One of the reasons I so love digging for old recipes is the joy I derive out of discovering new tastes. Or should I say old tastes that are so new to me, the child of the convenience food generation. One of the old-new dishes that I have had recently is cooked out of the whole garlic plant (Allium sativum).

I didn’t realise young garlic bulbs were cooked until my mother brought home a huge bunch from the marketplace and said we were having something my grandmother cooked often. I don’t remember having tasted anything like it, and since I was the kitchen assistant – meaning, in charge of chopping and slicing – it might mean she cooked this way before I was capable of kitchen duty. According to my mother, it was more likely that Lola cooked it way before I was born because she doesn’t remember having had it in at least three decades.

The Western recipes that I have perused only use garlic bulbs while Eastern cuisine utilise garlic leaves. Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian recipes very often make use of garlic leaves. The recipe that follows is distinctly Asian, with the use of tofu clearly showing Chinese influence.

Alpa is the generic Capampangan term for sautéed vegetables, usually without vinegar. The Tagalog equivalent would be ginisang gulay. A fast and easy way to utilise vegetables, alpa is everyday food and evokes many warm memories for many Capampangans.

Alpang Bauang
4 pcs. tokua (tofu)
1 cup shrimps, shelled
1 cup shrimp extract (sabo paro)
1 head garlic, crushed finely
2 medium onions, sliced thinly
2 bunches whole young garlic plants
5 tbsp. cooking oil
salt to taste

Clean the garlic plants. Make sure the bulbs are washed well. Cut off the bulbs from the leaves. Slice the bulbs thinly. Slice the leaves (one-inch long) and place in a separate container. At this point, do not mix the bulbs with the leaves.

Fry tokua squares in hot cooking oil. Lightly brown all sides. Cool then slice into cubes. Set aside.

Reduce cooking oil in frying pan to around 1 tablespoon. Re-heat then sauté garlic till golden brown. Add onions and fry till transparent. Add the shrimps and cook till reddish-brown then pour the shrimp extract and about half a teaspoon of salt. Let it simmer till reduced in half.

Stir in the thinly sliced garlic bulbs. Let the mixture simmer for around three minutes then add the garlic leaves. Again, simmer the mixture till the leaves are tender. Add more salt if desired. Then add the sliced tokua. Stir gently, cover the pan and lower the heat. Turn off heat after three minutes.