Most Sought-After Pilipino Foods Part 1

 PANSIT LUGLOG. Fresh or dried bihon (thin noodles) cooked in a thick reddish sauce. Luglog means to cook by immersing in boiling water or broth with the use of (originally) a woven rattan ladle with a long handle. The noodles are immersed in the liquid (linuluglog). When lifted, the broth or water simply drips through. Also known as pansit palabok. Eaten with patis and kalamansi.

PALABOK is its thick red sauce that is poured on the noodles and garnished with hard boiled eggs and halved, boiled shrimps. (Palabok also means flowery flattering speech, meant to entice).

 PANSIT MALABON. Same as above but uses fat miki noodles. Poured on top, the palabok is topped with boiled (preferably duck) egg slices, halved shrimps, (originally) slices of kamias, kinchay and maybe a sprinkling of ground chicharon.

The best pansit Malabon is allegedly that of Rosy's. The eatery is located in the part of Malabon that floods during high tide, so that you have to sit on a stool with your feet in the water. Today it has many Manila branches.




 PANSIT LANGLANG is a soup consisting of sotanghon or glass noodles with bits of chicken and tasty tengang daga (rats' ears) mushrooms. May also be served dry.

PANSIT BIHON OR PANSIT MIKI GISADO. Normal pansit known to anyone who has sworn allegiance to the Philippine flag.

PANSIT HABHAB. Unadorned miki and sayote noodles sauteed in pork fat. It is served up on a small square of banana leaf to fit one's palm and is directly brought to the mouth (hence habhab). A Lukban snack.
 
PORK FAT and CHICHARON. Pork fat is revered by "wa-care" Filipino gourmands who insist that anything fried in it tastes better. These heathens are also adorers of pork chicharon (with a slab of fat) and chicharong bulaklak made of the intestines of the pig pulled inside-out to resemble wood roses. The inferior tito or small intestine are also made into just-as-deadly cracklings. All dipped in vinegar with garlic or sili (sarap!)

LECHON or LITSON. A good lechon should have meat that is evenly and fully cooked, tender and dry. The skin should be crisp from ears to tail (but is often not). The lechon preferred by party givers is lechon de leche, the month-old piglet mercilessly plucked from its mother's breast which socialites feast on without mercy.
The best weight for a good party lechon is allegedly 30 pounds. Its best diet is vegetarian-bran, kangkong or kamote leaves-not kitchen scraps or store-brought feeds with antibiotic. The simplest lechon stuffing is banana leaves, which keeps the inside moist so that the pig cooks thoroughly. Young sampalok or alibangbang leaves are also popular stuffing as they impart their sourness to the meat and neutralize the greasiness.
Some prefer to stuff the stomach cavity with brown upland rice or even malagkit rice, which swims in lard as the pig roasts. Others insist on a kind of turkey or chicken stuffing, therefore bread dough. The truly perverse fill their lechon with paella or stuff it with a whole chicken.
Warning: One of two people who split a baby lechon between them for dinner, died of high blood the same night.

LECHON SAUCE. The Batangas type is the most popular Tagalog version. It is pork liver boiled and pounded to a paste, mixed with vinegar, sugar and herbs and thickened with biscocho bread crumbs. Mang Tomas has grown rich from bottling this lechon sauce.
The Pampanga lechon sauce tends to be sweeter, the Bicol, sourer.
The Cebu-Leyte lechon has no sauce. Its stuffing is a lot of pepper, shallots, leeks and lemongrass, a stuffing that makes the animal tasty by itself. The Cebu lechon has made its presence felt in Manila where it is flown upon order.

RELYENO AND GALANTINA must not be confused. Both are deboned stuffed chickens. Relyeno is the whole chicken, drumsticks and wings showing, galantina is rolled, with deboned wings tucked inside. Relyeno is brown-roasted in the oven, galantina is boiled and more bland. Galantina filling includes, aside from ground pork and chicken, hard-boiled eggs, Vienna sausage, maybe ham, green olives stuffed with pimiento, and carrots. The basic filling of relyeno is spicier, with ham, pork sausage, chorizo de Bilbao and raisins (no eggs).

DINENGDENG or INABRAW, a salubrious soupy vegetable dish of Ilocos Norte made from fresh veggies picked from the backyard (one's own or the neighbor's). It may include any of the following: bamboo shoots, malunggay, himbabao, lima beans, patola, mashed kamote, squash leaves, string beans, eggplants and saluyot with broiled fish or shrimps put into the kettle before the greens.
An Ilocano teacher said: The Lord ascended into heaven in order to scatter the seeds of saluyot for the poor Ilocanos to eat.
Saluyot is a weed (slimy when cooked) which is never cultivated but grows wantonly when it rains. Its consumption was once regarded with amazement by botanists and other ethnic groups like Manilans.

Ampalaya. Why is the ampalaya wrinkled? Says artist Romeo Lee, because it is the only vegetable that was not included in Bahay Kubo! It is the signature vegetable of pinakbet. The miniature ampalaya is probably the best symbol for how the Ilocano turns a disadvantage into an advantage. Originally eaten by the farmer because it is a reject, the small aborted ampalaya is now the sought-after size, ideal for pinakbet.

PINAPAITAN. Early in the Spanish times, the ship of the English freebooter Thomas Cavendish was moored off Fuga Island. He had captured some Ilocanos to help him on board. From the shore came natives rowing bancas with foodstuffs to sell, including a goat.
The sailors decided to buy the goat and they slaughtered it on deck, throwing all the intestines into the sea. The Ilocano assistants were not about to let all that lovely laman-loob go down and dived for the treasure. This is followed by a description of the natives cooking the innards, including its bile, into what the poor chronicler could only describe as "a disgusting mess." This is the first mention in Blair and Robertson of pinapaitan.
Pinapaitan is a bitter dish of goat meat and offals or chopped intestines, mixed with papait which comes from digested grass in the stomach of the goat. Pinapaitan dishes include the half-cooked Ilocano kilawen and the almost-raw imbaliktad. With every purchase of meat specifically for pinapaitan, the vendor throws in the attendant bile for free.

