Foot and Fire

So I was able to advance to the 4th book and I was even surprised that I have no blog entry on Amburukay, the hilarious amburukay whose golden pubic hair was stolen and was made a string to a musical instrument. Well, I always write something right after I read or watch something because I will surely forget what were my thoughts. So I am writing about the Panay Bukidnon's 4th book i the epics of Panay series called Pahagunong. Well, so far, this is the difficult to read through the end book of the four I had read. And the one with no concrete ending. I believe because, this is an intro to the fifth book, Kalampay. We'll see.  I won't retell the story here as it has one interesting twist and actually the heart of the whole book. After reading the four books, I just wished there is a better Filipino and English Translation, one that gives some effort to capture the Kinaray-a and I wished there is consistency in the footnoting, especially in def...

I wanted to cook Tinola as my last entry for the National Heroes Day Cookfest but we had it last week and I was not abe to snap a photo of it as I planned to do another recipe. Anyway, I wanted Tinola for my last entry because it was mentioned in Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and the neck and wing parts were given to Fr. Damaso who was insulted but the soup was especially prepared for Ibarra who just came back from abroad and not for him. (By the way, I can't help but mention that I love the neck and wing part mainly because of the foodie wisdom that says, "the nearest to the bone, the sweetest is the meat." This, Fr. Damaso has no clue).   And so, I had my favorite dish, Binakol. I checked on the web the entries on binakol and I was surprised that most entries would introduce binakol as Tinola but uses coconut water and coco meat. Okay, I was not pleasantly surprised (I'm a bit horrified, I admit) because the binakol I grew to love while I was in Ilo...

ADOBO NGA TAKWAY For Ilonggos, this is a vegetable delicacy. Slimy with smooth texture, it's almost melt in the mouth vegetarian experience of adobo. But personally, there is no other vegetable that could effectively evoke childhood memories of five siblings simultaneously as strong as Takway.  With Tatay as our team captain then, we used to gather around a kalalaw to keenly peel off the brown layers of each strand of takway, a long growing extra root of gabi, because the peeled ones in the wetmarket are too little for our appetite that we have to peel our own so we can eat in gusto. It was like a fiesta at the house when we had this .  Too bad for me today; adobo nga takway goes well with lots of rice and I just had some with a mere half rice. 

Featuring my PERSONAL HERO on our fourth week of National Heroes Day Cookfest.  My father was the chief cook when we were growing up and long before the word chef became a household word. He always saw to it then that we do have soup every day. He claims that the soup will make sure that our brains won't dry up and we will score high in our tests. Higup sabaw para indi magmala ang utok niyo. So, on the occasion of his 66th birthday, we had his sinfully delicious pata nga linaga since tasting this dish will always remind us of his cooking and his love of feeding his children. In fact, I was lucky to have reserved the pata from the meatshop whose owners were his friends. They gave me a good young portion and cleaned. Bag-ong ihaw gid kag limpyo na. Pata is the part which consists of the knee and down. The beef pata is best for linaga because it is bigger and won't easily fall off when boiled for hours to bring out the beefy taste in the broth. The jelly-like colla...

Kakanin On the 4th week of our National Heroes' Day Cookfest, I chose Kakanin because our Katipuneros are said to love them. Even Gen. Gregorio del Pilar is known to like kakanin too. I chose to prepare Kombo nga saging or Banana Fritters and Alupe nga Mais or Boiled Wrapped Corn. The easiest way to enjoy our local crops like kamoteng kahoy, kamote, saba banana, corn and others is to serve them boiled but I believe our ancestors could have thought of other ways to enjoy the staples. Boiled crops are the healthiest and the easiest way to feed a group of men but some days, there could be some variations in the cooking. The Katipuneros are said to be fond of kakanin which is most likely I guess because kakanins are stomach fillers and the easiest to prepare while on the go. So I ventured to cook some kakanin the way closest to the simple method of boiling. I don't know why we call it kombo. I'm guessing in saying that it could be "combo" or the sh...

