Yesterday, Cebuanos were celebrating the Sinulog Festival. Sinulog is an annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu. It is celebrated with a 9-day Novena Prayer Mass, and on the 10th day which falls on Saturday is the Solemn Procession. We used to join the Solemn Procession until the pandemic. My health is not as good as in the past anymore, either. So, we just stay at home.
Then on the last day of the festival, we have a huge celebration in Cebu City. There are various activities like street dancing and main dance competitions offered to our beloved patron Señor Santo Niño. The main dance competition is further categorized into Sinulog-based and Free Interpretation. There are also puppet and giant competitions and lots of colorful floats.
Representatives from various places in Cebu and even outside of the province participate in these competitions. A lot of local and international tourists come to Cebu to celebrate the festival.
If you happen to witness this event, you can typically see some street foods, especially some barbecues on the streets. That is why some years ago, we just celebrated it at home with some grilled pork and fish while watching the event live on YouTube via smart TV.
We did the same yesterday. My daughter @tegoshei did not work yesterday because she wanted to help us prepare some food and joined us in watching the event on TV. I also want to share with you here how we prepared the food.
For the Pork Barbecue:
I prepared it a night before grilling it. Hubby sliced the pork into bigger sizes after washing them. Then, I slightly cooked the sliced pork by boiling it and seasoned it with soy sauce, ground black pepper, garlic, a pinch of salt, and bay leaf.
When the slices of pork became a bit tender already, I removed them from the pan and transferred them into a bigger container. Then, I marinated the slightly cooked pork with Sprite, pineapple juice, tomato ketchup, a pinch of Magic Sarap, soy sauce, a squeeze of lemon, and brown sugar. I kept them marinated overnight.
The next day, Sunday, I took the marinated pork out from the fridge and then skewed them in a barbecue stick. I also made a sauce to brush the pork while grilling them.
This is a mixture of canola oil, ketchup, soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, and garlic powder.
My husband grilled the barbecue outside the house. While he was doing so, my daughter and I were also busy helping each other in preparing our dessert.
I requested she cook my favorite bibingka cake and she made a bigger one.
We also made another dessert. It was peach mango refrigerator cake, and it was so yummy. Then, we made the last dish which was air-fried fish.
For the Air-Fried Fish:
I prepared it this way…
Wash and clean the fish.
Make two shallow cuts on the body on both sides and then rub some seasoning mixtures of Magic Sarap, garlic powder, and ground black pepper.
Wrap the fish with foil then put it in the air fryer and cook at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes on both sides.
Here's our yummy barbecue and a healthier grilled fish.
It's really fun to have this kind of family bonding once in a while. Have you done this at home too? It’s simple, yet enjoyable.
Thank you so much for reading and see you around. God bless… 🙏😍