©2016

TELL ME WHERE TO EAT IN YOUR HOMETOWN (DALLAS, TX)

I'm on a little roll here on Maui, I spoke to a guy named.. Bubba. Serious that's the name he gave me. He did not want a pic of him, nor did he want to be on Facebook. Ok, no problem. I did ask him where he was from, now imagine, Bubba is like 6'-3" huge wearing an old Randy White Cowboy jersey #54, the white home jersey. He's got some cash I can tell, because this jersey isn't old, it's new with stitching, not silkscreened logos and numbers. It must have been like $350.00 easy.

Bubba: Ronnie..if you ever get to the Big D, I'll take you to Al Biernat's (Béarnaise). If you like steaks.

Me: Shit yes I love steaks Bubba, but I'm a Rams fan.

Bubba: Then you're paying the tab.

Bubba's favorite dishes here at Al Biernat's:

For lunch (My iPhone 6s went to work).
Beef Tenderloin Tacos.
Chicken Parm Linquini
Ahi Tuna Poke (Hey we created that shit here!)
Shrimp Parm
Wagyu Chopped Steak
Meatloaf

Okay I'm just telling you what this dude eats for lunch. I don't know if he eats all of it at one sitting or that's his favorites.

Bubba's favorite dishes for dinner
Chilled Jumbo Prawns, Remoulade (Yikes that's rich shit!)
French Brie
Tempura Prawns 
Crab and Corn Chowder
"The North Dakota Buffalo Habanero BBQ Sauce Ronnie!" Hey I looked this shit up it's like over 50 bucks!
Veal Osso Bucco and wild shrooms
16 oz. Nina Ranch Dry Aged NY Strip (This shit is 68.00)
"The Fundy Salmon" I'm checking this out, this is 30.00.
"The Prime Rib"
"And Ronnie, I gotta eat the bone in filet man off of the grill... "

Just to let you all know, some of the entrees aren't dirt cheap, but from my understanding this place rocks! You pay the price and they deliver. Shoots thanks to Bubba, if I ever get to Big D, I'll go there!

I called the restaurant and Eddie answered and told me to stop by when I ever get to Big D. Check out the website you'll drool, just click the link: AL BIERNAT'S

           

© 2016

TELL ME WHERE TO EAT IN YOUR HOMETOWN

Today I've had the chance to go out and meet some of our fine people that visit Maui, I usually watch for couples that look friendly, and ask them where they're from. Once I've established this, I ask them questions on food. And the question is always this.

Q: If I visited your hometown, where would you take me to eat?

The answer today from a young couple, John and Britney from Portland, Oregon was this.

SHANDONG RESTAURANT. From what they tell me, it's a Chinese restaurant. So I always cut to the chase. I asked them what is their favorite dish there? And I'll Yelp it and Google it. 

John's dish is- Won Ton Soup. "I love the Won Ton Soup, very tasty since I can't cook anything, and love Chinese food, that's my favorite."

Britney's dish is- Lobster Sauce Prawns. "I always eat the Lobster Sauce Prawns with rice."

But that's just their favorites, sometimes they'll pig out on these.
Spring Rolls
Pork Potstickers
Mu Shu
Shandong Beef
Kung Pao Beef
Sichuan Pork
Pork Belly Noodle Soup

Thank God for my iPhone 6S, and the voice recorder to get all this shit down. Now to search for pics of this stuff. Man for little peeps they can eat. Oh by the by, they are like less than 5ft 5" each and slim. No shit and they like to eat, cool!

First for more info here's the website link:SHANDONG RESTAURANT

I can't find those dishes, but it is on their website, but here's some pics for you to get an idea of the place.

foodspotting.com

flicker.com

pinterest.com

shandong .com

KUNG PAO PRAWNS

Just go an visit the website, you'll be impressed, so if I ever get to Portland soon Shandong Restaurant is where I'm headed, hopefully with John an Britney so they can pay the tab.

           

© 2016

SPICY BAKED SHOYU CHICKEN

What is that? Spicy Shoyu Chicken and bake em!

Shoyu chicken is a favorite here in Hawaii, the way I like my shoyu chicken is not so sweet like some teri chicken. It has to have a good balance, but shoyu chicken's star ingredient is the shoyu, and not the sugar. In fact, a good shoyu chicken should be primarily just shoyu and very little sugar.

Try drizzling shoyu over your fried chicken that's not seasoned except just salt and pepper, if you are using your favorite shoyu, that chicken comes alive right? No sugar added, no ginger or garlic, straight up that shoyu did the trick, it made magic, you had a food orgasm.

In Hawaii, Aloha Shoyu rocks for everything. So let's use this one, or anyone you want.
We are going to make baked shoyu chicken with some spice.

5 lbs. thawed chicken thighs.

Soaking Liquid.
3 cups of Aloha Shoyu
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. Sambal (more if you like it HOT!)
5 tbsp. brown sugar
3 cloves garlic smashed
3 inch ginge smashed
2 stalks of green onion minced

Soak the chicken covered overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, let the chicken warm up to room temperature for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 deg F.

Grease a large baking sheet to fit all the pieces of chicken thighs skin up.