Alupe nga Mais or Boiled Wrapped Corn 5 kilos corn Buko Meat of 5 young coconuts 2 cups brown sugar Remove the corn husks and hairs. Discard hair and save the husks. Use knife to separate kernels from the cob. Blender the corn into grits. In a bowl, put corn, coco meat and sugar. Mix well. On a board, lay a pliable husk horizontally and put another husk vertically positioned on top of the first one. Add mixture leaving the left edge of vertical part then fold that part to serve as base of the mixture. Roll the horizontal part following the natural curve of the husk. Add another husk to secure ends, if needed. Repeat until all done. Let the parcels stand in a casserole. Add water or cocowater for about half of the casserole. Let boil for 30 minutes in a high fire then another 15 minutes in medium fire. The water will be reduced to almost none. Serve with coffee or tea. 

Kombo nga Saging or Banana Fritters Ripe saba variety banana, peeled and cubed 2 cups flour 1/2 cup brown sugar plus a handful for dusting 1 tsp baking powder (optional) 1 egg (optional) 1.5 cups water Canola Oil for frying. In a bowl, except for bananas and oil, mix all ingredients. Stir well until free of lumps. Add the cubed banana. Fry about 1/3 cup of mixture by batch in oil. Serve hot with a sprinkle of sugar.

First thing first, I would like to thank Sining Baybayin in facebook/messenger for spending a portion of your advocate's time in spreading one of our ancient syllabic writing system and for having me as one of your tutees. Further readings on the subject of ancient Phillippine writing, one can be led to four scripts in the UNESCO as regards Philippine Paleographic Hanunuo, Tagbanwa, Buhid, and Ibalnan. Now four digital keyboards are available, the Ibalnan Baybayin, Hanunuo, Buhid and Tagbanwa. But while reading on the subject which did not even make it into the footnotes in our Philippine history during elementary and high school, I felt robbed. Wikipedia entry on Suyat made my eyes well. The Philippine ancient scripts abound and they are Kurdita, kulitan, baybayin, hanunuo, buhid, basahan, tagbanwa, badlit, kirim and Jawi. And I went, what? Why are we not introduced to these early on in our history classes? Why does our history have to start in 1521? I believe that the...

Gerlie's Apple Pie The Crust Recipe: 3 cups sifted flour 1 tsp salt 3/4 cup avocado oil 1/3 cup milk In a bowl, place the sifted flour and add salt. Create a well and add the avocado oil and milk. Mix by laddling in a circular motion until it forms a soft dough.  Divide into two. Work on the first dough in a silicon board by flattening and place plastic on top then flatten with a rolling pin as thinly as you can go. Remove plastic, lift the silicon dough board and place on top of your baking dish. Slowly detach dough from the board. Arrange the dough in the dish and place some dough on broken parts to avoid leaks. Add the apple filling mixture and repeat the flattening of the dough for the top cover. Seal edges by pinching the upper and lower edges of the dough. Bake for 15 minutes at 210 C, and another 45 at 190 C.  Apple Filling Recipe: 1T cinnamon Pinches of ginger powder 1 cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp flour 5 small apples, cubed or sli...

On the 3rd week of our National Heroes' Day Cookfest, I chose Tinuom. I would like to believe that our revolutionary heroes who were on the go had tinuom because of the abundance of bananas in our country as well as other edible plants with large leaves like the gabi. Tinuom is from the word tuom. It means a viand is cooked wrapped in leaves like banana leaves. One can tuom chicken, mushrooms, fish and other seafoods. There are two festivals in Panay that celebrate this way of cooking, in Cabatuan, Iloilo and in Madalag, Aklan. My father would tuom a whole milkfish cutting it into a butterfly and stuffing it with tomatoes and onions and closing it and then wrapping it with banana leaves many times. He would then  grill it via the oven toaster. The outcome would be an aromatic milkfish cooked in its own plus the spices' juice. Another time when I couldn't forget tinuom was when my housemate who was in her first trimester was having cravings, and...

When I searched for Linabog in th web, I can see entries on Linabog but using a different souring agent and usually the fish called "pagi" is used. Also, they attribute Linabog to the Cebuanos and there is one video which explained that the word means "throw away" because the parts used in the dish are parts which are usually to be thrown away, like the bony "pagi." Meanwhile, there is also a "kinunot" way of cooking which means "hinimay" or flaked for the Luzon. The name was also coined for leftover parts of fish or chicken. In Hiligaynon, the word "labog" means forcefully thrown away.  This surprised me because when I was small, I heard from my father and his friends about this linabog and they used the leaves of labog plant. So I grew up having some idea of what linabog cooking means and definitely, the Cebuanos' definition of Linabog dish is far from my Ilonggo definition. And yes, Ilonggos ...

