Hello everyone!
It's summer which means (hopefully) the return of consistent blogging. But per our disclaimer at the beginning of this blog, we cannot promise consistency in something as fickle as a random hobby we happened to pick up last summer.
June 12th is Philippine Independence Day (one of many celebrations of the archipelago throwing off the shackles of various colonizing nations and rallying to stand on their own. And that is the extent of my political-related comments for the day.
Filipino Independence Facts you might not be aware of (by a fairly reputable source.) ;)
While we are behind in celebrations here in the U.S. I did make monggo (mung) beans and rice for lunch. Monggo beans with pork pieces (which I could have used to make adobo, because adobo is AWESOME, - but that's another post)
-- plenty of onions, garlic, ginger, patis (Filipino fish sauce), bay leaves and silver swan (that's soy sauce) cooked until they become thick and tender is one of those dishes that looks likes the prisoner gruel on a sci-fi movie but actually tastes pretty awesome.
Spooned over steaming fresh rice from the rice cooker (at my parents we are very healthy and eat brown rice, but I'm a sucker for a good pot of sticky white rice) this is a perfectly satisfying meal, even on a hot summer day. Even though, I suppose you wouldn't HAVE to have rice. But that's weird. Why would you have a meal without rice?
"I eat the same foods almost every day. I have my favorites like Filipino beef broth, chicken soup with lots and lots of rice."
Mung Beans are these little hard green beans/peas? (I'm too lazy to go look up the actual designation) that are most often seen sprouted. That's right, when you see "bean sprouts" that's what you're looking at. You can make your own with the help of a large jar (mason or not), some cheap cheesecloth, a rubberband, and a dark and scary corner.
Bean Sprouts are also essential to the crunch of my favorite lumpia recipe, which is one of the many reasons I didn't make lumpia for lunch. The others being that lumpia (like most really tasty deep-fried-crunchy things takes a lot of time to prepare with the cooking, and the mincing, and the rolling of finicky wrappers. And I wasn't feeling that motivated yet on my summer break. I know, I know, total lack of Pinay Pride there. But now that I'm talking about it, I might be motivated over the weekend, and then I could *gasp, horror* Freeze Them for later usage. mmmhmmm Lumpia.
Lumpia Preparation looks something like this.
This Chicago Blogger created a great piece on the enormity of preparing lumpia, but the awesome payout at the end.
There was also calamansi concentrate for the water, but no Halo - Halo for dessert. Sadness.
Calamansi, the adorable little orange-limes ubiquitous all over the PH, but nearly impossible to find stateside outside of heavily Pinoy areas (read: California, Houston) add this very distinctive tang to everything from juice to squeezed over any dish you'd want citrus with.
Like many Asian food cultures, Filipinos like a balanced of sour, salty, sweet, and bitter. Well, not even so much a balance, but an explosion of all these things. Calamansis are about the size of key lime, and can turn yellowish/orange when REALLY ripe. They are always a bit tart though, like crossing a key lime with a... little bitter orange. I miss them. A lot.
I have scoured the internets for a miniature tree only to find the "calamondin" plant that is somewhat related but not exactly the same thing. So if anyone who is reading this and knows of a super secret supplier - contact me posthaste! Oh, the suffering!
Halo- Halo. It's just... well I've spoken about it's joys before.
I would love some Halo Halo, except that I don't have any of the ingredients. Well, I have some sweetened condensed milk and some sweet corn, but I think... maybe not so much? Halo Halo is perfect on a hot, muggy day as illustrated by the comedic genius that is Mikey Bustos in his Halo Halo song.
Not all Halo Halo experiences are like Mikey's (or at least I hope not or my LG Tamra might not go get Halo Halo with me this summer in Chicago...)
