Halabos na Hipon

The easiest way to cook shrimp (hipon) is halabos-style.  The most basic halabos is simply ginger, salt, water and shrimp!  But I like a few more ingredients and I usually cook my halabos with ginger, garlic, red onions, wansoy, leeks, rice wine, salt and water.  I tried using Sprite once before (suggestion of a friend) but it seemed strange (at least to me) so I stuck to my usual concoction.

This time, however, I tried using Thai fish sauce instead of salt.... and added a couple of dried chili, for hubby's benefit (he loves a bit of a spicy kick!)...

And I always have a dipping sauce on the side...

The recipe:

a lot of sliced ginger (at least 12 thin slices)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 small onion, sliced
1 stalk leeks, sliced diagonally, white and green parts separated
1 stalk wansoy, roughly chopped
2 or 3 pieces dried chili (whole)
1/2 tablespoon rice wine
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
1/2 cup water
1 kilo really fresh, large, whole shrimp, rinsed

Saute the ginger, garlic, onion, leeks (white part only), and wansoy in very hot oil.  (I always use a wok and high heat for this recipe.)  Add the dried chili and stir a few times around the wok.  Add the shrimp and stir fry, tossing every few seconds.  Splash in the rice wine and fish sauce (and keep stirring).  Add the water (I actually use hot water).  Keep tossing and stirring.  When the shrimp turn pink/red (and usually the water has evaporated by then also), transfer the shrimp to a serving plate (keep warm while making the dipping sauce).  Garnish with the green part of the leeks.

In the same pan, saute 4 slices of ginger in a mix of olive oil and sesame oil.  Add a couple of sprigs of wansoy.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce.  Immediately add 1/4 cup of water.  Adjust seasonings (as always I add chili because hubby likes it).  And because this is a dipping sauce, I prefer it a bit on the salty side so sometimes I add a bit more soy sauce.  But keep in mind that various brands of soy sauce have varying degrees of saltiness!

Halabos na Tahong

To be honest, I am not fully certain what halabos is as a cooking technique.  But what I've been taught by our kusinera (home cook) a good 25 to 30 years ago is that it is a "cross" between steaming and boiling.  How is this so?  Well, a very small amount of water or stock is used to cook the dish (usually seafood, especially shrimps).  The dish would be cooked largely by the steam generated by the water or stock.  (I hope that made sense because I don't really know how to explain it...)

But to demonstrate it, here is halabos na tahong (mussels).

The recipe -

1 kilo tahong (mussels)
4 to 5 thin slices of ginger
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 small onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, sliced thinly
1 to 2 cups water
salt to taste
1 to 2 pieces finger chili
handful of dahon ng sili (pepper leaves)

Wash the tahong well and remove any dirt and "hair".  Drain.

Saute the ginger, garlic and onions.  Add the tomatoes.  Stir fry a couple of minutes then add in the mussels.  Pour in the water and cover the pan.  When the water starts to boil, throw in the finger chili and sili leaves.  Season with salt, to taste.  Stir occasionally.  When the mussels open, turn off the flame.  Do not over-cook.  If the water fully evaporates, add hot water in half cup increments.

The broth (what little of it is left, that is) is very tasty and I always exercise (what I call) cook's privilege which means no one else gets the broth but me!  (hwa-hwa-hwa.)

*I like using a wok for this dish.  I find it easier to stir the mussels around so that they cook evenly.