Before I knew what swakî (collector urchin) looked or tasted like, I was already acquainted with its supposedly salutary effect on the male libido. “Pampa-utoooog!” we would bellow in reply to some ambulant vendor’s announcement. As a young boy, it never occurred to me that I would have any need of it.
In the previous post, I mentioned a recipe for ukoy by the late gourmet chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, and TV host Nora V. Daza. It was from A Culinary Life: Personal Recipe Collection (with Michaela Fenix, 1992), which I have only now started to read in earnest despite the fact that we have had the book for at least 20 years.
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.
For the last leg of a recent three-country Southeast Asian cruise, our ship anchored off Patong in Phuket, Thailand. Stepping ashore, I instantly regretted having signed up for the guided tour: I could have spent the time making the rounds of the food stands, restaurants, and bars along the beachfront and nearby Soi Bangla. Alas, our guide promptly whisked our group onto a bus and off we went.
Every Filipino student knows — or ought to — that colonial Spain governed us through Mexico. What we refer to as “Spanish influence” is in fact that which had been filtered through that outpost in the New World. Arguably, Filipino cuisine owes a lot to Mexico.* And yet when you ask the average Pinoy about Mexican food, the most likely answer is taco, or, if in a pinch, tequila (which counts as sustenance in my book).
“Ooooh,” Pa said over my shoulder. “Curry!”
Appearances deceive. The color was from achuete — half a pod’s worth of seeds. I had intended to make mussels in saffron cream, but from the initial substitution of annatto for saffron followed plain water for dry white wine, then coconut cream for heavy cream. At that point I should really have just added curry powder into the pot and justified my father’s excitement.
It was the day after Christmas and pickings were lean at the fish market, which made these creatures stand out all the more.
I got off on the wrong foot with miki. Also known as Shanghai noodles, they are made with wheat, enriched with egg, and are thicker than Canton. Because they are sold fresh, they tend to be salty — the better to preserve them — and so need to be rinsed and parboiled before further cooking, a step the cook might have missed on that occasion. Also, they reeked of piss (from food coloring, I assume; we used to run a bakery and I remember the smell quite well).
Traffic worsens whenever fish vendors make an impromptu market of the corner sidewalk in front of Andok’s. The area is at the heart of the commercial district. We parked the car in hazard mode, hoping the traffic aides would understand: it had been a good long while since we had seen bolináw.