In other generally exciting news:
Here's a great Buzzfeed list about all the things people love about being Filipino. Yes, I'm just stealing content someone else made because I lost my train of thought.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/isabellelaureta/mabuhay-ang-kalayaan#.sk79naz7X
It's summer which means (hopefully) the return of consistent blogging. But per our disclaimer at the beginning of this blog, we cannot promise consistency in something as fickle as a random hobby we happened to pick up last summer.
 |
| Photo Credit: http://malacanang.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/Flag-Days-June-10-2013.png |
June 12th is Philippine Independence Day (one of many celebrations of the archipelago throwing off the shackles of various colonizing nations and rallying to stand on their own. And that is the extent of my political-related comments for the day.
Filipino Independence Facts you might not be aware of (by a fairly reputable source.) ;)
While we are behind in celebrations here in the U.S. I did make monggo (mung) beans and rice for lunch. Monggo beans with pork pieces (which I could have used to make adobo, because adobo is AWESOME, - but that's another post)
-- plenty of onions, garlic, ginger, patis (Filipino fish sauce), bay leaves and silver swan (that's soy sauce) cooked until they become thick and tender is one of those dishes that looks likes the prisoner gruel on a sci-fi movie but actually tastes pretty awesome.
Spooned over steaming fresh rice from the rice cooker (at my parents we are very healthy and eat brown rice, but I'm a sucker for a good pot of sticky white rice) this is a perfectly satisfying meal, even on a hot summer day. Even though, I suppose you wouldn't HAVE to have rice. But that's weird. Why would you have a meal without rice?
"I eat the same foods almost every day. I have my favorites like Filipino beef broth, chicken soup with lots and lots of rice."
Mung Beans are these little hard green beans/peas? (I'm too lazy to go look up the actual designation) that are most often seen sprouted. That's right, when you see "bean sprouts" that's what you're looking at. You can make your own with the help of a large jar (mason or not), some cheap cheesecloth, a rubberband, and a dark and scary corner.
Bean Sprouts are also essential to the crunch of my favorite lumpia recipe, which is one of the many reasons I didn't make lumpia for lunch. The others being that lumpia (like most really tasty deep-fried-crunchy things takes a lot of time to prepare with the cooking, and the mincing, and the rolling of finicky wrappers. And I wasn't feeling that motivated yet on my summer break. I know, I know, total lack of Pinay Pride there. But now that I'm talking about it, I might be motivated over the weekend, and then I could *gasp, horror* Freeze Them for later usage. mmmhmmm Lumpia.
Lumpia Preparation looks something like this.
 |
| Photo Credit: This is How We Roll...Lumpia Party! |
This Chicago Blogger created a great piece on the enormity of preparing lumpia, but the awesome payout at the end.
There was also calamansi concentrate for the water, but no Halo - Halo for dessert. Sadness.
 |
| Photo credit: http://www.perfumy.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/calamansi.jpg |
Like many Asian food cultures, Filipinos like a balanced of sour, salty, sweet, and bitter. Well, not even so much a balance, but an explosion of all these things. Calamansis are about the size of key lime, and can turn yellowish/orange when REALLY ripe. They are always a bit tart though, like crossing a key lime with a... little bitter orange. I miss them. A lot.
I have scoured the internets for a miniature tree only to find the "calamondin" plant that is somewhat related but not exactly the same thing. So if anyone who is reading this and knows of a super secret supplier - contact me posthaste! Oh, the suffering!
Halo- Halo. It's just... well I've spoken about it's joys before.
I would love some Halo Halo, except that I don't have any of the ingredients. Well, I have some sweetened condensed milk and some sweet corn, but I think... maybe not so much? Halo Halo is perfect on a hot, muggy day as illustrated by the comedic genius that is Mikey Bustos in his Halo Halo song.
Not all Halo Halo experiences are like Mikey's (or at least I hope not or my LG Tamra might not go get Halo Halo with me this summer in Chicago...)
In other generally exciting news:
Here's a great Buzzfeed list about all the things people love about being Filipino. Yes, I'm just stealing content someone else made because I lost my train of thought.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/isabellelaureta/mabuhay-ang-kalayaan#.sk79naz7X
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