Place in center of oven. Bake for about 45 minutes or until juices start to come out of the chicken thighs. Don't over cook, it will dry out. Remember, when it rests out of the oven it will continue to cook.

Serve with rice.

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© 2015

FRIED PORK

Photo from kusinamaster.com

So last night I went to visit a friend, I stopped by a local Filipino Market and purchased about a pound of fried pork like the ones you see in the photo on the left. Then went to visit her dropping off some skins. Fried pork bellies is a good appetizer, of course if you are a vegan this isn't one of your favorites. 

Filipinos and the Mexicans call it chicharrones  and usually it is served with a dip with hot peppers, water, vinegar, salt and pepper, maybe some garlic.  Or a salsa with chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeño peppers.

There are different ways to fry these pork bellies and make them crispy. Because the skin can be tough. 

No. 1- Here's a way you can do this in your oven. Take about a 3 pound piece usually sold as a rectangle or square piece. Rinse the whole pork belly and pat dry. Score the skin with a paring knife. Then generously rub sea salt all over the piece of pork. 

Use a small or medium roasting pan with a wire rack inside. Making sure the pork is at room temperature before baking it. Preheat your oven to about 450 degrees F. Then place the pork into the oven. Bake it until it turns golden brown and crispy. Remove and let it rest. Then with a sharp knife, cut it into strips and into bit size pieces.

No. 2- Slice the belly pork into strips about 1/2 inch thick. Take all of the strips and place them in a pot of boiling water, once all strips are in, turn down heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove and drain well. Separate the strips and let it sit in the refrigerator. Cool completely. Then when you are ready to fry them, heat up a wok or deep fryer with enough cooking oil. Heat up the oil to about the 350-375 degrees F. range. Just fry each strip until golden brown, remove from oil and drain.

Enjoy!

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MAHI IN GARLIC WINE SAUCE

Here's an easy recipe for Mahi in Garlic Wine Sauce.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4- 5 oz. mahi filets (salted and peppered on both sides)
1 tsp. crushed garlic
3 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup of lemon juice
1 cup of white wine
1 tb crushed garlic
3/4 of an unsalted stick of butter cold

Parsley flakes and lemon wedges for garnish

Directions

1. Heat up a stainless steel skillet with olive oil over medium high heat until hot, add in the           crushed garlic, and place the 4 fish filets into the pan.

2. Cook fish for about 3-4 minutes per side, when through set filets on to the side keep it warm.

3. Return pan to medium high heat, using a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen up any bits of the fish. Add in the lemon juice, white wine, and garlic, and stir well and reduce the liquid to about 3/4. Then add in the butter, off the heat, and swirl in the butter to make the sauce richer and thicker.

Serve the filets of fish on individual plates, spoon sauce on top of each filet, serve with lemon wedges and sprinkle some fresh parsley over fish.

PLATE LUNCH AT NIGHTS

I look a little crazy in this photo, but what the hell right? Life goes on, I'd like to say I did shower and I was clean, don't look it right? But I was clean. So this blog post is just me ranting about the lack of good local food here in Lahaina, Maui at nights. I just polished a shoyu chicken plate from the local convenience store, it came with 2 scoops of rice, delicious mac salad, and 3 pieces of shoyu chicken. The store doesn't cook the food, they get it from V.I.P. in Kahului, and all they do is heat it up. It's as fresh as can be I guess. But we are lacking good plates here on the west side of Maui, especially at night, it would be nice to have a good local diner open until well past midnight, where we can sit, eat some noodles, or soup, sandwiches, plate lunches and desserts. Or even just to sit and drink some coffee and eat a light meal, just a place where we can just hang out would be nice.

Anyhow, that's my ranting right now. We need more places to dine at nights, we don't need no more bistros or Italian joints, just give us some good comfort foods all day!

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© 2016

I WANT CHICKEN CURRY RIGHT NOW!

Man I could go for some chicken curry right now, homemade, hot and fresh over some white sticky Cal Rose medium grain rice. Life is great when there's chicken curry for dinner, or heck any old time. The gravy over the rice, mmmm good! The aroma of the curry mix. I mean, even if you bought the ready made mixes, it's good stuff. I mean there's the Indian influence kind, there's the Malaysia kind. There's the Thai kind. And our kind, Hawaiian kind. Or kine. I used to watch my buddy's moms make chicken curry when we were kids, because we never made that in our house. I'd watch as my buddy's mom would thaw out the chicken wings, then separate the pieces with her cleaver. Then she would season the wings with salt and pepper, and curry powder and let it sit on the side. 

Then she would get veggies, like potatoes, and carrots and par boil them. Then she would get her pot out, and put oil in it, and then she would brown all the chicken wings so the juices from the chicken would come out. Then she would add some canned chicken broth to the pot, not a lot, just to cover it. Then she would add more curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. She'd just simmer it for about an hour, then add in the par boiled veggies, and simmer for another half an our or so. She'd continue to taste the gravy, adding more curry, or salt and pepper. Right at the end about five minutes before it was done, she would stir in some heavy cream to thicken it up and give it a nice texture. And then a pat of cold butter for more richness. That was it man, simple for your dimple baby!

        

© 2015