KALDERETA is a goat stew with a rich red sauce consisting of canned tomato sauce, ground liver, red hot chilis, bell peppers, a grated ball of cheese and green olives simmered in the caldron for over an hour.

ITLOG NA PULA (red egg) or ITLOG NA MAALAT. We're probably the only nation that colors its salted egg red.

BIBINGKANG LALAKI. In the province, I stood in line behind a little girl who had ordered a "bibingkang lalaki." I soon find out that it was simply bibingka with eggs. (Logical.)

QUEK QUEK is a hard-boiled chicken egg dipped in bright-orange batter and fried. Sold on busy sidewalks.

BIKO; KALAMAY-HATI; SINUKMANI (Laguna) all refer to the same sticky rice delicacy.

KESONG PUTI; KESONG LAGUNA. Same-same

HOPIANG MONGO and HOPIANG BABOY. Hopiang mongo has black or yellow mung bean filling, sometimes mixed with kamote. Hopiang baboy has no baboy filling, only kundol, but it is fried in pork fat. Hopiang mongo hyped up with lots of nuts and salted egg becomes mooncake that has a box and sometimes costs as much as P500 each.

TURO-TURO, CARINDERIA, CAFETERIA, FAST FOOD are all the same.

Couple Stories: The Eye

My mom had only one eye. I hated her... She was such an embarrassment.. My mom ran a small shop
at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell... Anything for the money we needed.

She was such an embarressment. There was this one day during elementary school.. It was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarressed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school... "your mom only has one eye?!?!" .. and they taunted me. I wished that my mom would just dissappear from this world so I said to my mom, "Mom.. why dont you have the other eye?! If you're only gonna make me a laughingstock, why dont you just die?!!!" My mom did not respond.. I guess i felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that i had said what I'd wanted to say all this time.. Maybe it was because my mom hadn't punished me, but I didnt think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

That night... I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so
quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, then turned away. Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that i would grow up and become successful. Cause I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty..

Then I studied real hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too.. Now i'm living happily as a successful man.  I like it here because it's a place that doesn't remind me of my mom.

This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when.. what?! who's this?! ...it was my mother... ..Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom's eye. and I asked her, "who are you?!" "i dont know you!!!" as if trying to make that real. I screamed at her," how dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!" "GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" and to this, my mother quietly answered, "oh, i'm so sorry. i may have gotten the wrong address," And she dissappeared out of sight. Thank goodness... she doesn't recognize me.. I was quite relieved. I told myself that i wasn't going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life. Then a wave of relief came upon me...

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. so, lying to my wife that I was going on a business trip, I went. After the reunion,  I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house...Just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. but I did not shed a single tear.

She had a piece of paper in her hand.... it was a letter to me. my son... I think my life has been long enough now.. and... I won't visit Seoul anymore... but would it be too much to ask if i wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much.. And i was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. but I decided not to go to the school. ...for you... and I'm sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarressment for you. You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mom, i couldnt stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... so I gave you mine... I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did.. the couple times that you were angry with me,.. I thought to myself, 'it's because he loves me..' my son... oh, my son... I dont want you to cry for me, because of my death. please don't cry.... my son, I love you so much..

Couple Stories: Her Last Request

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.
She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?
I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.
She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

5-Star Movie!: Every Child is Special

I have no words to express how i felt while watching this movie. I must have cried at least 5 times during the movie. Forgive me for being a cry-baby but it was so touching that anyone could easily burst out!

To start with, Taare Zameen Par is a must-watch movie. It just not told you that every child is special, it also leads you to think (and this is why I rate it as top-notch movie) the pressure building upon young generation by their so called parents, relatives, teachers and all.

The movie deals with a boy suffering from dyslexia. As a dyslexic child, the boy has difficulties in reading, writing and understanding letters, words and sentences. His world is fill with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colors & shapes that are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks and neatness. And the boy just cannot seem to get anything right in class. For that, he gets punished by his parents, teachers, and friends. Later in the movie, The parents being as traditional parents are not ready to accept his deformity. The boy is sent to a boarding school where all his hopes, passion & imagination died. When everything is down, ‘the angel’ show up to the screen, his art teacher. It is then that how his teacher bring back the boy’s lost creativity and the boy rises above all odds to face this ‘cruel’ world.

Watching this movie should be an eye opener to all parents about the kind of pressure the education system puts on young kids. Being a topper and doing extremely well in academics is not everything in life. It should also open the eye of schools to kids with learning problems and they should not be confused with kids who have psychological problems.

Hats off to the director too. The screenplay is very nice. Story flows naturally and audience can identify the characters easily. There is a beautiful portrayal of emotions. The child actor Darsheel Safari depicts any normal naughty kid. An immaculate acting by such a small kid is praiseworthy. Cinematography is excellent and songs are appropriate to the situations. A movie which has a social message, is a replica of the society and (again) a must watch for everyone. It comes second after Slumdog Millionaire!

So what is the best thing about this movie? Unlike most big-budget-glamorous Bollywood/Hollywood flicks, this movie entertains you, and still makes you think. It carries a message that life is really not about getting the top grades and competing with others, don’t try stretching all the fingers..they might break! Sometimes in life, it is healhty to be slow and dumb