Puto Pao/Cua Pao

I am not really sure what this is called. The first time I tasted what seemed like puto with filling like that of siopao, it was when a sister-in-law brought some from Laguna. I loved it then. She said it was called cuapao. The shape was rectangular.

With previous browsing on the net, some called it puto pao. The cua pao search I made led me to a photo that did not look like what my ex-SIL brought. So, I don't know what this is really called. But simply put, that pao that I had then from SIL is basically puto with siopao filling. Period.

Now, with my easy method of making puto from boxed white cake mix (and I recently bought a pint of pure pasteurized egg whites), I made some puto pao (or cua pao?). After my kids loved them paos, I thought I should have a set of rectangular or square silicone muffin cups. So I bought a set of square and triangular. Next time I make puto pao again, I will use the square ones(they are larger too than the typical muffin cup shape). We already tried them with brownies and once the brownies were cool enough, they were easy to remove from the silicone cups.

I used leftover beef pares for filling (note: the beef pares link will lead you to my blog post which had a very old unappealing photo of my beef pares, which does not do justice to how scrumptious this dish is, so please do not be discouraged. It has been a tried and tested and loved recipe by several of my readers, and a favorite special beef roast recipe in my household that even my in-laws love it). I chopped the meat roughly, mixed that with the sauce, adjusted the sauce with thickener (cornstarch-water mix), salt, sugar, pepper as necessary. Then I chilled the mixture prior to making the puto pao. The chilling enables me to shape the filling into disks which I could lay flat over half of the puto batter before I top with the other half.

I get the water boiling even before I start preparing the batter. I use any white cake mix in my pantry, with the required egg whites and oil, then mix thoroughly with a hand mixer until batter looks fluffy. I place about a teaspoon at the bottom of the muffin paper liner, then carefully top with flattened filling (I measure using cooking scoop), then finally add another teaspoon or so of white cake mix batter, or enough to cover sides and top of the filling (I avoid adding too much). The slide show has some photos with sliced cheese on top, or plain, or some puto pao with the filling on top only (I experimented to place the filling on top, expecting it to sink to the middle while steaming, but it did not).

The result got my kids excited, they had these for snacks that night, and saved some for the next morning for their breakfast.

As expected, hubby only ate the plain puto. :(

Beef Pares with an Apple Twist

From 10-06-08 dinner

I used the Beef Pares recipe, and added carrots and ginger (per comment of one who tried adding these to my recipe), then instead of using frozen beef broth to top the chuck roast (to avoid drying it up), I used half of the apples I usually use for an apple pie, mixed with the usual spices cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves.



When cooked, I placed the apples in a bowl first and mashed with a fork. Then I strained the sauce (separating the spaces and carrots in the process), then thickened and finalized the gravy the usual way. Then I mixed some of the gravy with the mashed apples, tasted it and adjusted by adding some soy sauce as needed. The resulting applesauce was yummmmmylicious! Hubby liked it as well! (He usually does not use the sauce of beef pares; he likes savoring the flavor infused in the meat itself.)

Then we had very little leftover. At first I was considering making beef asado roll but since I did not have enough meat mixed with remaining applesauce, I decided to use it for fried rice (I had plenty of gravy remaining, perfect for flavoring the rice!)

Beef Pares

This is a re-posting of beef pares from my old kusina, edited with some new ingredients as per comments given that time, and a new method.

This dish is something I created in my effort to copy a favorite (and famous) item in some side-street restaurants in the Philippines. Beef Pares, a Chinese influence to Filipino cuisine, I believe, is juicy tender stewed beef in sweet brown sauce. By experimentation, I was quite successful in re-creating the dish in my now American kitchen. While the sauce is served thin in the Philippines, I have tweaked it to come up with a thick sauce, which has more appeal to the Western tongue of my in-laws and husband (who is quite picky when it comes to food). They (and I) love this dish. During a town hall meeting, my father-in-law was chatting with a friend, and he introduced me, with the phrase, “Linda [my mother-in-law] is already a good cook, but she [pointing to me] is even better!” While I felt flattered with the remark, I was embarrassed because my mother-in-law was also with us! It must be quite insulting to her to hear that, but then we have a very good relationship anyway, and even she tells me I am a good cook. I usually serve this dish during my birthday celebration, although at times I prepare it only for my family over the weekend, and I end up with some leftover. With this leftover, I can make another Chinese-influenced Filipino favorite merienda (snack) – the beef asado siopao, which are steamed buns with beef filling, also loved by my in-laws. Or make it into a heavy snack – beef asado roll, which is a baked bread with beef filling (my very own idea). I am very proud to be sharing this recipe not only with other Filipina immigrants but also with Americans as well.

INGREDIENTS:

3 lb boneless beef chuck roast
1 tbsp oil for browning
2 dried bay leaves (laurel)
2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
some dried orange peel (optional)

1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
3 cloves of garlic, crushed then minced
5-10 peppercorns, crushed or freshly milled
1/2 cup of frozen beef broth (I have several in my freezer)

Additional ingredients for the sauce:
3 tbsp light brown sugar (or according to taste)
2-3 drops soy sauce to darken the sauce some more, if desired
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 drops of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water
1 tsp sesame oil


METHOD:

Brown the chuck roast on all sides using a heavy iron pan on high heat. Place the bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon sticks and orange peel in the slow cooker and then the roast on top of these.
Mix together all the other ingredients and pour onto the roast. Place the frozen beef broth on top of the roast to baste it while cooking. Cover and slow cook for 8 hours.
After 8 hours, scoop out the sauce and let pass through a strainer to remove the spices. Keep the roast in the slow cooker under warm setting. Transfer the sauce into a fat separator then pour out the sauce minus the fat into a small saucepan. Boil. Adjust the taste with the additional ingredients for the sauce. Thicken to desired consistency by adding the cornstarch-water mixture in a slow stream while stirring. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
Transfer the roast to a serving platter and pour the sauce over. This can be topped with snips of chives for a more appetizing look. Serve with mashed potatoes or plain rice, plus steamed vegetables.

Uses for the leftover, if any:

I roughly chop the meat, then reheat it on low with the sauce, constantly stirring to avoid scorching. For every cup of chopped meat, there must be about 1/2 cup of sauce. If the sauce is too much, I just let it evaporate as I reheat. If it is not enough, I add some more water in increments of 1/8 cup plus some soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. The mixture must not be runny and must hold together when cooled.

I use this as filling either for beef asado roll (baked version) or beef asado siopao (steamed version).