Farfalle with Mild Gambas

Remember the Spicy Gambas that I shared with you in September??? It is considered as the spiciest seafood dish in the Philippines, wherein Gambas(prawns) are cooked with siling labuyo(bird's eye chili) in tomato sauce. Though really spicy, this has been my favorite since my childhood days and I consider it as one of the best dishes that my father used to make. When I learned to cook, I’ve modified it to my taste and put twists on it depending on the occasion. For the holidays, I love using it as pasta sauce. When cooked with less chili pepper, Gambas would make a delicious sauce for any kind of pasta.

For The Shrimp Council's "12 Days of Shrimp" Promotion on it's Eat Shrimp Facebook page, I shared my Farfalle with Mild Gambas. The festive shape of farfalle combined with the awesome flavor of shrimps and the sweetness of bell pepper make this pasta dish a hit on the holiday table! 

Don't forget to check out my post on The Shrimp Council's "12 Days of Shrimp" Promotion, and find out why Christmas and this dish means so much to me. This is entry #9.

I am also giving away two sets of  this on Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner Facebook Page...so be sure to check it out! 

Have a great week everyone! 

Filipino Spicy Gambas

Have I told you that I am a BIG fan of shrimps???  Whether it's simply boiled, grilled, or sauteed, and  just plain or with vegetables or pasta, I love it! When I was pregnant with both Clarise & Cherlin, I was eating shrimps all the time! I guess that's why both of them love shrimps too!

One Filipino shrimp dish that I love to cook is the Spicy Gambas. If Bicol Express is the spiciest pork dish in the Philippines, Spicy Gambas is the spiciest seafood dish.  In this dish, Gambas (which is the Spanish word for prawns) is cooked with siling labuyo (bird's eye chili) in tomato sauce. When I was a little girl, my father loved to cook this dish whenever he had friends coming over to our house. Though his version is really spicy because of all the bird's eye chilies in it, I loved it and he couldn't stop me from eating it. I remember my father cooking it for me with no bird's eye chilies. He said it's kid friendly that way and I will enjoy it more. 

My daughters are still young and they don't like too spicy food, so I very seldom cook this dish as spicy as it should be. But today, I'm sharing with you my usual version of Filipino Spicy Gambas which is a modified version of my father's recipe based on what ingredients are available here in TX. Ryan and I love this with hot rice. It's also good with a bottle of beer! When I cook this for my daughters, I just remove the anaheim pepper and the chili sauce. With just the bell pepper, it has this sweet flavor that they really love!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shrimps, peeled and deveined
• 1 ½ Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon extract
• ½ Tbsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• ½ cup red bell pepper, seeds removed and cut into 2" strips
• ½ cup green bell pepper, seeds removed and cut into 2" strips
• 2 pcs. anaheim pepper, seeds removed and bias sliced
• 2 Tbsp. rice wine
• ¼ cup tomato sauce
• ½ Tbsp Chili Sauce (or less, depending on how hot you want it)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste