Still stuck at home? Time to crack open those canned goods and get cookin'
Is there really any getting used to locked-down life?
Sure, most cities are easing restrictions. And yes, there’s a growing number of Instagram stories and feed posts dispatched from the outside world. But that doesn’t mean that things are getting any easier to deal with or that Miss Rona has finally skipped town. The statistics are still staggering to hear. Healthcare workers are still out on the frontlines. Circumstances are still dire.
Conclusion: It's in everyone's best interest to stay at home. And hey, it isn't all bad. If there's anything we've learned from the quarantine, it's how to get crafty in the kitchen. Beyond the sourdough loaves and the banana bread and the fancy lattes, in the end, it's our trusty canned goods we always circle back to.
With a teeming fondness for the stuff, we approached chefs and cooking enthusiasts for their favorite canned goods recipes. Paying heed to the quarantine, these recipes were all built around ingredients you might already have stocked at home, so scroll through these thought-starters and select accordingly.
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Spam Shroom Tomato Rice
Serves two. 15 to 20-minute cooking time, depending on your rice cooker
RJ and Tris are advertising creatives on weekdays, kitchen innovators on the weekends and parents to their cat Luna 24/7. They post snaps of their meals—everything from five-ingredient pasta to mouthwatering egg and rice combinations—on Unit 416, which is named after their first home, a condo unit whose sunlit kitchen and single-burner induction stove saw the beginnings of what they call their cooking and dining (mis)adventures. Ahead, they share the recipe for their Spam Shroom Tomato Rice, a dish that ticks two of the most important boxes when it comes to home-cooked meals: simplicity and flavor.
What you’ll need:
1 can spam or luncheon meat
1/2 can mushroom pieces, drained
1 cup rice
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tomato
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 sprig wansoy
Salt & pepper to taste
2 fried eggs, optional
What to do:
Pour 1 tbsp of oil in the rice cooker pot, turn it on and let it heat up. Once the pot is hot enough, sauté diced onion, crushed garlic, chopped tomato and canned mushroom pieces. Season with salt and pepper, then add your uncooked rice to the sauté and mix until thoroughly coated. Add water. Press cook. Once done, fluff and mix the cooked rice (a tip: dip the rice scooper in water in between mixing to prevent the rice from sticking!). Add wansoy. Serve with crispy spam slices and fried egg.
Spam & Corned Beef Fried Rice
Serves two to four people. 5-minute prep time, 15-minute cooking time
While he’s currently got his sights set on the skies, pilot-in-training Dom Padilla graduated from the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde with a degree in Culinary Arts. Here, he offers up another rice recipe (he claims it’s “the ultimate breakfast fried rice,” and I’m inclined to believe him) that makes use of two canned goods faves: corned beef and spam.
What you’ll need:
1 can corned beef
4 slices spam (cut into cubes)
3 to 4 cups cooked rice
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp of cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg (optional)
What to do:
Cut the spam slices into cubes and mince the garlic. If adding eggs to your fried rice, beat the eggs and set aside. Heat your wok or pan. Add the oil and the garlic, and just before the garlic turns golden brown, add the corned beef. Cook until the corned beef is almost dry. In a separate pan, cook the spam to a crisp. If adding eggs, cook the scrambled egg after cooking the spam. When your corned beef is ready, add the rice and mix. Lastly, add in your crispy spam cubes (and eggs!), then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spicy Tuna Croquettes with Sriracha Mayo
Serves two people as an appetizer or snack. 30 to 45-minute prep time
Jo-an Raagas, an experienced chef and Culinary Instructor at the Global City Innovative College, knows a thing or two about preparing hearty, home-cooked dishes. Here, she lets us in on the recipe for her high-protein Spicy Tuna Croquettes and a Sriracha Mayo dip to match—a dish she describes as quick, easy and delicious.