My friend and I has been discussing about what we should be planting in our gardens now that the pandemic seems to stay for another six months. We were both entertaining the idea of ditching our ornamental plants which took up spaces in our garden.  She is raising and harvesting patola and guayabano now. She also enjoyed her tambis earlier this year. All of that aside from her usual greens of camote tops, alugbati or malvar spinach and others. My friend is one of the lucky few who left Hubei province with clean bill of health at the time when China struggled with the COVID19 outbreak. My friend lamented that she does not have money now and she has to go to the city proper to have her RMB changed but going to the city proper is getting scarier each day. She was happy the other day because she sold her patola and raised P180 pesos. I suggested that she sell her ornamentals or barter them with seeds of food plants. She entertained the idea right away since it seems that th...

The main ingredient to a good pesto is the fresh basil leaves and since I have a few cups, I used my brazilian spinach to enliven the usual fare. The authentic Italian pesto calls for pine nuts and I am lucky to have much of it as of this time. It was sent to me from abroad. In the Philippines, a kilo of it cost P2,000. Of course, so as not to consume my nutty sweet smelling pine nuts, I also used almonds.  For this batch, here are my ingredients: Brazilian Spinach Genovese basil Parmesan Cheese Garlic Pine nuts Almonds Himalayan salt Extra virgin olive oil (Evoo) By small batches, put ingredients in a blender and blend until all is done. Store in a glass container and top with EVOo To seal off freshness.  Use the pesto on your pasta, a spoon of it will already make two plates served in your fave resto. Or top ot on your toast and use as marinade for your fish. 

The version said to be loved by our 20th century heroes has the tomato sauce but I grew up loving pochero without the tomato sauce but instead my father would mash some of the sweet potatoes or kamote to thicken the broth.  Everything starts with choosing the right kind of beef chunk. I used the "paras" or the beef meet with some cartilege because it is tender. My mother had it cubed to a matchbox size serving already at the meatshop. 1 kilo beef chunks, boiled till tender (save broth) 250g pre-boiled white beans 2T Canola Oil Garlic, onions, tomatoes chopped Water including the broth, 1.5 to 2L 1 hand of sab-a variety of banana, cut horizontally into two 4 pcs medium sweet potatoes, quartered   6 pcs medium potatoes, quartered Salt and pepper to taste Chillies 1 head of chinese cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces, separate the hardy and soft part  Saute Garlic, onions and tomatoes then add the pre-boiled beef chunks. Add water and broth and let b...

I called this my Extended Psto because I don't want to annoy Italians with my version of their well loved pesto. Well, they started it and it's their fault that pesto is so good that I came to love it. Enough of teasing the Italians! hahahaha Of course, I have to use what is in my garden. Since Brazilian Spinach abound this weekend and I harvested a lot of my Genovese Basil and a few leaves of sweetbasil, I am obliged to utilize the ever greener Brazilian Spinach.  After a brawling match with my new blender, I churned out many batches of pesto. I used it for the french bread toast and flaked roasted chicken, spanish sardines angel hair pasta. Voila, a hearty meal.   Brazilian Spinach, wilted and chopped Genovese Basil A head of garlic, sliced Pine nuts Almonds Parmesan Himalayan salt Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) Process by batch all ingredients in the blender or ideally in a food processor till pasty consistency is reached. Store in jars an...

Last Thursday, I went to the wet market and found a big ball of iceberg lettuce that is fresh and crispy. I did not think twice and bought the prettiest of them all right away. The key to a good cooking and to eating well is to eat the vegetables while it is still in the fresh stage.  My imagination sent me to a Lettuce Wrap for breakfast.   A head of Iceberg Lettuce Cubed cucumbers, tomatoes, and white onions Shredded roasted chicken Extra ground peanuts How to make the Peanut Sauce 2 T Hoisin Sace 1 C water 1 T cornstarch dissolved in water 2 T ground peanuts  In a sauce pan combine hoisin and water. Bring to boil. Add cornstarch to adjust consistency and peanuts.  To serve, in a lettuce leaf, add all ingredients in gusto and then devour. Happy eating!!!!