One more recipe / this time with a twist 😉. There are a lot of words thrown together in the title of this post, some of which may be new to you.
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First, let’s talk about silog.
Silog isn’t so much a dish as it is an entire class of dishes in the Philippines.
In most Filipino dialects, it’s very common to mash words together for ease, simplicity, and … well … because it’s cool. The word silog is a combination of two Filipino words: sinangag (garlic fried rice) and itlog (egg). As you may have guessed, a silog dish is any combination of garlic fried rice, a fried egg (or sunny-side up, as many Americans call it), and some form of meat.
What’s especially fun is that the name of a specific silog dish is a further mashing of words. The first part of the word is taken from the meat that serves as the main course, or ulam (ulam is a meat, seafood, or veggie that accompanies rice in a Filipino meal). For example:
• Bacsilog = bacon + garlic fried rice (sinangag) + egg (itlog)
• Hotsilog = hotdog + garlic fried rice (sinangag) + egg (itlog)
• Spamsilog = Spam + garlic fried rice (sinangag) + egg (itlog)
• Longsilog = longganisa (sweet Filipino sausage) + garlic fried rice (sinangag) + egg (itlog)
• Tapsilog (my favorite!)= tapa (see below) + garlic fried rice (sinangag) + egg (itlog)
Silog is probably one of the most iconic Filipino breakfast dishes, though no one knows who first started using the word silog. Some say that a restaurant in Marikina City (near Manila) was the first to use it in the 1980’s when they added tapsilog (tapa + sinangag + itlog) to their menu. Nevertheless, Tapsilog is a hit among tourists and Filipinos alike, and it is one of our kids' favorites 😉.
Speaking of tapsilog, contrary to popular belief, the word "tapa" doesn’t come from the Spanish finger food "tapas." Though Spanish colonization has had a profound and lasting impact on the Philippines, the word (and food) tapa can be traced back to the country and culture’s Proto-Austronesian roots. The word historically meant meat preserved by smoke or by some other means. When used in general conversation, it usually refers to pork or beef that has been cut into thin slices, cured in salt and spices, slightly dried in the sun, and then fried.
For this post, we want to share our simple, family sinangag recipe and give you all a fun silog quarantine challenge!
So what’s the “tornado lockdown challenge” all about?
Like most SE Asian countries, street food is very popular in the Philippines. Around Cebu, there are a number of popular street food hot spots, like the Sugbo Mercado in Cebu City’s IT Park. As you may have guessed, the city’s quarantine restrictions have forced these places to temporarily close. However, our kids’ desire for fun and unique street foods still remain.
One fun street food fad that the kids saw somewhere (we can’t remember where) is the scrambled egg tornado! What is a scrambled egg tornado? It’s eggs, cooked on a hot pan with chopsticks, and spun into the shape of a tornado! Sounds simple, right? It’s actually a little harder than it looks 😊. Here's a YouTube video of a street food vendor in South Korea creating the perfect tornado omelette.
Our challenge: Can you prepare a silog topped with the infamous tornado omelette?
To help you on your journey to omelette perfection, here is our family's recipe for sinangag, followed by funny videos and pictures of our own attempts at the spamsilog tornado.
Sinangag (garlic fried rice)
Traditionally, sinangag is made with old, left-over steamed rice (waste-not, want-not). In a culture used to making due with limited resources, left over rice from dinner makes for an excellent breakfast! Slightly old and slightly dried rice actually has the best consistency when fried.
Ingredients:
• 3 cups of left-over steamed rice
• 5 cloves of crushed garlic
• 2½ tablespoons oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: ~15 minutes
Instructions:
Heat the cooking oil in a wide pan.
While the cooking oil is being heated, add the crushed garlic.
Note: Make sure that the oil isn't hot when you add the garlic. Let the garlic slowly cook while the oil is heating up, until it becomes golden brown and crisp.
Add in the rice, gently stirring to distribute the ingredients. Continue to cook for 3 minutes. Sprinkle the salt over the rice and continue to mix all the ingredients gently. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with your favorite ulam!
Tornado Omelette
Ingredients:
• Eggs
• Eggs
• Eggs
• Some salt and oil
Instructions:
First, pray 😊! Tell yourself that it's possible; that you can do this!
Then, heat some oil in a pan. Scramble two or three eggs (depending on how large of a tornado you want), add salt, and place the eggs in the hot pan. Using two thick chopsticks, and starting from the outside in, draw the chopsticks to the middle of your scrambled eggs as they cook. Then, while holding the chopsticks in one hand, spin the pan to create a beautiful tornado.
When you're done, place your tornado on top of a beautiful scoop of sinangag.
In the photos below, our kids made some tornado omelettes and placed them over Spam and sinangag. You may be wondering why our Spam is round. After all, doesn't Hormel pack Spam into a rectangular can? Unfortunately, because of the cost of Spam in the Philippines, we're using Virginia brand Chinese Style Luncheon Meat made right here in Cebu. Sorry Minnesotans, maybe next time we'll spring for that delicious cube of meat packed right there in Austin.
And there you have it! Please let us know how you did! Our kids would love to hear from folks in the "outside world." 😉
PRAYER REQUESTS:
• Please continue praying for all of the kids and workers at CSC. This week, the Shelter hit a milestone: 70 days on quarantine! Thank you for always thinking of us, praying for us, and supporting us. There is no telling when conditions in the Philippines will be such that we can open up again. Please pray for continued strength, vigilance, and patience.
• Please pray for our future furlough plans and for Heather's visa. Heather's visa expires this coming September, and our initial plan was to return to the States before then so that her visa could "reset" (she's on a balikbayan visa which expires after one year). With the coronavirus pandemic around the world, the possibility of making this trip is looking less and less likely. While flights from the Philippines to the US have begun to open up, there is a great worry that if we left, we wouldn't be able to return. Roberto's parents had tickets to the Philippines that were cancelled and rescheduled three times, and they've since decided to give up on coming this Summer. Please pray with us for wisdom and discernment on how best to proceed.
• The kids have asked me to share a prayer request: that quarantines would be eased soon. School-aged kids were placed on a 24-hour curfew about a week or two before the entire city was placed on quarantine. This means that while the city has been on quarantine for over 70-days, it's been nearly 90-days since our kids have been allowed to leave the house! By God's grace, they've all been doing very well and have yet to go completely stir-crazy (just partially stir-crazy).
THANKS AGAIN for all your message, all your prayers, and all of the love and support you continue to give. Please know that we are praying for all of you during this unique and challenging time all over the world.
Learn more about the Children's Shelter of Cebu here.
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