What you’ll need:
1 can Century Tuna Hot and Spicy (180g can); drained and shredded by hand
2 sprigs spring onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoons mustard
1 tbsp panko bread crumbs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp calamansi or lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
For breading:
½ Cup All Purpose Flour
1 egg, beaten
½ cup panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
For sriracha mayo:
1 clove garlic, minced to a paste
2 tbsp mayonnaise
½ tbsp sriracha
1 tsp calamansi or lemon juice
Salt to taste
What to do:
In a bowl, mix together the tuna, spring onions, mustard, calamansi juice, egg yolk, 1 tbsp of bread crumbs and season to taste. Form mixture into small logs and let rest for 15 minutes in the chiller. To make sauce, stir all ingredients in a bowl to combine. Season to taste with salt.
Prepare the breading station by placing flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes. After resting tuna mixture in the chiller for 15 minutes, carefully dust the tuna mixture in flour, then dip in eggs and coat with bread crumbs. Repeat for the remaining logs.
Heat up oil for deep frying over medium heat. Fry croquettes until golden brown and drain in paper towels. Serve while hot and Sriracha Mayo on the side for dipping.
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In pursuit of more easy, at-home recipes, we reached out to the minds behind Century Pacific Food, Inc., the company behind Century Tuna, 555, Hunt's and our other delata favorites. With a little help from their Culinary Services and Test Kitchen Manager, Chef Donna G. Morales, we got a hold of a few extra recipes to spice up our kitchen adventures for the remaining stretch of the quarantine.
Corned Beef & Beans
Serves two to three people. 3-minute cooking time.
What you’ll need:
1 can Swift Premium Corned Beef (150g can)
1 can Hunt's Pork and Beans (230g can)
1/2 cup onion, sliced
What to do:
Combine all ingredient in a heat proof bowl. Mix well. Cover with cling wrap. Heat in a microwave for 2 minutes. Mix and serve with a bowl of steamed rice.
Century Tuna Pancit Canton
Serves five to six people. 5-minute prep time, 10-minute cooking time
What you’ll need:
2 packs instant pancit canton
1 tbsp cooking oil, or use oil from tuna
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can Century Tuna Flakes in Oil (180g can)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Splash of rice wine
2 tbsp sliced leeks
2 tbsp carrot strips
1 cup sliced cabbage
1/4 cup bean sprouts
Drops of sesame oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
What to do:
Cook the instant noodles as directed in the package. Transfer to a platter and set aside while keeping it hot.
In a wok or pan over medium to high heat, sauté the Century Tuna flakes and garlic in hot oil. Add the oyster sauce and rice wine, mixing well. Toss in the leeks, carrot, cabbage and bean sprouts. Stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Drizzle sesame oil then remove from heat. Top over cooked noodles and serve.
Century Gourmet Bangus Quick-Fix Rice Bowl
Serves one to two people. 3-minute prep time, 2-minute cooking time
What you’ll need:
1 to 2 cups cooked rice
1 can Century Gourmet Bangus Fillet Tinapa or Spanish Style (184g can)
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 tsp bottled toasted garlic
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk or water
What to do:
Place the rice in a microwavable plate or dish. Arrange the Century Gourmet Bangus Fillets on top of the rice, spooning some of its sauce over the rice. Add tomato and then microwave for one minute or until rice is hot. Sprinkle toasted garlic on top.
In a microwaveable bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Microwave for one minute, stirring halfway through until eggs are set but still moist. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. Serve alongside the rice bowl.
555 Sardines Potato Croquettes
Serves three to four people. 20 to 25-minute cooking time
What you’ll need:
What you’ll need:1/2 kilo potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can 555 Sardines Spanish Style, drained (155g can)
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/4 cup spring onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
Dash of black pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup fine breadcrumbs, or as needed
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
For dipping sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp ketchup
What to do:
Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add 555 Sardines, cheese, spring onion, salt and pepper. Mash and mix well. Form by hand to oval-shaped, lightly flattened pieces. Dredge pieces in flour, dip in egg then dredge in crumbs. Fry in hot oil until golden. Serve with mayonnaise and ketchup mixture as dipping sauce.
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Have some resources to spare? While enjoying your home-cooked delata delicacy, consider donating to initiatives dedicated to sustaining the frontliners, helping out the less privileged or developing the COVID19 testing kits. We've got a growing list of over 11 initiatives you can donate in cash or kind over on Twitter!
Art Matthew Fetalver
