Afritada

The Filipino people have a long history, starting with their indigenous native people, then being conquered and colonized by the Chinese, the Moors, the Spaniards, and then the Americans in the earlier part of the 20th century.  Their culinary style reflects all of these influences, and the food is rich with history and various flavors.  The Philippines is an archipelago of about 7000 islands in the Southeastern China sea, and it sits right on the equator so unlike the cold and seasonal climate of most of Northern Asia, the Philippines is hot, humid, and is the home to some of the world's most prized tropical beaches and rain forests.  From dishes cooked with native coconut milk and seafood, to spicy curry style foods influenced by the Moors, and more importantly, the tomato and spice braised meats and stews based on the cooking methods of the Spaniards, there is something for every palate in the Filipino culinary repertoire.

Afritada, or apritada, is a dish that was influenced by the Spaniards, and perfected in the province region of Pampanga, where my Dad hails from.  It's a dish of braised meats and vegetables in a tomato based sauce, and it's rich and wonderful when served with rice.  The most popular way to make it in the Philippines is with pork, since it's more readily available than beef, but the version I made is with beef.

Basic Stir Fry

You want stir fry? I got your stir fry right here.

This has no name, because it's just your basic protein stir fry with mixed veg. Recipe after the jump. I also don't have photos for this because my Nikon is in the shop getting a tune up and sensor cleaning. My last trip to Big Sur introduced dirt onto the sensor that the camera couldn't self clean, but anyway, I digress.

On to the food!