Squash Blog Hop : Okoy

November is #squashlove for Love Blog Hop and I have not thought of any squash recipe to share except for our family favorite called Okoy.


Okoy (or Filipino version of shrimp fritters) is a native Filipino street food made of shrimp and vegetables coated with batter and deep fried.  Often served with vinegar and as a snack or appetizer.  But some Filipinos even eat this with rice.  So you see, we eat almost everything with rice :)

As a child, and my grandparent's sous chef, I am always in the kitchen peeling and chopping and peeling and chopping.  I didn't like it because I cannot go out and play. I can clearly remember that I hated peeling squash for the skin is thick and the vegetable big.  With my small hands then, that was a burden.

I didn't know that there will come a time wherein I will seek the help and knowledge of my mom  to help me cook this family's favorite because I have missed it so much... aside from the fact that and I need it for this month's entry *wink*.  And I didn't know that making this dish will bring me back to my childhood days.

Oftentimes during our family gatherings, such as reunions, Christmases, birthday's etc,  Okoy is a mainstay.  It should be there because if not, family members will be disappointed.  Yes they always look for okoy which I don't like for cooking it means that I will have to see Mr. Squash again and peel and chop!  That was the 7 year old me talking *wink*

When our grandmother died (God bless her soul), nobody in the family wants to cook this dish because according to them, it is toxic...tiring.  And because of the absence of okoy during family gatherings, this dish was terribly missed!

Then came the day that I will do it.  The third generation to cook a family tradition and a well loved dish.  I was excited and at the same time worried.  Will I be able to give justice to this?  Will my Owa (the name we call our grandma) be proud of me when I cook this?  Well, we will see...

Peel...
Chop...
Prepare...


The mere aroma of the prepared ingredients combined brought me back to the days of hassle and bustle in the kitchen because the family members are arriving soon and food must be prepared.  I remember my grandma infront of the stove, cooking and preparing her famous okoy and me helping.  Not to mention requesting her to make me a special okoy with more shrimps in them and eat it even before it reaches the table.  This feelings intensified when I begun frying the okoy.  I may sound nostalgic and emotional, but it felt as if my grandparents are still alive and I am just cooking my heart out preparing for them this time.  I almost cried...how I miss them!

Anyway, (before I wet my laptop with tears) here's how we do okoy.

OKOY


For the batter
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2  cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (or more if you want it a bit salty)
1 medium egg
1 cup water
1 1/4 tsp annato seed oil - annato seed powder may also be used

Vegetables
Ratio and proportion of the following vegetables depends on how much of each type you want to put in your okoy.  Mine was this:

1/2 cup squash - peeled and cut into strips
1 cup bean sprouts with 2 stalks of chopped Chinese parsley (kinchay)
1 medium white onion, cut lengthwise
1/2 cup tofu, cut  into wider strips than squash

small shrimps, skin on but heads removed
oil for frying

Method:
Batter: mix all ingredients and set aside.

Heat pan with enough oil, about 1/2 an inch from the bottom of the pan.

In a small plate, pour a small about of batter and layer with bean spouts, squash, onions, tofu and shrimps.  Pour in additional batter to coat the top.


Slide batter with vegetables unto the heated oil and fry until sides are crispy.

Drain and serve immediately with vinegar.





First bite and wow! I did it! This is how it tastes like!  Owa would have been proud, I know she is...

I immediately called my mom and told her the good news, she was delighted! At the same time, when my aunt knew that I was able to recreate the family recipe, she was relieved and happy that she said, "glad to know someone will cook this for us from here on!"

I am now officially a graduate of the peeling and chopping class, I am now the cook!


------------------------------------------------------------------


November is #squashlove!  Please join in on the #squashlove fun by linking up any squash recipe from the month of November 2011.  Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #squashlove event.  The twitter hashtag is #squashlove :)

Cohosted by:
Baker Street | Anuradha : @bakerstreet29
Bloc De Recetas | Salomé : @blocderecetas
Bon à croquer | Valerie : @valouth
Cafe Terra Blog | Terra : @cafeterrablog
Cake Duchess | Lora : @cakeduchess
Elephant Eats | Amy 
Food Wanderings | Shulie : @foodwanderings
Hobby and More | Richa : @betit19
Georgie Cakes | Gorgie : @georgiecakes
Mike’s Baking | Mike : @mikesbaking
Mis Pensamientos | Junia : @juniakk
My Twisted Recipes | Dudut : @mytwistedrecipe
No One Like Crumbley Cookies | T.R : @TRCrumbley
Queens Notebook | Elizabeth : @mango_queen
Simply Reem | Reem : @simplyreem
Skip To Malou | Malou : @malou_nievera
Teaspoon Of Spice | Serena : @tspcurry
The Daily Palette | Annapet : @thedailypalette
The Professional Palette | Regan : @profpalate
The Spicy RD | EA : @thespicyrd
Vegan Miam | Rika : @veganmiam



Sharing this adventure to my foddie friends at: Food Friday, Foodie Friday, and Foodtrip Friday

Comments

  1. Shrimp Fritters! Oh my! This could not get better! I've never cooked with annato seed oil but surely it would have added great flavor!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okoy/Ukoy is among my favorite meriendas/snack and I, too, made it for Squash Love! I am allergic to shrimps though and had to omit it from my version! I wish I can enjoy shrimps like most LUCKY people!

    Thanks for sharing, Dudut!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I want it extra crispy please? and with sukang sinamak... yum. definitely a favorite!
    happy weekend!
    malou

    ReplyDelete
  4. never, ever heard of this... sounds wonderful. did i read correctly that you fry with the shrimp shells on? interesting! loved this story!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dudut... I love your Okoy! I will copy this and include this for my next week's meal. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Anuradha - glad you liked it

    @Annapet - so sad you can't eat shrimp...happy to be cooking the dish with you

    @malou - extra crispy okoy coming up! :) happy weekend!

    @regan - hi! thanks for dropping nice to meet you! yes, you heard it right, shrimp shells on :) they stay crispier that way :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your story on your grandma. So sweet! But this crispy okoy is a winner! It's my fave crispy appetizer & I order it everytime we go to Filipino restaurants. I pair it with my favorite fresh lumpia! So nice to cook along with you, Dudut! Great job on this post...so proud of you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i love the childhood story that you shared! its amazing how much extra work our grandparents and on did to prepare food. for us, we can always find shortcut versions of squash already peeled for us. hahaha new generation. sending some #squashlove to you!

    ps - korean culture has something similar too, but with korean zucchini!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love anything fried! I'm not a big fan of shrimp, could I substitute chicken or more veggies? I love the tribute to your grandmother here. I miss my grandmother everyday. We are lucky to have had them in our lives. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  10. i love okoy with rice. yummy. Visiting from FTF. Hope you could visit mine.

    ReplyDelete
  11. i've never heard of okoy, but they sound delicious.. some things always bring back fond memories for me too. Have a great weekend! Squashlove to u.

    Richa @ Hobby And More Food Blog

    ReplyDelete
  12. thanks for introducing me to these, I had not heard of them before.

    ReplyDelete
  13. what a wonderful story behind the recipe! the squash okoy that my sister made eons ago didn't have tofu, mungbean sprouts, kinchay, or shrimp...it was all squash and the batter. lol. i so love your family's version!

    thank you so much for sharing this delicious family recipe over at Food Friday, Dudut
    happy weekend! <3

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like eating okoy then dip it into a bowl of spicy vinegar... yummmy!

    ReplyDelete
  15. OK, I have a new glorious word in my vocabulary - okoy! Shrimp fritters sounds like heaven - really enjoyed reading your memory of making these too!

    ReplyDelete
  16. These fritters look wonderful and I can't even eat shrimp. Very tempting though! :) Love #squashlove!

    ReplyDelete
  17. These fritters looks so delicious!!!
    I can literary taste the goodness and crunch...
    Perfect!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It looks so yummy, it's very different from our Spanish meals but I love it! Besos

    ReplyDelete
  19. @elizabeth - i'm glad too! thanks for the support!

    @junia - you can say that again, shortcuts are all aorud...LOL!

    @jennifer - yes you may, chicken or any vegetable you may wish to add..:)

    @jenn - thanks, Jenn! keep me posted, ok?

    @kat - Filipinos do that...LOL!

    @Richa - squashlove to you too!

    @shaneen - you are welcome, hope you can make this someday

    @maiylah - glad you liked it!

    @mika - thanks! glad you liked it!

    @deanna - LOL! - thanks and glad you liked it!

    @shulie - you can omit shrimp, it will still taste good!

    @reem - thanks, glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I was reading this one before I went to bed last night and all I wanted to do was grab one from the screen. I love shrimp and these look and sound amazing!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. wow...sounds scrumptiously tasty..
    first time here..love your space..
    awesome presentation with excellent cliks..
    Am your happy follower now..;)
    do stop by mine sometime..
    Tasty Appetite

    ReplyDelete
  22. So much love to this recipe! Not only is it gluten free, but its got so many of my favorite ingredients. Thank you for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Dudut, it's so nice to meet you through bloghop! i heart your story, it reminds me of why I started my blog in the first place, to have a keepsake of all our family recipes where we could share them together. Your Okoy looks incredible and know it will be a a huge hit in our house. Thank you for sharing the beautiful memories and recipe with us.!

    ReplyDelete
  24. This looks so good :) your story reminds me of teenage me in the kitchen with mom. She would make me wash and chop her tabbouleh ingredients, I hated it! To me it was tedious and now I love prepping and chopping ingredients in the kitchen. I miss my grandparents too :( #pandahugs

    ReplyDelete
  25. yum...looks very delicious, am drooling and now am hungry :-( Thank you for sharing the recipe. Dropping some love for Food Trip Friday, hope that you can visit me back too

    http://www.jessysadventure.com/2011/11/beef-stew-my-families%E2%80%99-favorite-food-to-eat-during-fall.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. Fabulous dish! I love that you have taken over the family tradition! Happy #squashlove !!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. My husband loves shrimp and would be all over this recipe!

    #squashlove!!

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  28. Mmmm...looks very yummy! Can I grab one?
    Can I submit my Yam cream with ginko nuts to join the fun?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, never heard of this dish but it looks great. I sympathize with all the cooking chores as a kid. I wanted to play too. I think it's great that while you were preparing this dish, it brought back a lot of memories.

    I'll be sure to save this recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Your Owa would totally be proud!!! I love learning about new food, new to me. The beauties of being a food blogger learning about so many different foods:-) This dish looks amazing, and love the flavor combinations:-) Hugs, Terra

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a very unique way to use squash! It looks absolutely delicious! I'm sure your Owa would be proud and very glad that you brought this back to the family table.

    ReplyDelete
  32. i love squash and making it into pudding is my fave and willtry this too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i would love to make pudding out of it...can you share the recipe?

      thanks for stopping by Leena! hope to see more of you here :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for visiting my blog and taking time to post a comment...I'm humbly honored to hear from you!