IMBB 19: Sabo Culubasa (I Can’t Believe I Ate Vegan!)
IMBB?, Soup, Veggie Delights September 27th, 2005
Sam at Becks & Posh is hosting this month’s edition of Is My Blog Burning? with the theme I Can’t Believe I Ate Vegan! Much as turning vegan has never entered my mind - I’m too much of an ecology empiricist - I have to admit it wouldn’t be such a radical change in lifestyle if I decided to. I grew up in a very traditional household, culinary-wise. This means we ate rice, mostly fish and vegetables on regular days. Since I am a vegetable lover, I later found myself experimenting with all-vegetable meals.
Modesty aside, my dishes have always been successful that even avowed carnivores and vegetable haters have eaten them with gusto. Vegan is but a step further. One of Sam’s stipulations is “conjure up some Vegan food so fantastic that anyone who eats it won’t even be the slightest bit aware that absolutely no animal-derived produce has passed their lips.” A big problem since almost everyone I know doesn’t have qualms about eating vegan. They just don’t call it that. This is Asia after all.
My first offering is something which we have on a regular basis. Sabo culubasa or squash soup can either be eaten on its own as a light snack, with a sandwich or as part of a full meal. It uses very few ingredients which are available almost anywhere. Cooking it is also very simple that an eight-year old child can accomplish it.
Squash soup
1 small or half of a medium squash (buttercup, acorn or similar)
1 head garlic, crushed roughly
2 small-medium onions, sliced thinly
spinach, desired amount
salt to taste
ground black pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon vegetable cooking oil
3-4 cups water
The squash used should not be very mature. Scrub it well and slice into thin pieces, including the skin. Set aside.
In a shallow pot, heat the oil then saute garlic till just about fragrant - guisang sagiwa or literally a raw saute. Before the garlic browns, add the onions and caramelise. Put in the squash and cover for around five minutes as its natural juices come out. Pour half a cup of water and a pinch of salt. Simmer till very tender, adding small amounts of water to make sure the mixture does not dry up.
From here, we can proceed in one of two ways. One is to take out all the slices of squash and puree them in a food processor or strainer. The othe way is to just leave them simmering and mash them with a ladle. Sometimes I prefer the first method, if I feel like having a creamy soup. Now and then I go for the second, when I like it to be more chunky.
After pureeing/mashing to desired consistency, return the squash to the pot and bring to boil. Add a bit more salt and black pepper if desired. Add the spinach and let boil for three minutes or so.
For a creamy non-vegan treat, add milk on the bowl just before serving.
Thank you for hosting, Sam. Oh, I still have another entry coming up! Watch out tonight!
Next: Spicy Tofu
By the way, the deadline for the second edition of Lasang Pinoy is in two days (29 September). Head to Celia Kusinera’s English Patis for details of Cooking Up a Storm! We hope to have you join us!
Update: Sam’s three-part round-up is already online - Starters, Soups, Snacks & Sandwiches; The Main Course; and Desserts, Baked Goodies and Sweet Somethings.
September 27th, 2005 at 3:26 pm
Looks good Karen! I love squash soup…What’s an “ecology empiricist”? I may be one myself…heehee
September 28th, 2005 at 12:29 am
It’s almost cool enough for having many more soups and I love the addition of squash. I hope to make this one at some point as it looks very good!
September 28th, 2005 at 3:18 am
This sounds like the perfect thing for the approaching Autumn. I love soups and I could eat them every day quite happily. Unfortunately my boyfriend can’t be persuaded of the benefits of such a menu. He likes cream in his soups which ruins the healthy aspect.
I am wondering about the meaning of ecology empiricist too.
Thanks for taking part in IMBB # 19
Sam
September 28th, 2005 at 6:05 am
Wow, a Joey and a Joe one after the other - of course the Joey’s a pretty lady who’s just back from Egypt- the lucky girl! And the gentleman Joe lives in the desert, but not in Egypt!
Then Sam is the lady who is not from the desert but is also a lucky lady with a gentleman like Fred… Hehe, I should stop my foolishness.
Hmmm… I just made up the term ecology empiricist because I couldn’t find the right words that denote where I stand vis-a-vis how I feel about the different strains of ecology and the environment. Although I respect those who espouse the more radical variants for being true advocates, I also have reservations about how they go overboard at times. More often than not, I sense this comes from a superficial understanding of science, and I have even heard of some who scoff at science and its tedious methods. In trying to articulate and understand the natural world, they mix their disciplines.
I know I’ll make a lot of enemies here but I’ll dare say that some of the advocacies that get much funding are all vigour with almost no rigour. This is actually the Achilles heel of the sustainable development movement.
I will not have myself cursed with seven plagues by going into details but I’ll just say that human evolution has designed us to be omnivores, under normal circumstances. A perusal of the food web and human morphology gives evidence to that assertion.
Of course, I won’t get into the issue of the ecology dialectic (thesis - anti-thesis - synthesis) which often gives rise to movements such as veganism. With all the things that I’ve said, I think I’ve made enough enemies to last me three lifetimes. It might also give the unsuspecting reader indigestion and that’s contrary to the objectives of this blog.
September 29th, 2005 at 1:15 am
Karen! I can’t believe it! I really don’t know much about the scientific background of it all but I have always referred to myself an omnivore! Wow…thanks for the backgrounder
September 30th, 2005 at 4:12 am
LOL. Karen, you should put all that in your “About” section. Kudos from another omnivore:D
September 30th, 2005 at 9:27 am
Joey, one need not know much of the scientific background as long as there’s no pretension of knowing more than others, right? Hehehe!
Stef, hehehe! I was vague on purpose otherwise I’ll end up a league of enemies. Putting it on the ‘About Me’ section will might do just that.
October 1st, 2005 at 10:23 am
hi karen! i think one of the reasons that veganism isn’t such a foreign concept to us is because we grew up in families that were highly influenced by a)rural life, b)WW2 and post-war life, and c)frugality. our families ate a lot of veggies because they couldn’t afford meat, so they made the best of it. eventually it became a part of our culinary vernacular, not a thing of exoticism. i have to laugh at the irony when my western friends tell me why they’ve switched to veganism, because although i admire and even espouse many of their reasons, i think to myself that a lot of filipinos are vegan because they are effing poor….
October 2nd, 2005 at 8:55 am
Correct Ate! But what’s interesting is that even with old rich families, meat was not served everyday. It may be part of a vegetable dish, like panggisa but that was about it.
I remember my grandmother telling my brother that eating meat daily would make him sick, his wounds (child’s scraped knees, etc.) will heal very slowly.
What I notice on my own, if I eat pork three days in a row, I get acidic.