Hearing about Svelty’s siomai adventure and Bea’s suggestions for a blog for beginner’s cookery gave me several ideas for this entry.

First, tips on storing vegetables bought in bulk. Ideally, fresh produce is best bought on the day it is to be cooked. However, this is not always practical unless you have a green grocer outside your doorstep. It is always economical, financially and effort-wise, to go to the market at most only once a week. Fresh produce can be stored in the refrigerator. To avoid spoilage, keep tomatoes, lemons and other small items in plastic containers lined with old newspaper. Larger items (cucumbers, carrots, capsicum) and leafy greens such as cabbage, celery and lettuce should also be wrapped in newsprint before storing in the crisper. The refrigerator’s cold moisture is what keeps food fresh but if saturated, it is what hastens spoilage. The wrapping should be changed as it gets soaked.

Second, some rules of thumb when cooking vegetables is that they should only be rinsed briefly, to preserve vitamins and minerals. The same rule is applied to cooking. They should not be boiled “to death” but remain crisp when served. When cooking, turn off fire 2-3 minutes before the vegetables are actually done. The remaining heat from the stove and cooking vessel will be enough to cook the dish.

Since Svelty wanted a recipe with bean sprouts (togue), I thought the one below would be appropriate. I found it years ago in one of my mother’s cookbooks, Eat Better Live Better published by Reader’s Digest, hence the exact proportions.

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Sorry Minnette, I was so successful in avoiding your food blog, I totally forgot to mention it in a previous entry. I made the necessary correction.

To those who don’t know, I am an avid reader of food blogs, which definitely include Minnette’s. However, I only read Lafang List once or twice a week if I can help it because it’s detrimental to my diet. What makes it different from the other food blogs and so bad is that Minnette can make even instant, if not junk food, seem so enticing! Imagine my stomach grumbling after reading her entry on instant noodles and I think it was just after lunch!

Anyway, here’s my first instalment on requested recipes. As Lars and I were chatting last night, it struck me how enthusiastic she was about learning how to cook. It was almost like the joy of a child! However, there were things I took for granted and were misinterpreted by the novice cook, e.g. the raw onion in mashed potatoes almost-catastrophe, hehehe!

So, in an attempt to make life easier for dear Svelty, I’ll simplify the first recipe. It’s almost child’s play and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. When I gave similar instructions for a friend who was taking his fellowship in Bonn, I told him I won’t include my usual complicated instructions in proportioning spices according to the senses, though I believe those are essential in achieving the right balance to taste. The proportions I indicated in the recipe are just approximations of the average. Personally I am very extravagant with the use of spices. If there are no measurements specified, it means one can use as much as wished. Therefore, dear Svelty the experimenter, use your own judgement. If at first attempt, it doesn’t taste the way you want it, then good luck next try!

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My alagang Benette wrote the following on her blog:

“…if you were stranded on a deserted island, you would want these three people with you…
I can only think of two:

1. My bestfriend Zagu because it wouldn’t be boring at all. Even if it’d take ages for a rescue team to arrive, we’d have fun sketching on barks and leaves, weaving stories with silly plots and etc.
2. Atchi Karen — she’s HANDY to have around (LOL). She’d make sure the bayawak is cooked gourmet-style, and that I eat it, too. Also, she would never permit me to succumb to uncivilized / barbaric tendencies such as, cook my fish without any wild herb to flavor it. She’d also probably be the only one who would know what to do.”

Hmmm… do I really have such a reputation?

Note: a bayawak is a monitor lizard the Varanus salvator and its varieties. For the record, I have never eaten such a creature but if circumstances call for it, why not? I am Kapampangan after all, can skin a grenouille (tugak) in one go, cook escargots (susu) and eat them with finesse, hehehe! And one just has to taste the camaru (mole cricket) cooked adobo-style then sauteed! Hmmm… no wonder my alaga and some friends think my palate “exotic”.

And yes, I do eat balut, with relish!