I try to keep an open mind about ingredients that normally don’t appeal to me. Litób (blood cockles), okra, alugbati (Malabar/vine spinach): they’re slimy, a texture I am averse to. Still, I try to find ways of cooking them that minimizes that undesirable aspect. Failing that, as with litób — eh, too bad; at least I gave it a shot.
I stand corrected. Just last week I pointed out to a restaurant server that their “baby” green beans were, in fact, haricots verts or French green beans. I had imagined they would be baby Baguio beans, which is how we call the more common green beans. Now I’m glad that the waitress did not know any better.
Thai cucumber salad presents wonderfully, but I must admit I have never really taken a shine to it. I love cucumber and I love chili. Together, however, I find that the latter dominates. When garnished with peanuts, well, I come close to hating the dish.
Passionfruit — yes, that’s what these are. I am in no mood for toying around, so I will go right out and say that this variety produces the largest fruit of all passionfruit species, is more acidic, and elongated rather than round. It turns yellow when ripe.
How can something so easy taste so good? As you can see, I am not a little enamored with spring onion sauce, which I hesitate to call “sublime” because, like any good condiment, its magic only becomes apparent when paired with something savory.
My back’s acting up again, but I could not help myself. The mud crabs, see, they looked to go perfectly with the spring onion sauce that I served alongside grilled trevally the other day. And I was right too. Oh so painfully right.
I have been busy this week. Between baking (bread) and cooking (mostly sauces) for an upcoming party, I had somehow forgotten about the atchara (pickles) I had made from heart of coconut palm. A search for mustard (in case you want to know, I always put some in my Bolognese, the difference that it makes only apparent to me, it seems) led me to the recessed bottom shelf of the refrigerator door, and there they both had sat.
For someone who can not wrap a decent spring roll, I sure had the audacity to take on fresh lumpia. Yep — including making wrapper from scratch. Can you tell that that did not go well at all?
I admit I do not eat enough greens. My mother and I are both on blood thinners, hers more aggressive than mine, so much so that her doctor has forbidden her from consuming green, leafy vegetables. Coupled with my father’s aversion to all but a few kinds of seafood, it limits my marketing choices considerably.
