What do foodies and chefs prepare for their spouses to make them feel extra special on Valentine’s Day? For them, just simple, straightforward yet delicious meals are enough to set the perfect romantic mood.
Pork Ribs Sinigang
“Since retiring from running restaurants, my husband and I normally stay home on Valentine’s Day to avoid the traffic, the crowds and long lines, and this actually became even more of our mantra since the pandemic. I would normally cook a three-course meal for my husband. However, for this year, he requested for something much simpler and hearty — Pork Ribs Sinigang with Adlai. It’s pretty simple because I can cook it in advance and would not have to stand up to prepare a second and third course. We just wanted to share a comfort food meal and talk and bond more. Plus, most of the vegetables in the dish come from our garden, a new found “pandemic habit.” — chef Melissa Sison-Oreta, former program director of Center for Culinary Arts, Manila
Pork Ribs Sinigang
Ingredients
1.5 k Pork Ribs, cut into bite-size (choose a meaty one from your reliable market)
7-8 pcs Okra, slice into rounds
½ c Radish, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 pc Onions, sliced
3 pcs Tomatoes, diced
1 pc Chili finger, sliced in the middle
4 tbsp Patis (fish sauce)
¼ tsp White pepper
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
1 pack Sinigang Tamarind Mix (44g pack)
Your favorite leafy vegetables (kamote tops, kangkong, bokchoy, pechay, spinach)
6 c or more Water
Wash pork ribs and place in a pressure cooker with four cups of water and two tbsp of patis and cook. (This will take about 20 minutes instead of the four-hour simmering.) Set aside.
In a separate casserole, place over medium heat two tbsp of oil. Saute onions for two minutes. Add tomatoes and okra. Saute for three to five minutes. Then, add the remaining patis, white pepper, green chili and sinigang powder. Saute for two more minutes.
Using a soup ladle, slowly add two to three ladles of water from the pressure cooker pot to avoid the sinigang mix from burning. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the pork ribs and about five cups of water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until okra and radish are fully cooked and the broth is thickened. Finally, add the vegetables. Adjust seasoning with patis and pepper.
Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
“It’s always my husband who does the cooking on Valentine’s Day. I just make the dessert. It’s usually something very simple to whip up because I’m already exhausted when I get home from work. The busiest time for us chefs, apart from Christmas, is Valentine’s Day. So, a simple self-saucing chocolate cake topped with our favorite scoop of gelato is the perfect dessert for us.” — Miko Llamanzares Aspiras, multi-awarded pastry chef and currently executive pastry chef of Visum Ventures, and owner of Don’t Doughnuts based in Sydney, Australia
Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
Ingrédients
130g All Purpose Flour
30g Cocoa powder
2 tsp Baking powder
A pinch of salt
100g Brown sugar
60g Unsalted butter
1pc Whole egg
1tsp Vanilla extract
1/2c Fresh milk
For the batter: Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF. Grease an eight-inch pie pan or baking dish with butter. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine
In a separate mixing bowl with an electric beater, beat together melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is combined and smooth before moving on.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Stir through gently until just combined. Add half of the milk. Mix gently. Continue until all the flour and milk are combined. It is important not to overmix or be too heavy handed otherwise the cake may turn out dense and tough. Pour the pudding batter onto your prepared dish.
Bake pudding for 20 to 23 minutes. The top should look dry and be a little springy.
Serve warm with a scoop of your favorite gelato.
Portia’s Roast Beef
“It must be meat! Always! Since I don’t allow my husband to eat so much meat for health reasons, I would allow him only on special occasions. I have a recipe of my special Roast Beef that I only make once or twice a year.”
— Portia Baluyut Magsino, owner of Rustic Mornings by Isabelo
Portia’s Roast Beef
Ingredients:
2kg Angus Ribeye
Salt and Pepper
Marinade:
3 tbsp Garlic, minced
5 tbsp Fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 c Olive oil
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1 c Fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 c Shiitake mushroom
1 c Portobello mushroom
2.5 c Beef stock
1/2 c Red wine
1 tbsp Sugar
Preheat oven at 350oF. Season meat generously with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside.
In a large cast iron, flame on high, pour a little olive oil. Sear all sides of the meat until brown and crusty — one to two minutes on each side. Turn off heat and pour half of the garlic rosemary marinade on top of the meat. Place inside the oven (uncovered) and roast for 45 minutes.
Aglio e Olio
“Bianca loves steak and pasta for special occasions, like Valentine’s Day. She loves it when I cook Pasta Aglio e Olio. It’s really a simple pasta dish but very delicious especially when paired with a perfectly cooked Ribeye Steak.”
