Foot and Fire

     Laswa or vegetable stew is a Visayan favorite and this comes in many variation. My mother would say that when you cook " laswa " you should have an odd number ( Even is a no no!!) so that everything will go well or sampat in our Hiligaynon mother tongue.       Okra and saluyot are two magic ingredients because they give that special slimy texture in the soup, so either of these two must be present. What makes this laswa special is the mushroom and the mongo sprout since they are not usually used to add flavor to the soup. Usually, dried fish or shrimp is used to add flavor to this favorite dish.  Lastly, malunggay or moringa is one leafy green that is staple for laswa. I did not consciously observe the Odd rule here but hey, I got 6 main ingredients but I'm still lucky that it turned out yummy. tomatoes onion water lemongrass, bound Oyster Mushrooms, shred Saluyot, half chopped and half whole 3 stalks Malungay (Moringa) leaves 2T...

LASWA, an Ilongo vegetable soup that is worth featuring for the nth time in this blog.  One secret to a good laswa is to use odd number of vegetables so it can have a perfect result. So in this one, I used squash, malungay or moringa, saluyot or locally called tugabang, balagay or winged beans and okra.  My nephew asked me what are the other names of okra as.my readers might not understand it. I said, it is mostly known as okra but Wiki suggested "English-speaking countries as  ladies' fingers  or  ochro." So be it, but lady's finger here in the Philippines refers to a small fragrant and tasty banana that looks like its name, a lady's finger. So back to laswa, I have 5 ingredients and they all went well together.  I used miso paste as my seasoning and it went well with the fish sauce. That is a must try inlieu of the usual dried anchovies or shrimps. 2 tomatoes 1 onion Saluyot, 1/3 chopped and reserve the rest Winged beans Squash Okr...

For lunch today, we had laswa. We mixed all solid vegetables available: papaya called kapayas here, squash or kalabasa, okra, takway (gabi roots) and saykwa or patola and the green leaves at hand: malunggay called balunggay here and saluyot called tugabang. The secret addition is the lemon grass known as tanglad here and some dried fish. .N.B. the ingredients are actually flexible; compare this laswa with my previous post.... Match this vegetable soup with fried fish and rice... Perfect!

By GERLIE M. UY FOR LUNCH. Pito ka klase sang panakot para sa laswa. The tradition among "experts" in laswa is that one has to have an odd number of ingredients in order for the laswa to taste good. We describe the mixture "sampat" here in Negros Occ. 1 L to 1 1/2 L water 2 medium ripe tomatoes onions dried fish or dilis (Balingon) (may use dried shrimp, if desired) about 100 g squash (kalabasa), cubed about 100 g Papaya or Kapayas, sliced about 100 g string beans (snake beans), sitaw or balatong, cut into an inch long about 100 g okra three handful Malunggay, Moringa or Balungay leaves three handful Saluyot or Tugabang leaves, slice a handful of Ampalaya or Amargoso leaves salt or fish sauce In a casserole, bring to boil the water with ripe tomatoes, onions and dried fish. Add the next four solid ingredients. To get the desired slimy soup, add this early a portion of the Saluyot (Tugabang). Let cook. Adjust flavor with salt or fish sauce (patis). Add the rest of t...