The Lasang Pinoy, Sundays theme for the week is ROLLED. My feature is the old time Pinoy favorite snack TURON NA SAGING (Sweet Banana Rolls). These are fried goodies made up of slices of saba banana (plantains) with slivers of langka (jackfruit), rolled in lumpia (spring roll) wrapper and dipped in brown sugar.
I just love hearing the cracking sound of the wrapper as I take a bite. The combination of saba with langka is just so yummy which makes it an irresistible snack. This is a true Pinoy fare as it can be easily found at every street corner around the country.
The "bunso" (youngest) of the family is the spitting image of her Kuya (older brother). At 10 months old, CeeJae is beginning to sway (she's cruisin' crazy now) and sweet talk (her communication skills are amazing) her way into everyone's hearts. On top of the list would be Kuya Jarred. He can't seem to resist her toothy smile and mesmerizing eyes. Whenever Kuya comes home from school and emerges from outside, CeeJae springs up from inside her playpen to greet him. She always has a ready grin or laugh for him. On several occasions I've noticed that they've developed a special kind of communication. Whatever sounds CeeJae would make, it seems that Kuya Jarred could easily understand her and would know exactly what she meant. Even with Atchie Cailie, Jarred's the same...he would readily translate whatever Cailie said that seemed incoherent to us and he would be right every time. The role of firstborn might be a tough one for Kuya but we know that he is right for that position. His love for both of his sisters is proof of that.
The guisadong bagoong has stretched into this coming week...didn't I say a little goes a long way? When we spotted a fruit stall along the road, we stopped and bought a few pieces of green mango. Fresh kamias or iba would have been the best accompaniment to this bagoong but somehow I can't seem to find any in my city. Well, green mango will certainly do.
On hot steaming rice, I spooned several thin slivers of green mango and a teaspoon or so of the bagoong...yum-O!!! The flavor explosion does its magic - sweet, spicy and salty combine with the sour and it's gastronomic heaven!!!
I see utter joy whenever I look at this picture. Those twinkling eyes give it away...
It has been a battle to finally reveal this million-dollar toothy smile...what with numerous days of fever and irritability coupled with loss of appetite. Oh but what worthy sacrifice to see these first two pearly whites emerge in a sweet smile...
I'm just glad you got your groove back, little angel. Just happy that you are once more looking at food with gusto. And I am blessed to see you smile like this...Happy 10th Month Anniversary, CeeJae girl!!!
After getting used to the routine of 3-hour brownouts for more than a week now, we were hit today with a whopping 8-hour power outage. Power was cut off at 9:00 am and came back at 5:00 pm. When the power outage was nearing 4 hours, I decided to call the local power company to ask why the brownout exceeded the usual 3 hours. The person on the other line responded that they didn't have any hand on the power interruption and pointed to NAPOCOR as the culprit. They couldn't say how long it would last as they claimed it was NAPOCOR's call.
And so there was nothing else we could do but WAIT...
In these times of technology and modernization, power interruption is certainly thought of as going back into the "Dark Ages". It is irritating and certainly very inconvenient but after experiencing a whole daytime of power outage, there are several good things that the power crisis has brought about:
forced savings on electricity (a daily brownout of 3 hours can be converted to about 1/8th savings from the usual power consumption)
renewed appreciation for basic conveniences like water and electricity (many countries are not even as fortunate as us to have these utilities on hand)
you're forced to think up of creative ways to pass the time (board games and community singing make a comeback)
there's a forced abstinence from the internet (read: facebook) and television which gives family members more opportunity to bond
hours of no power mean more time for people to TALK to each other...that is, to engage in lively and focused conversations
When the power crisis is looked at in this way, it doesn't feel a big a burden as it originally was...I guess we just have to look at the silver lining in every bad event.
Being a Tagala, I'm used to the Tagalog way of cooking Paksiw na Isda (usually Bangus) which is "masabaw". When I moved to the Visayas, I learned a different take on Paksiw called "Inun-unan". It's not soupy like its Tagalog counterpart, rather the sauce is almost dried up and whatever little that is left is actually sought after like liquid gold (all the yumminess is there) to be strewn over hot rice.
This post is dedicated to my Visayan friends who are now abroad and would like to re-acquaint themselves with an all-time favorite...
Inun-unan
1/2 kg fish (Bilong-bilong, Tulingan/Mackerel, Bariles/Tuna)
150 grams pork fat or 2 tbsp canola oil
2 pcs bay leaves (laurel)
1/2 head of garlic, crushed
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
1/4 cup fish sauce/patis
1/2 cup vinegar (white or tuba variety)
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 tsp black peppercorns or 1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 pcs eggplant, sliced (optional)
3-5 pcs siling pansigang/haba (optional)
In a thick casserole (a native palayok works best), layer the ingredients in this order: pork fat or oil, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, fish and bell pepper slices. Then pour the fish sauce/patis and vinegar and sprinkle peppercorns/pepper on top. Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes then switch fire to low. If you wish, you may add the eggplant pieces and chili fingers (for heat), simmer on low for another 15 minutes. Take care not to let the sauce dry up too much. Serve with hot rice.
Ever since I learned to make this "cardiac delight" of a dish, I've made it a point to prepare it at home every other month. Once cooked, it usually lasts about 1 week and a half since only a little amount is needed to flavor hot steamed rice. A tweak on this is also to serve it on top of garlic fried rice with slivers of green mango (Bagoong Rice). This particular serving has so much pork pieces in it, it might as well be called "Binagoongang Baboy".
Here is the recipe for BAGOONG GUISADO:
1/2 kg pork impilya, sliced
1/4 kg pork meat (boneless pork chop works best), sliced into bite-size pieces
7-8 pcs ripe tomatoes, chopped finely
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium red onions, minced
200 grams bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2-3 tsp powdered chili or 6-8 pcs bird's eye chilies, chopped
In a wok or saucepan, render all the fat from the pork impilya until only crunchy pieces of the pork are left. Drain the pork pieces and set aside. Retain about 2 tbsp of the rendered fat and set aside the rest. In the heated oil, saute the pork meat pieces until browned. Add the garlic, onions and tomatoes until translucent. Add in the alamang, brown sugar and chili powder. Add back the crunchy pork "chicharon" and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Serve with hot rice or green mangoes. Remember, a little goes a long way with this dish.
My daughter Cailie has inherited my taste for "kakanin". Suman sa malagkit/pilit or also known as Budbod in Visayan (Sweet Sticky Rice wrapped in Banana Leaves) is my favorite "kakanin" of all. She also loves this simple native Filipino delicacy and when she saw them being sold outside the church during Sunday mass, she asked me to buy her some.
One of our bonding moments with suman is dipping it in sugar first before popping the sticky morsels into our mouth. From the 3 bundles we brought home, Cailie was able to finish more than half all by herself. *burp*
Have you ever had a day so busy that you just didn't have the time to prepare a decent meal? Well, as a mom of three, this scenario pretty much happens often at home. So here is the first in my "Lutong Tamad" series - Sotanghon Sardines...
In a wok, heat up oil. Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Stir in sardines, mashing the sardine pieces while simmering. Drain the noodles then combine with the sardines. Add salt and water. Stir noodles while it soaks up all the liquid. Garnish with scallion pieces and serve hot with calamansi slices.
