sinigang soup for the tired soul

jologskeyks — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:32:58 +0000

With 7,107 islands, the Philippines has one of the longest coastline albeit discontinued. It can thus be expected that a lot of Filipino cuisine will get its inspiration from the sea and its resources.

The country has been colonized a lot of times but before being influenced by other cultures, the Filipinos shared a common preference for flavor and cooking method. Filipino cooking then was likened to being minimalist with the common methods of boiling and roasting.

One such recipe which stood the test of time is the hearty sinigang using a variety of fish resources like shrimp and fish or the favorite pork. But no matter what, the sour taste of sinigang always gets help from sour fruits like tamarind, guava, santol or the good old kamias.

Here’s a simple sinigang recipe:

Ingredients:

Shrimps
Kamias
Patis
Tomato
Rice washing
Onion

This s a no fuss very simple recipe. Boil the rice washing with tomato and the kamias. After a while add the shrimps. Add some patis for flavor and your done.

Cliffhanger—nice view, bad food

jologskeyks — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:01:48 +0000

Traveling from Davao City to General Santos City (and vice versa) can take almost 3 hours by car and if you’re not in a hurry, it would be nice to find a good place to stop by even for just a few minutes.

We discovered a place called Cliffhanger–that’s already near Padada which means youa re about 30 minutes away from Digos, Davao del Sur. Cliffhanger offer a great view and if the weather is nto so sunny, you would feel like you are either in Baguio or some foreign place. One of its attractions is the viewdeck which gives you a good view of the province—all green!

We were awed when we saw Cliffhanger’s specialty—a whole chicken tinola! Of course, who has not tasted tinolang manok? But our tinola has been chopped—this one is a whole new chicken made into tinola ha!ha! By the way, no other food choices there except the traditional karinderya cooking.

While the owner (who is a lawyer, by the way—was able to talk to him when we dropped by before just to buy mango) took pains to make sure the cafe looked pleasing, it has however failed to make sure the food meets the standard. The rice was so dark and hard—it would shame the cheap NFA rice (which I’m told is by no means cheap at P17-P19 a kilo now). The tinolang manok also needed some more cooking time.

Would definitely stop over again just for a quick look at the viewdeck or to buy some cold drinks but never to eat there again!

Wonders Of Brocolli

jologskeyks — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:55:38 +0000

Some people think of carrots when asked about vegetables that offer the most nutrition. However, even carrots can be put to shame by the health benefits offered by Brocolli.

Some people are put off by the sulfuric odor that Brocoli emits when it is being cooked. But odor aside, Brocolli tastes great either steamed, stir fried with mushroom and chicken or used as an ingredient in seafoods chopsuey.

Brocolli (especially the spears) contain lots of fiber so it is a very good anti-colon cancer food. Weight watchers can also benefit from eating Brocolli.

It contains Isothiocyanates making it effective against cancer. Women should also eat more Broccoli to avoid breast cancer, although men should do that too as they can also get breast cancer.

And why buy commercial Glutathione when Brocolli offers it for free? Glutathione is a good antioxidant aside from its whitening powers. Brocolli also contains Vitamin C and Beta Carotene just like your favorite carrots.

Dogeaters and many more…

jologskeyks — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:05:09 +0000

What is it with food that people could not get rid of them? Of course, it is one of the basic needs of man (aside from clothing and shelter) and man could not survive without food. Can you imagine life without food?

Some people have weird aversions to food. I know of someone who does not eat beef per se but she eats corned beef. Some do not eat egg yolks and not because of any medical reason. Some people do not like shellfish at all.

Filipinos are however weird eaters. There was a time when dog meat was a hit and I am not just speaking of the kanto boys classified as sunog-baga. In fact, there are still some people who are adventurous enough to eat dog meat despite the rabies scare to the consternation of animal lovers. It is only in the Philippines (correct me if I am wrong) where almost every part of the chicken is “eatable”. Take a look at the sidewalks and even some Filipino restaurants serving adidas (chicken feet), fried esol (chicken butt) and even helmet (chicken head)!

The innards of the pig are deep fried into chicharong bulaklak and they do look like flowers! Some of the intestine parts are sliced, mixed with fresh pig blood and voila! you have dinuguan.

Some foreigners have developed a liking for these weird Filipino food but my Mexican-Filipino cousins Phil and Mike (who were born and raised in the US) swear never to come back here if I again attempt to force them into eating balot (that’s duck egg with a baby duck still inside). I think we were lucky to have them taste a pinch of bagoong.

Dolon or grasshoppers taste crunchy after they are fried! I once covered the IFMA project of Alsons somewhere north and I was told by the indigenous people in the area how yummy the forest rats are.

It is not only the Chinese who are fond of eating sawa’ or snake. Eaten for their supposedly medicinal features, snakes command a high price in the market. My lawyer-kumpare Manolo claims to have tasted snake oil (and other parts of the animal as well!) There is a place somewhere in Bansalan, just an hour from Digos, where people with various illnesses flock just to have a bite and sip of some parts of the snake.

Kambing or goat is a hit not only among Ilokanos. Try the papait of my father Lakay Dave and you would surely be coming back for more. His Kambingderya (just beside our house in Gensan) is a hit among passersby. Several vehicles already line up in front of his Kambingderya even before lunch because his papait is so in demand. Once customer said “patay ako sa anak (her 7-year old son) ko pag di ako nakapagdala ng papait ngayon!” Papait consist of the innards of the goat—I only eat papait made by my G.I. father (genuine Ilokano) because he thoroughly cleans each part before even slicing them. I could not say the same for the others though. Calderetang kambing is also yummy but this is a common enough fare in Filipino restaurants. Another in-demand food in Kambingderya is his Sinampalukang Kambing.

Had enough? There’s still more! Do you know that frogs or palaka is delicious whether you cook it adobo style, or fried? Want to try any of these?