Perfect Side Dishes

Perfect side dishes

As I said in the last post I had,side dishes are also important in food presentation. When you prepare your dishes you also have to consider the perfect side dish that will go with it. The side dish doesn't have to be so intricate,a simple and yet well flavored side dish that blends well with the dish is more recommended.

Here are some of the side dishes I use to some particular dishes.
* grilled pork - your side dish could be any of the following:
-grilled ripe dessert banana
How to prepare?
1.Cut ripe dessert banana into half lengthwise
2. Grill the open side in a hot grill (preferably griller with tlkines to create a beautiful crisscross design)
3. Can be serve either hot or cold

You can also use fresh pineapple slices or rounds instead of banana.

* buttered vegetables like carrots,Baguio beans, snow peas, sliced potatoes, couliflower,young corn,broccoli, French beans are also good side dish for dishes cooked using the dry-heat method like baked or barbeque.
How to prepare ?
1.wash the vegetables and cut to desired slices
2. Blanch(up to 50% doneness)
3. Place in a bowl and mix with butter while hot.(if you use salted butter no need to put salt but if you use unsalted then season with salt according to your desired taste)

*Pickled fruits and vegetables are also good side dishes

How to prepare?
You can use either of the following fruits,vegetables and root crops for tour pickles.
Ideal fruits for pickling:
*philippine mangoes (normal size mangoes best found in the Philippines specially in Guimaras island,Cebu and Batangas)
*Indian mangoes(small and almost Apple like structured mangoes can be little sour to bland)
*carabao mangoes(long and very sour type of mangoes found in the Philippines)
*paho mangoes (slim type of mangoes found in the visayan region of the Philippines)

*** all mangoes goes the same preparation process. First peel them,then slice into three discarding the seeds. Slice the flesh into thin slices

* turnips - these are root crops brown in color on the outside but pur white in the inside, crispy and sweet in taste. Peel them and slice into sticks

*cucumber- there are two varieties of cucumber,one is with the green color which are common in the international market and the other one is yellow in color which is found in the Philippine market known as "pepinong pinoy". Wash and slice into half centimeters thick

*ampalaya or bitter gourd- there are techniques in preparing this for pickling. First is to cut the ampalaya lengthwise,then remove thoroughly the seeds and the white lining, cut into small strips crosswise. Then add a generous amount of rock salt into it and mix. Let stand for some minutes till it excreeys some water. Then squeeze the bitter gourd with your hand to remove the water until well dehydrated. And your bitter gourd is now ready for pickling. Some natives would say "smile while preparing your bitter gourd so that it won't taste bitter" but your culinary experience could tell you whether to believe this or not,its up to you but there's no wrong in trying.

*papaya-unripe but not young,just the in between. These are peeled,remove the seeds and agreed using medium size shreeder

* raddish- there two varieties of taddish. One is the small, round,red raddish usually use for salads. The other on is the long and white long raddish almost like the carrots though white. We usually use the latter for pickling. These are peeled and sliced into thin rounds . These riot crops smells so bad but the smell can be remove by again using salt as the bitter gourd. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on the sliced reddish andix thoroughly until eater start to come out then squeeze the raffish using your hands until all the liquid are remove.

All this fruits and vegetables share the same pickling solution which is very simple and easy to prepare. It does need an expert to make this.

You need:
1 cup Vinegar
1 T Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup water

Mix them together and boil. Then lower your heat and simmer the solution leaving it uncovered until the vinegar lost its sour smell. But check once in a while if its not burned because sugar is easy to burn.
When pickling solution is the ready remove it from fire and pour it to your prepared fruits and vegetables.

* Another good side dish is grilled corn. Boil the corn first for 20 minutes then grill enough to create a grill lines on its seeds

* You can also try making the Yorkshire pudding as a compliment for baked Jamaican baby back rib for instance. There are lots of available recipes that are simple and easy to prepare Yorkshire pudding.

* You can also use steamed vegetable for your side dish. You can steam cube squash for instance.

*Or you can blancj or steam native petchay or  Chinese bokchoy with oyster sauce.

* salads is also another simple and yet perfect side dish. You can choose from the varieties of salad styles that would be perfect for your dish.

* If you have Korean dish you can use fried sweet potato as side dish too. Or if you have Indonesian you can use kropek (fried crackers) and always with the chili sauce and rice.

These are only some of the many side dishes you can prepare with your dishes. Your dish doesn't have to be expensive to make it look festive and special,the secret is on your side dish and the plating.

I hope this posts inspires you to go to your kitchen and prepare a dish for your love ones.

Stay connected for more post on cooking tips.

This grilled salad could be a perfect side dish too.