“For the Aglio e Olio, I just sauté butter, olive oil, lots of minced garlic, Italian seasoning, a touch of chili flakes, and salt and pepper. To make it tastier, I add shrimp heads for that added richness and sweetness. Once it’s all incorporated, I remove the shrimp heads and toss in the noodles and shrimps. I finish it off with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese. One of the best pasta dishes, ever! Thanks to my late friend Leo for teaching me how to make it during our days in Indonesia. — Mark Tan of Eatsplorations, a renowned food and travel blog
Spaghetti with Malunggay and Kangkong
“We stay at home on Valentine’s Day because restaurants are busy and always full of diners. We just cook at home and prepare for an intimate celebration. For Valentine’s Day, I will cook our special Spaghetti with Malunggay and Kangkong. I learned this from my wife because she always wants a very nutritious meal. Interestingly, I pair our meal with hot coffee. This is our comfort food at home.” — Azrael Coladilla of Azrael’s Merryland Vlog
Spaghetti with Malunggay and Kangkong
Ingredients:
Spaghetti pasta, family size
Filipino-style spaghetti sauce
Salt
Butter
Ground black pepper
Hotdogs
Raisins
Ground pork
Onions
Water
Malunggay leaves
Kangkong leaves
Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside pasta sauce. In a pan in medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions, ground pork, raisins and hotdogs. Cook well. Pour in the spaghetti sauce and add a few cups of the pasta water. Add pepper. Then, carefully add malunggay and kangkong leaves. Let it boil for three to five minutes. Season with salt and sugar to balance the taste. Mix in the pasta and cook for another two minutes.
Serve with parmesan cheese or any grated cheese.
Fish Head Soup with Noodles
“Being in the restaurant industry, I have never spent Valentine’s Day with my husband, ever! I’m always so busy leading up to the day, and exhausted afterwards. So, post V-Day, all I want to cook is something comforting and to use up leftovers from V-Day. This year, I used so much lapu-lapu fillets that I have a boat-load of fish heads. My recipe is a Malaysian-style fish head soup with noodles. It’s ugly delicious, just like true love. Perfect for the cold Baguio nights!”
“This is a free-wheeling non-recipe. Take around a kilo of fish heads and cut into large pieces. Season with salt and pepper, and dust with cornstarch. Fry in oil until brown. Saute some ginger and onion in oil and add chicken stock. Drop in the fried fish heads and simmer until broth is milky and fish is tender. Make sure you skim off the oil and foam that floats to the top. Season with fish sauce, a bit of lemon, then add the pre-soaked noodles. It can be rice noodles, sotanghon or chap chae. Finish with sliced tomatoes, leeks and cilantro.” — chef Waya
Araos-Wijangco, owner of Gourmet Gypsy, Baguio City
Poached Langoustine
“I’ve been with the Discovery group for 13 years. There was a time that I took my wife to Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay. There, I made her taste one of the signature dishes which was Oysters Ruben, poached oysters in lemongrass cream, on a bed of capellini pasta, and topped with Caviar. She loved it! So, my version of this classic, would be using langoustine or prawns instead of oysters and adding coconut milk to the sauce.” — Luis Chikiamco, executive chef of Flame, Discovery Primea
Poached Langoustine
(Capellini pasta, cherry tomatoes, caviar, coconut-lemongrass velouté)
Ingredients
1 pc Langoustine (can use jumbo prawns as substitute)
1 tsp Avruga Caviar
1 pc Cherry tomato
1 c Capellini pasta, cooked
1/2 c Coconut milk
1/4 c Vegetable stock
1 stalk Lemongrass
1 tbsp Shallots
1/2 tbsp Ginger
1 1/2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Flour
1 pc Lemon
1/2 tbsp Peppercorns
1/4 c Rock salt
1 pc Bay leaf
2 tbsp White wine vinegar
1 pc BBQ stick (long)
Microgreens and baby cilantro leaves, optional
Poaching the Langoustine: Take of head and shells of the langoustine but leave the tail on. Using the BBQ stick, skewer the langoustine lengthwise to keep it straight. Take a pot and put five liters of water.
Cut your lemon into half and squeeze juice into the water then place the squeezed out lemon halves in as well. Then, add your rock salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, white wine vinegar in. Place on a stove and boil. Once boiling, lower the heat. Place langoustine in and cook for about three minutes. Take off the skewer from the langoustine and set aside.
For the pasta: Cook capellini according to package. Once cooked, drain pasta and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain once again and set aside.
For the Coconut-Lemongrass sauce: Heat a pan with oil. Saute ginger, lemon grass and shallots. Once fragrant, add vegetable stock and simmer. In a small pan, melt butter and stir in the flour. This will clump up which is okay. This is called the roux. Add the roux into the vegetable stock with ginger and lemongrass. Stir using a whisk to dissolve the roux. This will thicken your stock. Once thick, strain into a small sauce pot and add coconut milk. Bring to a light simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and about a teaspoon of sugar and splash of lemon. Let sauce simmer until slightly thick.
To Plate: Slice cherry tomatoes in thin rounds. Then set them vertically, overlapping one another. Then place langoustine tail on top. Place pasta in the sauce and make sure it is well coated. Twirl the pasta using a fork and place beside the langoustine. Take a teaspoon of caviar and place on top of the pasta. Place a little bit of microgreens and baby cilantro leaves on the pasta for garnish (optional). Drizzle remaining sauce and serve.