I do my marketing on Fridays, so Thursdays usually find the fridge lacking some basic ingredients. Surveying the remains, I also get an idea what food items are currently in (or out of) favor — usually ours, but also likely the cook’s. This past week, for instance, we did not have chayote at all, or much cabbage; I only bought one of each and they’re still there.
But not for much longer. That’s the reality about life in the typical home kitchen — you make do. Seen that show where guest chefs try to make a dish from a basket of mystery ingredients? That’s what it feels like some days; it looks fun, but not if you do it often enough. Then it simply sucks. Some days I find myself dreading what I would find when I open the fridge. Sometimes I don’t even bother and just reach for some Spam. As often as not, though, I tell the cook it’s her problem.
I forget. She’s used to this, taking over the kitchen when conditions are far from optimal. What problem? She marinates chopped pork ribs in a bit of fish sauce and sautées them with sliced ginger. Then she pours in three cups of water and lets it come to a simmer, checking pork for tenderness before adding sliced chayote, bamboo shoot, and spring onion, and lets cook until chayote is tender but still firm. She adjusts the seasoning, and, after a satisfied grunt, stirs in sliced (not shredded) cabbage, covers the pot, and turns off the heat.
So it’s not the most visually appealing dish to have graced our table. Appearance aside, it’s mighty fine soup: light, spiked with a bracing note of ginger and a faint hint of fish sauce. The vegetables, pale as they are, ground the dish with their medley of textures — the soft bite of chayote, crunch of bamboo, and the slight chewiness of half-cooked cabbage. Simply wonderful. Eaten on its own or with lots of rice, it’s the perfect dish to drive away the rainy day blues.
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