Kefir making at home

I've been making kefir at home for the past few months, thanks to the kefir grains I got from Mr Eugene Jamerlan. And I've been consuming kefir almost daily- first thing every morning. Unlike yogurt or Yakult we buy in groceries which are more "ready to drink', home made kefir takes sometime in getting used to. You get the real taste of fermented milk in every drop.

Kefir is a fermented milk drink made with kefir grains and is believed to have its origins in the Caucasus Mountains. It is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep milk with kefir grains. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway; the bag would be knocked by anyone passing through the doorway to help keep the milk and kefir grains well mixed.

The process is very simple - just add the kefir grains to liquid milk of choice (I tried many brands and finally settled with Alaska), let it stay around 24 hours and "harvest" it (just strain the grains) to have your daily supply of kefir.

Kefir grains

You'd know its the right and ripe time for "harvest" when you see a build up on top of the milk. Regular liquid milk turns into kefir depending on the amount of milk, kefir grains, time, temperature and other factors. Don't fret if you don't make a perfect kefir on your first try since kefir making is a constant experiment until you make one that is almost perfect. For me the almost perfect kefir has a somewhat thick consistency (placing kefir in the fridge creates this consistency), sour aroma and milky-sour taste. Don't expect it to be like yogurt you buy in groceries.

But sometimes, I get the wrong ratio of milk and kefir grains or lengthen the fermentation time to more than 24 hours so the curds get separated from the whey. One time I experimented on another milk and even in just 10 hours the separation occurred and the milk had the consistency of gelatin. Sometimes putting too many grains speeds up the fermentation that it makes the kefir more sour.

Curds are the white portions on top while the whey is the semi clear liquid at the bottom

If I make near pefect kefir, I'd set them aside for my "plain and original" kefir morning drink. If I make less than perfect, thats when I make kefir smoothie like this mango-honey kefir. Bananas also are perfect for kefir as blend.

But the separation of the curds and whey are not really bad for it paves way for another kefir products - soft cheese! I've had my shard of kefir cheese but they are not a perfect as what Sir Eugene made. i don't know how many liters of milk he used and how many days he let the milk ferment - all I know is how the cheese tasted good. It still has the distinct kefir taste and smell but in almost solid form.

That in turn was perfect for bagels with freshly cracked pepper corns and chives.

And my favorite - on galletas with honey and blueberry balsamic vinegar reduction.

Now who ate my kefir cheese?

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

A native delicacy called Inday-inday

Now you may ask, what is Inday-Inday ? It's another repetitive-feminine named native delicacy that is made from rice like its more popular sister - baye-baye . While the latter is has its own original flavor and make, inday-inday is actually a combination of two well loved native delicacies - muasi ( palitaw ) and bukayo . But the muasi portion is not the the usual palitaw recipe for the it's more firm and gummy (I don't know the English term for kid-ol ). Actually its more like a hardened kutsinta and this makes it more to my liking since I'm not really fond of muasi in the first place. And its not quite easy to find inday-inday in the market today, though I've seen and tried it in Sabor Ilonggo stalls but their's is more like suman latik for the based is ibos -like. Ibos is malagkit rice boiled in gata which is called suman in Tagalog. Despite the uncertainty for its nomenclature (I've read that inday-inday is just plain pal

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