Bill Z Bubba’s System Performance Guide (Rev 3)

Hello again, everyone. Since I consolidated my ATI Settings Guide, I decided to make sure everything was still as correct as I could get it for this guide. I removed from this guide a section on video optimizations, as the above guide should have most of the info. Instead, section four of this guide will have some general information that you may or may not find useful.

This guide is broken up into four sections:

Section One will cover MY computing philosophy when it comes to gaming, and will lay out the groundwork for WHY you should follow the other sections within this guide.

Section Two will cover Basic system cleanup and security. This section should improve performance and take minimal effort on your part.

Section Three will cover Advanced system cleanup. This section is not for little wussies that are a-scareded of learning too much.

Section Four consists of some tidbits and other items that have come up from time to time.

Let’s begin!

SECTION ONE (Casual computing equates to a sub-par gaming experience)

A little history to get the ball rolling seems to be in order. I am a gamer. I am also addicted to the eye candy that has been rolling off the shelves in the past few years. The advances made in the 3D graphics community have been nothing short of phenomenal over the last decade. The technological dance between the hardware vendors and the software writers has taken us from Pong to the gloriousness of City of Heroes/Villains, F.E.A.R., and Far Cry.

Even early on, I found that my knowledge was inadequate to the task of keeping up with the accelerating evolution of the gaming industry. What could I possibly do to alleviate this problem? I became a tech. Not only has this kept me mostly up to date with the goings on of PC architecture, but it allowed me to fund my addiction.

The two now play hand in hand with my most favorite of hobbies, but there has been a price. I now REFUSE to game unless I’ve properly optimized every facet of the device which allows me to game. In order to have the performance, the eye candy and the lack of issues I have, sacrifices were made. Knowledge was gathered. And Bill’s PC tweak guide is the product. Well, the real product is my game system. The guide is only to help others enjoy their gaming more.

My system:
The motherboard: ASUS P4C800-E
The video card: Xtacy Radeon X800XT AGP 256MB
The ram: 2GB of DDR400 PC3200 4X512MB
The sound: Creative Audigy 2 with 5.1 speaker setup
The monitor: 24″ widescreen LCD running at 1920X1200
The hard drive: 7200 RPM 60GB running on SATA
The case: CasEdge Diabolic Minotaur

I game on this system. I also use it to store my mp3s, with which I play my bass guitar whilst listening to them with WinAmp. NOTHING else occurs on my game system.

No anti-virus solutions, no software firewalls, no MS Office, nada, zip, nothing. If you wish to have one system that you do everything on, that’s your choice, or your financial situation, but doing so is against my philosophy. I have a separate desktop for all my other computing needs. I advise, if at all possible, that you do the same.

The philosophy: If I’m going to game, I deserve the best that I can get out of the hardware that I can afford. We all deserve this, but ONLY YOU can make it happen.

Microsoft sure as hell won’t help you, the vid card manufacturers want you to drop $500 every 4 months, 3rd party software vendors don’t give a damn about your performance, so it’s YOUR job to make things right.

If you are not prepared to learn a few things, and work hard for your gaming experience, quit reading now, go away and cease asking for help. You don’t deserve it. I said, GOOD DAY, SIR!

Still here? Good, let’s get busy.

SECTION TWO (Items every gamer should know:)

So your gaming PC drags, locks up, or isn’t performing as it once did?

Well it’s YOUR fault! At least partially.

Some notes about Windows XP. It sucks! But it’s also the best Operating System (OS) Microsoft has come out with since DOS 6.2, so let’s do what we can to make it a streamlined, properly functioning OS.

Basic Maintenance: (The following information is based on Windows XP with Service Pack 2. If you are not running this, or Vista, by now, you should really put some thought into upgrading.)

Update your freaking OS already. Windows Update exists for a reason. That reason being that Microsoft opens holes as often as they close them. However, do NOT enable Windows Update to run automatically as this is a performance drain. Every Friday night, before the happy weekend of gaming, bring up Windows Update from your programs list and download ALL Critical Updates. View the Optional and Driver Updates but only install the Optionals if you know they are relevant to you, and only install the Driver Updates if they have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with your video or sound cards.

Spyware and viruses are NOT your friends. Get rid of them. Matter of fact, stop doing stupid things to get them. Quit hitting the porn sites, quit clicking yes when a webpage asks you to install something, quit being so trusting. There are evil folks running amok on this planet, and a great many of them have computers and company logos.

Download and install the following programs:

Ad-Aware from here.

Spy-bot from here.

These programs do NOT stop incoming garbage from getting on your system unless you purchase the full versions. I do NOT advise this, as allowing anything to run in the background degrades your system’s performance. Run them both weekly at the minimum. A great time is Friday night right after you’ve installed all of MS’s Critical Updates.

Keeping your system free of adware, spyware and bloatware will aid you greatly in the fight against viruses and security holes.

If you can’t promise yourself to manually run a free virus check monthly, such as Trend Micro’s Housecall or Panda Software’s Scan, then install an anti-virus solution. AGAIN, I personally do NOT advise this, as the majority of AV solutions out there are bloated crapware that degrade performance as much as they keep you safe. If you DO install one, disable it while gaming.

A little interjection here:

Norton and McAfee’s Internet Security bundles are the most intrusive, system clogging, problem causing sacks of excrement on the face of the earth. Do NOT use these products. If you are TRULY worried about your internet security, you should buy a router with an internal firewall to place in between your cable/dsl modem and your systems. Windows Firewall is somewhat useless and problem causing as well, but if you refuse to get a router, enable it. If you have a router and have enabled its firewall, make sure that Windows Firewall is Off by going to Start/Control Panel/Windows Firewall. Please see note at end of guide about connection issues.

Yes, there’s too much junk running in the background of your OS and you need to get rid of it.

Back to the Start button, right click it and choose Open, then Programs, then Startup. If anything is in here, it’s garbage. Delete it and close the window. Right click Start again and choose Open All Users, then Programs, then Startup. If anything is in here, it’s garbage. Delete it and close the window. (These are just shortcuts to various executable files. Deleting them WILL not delete the programs that they are associated with.)

“But Bill! I use those programs!” Tough noogies. Start them manually WHEN YOU NEED THEM. Allowing them to start up with Windows does nothing but waste valuable system resources.

Reboot your system. Now run Disk Defragmenter. It can be found under Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. This may take 15 minutes. This may take 3 hours. Run it, let it finish. How often you run this is a personal choice. I run it every time I add or remove a game. Beyond that, I attempt to run it once a month.

XP is bloatware on a huge level. Lots of useless bells and whistles that anyone trying to tweak out a little more performance should nuke. So here we go:

Right click the My Computer icon and choose properties. Go to the Advanced tab and click on the Settings button under Performance. Set this for Adjust for Best Performance. Hit Apply and then Ok twice.
Right click your desktop where it is touching no icons, choose Properties, go to the Appearance tab and click on Effects. Uncheck everything. Hit Ok, Apply and then Ok.

Things look somewhat different? Good. Move on.

“SOOO much work, Bill! Why do I have to do all of this?” Because Microsoft builds their OSs for people that don’t want to do any work. You’re a gamer that wants the best for yourself, right? Then get busy! If your hands aren’t bleeding yet, you aren’t working hard enough!

Update your Video Card and Sound Drivers!

Step one is to download Driver Cleaner from here.

“But why do I need that, Bill?” Probably because you keep installing drivers on top of drivers and haven’t properly cleaned up anything ever.

Step two is to get the latest version of your video driver.

Head back into Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and Uninstall every listing you find of your video driver. (ATI now makes this simple by adding the ATI Software Uninstaller. This yanks everything and prompts a reboot.) Reboot your system. As it comes back up, it may tell you that it is reinstalling your display adapter. Cancel out of this, twice if need be.
Now run Driver Cleaner and clean every instance of your video components that you see listed. If you are uncomfortable choosing, read the help files within the application to get comfortable. Important! If you do run a persistent antivirus solution, DISABLE IT NOW. Install the latest version of your video driver.

OEM vendors don’t want you laptop users to have a good gaming experience, so they force the video card manufacturers into not letting you get updated video drivers. Then the OEM vendors stop updating their drivers about 2 months after the release of your systems. To get around this: If you are unable to use video drivers from ATI or Nvidia, go to omegadrivers.net and use his drivers, as they have been tweaked to install properly on ATI Mobility and Nvidia Go cards.

Check the manufacturer’s website for your sound card and see if they have anything new. If they do, grab them and get them installed the same way, unless all you are downloading is a patch to your existing driver. (Driver Cleaner can also be used to strip out Creative drivers.)

At this point, you should already notice improvements in the quality and performance of your system. Enjoy.

Optional: Because my system has 2GB of RAM, I have no need of a swap file. In my testing with CoH when I only had 1GB of RAM, I saw no errors without a swap file, but the general attitude is that killing off Virtual Memory should ONLY be done if you have MORE than 1GB RAM. To disable Virtual Memory/Swap File, go to Control Panel/System/the Advanced tab/the Settings button under Performance/the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory, click Change. For all drives, select No Paging File, and click the Set button. You will have to restart when finished. Further testing has shown that the best performance seems to come from leaving a swap file enabled, but on a DIFFERENT partition, preferably a different physical driver, than your operating system. Even with this information, my swap file remains disabled on all drives. Please note, some programs will fail to even start if virtual memory is disabled. CoH/V is not one of them.

An item that I neglected in prior versions of this guide, but an important one: Clean out the dust bunnies! Dust is evil. It gets into our slots, it builds up on our copper connectors, it clogs our fans, breaking them, leading to overheating, bad connections, systems locking up, randomly rebooting, artifacting while gaming, you name it, dust can cause it. Once a month, you should open up your case, remove all the components that are slotted, blow out all the slots, fans, cards, reseat everything properly, and reconnect all power cables. Another reason for reseating cards is due to the physics of metal that is heated and let to cool down. It expands and contracts which can cause a card to actually wiggle itself out of its slot.

If you REALLY want to see your system happy, let’s move on to advanced tweaking.

SECTION THREE (You want me to do WHAT?!?!?)

In this section, I will be sharing with you some great resources to study with, research issues with, and to simply bone up your knowledge with. I will also be taking you through a few items in the system registry to nuke, as well as a few services that can be done away with without issue.

The Windows XP Registry: This is not a place to be if you don’t know what you’re looking for, and it most CERTAINLY isn’t a place to be mucking about if you don’t know what to do with the items you have found.

That said, Let’s Go Delete Some Garbage!

Click on Start, then Run. In the run box, type in regedit and hit Ok. Welcome to the registry editor. Do not fear, young readers! As long as you tough NOTHING but what I’m telling you to touch, all will be well. If you feel fear at this time, close the editor and download Highjack This instead. Using this program, one can see and then remove items from the registry that shouldn’t be there. Also, the output from this program can be posted in the game forums to allow other people a glance at what may be causing you issues.

If you ARE comfortable with following these directions and ONLY doing what is stated:
Let’s get to the two sections you want to look at.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Within these two paths, there are three items we are seeking. Run, RunOnce and RunOnceEx. When you click on the Run folder, items should pop up on the right side.

The only item that MUST remain on the right side is “(Default) REG_SZ (value not set).”

Everything else on the right side is something YOU will have to determine whether should be kept or deleted. In a nutshell, if you find that it is related to your anti-virus solution, your sound card or your video card, leave it alone. If it’s NOT related to those items, you can right click the NAME of the key, and choose delete.

DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE IN THE REGISTRY BESIDES THE CONTENTS OF THESE 5 KEYS!
Do NOT delete ANYTHING from the left window.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
The CONTENTS will appear in the RIGHT window when you have Run, RunOnce or RunOnceEx HIGHLIGHTED on the right.

WINDOWS SERVICES: Below is all I plan to tell you about disabling unnecessary windows services. The Services MMC can be found in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services.

Here’s one services guide.

Here’s another.

Services that I would completely disable:
Automatic Updates
Error Reporting Service
Indexing Service
Messenger
Themes

YOUR SYSTEM’S BIOS:
I thought about a lot of ways to cover the BIOS, but I’m going to take the easy way out:
Tom’s Hardware Guide has a great article on BIOS tweaking.

A quick mention on overclocking. Don’t do it. Ever.

Unless of course you need to because your performance is too low, AND you know for a fact that the bottlenecks occurring to CAUSE your low performance are DIRECTLY related to the speeds at which your processor, RAM and GPU are running.

If that is the case, OVERCLOCK THIS PUPPY!!! The apps are out there, there are ways to monitor your temperatures, ways to tell when you’ve gone to far without frying your system, ways to make a once slow system a screaming banshee again. But I’m not here to teach you that. If you want it badly enough, you’ll figure it out.

SECTION FOUR (Other stuff)

Gaming on an LCD: If your LCD has a DVI port, use it. Don’t use adapters, get a straight DVI-DVI cable to connect the dvi port on your video card to the DVI port on your LCD. Odd point here about the cables. A single link DVI is able to transfer 1920 x 1080 resolution vs dual link’s 2048 x 1536. For those of us that bought the Dell 2405FPW, which runs at 1920X1200, we’re kind of scratching our heads as to why Dell shipped us a Single Link DVI cable. Just a “what the?” that I thought I’d share. I did purchase a Dual Link cable, and have noticed a increase in overall rendering smoothness, so it’s something to consider if you run high res LCDs. I can only assume Dell did it to save a few bucks. If you do run high resolutions, you might occasionally notice tearing as you move quickly through a scene or when turning around. At item that can help this is to enable the “Wait for Vertical Refresh” or “Sync Vertical Refresh” or “V-Sync” option within your video driver. For OpenGL games, when enabling Vert Refresh, also enable Triple Buffering, as this helps out overall smoothness and performance.

Gaming on a CRT: Windows XP sucks, as mentioned earlier. One of the BIGGEST suckatudes that MS added was a lockdown on refresh rate while gaming in full screen mode. I have never understood why they did this, never found any statement from them as to why they did it, and quite frankly, don’t care why they did it. It was stupid. Anyway, get around it by making sure Refresh Rate Overide is enabled within your video driver. I usually set it for Same As Desktop, then set my refresh rate at 75Hz. Why 75? Because anything below that always bugged my eyeballs. If you don’t enable the RRO setting, you will always be capped out at 60FPS in games. I advise attempting to game at the same resolution and refresh rate as you run your desktop. This is so that if you do run full screen 3D, when you alt tab out of it, you aren’t causing your CRT to bounce itself between different settings.

What’s the difference between LCDs and CRTs? Lots of things, but the big one is that LCDs do not use refresh rate. On a CRT, the entire image is shot back onto the screen X # of times based on the refresh rate, which you CAN adjust. An LCD only redraws each pixel as needed, and to my knowledge, there is no way to change the redraw rate. My LCD has a 12ms redraw, which seems fast enough that I never get ghosting. Due to this, you never have to be concerned with refresh rate override on an LCD, because Windows will lock it down to 60FPS within the display properties.

For both Nvidia and ATI users, I advise having your video driver manage FSAA and AF. As noticed in my ATI guide at the top of the page, we now have proof that the FSAA management within the game is different, and seemingly not as good, as that when managed by the driver. Be sure to turn OFF FSAA and AF in game when you force them to your desired settings within the driver.

On connection issues:
Networking can be a pain in the tush. Frequent disconnects can be caused by:
Your network card and/or drivers
Your router
Your cable/dsl modem
Your ISP
The server you’re connecting to
Backbone issues between you and the server
Sunspot activity
Coronal mass ejections
It’s Tuesday

Basically, ANYTHING between your chair and the server can cause disconnects. It’s one of the reasons I avoid posting in tech threads on this issue. There’s simply too many variables for me to test over a forum.

If you are having these problems consistently, the first step is to make sure that your software firewalls aren’t causing you problems. See note above about the nastiness of Norton and McAfee internet security bundles. Next is to update all drivers and firmware for your NIC, router, cable/dsl modem. Make sure that all of your cabling is in good working order. Still having problems? Get with your ISP’s tech support and with NCSoft’s tech support and open dual tickets.

CONCLUSION:
Game happy, or quit gaming. Also, one can consider a computer much like one should consider a child or a pet: Neglect any of these, and it will turn out badly in the end.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo pork (diced)
1/8 kilo pork liver (diced)
1 small head of garlic (minced)
1 small onion (minced)
2 pieces laurel leaves
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
2-cups stock
1-cup pig blood (frozen)
4 long green peppers
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:
1. In a pot, simmer pork for 30 minutes and remove scum
that rises to the surface. Keep stock.
2. In a casserole, heat oil and saute garlic and onion
for a minute.
3. Add in pork, pork liver, laurel leaves, patis, salt
& pepper and saute for another 5 minutes.
4. Add in vinegar and bring up to a boil without
stirring.
5. Lower heat and allow simmering uncovered until most of
the liquid has evaporated.
6. Add in stock and allow simmering for 5 minutes.
7. Add in blood, sugar and long green peppers.
8. Cook for 10 minutes more or until consistency
thickens, stirring occasionally to avoid
curdling.
9. Serve hot with puto.

La Paz Batchoy

Ingredients:
2 tbsps. cooking oil
1 head garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
200 g. pork kasim, boiled & cut to strips
1 MAGGI Pork Broth Cube, crushed
2 cups pork broth
2 cups water
150 g. fresh miki, washed
100 g. pork liver, cut to strips
spring onions, chopped
chicharon, pounded (optional)

Instructions:
1. Heat oil and saute garlic until brown. Set aside, leaving only about 2 cloves in the pan.
2. Add onion, pork strips and MAGGI Pork Broth Cube, cook a few min.
3. Stir in pork broth and water. Bring to boil then add miki and liver. Simmer about 2 min. then serve topped with fried garlic, spring onions and chicharon if desired.

Hototay

Ingredients:
125 g. of boiled or steamed pork meat
75 g. of boiled or steamed pork liver
3-4 boiled chicken gizzards
6-8 steamed dumplings (recipe and instructions here)
7-8 c.of meat or chicken broth
a variety of mushrooms (shiitake, abalone, oyster or straw), a few pieces of each kind
1 carrot
1/4 head of native cabbage
1/2 head of garlic, crushed and peeled
1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
2 eggs
1 tbsp. of cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Cut the pork meat and liver into thin slices. Cut into 1/4 x 2 strips. Cut the gizzards into thin slices.
Peel and cut the carrot into florets or rings about 1/8″ thick.
Shred the cabbage.
If you’re using shiitake mushrooms, cut off the stalks and slice the caps thinly. If you’re using oyster, abalone and straw mushrooms, cut them in half.
Heat the cooking oil in a large saucepan or casserole. Saute the garlic and onions until fragrant. Pour in the broth. Add the carrots and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the meat, liver and gizzards and bring to another boil. Add the cabbage and let boil once more. Lastly, add the dumplings and the mushrooms. As soon as the soup boils again, count 5 seconds then turn off the heat. Add more salt, if preferred. Ladle immediately into a soup tureen. While still very hot, break two eggs on top of the soup. Stir in the eggs, breaking the yolks, and ladle into individual soup bowls immediately.

Pochero

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo chicken (cut into parts)
1/2 kilo pork (cut into cubes)
1/2 kilo beef (for stewing, cut into chunk cubes)
4 pieces chorizo bilbao
8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 bundle onion leeks
6 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons oil
5 pieces Saba banana
5 pieces boiled potatoes (quartered)
5 pieces boiled sweet potatoes (quartered)
1 cup chickpeas
1 bundle cabbage (sliced)
1 Pinch salt & pepper
Instructions:
1. Boil pork, chicken, beef, chorizo in salted water with
onion leeks.
2. Lower fire and let simmer until all meat is tender.
3. Take out all the meat, set aside, keep stock.
4. In a casserole, saute garlic, onion, then pour in
the stock.
5. Bring to a boil, add all meat, banana, potatoes, sweet
potatoes and chickpeas.
6. Season with salt and patis.
7. Add in the cabbage.
8. Serve hot.

Embotido

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground pork
1 raw egg
4 tablespoons flour
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 pieces canned Vienna sausage
3 hard-boiled eggs
3 sweet pickles, chopped
catsup

Instructions:
1) Mix the ground pork, raw egg, flour, salt and pepper.
2) Spread the mixture on an aluminum foil.
3) Arrange the sausages, hard-boiled eggs and pickles on top of the mixture.
4) Shape into a roll about 2.5 inches in diameter and wrap in foil.
5) Bake for 1 hr at 350 F.
6) Unwrap and slice before serving with catsup.

Binagoongang Baboy

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork with fat (cut into chunk cubes)
2 cups bagoong alamang
1 head of garlic (minced)
1 big onion (minced) 4 tomatoes (diced)
1 chili peppers (minced)
half a cup vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
half a cup of water

Instructions:
1. In a casserole, boil pork and lower fire until water
evaporates and pork oil starts to come out.
2. When pork is lightly crispy, put in on the side and
saute garlic, onion, tomatoes and chili peppers
in the fat and mix pork once more.
3. Add in the bagoong and cook while stirring for 5
minutes.
4. Pour in the vinegar and stir well.
5. Add in the sugar and let simmer for 10 minutes or
just until cooked.
6. Serve hot.

Rellenong Manok

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (deboned & shape is kept)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons calamansi juice
Stuffing

½ kilo ground pork
1 cup ham (diced)
½ cup bacon (diced)
10 pieces sliced vienna sausage
¼ cup carrots (minced)
¼ cup sweet green peas
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup pickle relish
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup breadcrumbs
6 whole eggs (beaten)
Pinch of salt & pepper
2 tablespoons liquid seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup butter

Instructions:
1) Marinate chicken in soy sauce, calamansi and sugar.
2) In a bowl, mix all stuffing ingredients well.
3)Stuff chicken in all parts.
4) Sew the opening and truss the chicken.
5) Wrap chicken in aluminum foil.
6) Heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an
hour or until chicken is cooked.
7) Open the foil an rub chicken with butter and put back
in oven until color turns golden brown

Pata Tim

Ingredients:
1½ kilo pork leg (chopped)
50 grams dried squid
1 head of garlic (minced)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup pork or beef stock
2 tablespoons cornstarch in 4 tablespoons water
4 lettuce leaves (sliced)
Instructions:
1) In a pot, boil pork leg until tender and keep stock.
2) Baste pork leg with soy sauce and brown in oil.
3) In another casserole, boil water and put in pork
legs to take out oil.
4) Take out pork legs and discard water, take bones out
and discard.
5) In a baking dish, arrange pork.
6) Saute garlic, dried squid, and arrange on top of pork
leg.
7) In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, rice wine, fish sauce,
cornstarch diluted in water, and sesame oil and
soy sauce.
8) Pour in mixture to pork leg
9) Steam pork leg for an hour or until cooked.
10) Saute lettuce and make a bed for the Pata Tim.

Sisig

Ingredients:
On this recipe you can use either pork head or lechon pata.

1 1/2 kilo Pork head or lechon pata
1/4 cup grilled liver (diced)
2 small onions (minced)
2 pieces red pepper (minced)
1 head garlic (minced)
6 pieces hot chili pepper (minced)
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup beef stock

Instructions:
1) Grill pork head for to remove hair.
2) Boil pork head until tender.
3) Take out all the meat and dice.
4) In a sauté pan, heat oil and sauté garlic, onion, red pepper, pork meat and liver.
5) Season with liquid seasoning, black pepper, and brown sugar.
6) Pour in beef stock and cook until meat is tender and starts to oil again.
Add minced chili pepper last.
Serve on a sizzling plate.

Paksiw Na Pata

Ingredients:
1 large pork hock (pata about 1 kg.)
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dried banana blossoms, soaked in 1/2 cup water
4 tbsps. brown sugar
1 pc bay leaf
10 peppercorns
salt to taste
vetsin

Instructions:
Clean pork hock and cut into serving pieces. Boil in vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, and water. Add the banana blossoms including the water used in soaking. Simmer until the pork hocks are tender, adding water as needed. Stir once in a while to prevent from sticking. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Boil for a few minutes more. Add the vetsin and salt to taste. Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Lengua Estofada

Ingredients:
1 kilo ox tounge
1 sliced onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cooking oil
1 pc pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup vinegar
1 can tomatoes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup brown sugar
salt to taste

Instructions:
Rub tounge with salt to remove the shiny substance, rinse well. Boil with enough water for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and scrape the white coating. Rinse well. Fry the tounge until brown. Set aside
Saute garlic, onions, and tomatoes; add 2 cups water and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil. Add the tounge, cover and simmer for 2 hours until the tounge is tender. Add water when needed. Slice the tounge to serving pieces.
Serve hot. Good for 8 persons.

Pork Hamonado

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork pigue, sliced thinly to make 2 pieces (tapa style)
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1-1/3 tsp. iodized salt
2 tsp. praque powder (for 1/8 tsp. salitre)
200 grams pork fat, sliced into 8 strips
1 medium carrot, sliced into 12 strips
2 whole pickles, sliced into 12 strips
1 can (439 grams) pineapple chunks, drained (reserve syrup)
1 can (35 cl) pineapple juice

Instructions:
Combine sugar, salt and praque powder or salitre. Rub mixture
on pork. Spread pork and alternately arrange slices of pork fat,
carrot, pickles and pineapple chunks until
all ingredients are used up. Roll and tie firmly with crocheting
thread.

Combine dripping from pork, pineapple chunks syrup and
pineapple juice then marinate meat
overnight. Simmer meat in marinade for 1 hour. Remove
thread from meat then chill if desired for ease of cutting.
Continue simmering the marinade for 5 minutes or until thick
and serve as sauce. Slice meat and arrange in a platter.

Sinampalukang Manok

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced
1 med. size ginger, sliced
1 chicken, cut into serving pieces
patis or fish sauce to taste
3 cups water
3 tbsp. tamarind soup base like knorr
1 cup sili leaves or malunggay leaves

Instructions:
1) Saute garlic in cooking oil until golden brown, add the onion and garlic
2) Add the chicken, stir fry and season with fish sauce
3) When the chicken is almost brown add water and bring to a boil
4) Simmer for almost 20 minutes
5) Add the sili or malunggay leaves and the tamarind soup base, bring to a boil then turn off the heat
6) Serve hot with rice

Paksiw Na Lechon

Ingredients:
2 lbs. leftover lechon, cut into cubes
2 cups liver sauce
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. peppercorn
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions:
1) Combine all ingredients in a pot
2) Let simmer for 30 minutes (covered)
3) Serve hot!

Humba

Ingredients:
2.2 lbs liempo (pork belly, skin on)
2 bay leaves
175 cc vinegar
1 tbsp salted bean curd, mashed
60 cc soy sauce
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
75 g raw peanuts, shelled
35 g brown sugar
t1 tbsp minced garlic

Instructions:
Parboil whole pork belly in about a liter of water for 10 minutes, then cut into 5 equal portions. Reserve broth.
With a sharp knife, carefully score skin side of each portion making criss-cross slits, approximately 1 cm apart and 0.5 cm deep, then place in a bowl with all the remaining ingredients and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, bring the reserved broth to boil, add pork with remaining ingredients, and cook for 1 1/2 hours, until meat is tender.

Chicken Afritada

Ingredients:
1 2 to 3 lb chicken, cut into serving pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup water
2 medium sized potatoes, cubed
1 4-ounce can pimentos

Instructions:
Simmer chicken for about 15 mins in garlic, onion, tomato sauce, bay leaf, peppercorns, salt, pepper and water. Add cubed potatoes and pimento. Continue to cook until potatoes are tender. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Tahong Soup

Ingredients:
3 tbl olive oil
1 x onion sliced
4 x garlic cloves chopped
1 x piece fresh ginger 3″ long peeled, sliced
2 tbl patis or other fish sauce see Note
2 lrg tomatoes chopped
3 lb mussels scrubbed,debearded
4 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger, and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the fish sauce and chopped tomatoes, and saute until the tomatoes begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
Add the mussels, water and wine. Cover and simmer until the mussels open, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with pepper. Serve hot.
This recipe yields 4 servings.

Pork Sarsiado

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork
1/2 lb. peas
3 medium-sized bell peppers (2 red, 1 green)
2 tbsp. flour
2 sliced tomatoes
1 sliced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Instructions:
Sauté garlic, onions and tomato in oil (gisa). Add pork and cook until done. Add 2 cups water and boil for 5 minutes. Add peppers and peas and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add flour, stirring occasionally.

You can substitute the beef with chicken (chicken stew) or pork (pork stew) for variety.
BICOL EXPRESS
Estimated preparation time: 30 minutes
Estimated cooking time: 30 minutes
Bicol Express Ingredients:
• 1/4 kilo pork, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Baguio beans
• 3 cups long chili or jalapeno peppers
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 head of garlic, minced
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• Salt to taste
Bicol Express Cooking Instructions:
• In a bowl of water with salt, soak chili peppers for 30 minutes then rinse and strain.
• In a cooking pan, heat cooking oil and brown sliced pork for a few minutes.
• In another pan, sauté minced garlic and onion.
• Add to the sauté the browned pork.
• Then add the coconut milk, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the chili peppers, Baguio beans and cook until dish gets a little dry.
• Add the coconut cream and simmer until the sauce thickens.
• Salt to taste.

BEEF CALDERETA
Estimated cooking time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
Beef Kaldereta Ingredients:
• 1 kilo beef, cut into chunks
• 1 big can (350g) liver spread or ground liver
• 5 onions, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 3 green peppers, diced
• 3 red peppers, diced
• 4 pieces hot chilli peppers, minced
• 3/4 cup grated cheese
• 2 cups beef stock or water
• 1/4 cup cooking or olive oil
Kaldereta Cooking Instructions:
• In a casserole, sauté: garlic and onions in oil. Then add tomatoes, red & green pepper and chilli peppers.
• Add in the beef, tomato sauce, liver spread and water or stock. Salt to taste and let simmer for at least 1 hour or until the beef is tender.
• Add cheese and olives (optional) and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
• Serve with plain rice
Cooking Tips:
• Instead of beef, goat’s meat (kambing) can be used. If goat’s meat is used, marinate the meat in vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes.
• For a special kaldereta, do not use water or beef stock. Use an equivalent weight of onions to the beef (1 kg of onions : 1 kg of beef). The onions will serve as water to the dish.

PORK SINIGANG
Estimated cooking and preparation time: 1 hour
Pork Sinigang Ingredients:
• 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks
• 3 tomatoes, sliced
• 2 onions, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)
• 100 grams String beans
• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced
• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed
• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)
• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
• 1 liter of rice wash or water
Sinigang Cooking Instructions:
Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.
• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the horse radish, simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans and kangkong. Let boil for 2 minutes.
• Serve piping hot.
Sinigang Cooking Tip:
• Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.

MENUDO
Estimated preparation & cooking time: 50 minutes
Menudo Ingredients:
• 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)
• 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)
• 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)
• 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup pork or chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)
• 3 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 small head of garlic (minced)
• 1 medium size onion (diced)
Menudo Cooking Instructions:
• In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.
• Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.
• Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve hot with white rice

MECHADO
Estimated cooking time: 1 hour
Mechado Ingredients:
• 1 kilo of beef cut into chunks
• 1/8 kilo of pork fat cut into strips
• 4 onions, peeled and quartered
• 5 medium potatoes, quartered (optional: fried)
• 1 medium sized carrot, sliced in 1/2″ sections
• 2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 cups beef stock or 2 bouillon cubes dissolved in water
• 3 bay leaves (laurel leaves)
• 1/4 -cup vinegar
• 2 cups tomato sauce or 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup soy sauce
• salt & pepper to taste
Mechado Cooking Instructions:
• Cut an incision on the beef chunks and insert a pork strip in the middle (mitsa)
• In a casserole, combine the beef (with the fat), tomato sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring to a boil and simmer until the beef is almost tender
• Add the vinegar and let boil for a minute or two
• Add the potatoes, onions, carrot, and bell pepper
• Let simmer until potatoes and carrots are cooked – occasionally stir to thicken sauce
• Serve hot with white rice
Beef Mechado Cooking Tips:
• Pressure cook the beef with the beef stock for faster cooking time.
• Fry the potatoes before adding to the casserole.
• Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir when the mechado dish is almost done for added flavor.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK
Estimated cooking time: 45 minutes
Sweet & Sour Pork Ingredients:
• 1/2 kilo pork loin, sliced into pieces
• 1 small can pineapple chunks
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 red & 1 green bell peppers, sliced into strips
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons of peanut oil
• 4 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
Sweet and Sour Pork Cooking Instructions:
• In a pot, boil pork in 2 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until tender, then drain (keep the pork stock for later).
• Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and soy sauce then coat the pork with the cornstarch mixture.
• Fry the pork in a skillet until golden brown, set aside.
• Dissolve the remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch on 1/2 cup of pork stock – set aside.
• Sauté garlic and onions on oil, then add the bell peppers, pineapple chunks (including the syrup), ketchup, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the dissolved cornstarch. Stir until sauce thickens.
• Pour over fried pork then serve with rice.

CHICKEN INASAL
Preparation & marinating: 6 hours to overnight
Estimated cooking time: 40 minutes
Chicken Inasal Ingredients:
• 2 Chickens (free range if available)
• 3/4 cup Filipino vinegar
• 1/4 cup Garlic finely minced
• 2 stalks Lemon grass optional
• Salt
• Annatto oil (see notes below)
• Wooden skewers
• Spiced vinegar
• Additional Ingredients Instructions:
• 2 free-range chickens, approx. 3 pounds each, or if you can find smaller chickens, use 3 of them
• 3/4 cup Filipino vinegar, palm if you can find it, or cane; or if you must, the equivalent in kalamansi juice (available in the frozen aisle of your Asian market if you don’t have access to fresh)
• 1/4 cup garlic, minced very finely, or better yet, mashed into a paste with 2 teaspoons sea salt
• achuete or annatto oil, made by steeping 1/4 cup annatto seeds in 1/2 cup hot oil for half an hour (If not available, you may mix a small amount of paprika and tumeric to achieve the same color.)
• thick wooden skewers, soaked for 1 hour in water prior to cooking
• Bottled spiced vinegar for serving, or make your own by mixing Filipino vinegar, lots of crushed garlic, a bit of salt, and a handful of Thai peppers or other tiny red hot peppers
Chicken Inasal Cooking Instructions:
• Quarter the chickens, or if using the small ones, halve them. Marinate in the vinegar, garlic and salt, several hours or overnight, turning several times.
• Preheat grill to 350 degrees. Make sure your grill is cleaned and oiled well. Cook over indirect heat for 20 minutes, basting with the achuete oil.
• Turn and cook for 10-15 minutes more, or until thickest parts of chicken exude clear juices when pierced. Can also be made in a grill pan on the stove if no outside barbecue is available.
• Serve immediately with the spiced vinegar. Other welcome additions to the vinegar: some soy sauce or fish sauce if you like, or even some minced ginger.
Variations:

• Another technique we’ve found to work well, is to heat the oil in which the annatto is to be steeped, and to steep the garlic (and lemon grass if using) together with the seeds. This ensures a more even distribution of flavors. Just remember to discard this mixture when you’re done with the cooking, as you risk botulism from the garlic. Or, if you want to make it ahead of time, be sure to refrigerate the oil to retard any toxins from developing.
• If your chicken is particularly fatty, you could render the fat slowly in a skillet, and use that instead of cooking oil to steep the annatto seeds. In which case, you’ll want to have enough not only for basting but also for serving later, as there’s nothing more appetizing than chicken inasal drizzled with this orange concoction.
(recipes from pinoyrecipe.net)

Pancit or “Pansit” is stir-fried noodle dish, common in the Philippines, though of Chinese origin. This food is second in popularity to rice in the country. It’s similar to yakisoba and yakiudon, Japanese-style stir-fried noodles.

The word pancit is derived from the Hokkien (Min Nan) word pian i sit, which literally means something conveniently cooked fast

• Pancit Bíhon
• Pancit Cantón
• Pancit estaciòn
• Pancit Habhab (Lucban, Quezon only)
• Pancit Luglog
• Pancit Malabón
• Pancit Mólo
• Pancit Míki (round egg noodles)
• Pancit Míki-Bíhon Guisado (round egg noodles + bihon)
• Pancit Moròng
• Pancit Palábok
• Pancit Sotanghòn

Pancit Bíhon (aka Bíjon) is the type with which foreigners usually associate the word “pancít”: very thin rice noodles fried with soy sauce and some citrus (kalamansi) and possibly with patis (fish sauce), and some variation of sliced meat and chopped vegetables. The exact Bijon composition depends on someone’s recipe but usually, Chinese sausage and cabbage are the most basic ingredients in a pancit bihon.

Pancit Palabok and Pancit Luglug are essentially the same dish, the difference being primarily in the composition of the sauce used. Both types use a round rice noodle (often specifically labelled for pancit luglug or palabok) smothered with a thick, golden shrimp sauce or other flavored sauce, and topped with:

• Shrimp, (the size and shell-on or shell-off depending on preference)
• Crushed or ground pork rind (chicharron) for toppings
• Hard-boiled egg (sliced into disc or quartered lengthwise or chopped)
• freshly minced green onion

Palabok/Luglug and Canton are a communal comfort food, and can be found at nearly all Filipino potluck parties. They are best made and eaten in batches for they are easily consumed.

Pancit Sotanghon is a cellophane noodle soup with a chicken broth base. It may include some kind of meat and vegetable. A typical sotanghon is made with kalamansi, sliced straw mushrooms, slivered dark-meat chicken and green onion.

Pancit Lomi
Ingredients
1/2 k. of lomi noodles
1 c. of diced cooked chicken meat
1 carrot, julienned
1 c. of diced leeks (white and light green parts only)
7 c. of chicken broth (unsalted)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. of cooking oil
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
1/2 tsp. of sesame seed oil
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat a casserole. Pour in the cooking oil. Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the julienned carrot and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken meat and continue cooking over high heat for another 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the leeks. Pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream, stirring continuously. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame seed oil. Serve hot.

Pancit Canton
Ingredients:
¼ kilo beef, strips
¼ kilo shrimps, peeled
1 eggwhite
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 chicken breast, deboned then sliced into strips
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
patis, salt or soy sauce and pepper to taste
2 pices chicken liver, cooked and sliced
1 ½ cups chicken broth
1 head cauliflower, cut into flowerets
½ cup sitsaro
1/3 cup kutsay
1 small carrot, cut into rounds
2 tablespoons cornstarch dispersed in¼ cup water
1 package canton noodles
Instructions:
In a bowl, combine shrimps, egg white and cornstarch. Coat chicken strips with remaining cornstarch. Set aside. In a wok or saucepan, heat oil then sauté garlic and onions. Add shrimps and chicken. Stir-fry for a few minutes then season to taste. Add liver. Pour in the broth. Bring to a boil then add all the vegetables. Cook until tender but crisp.Thicken with dispersed cornstarch. Stir in canton noodles and cook until done. Serve with kalamansi.

Pancit Bihon
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. pack pancit bihon noodles
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
2 cups of chicken broth or 2 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in 2 cups of water
1/4 cabbage, sliced into strips
1 onion
1/3 cup scallions, cut into pieces
1 carrot, sliced into strips
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
3/4 cup diced celery
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
5 pieces of calamansi or 1 lemon, sliced
Instructions:
Grease with oil a large pan or wok. Sauté garlic and onions.
Wet the pansit bihon noodles to soften
Add the chicken broth, the shredded chicken breast and all the vegetables until cooked.
Mix in the pansit bihon noodles and add the soy sauce, cook for about 5 minutes or until the noodles are soft.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot with sliced calamansi on the side.

Pancit Palabok
Ingredients:
½ kilo bihon, soaked in water until softened then drained
Palabok sauce
¼ cup atsuete seeds in soaked in¼ cup water
2 cups shrimp juice
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup water
salt or patis and pepper
Toppings:
1 cup cooked pork, cut into strips
2 pieces fried tokwa, cubed
½ cup flaked tinapa
½ cup pounded chicharon
2 eggs, hard-boiled then sliced
½ cup boiled and shelled shrimps
½ cup finely chopped spring onions
1 tablespoon fried garlic
Instructions:
Prepare Palabok Sauce: Strain atsuete then combine atsuete water with shrimp juice in a saucepan. Disperse flour in water then add to the pan. Bring to a boil and cook with constant stirring until thick. Season to taste.Boil water in a pot. Place noodles in a bamboo strainer or luglugan. Dip in the boiling water and cook until tender but firm. Drain well. Transfer to a platter.Top noodles with sauce. Over the sauce, arrange the pork and tokwa pieces. Sprinkle with tinapa and chicharon. Garnish with sliced egg, shrimps, spring onions and garlic. Serve with kalamansi.

Pancit Molo
Ingredients
BROTH: 2 tbsps. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
4 MAGGI Pork Broth Cube, dissolved in 8 cups water
4 slices cooked ham, chopped
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 cup spring onions, chopped
FILLING: 1/4 kg. ground pork
100 g. shrimps, shelled & finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup carrot, minced
1/4 cup singkamas, minced
salt and pepper to taste
molo wrapper
Topping: garlic, minced and fried
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients for filling in a bowl. Wrap about 1 tsp. of mixture in each molo wrapper. Seal edges well.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil, saute garlic and onions. Pour in broth; bring to boil with ham and celery. Drop in molo. Simmer for about 10-15 min.
3. Serve hot topped with spring onions and fried garlic.

Pancit Miki-Bihon
Ingredients
1/2 kilo chicken breast,boiled and flaked
1 cup chicken broth(saved from the boiled chicken)
1/2 kilo of egg noodles
100 gms of dried rice noodles(not vermicelli)
1 medium carrot,cut into matchsticks
1/4 green beans,cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1/2 head of cabbage,shredded
1 onion,diced
1 head garlic,minced
1.2 cup oyster sauce
2 to 3 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/8 cup vegetable cooking oil
drizzling of sesame oil
pepper
(you can substitiute or add other vegetables like cauliflower or celery)
Instructions
when boiling the chicken,spice up the broth with onion,garlic,peppercorns or bayleaf.the broth improves the overall flavor of the dish.
Heat skillet or wok until just starting to smoke.saute garlic and onions.put carrots.Stir for a minute.Add beans.Then the cabbage.when the cabbage starts to wilt,add 1 cup chicken broth.when the broth starts to boil,add the rice noodles.
When the rice noodles has absorbed most of the liquid,add the egg noodles,flaked chicken breast,soy sauce,oyster sauce and pepper.Stir.Drizzle sesame oil.Serve while hot.

Pancit Sotanghon
Ingredients:
8 cups water
1/2 pound pork loin
1/2 pound chicken breast
1 teaspoon peppercorn
5 whole cloves garlic (total)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound vermicelli noodles
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 pound shrimp
3 cups cabbage
1 cup carrots, cut into strips
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
Instructions
Bring 8 cups water to boil, add 1/2 pound pork loin and 1/2 pound chicken breast with one teaspoon peppercorn, 2 whole cloves garlic and salt to taste. Boil until tender, drain and slice meat into strips. Set aside broth.
Cover 1 pound vermicelli noodles with water and soak until tender. Cut noodles and drain them completely.
Saute 2 cloves garlic, 1 medium slice onion, then add pork and chicken strips and 1/2 pound shrimp and ground pepper. Add 3 cups cabbage and 1 cup carrots cut into strips. Do not add water. Set aside.
Saute more garlic, more onion, 1/4 cup oyster sauce, 1/3 cup soy sauce and 6 cups of reserved broth. Bring to boil, add noodles, cover and simmer until cooked.
Mix .

Hamburger Recipes

Basic Hamburger
For The Patties:
1lb/500g ground beef
1 half onion grated or finely chopped
4 pinches ground coriander
4 pinches paprika powder
a little pepper, fresh ground is better
a little salt
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 egg lightly beaten
1 quarter beef stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water
For the Rolls:
4 rolls
sliced tomato
thinly sliced onion
lettuce
a few slices of gherkin
mayonnaise
ketchup
Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and mold into patties.Cook on medium heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan untill the patty is cooked to your preferred degree of doneness or the internal temp reaches 160F/70C Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in a pan) just before the patties are done. Spread mayonnaise on the bottom halves, add a thin slice of onion, some lettuce, a slice of tomato and a little sliced gherkin. Top it off with a little mayo and ketchup, the patty and the top half of the roll.

Basic Chicken Burger
For The Patties:1lb/500g chicken meat ground or finely chopped
1 half onion finely chopped
1 dash lemon juice
4 pinches paprika powder
2 pinches dried oregano
a little pepper, fresh ground is better
a little salt
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 egg lightly whisked
1 quarter chicken stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water
For the Rolls:4 rolls
sliced tomato
thinly sliced onion
lettuce
a few slices of gherkin
mayonnaise
Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and press into patties.Cook on low heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan until cooked through or the internal temp reaches 175F/80C.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in pan) just before the patties are done. Spread mayonnaise on the bottom half, add a thin slice of onion, some lettuce, sliced tomato and a little sliced gherkin. Top it off with a little mayo, the patty and the other half of the roll.

Basic Pork Burger
For The Patties:
1lb/500g ground lean pork
2 pinches onion seasoning
1 pinch garlic seasoning
4 pinches paprika powder
pepper to taste, fresh ground black is better
a little salt to taste
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 small egg beaten
1 quarter chicken stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water
For the Rolls:
4 fresh bread rolls
sliced tomato
thinly sliced onion
lettuce
a few slices of gherkin
mayonnaise
mustard
Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and mold into patties.Cook on medium heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan until the patties are cooked to medium done (160F/70C) making sure you don’t overcook them or the pork will become dry and tasteless.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in pan) just before the patties are done. Spread mayonnaise on the bottom halves, add a thin slice of onion, some lettuce, a slice of tomato and a little sliced gherkin. Top it off with a little more mayo, the patty, some mustard and the other half of the roll.

Pepperoni Pizza Burger
For the Base:
4 hamburger patties
For the Topping:
some pizza sauce, about a tablespoon per patty, or you could just mash a canned peeled tomato or two and mix it with a teaspoon or so of tomato puree
mozzarella cheese sliced, enough to cover 4 patties or about a handful of grated dry mozzarella
pepperoni, about 6 thin slices quartered. You could also use chorizo or salami
2 pinches dried oregano
1/2 pinch dried chili pepper
1 pinch ground black pepper
For the Rolls:
2 rolls
butter
Add the oregano, pepper and chili to the pizza sauce/tomato and mix through.The patties should preferably be broiled under a grill or cooked on a Weber-like barbecue with the lid on.Grill/broil the patties until half cooked and flip them over. Barbecue:- immediately spoon the sauce onto the patties, cover liberally with cheese, top off with the pepperoni (the quartered slices makes it easier on a small surface) and put the lid on the barbecue. Oven/Broiler:- wait a minute or two after turning the patties before you add the toppings. The burgers are ready when the cheese has melted.I have made these Pepperoni Pizza Burgers in a frying pan and it works quite well but you have to adapt slightly. I pre-warmed the sauce, spooned it onto the turned patty, added the cheese and put the lid onto the pan. I did not quarter the pepperoni and fried the slices lightly in a dry non-stick frying pan before putting them on the melting cheese just before the patties were done.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in a dry pan) just before the patties are done. Spread a little butter on the toasted surfaces, add the patty and enjoy a great tasting Pepperoni Pizza Burger.You could use 4 rolls and top the patty with the other half but I prefer them this way.

Spicy Cranberry Turkey Burger
For The Patties:
1lb/500g turkey meat ground or finely chopped.
1 hand finely chopped spring onion
1 clove garlic crushed or finely chopped
4 pinches paprika powder
1 pinch barbecue spice
a little pepper, fresh ground is better
a little salt
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 egg lightly whisked
1 quarter chicken stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water
For the Cranberry Sauce:Half a cup of cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 small dash of cider vinegar
quarter onion finely chopped
1 pinch grated ginger
1 pinch mixed spice
a little butter
For the Rolls:4 rolls
4 thin slices light cheese
thinly sliced onion
lettuce
a little mayonnaise
Sauce:
Cook onion over low heat in butter untill soft, add the other ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes. Patty: Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and mold into patties.Cook on low heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan until cooked through or the internal temp reaches 175F/80C.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in pan) just before the patties are done. Spread a little mayonnaise on the bottom half of the roll, add a thin slice of onion, some lettuce, the patty, the slice of cheese, some cranberry sauce and the other half of the roll.

Greek Burger
For The Patties:
1lb/500g ground mutton or lamb(if you don’t have beef will do)
1/2 handful black olives finely chopped
1/2 handful crumbled feta cheese
2 pinches dried oregano
a little pepper, fresh ground black is better
a little salt
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 egg lightly beaten
1 quarter mutton or beef stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water
For the Rolls:
4 rolls
sliced tomato
thinly sliced onion
a few thin slices of cucumber
1/2 cup 50/50 mixture of mayonnaise and natural unsweetened yoghurt to which 1 crushed clove of garlic is added
Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and mold into patties.Cook on medium heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan until the patty is cooked to your preferred degree of doneness or the internal temp reaches 160F/70C.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in pan) just before the patties are done. Spread the mayonnaise/yoghurt/garlic mixture liberally on the bottom halves of the rolls, add a few slices of cucumber, the patties and the other halves of the rolls.

Vegetarian Mushroom Burger
For the Mushrooms:
4 of the biggest, meanest portobello (brown) mushrooms you can find
a little thinly sliced mozzarella cheese, or grated if it is dry (cheese is optional)
For the Sauce:
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 decent dash olive oil
2 heaped tablespoons butter or margarine
a touch balsamic vinegar
1 pinch parsley
salt, a bit less than you would normally use
black pepper, a bit more than you would normally use
For the Rolls:
4 fresh rolls that are about the same size or a bit smaller than the mushrooms
nothing else (okay, lettuce and thinly sliced tomato if you insist)
Clean the mushrooms by tapping lightly with your fingers to dislodge any funny looking objects. Cut the stems off level with the vanes (I leave them on because I enjoy them but many people don’t).Warm a pan, add the olive oil and saute the garlic lightly over a low heat. We don’t want to lose the flavour of the garlic by frying it, we just want to blend the flavour with the oil. Add the other ingredients, turn down the heat, stir the sauce till the marge/butter has melted then turn the heat off.Brush the mushrooms with the sauce and barbecue/grill/broil them stem-side down for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the mushrooms and the cooking temperature. A moderate temperature is good. Turn the mushrooms over, apply sauce liberally and add the mozzarella if you are using it. Cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes. Baste regularly but leave enough sauce for the rolls.Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in a dry pan) just before the mushrooms are done. Spoon a generous amount of sauce over the bottom half of the roll (add the lettuce and a slice of tomato if you decided on that route). Top it off with the mushroom and the other half of the roll.

(RECIPES FROM HAMBURGER-RECIPES.COM)