I was born and raised in the Philippines so am a big, HUGE fan of Filipino food. I’m partial to the deserts (of course) but that’s a different blog post and once I get started talking about that I get wildly off topic. Here I want to cover two traditional Filipino recipes: Chicken Adobo and Pancit (stir fried noodles with meat and veggies).
Filipino food, like most other ethnic cuisines, aren’t always served up healthy, especially when they’re offered as a “fast food” option in this country. For instance, a nearby Filipino restaurant here in Austin offers a variety of meats, all battered and all deep fried. While a little bit of fried fish every once in a while is OK, I wanted to offer you some healthy versions of some of my favorite Filipino Recipes.
The cleaned up recipes are high protein and low in fat, so very friendly for my flexin’ Filipino friends.
Chicken Adobo, Cleaned Up
Ingredients:
2 lbs of chicken breast (tenders or cut up), 4-5 Tablespoons of Dark Soy Sauce, 1/3 Cup White vinegar, 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 8 cloves of peeled garlic, 3 bay leaves, 15 whole peppercorns, 1 Teaspoon ground black pepper powder, 1 cup water.
Instructions:
Marinate the chicken in all the ingredients for about an hour. Put the chicken pieces into a sauce pan. Cook on a high flame until it comes to a boil. Lower the flame, and cook on a low fire for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meat should be very tender. Serve with rice.
Remember, an ounce of cooked chicken breast contains about 30 calories (6.5 grams of protein and less than 1/2 grams of fat), so serve yourself up a portion that fits your nutritional needs. The garlic and spices add little to the calorie count.
Low Carb Filipino Pancit Noodle Recipe (Stir Fried Noodles), Serves 2
Now in this recipe, I’m actually subbing out the traditional starchy rice noodles to decrease the carb content of the meal. There’s nothing wrong with using them however, just follow the directions on the package for cooking time. In this healthy version of this Filipino classic, we will use low-carb noodles that are ready to serve (such as NoOodles, Miracle Noodle, Quest Pasta, or any other “shirataki” noodles).
Ingredients:
1 package of shirataki noodles
3/4 cup chicken breast, cut into strips or cubes
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced cabbage
1 cup thinly cut strips of carrots
1/2 cup French green beans cut (slanted)
1/2 cup snow peas
2 TBSP chopped garlic
1 onion cut into thick slices
1 boiled hard boiled egg cut into slices
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP olive oil
Chopped spring onions for garnish
Instructions:
Add oil to a nonstick pan, heat on medium flame, add garlic and onions, and brown lightly. Add thinly cut chicken breast and cook for 7 to 10 minutes. Add chopped carrots, green beans, and cabbage and cook until vegetables have softened.
Add black pepper and soy sauce, cover and cook for 2 minutes, and then add snow peas. Add shirataki noodles, and additional pepper and soy sauce, if needed. Mix well. Sprinkle lemon juice on top and garnish with egg and spring onion.
Ericka Grace Murcia
March 2, 2015 at 4:20 amAhhh, how I really miss Filipino food especially “Chicken Adobo”, and now I am hungry looking at it. Thank you for sharing.