Cheap Dates With Rojax85

Why?

Because we vowed to.

Because we don’t want to spend too much to have fun.

Because the simple things become great things when we do them together.

Cheesy as it may seem, we wrote in our vows that we will never take each other for granted. Given the challenges we faced to be together, we know that simple joys as having breakfast or dinner or eating fish and chips in the park are treats. When you started in a long-distance relationship, anything done together is a big deal for us and we are thankful everyday that we spend them together instead of apart.

Okay, so enough with the cheesiness. We both love food and we love to cook them.

His favorite breakfast is Tapsilog. Tapsilog is an abbreviation for Tapa, Sinangag (Fried Rice), and Itlog (Fried Egg). Beef Tapa is dried cured beef similar to “Beef Jerky”. This is traditionally prepared by curing the meat with sea salt and letting it dry directly under the sun for the purpose of preserving the meat. Nowadays, Beef Tapa are often cured but most do not undergo drying. Tapa is usually fried and is best served with vinegar.

The Beef Tapa marinade I use is the one I found online.

Marinade:

3 1/2 tbsp vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp salt
6 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp ground back pepper
1 head garlic, minced

Instructions:

Combine marinade. Stir well.
Arrange meat in a container or ziploc bag.
Pour marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

I fry it every time he wants to have that for breakfast. We even have it when we camp. Other variations are: homemade Longganisa, Kransky sausages, bacon and hotdogs.

Oh, and one other thing:

We got it from Auntie Peachy and tried it with cherries and strawberries! Absolutely yummy!!!

Another thing he’s crazy for: Lechon Kawali.

I don’t follow certain recipes online. I just cook them as I was taught to. Normally, I use pork belly. Boil them with spices (laurel or bay leaves, peppercorn, salt – your choice if you want to add tomatoes and herbs), drain and air dry for a few hours. Some sun-dry it! You deep fry it when it’s ready. I just follow the simple recipe. And I have a secret recipe for the dip. Yes, it’s a secret. And no, I’m not writing it down.