How to Prepare Eggs

Titchie has become quite a chef since she moved to the US. Below are her quick descriptions of the several ways you can cook eggs:

1. Boil - Place eggs in a small saucepan and place enough water to cover the whole egg. Turn heat to high and boil. Remove from heat and cover for 15 minutes. Drain. Rinse in cold water. Peel immediately. It's easier to peel them if the eggs are in water.

2. Fry - Heat nonstick pan (if you have one). Spray with Pam. When pan is hot enough crack egg onto pan. Sprinkle with a little salt if preferred. Place pan cover on top of egg. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

3. Scrambled - If you want very fluffy eggs, use 2-3 eggs. Beat eggs with milk (or water), salt, pepper (if you want you can also add dried herbs or pesto sauce) until fluffy. Pour onto nonstick skillet that's been sprayed with Pam or has a little oil, and gently place the eggs. Stir slowly over low heat. Continue stirring until eggs are cooked to your liking. If you want them runny, remove them when mixture is slightly wet.

4. Poach - This is not the best method but this is what I do. Boil water in a small saucepan. Crack egg onto small bowl. When water is boiling, slip egg gently onto
boiling mixture.


About Philippine Cook Books

Many Filipino graduate students like Jay Gatmaitan, who took up his MBA in Rotterdam, live a long way from the nearest Filipino restaurant. (He never did find any during his two-year stay.) Thus, if you really need to eat Filipino food often, learning how to cook your favorite dishes is the most convenient, and even the most reasonable.

We recommend buying more than two Philippine cuisine cookbooks before you leave the Philippines so when that craving for our food from home strikes, it is more likely that you are able to cook the desired dish. The one book that you have might not have the recipe that you want or the version that you want it in. Remember that households from different provinces cook the same Philippine dishes differently.

Over the years, we, Tricia and Titchie, have both come to rely on the following books: “Aling Charing’s Filipino and Foreign Recipes” by Rosario Fabian, “Cooking for Two” by Vicky Veloso Barrera, “A Culinary Life” by Nora Daza and Michaela Fenix, “Galing Galing Philippine Cuisine” by Nora and Mariles Daza , and the new "Memories of Philippine Kitchens" by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan.