Or how to come up with something tasty even under pressure…

The Filipino sweet tooth is reflected in our cuisine – from a multitude of kakanin (usually rice-based snacks) to mouth-watering confections that leave everyone asking for more. There’s also the other side – how the popular palate demands to sweeten almost everything – even that which is supposedly not meant to. Established transnational companies have to come up with sweet versions of catsup and sauces for the Philippine market. A Japanese friend noticed how our Japanese restaurants serve good food up to her standards, except that it’s sweet and I didn’t even notice. We also horrify purists with our sweet spaghetti sauce. But then, each culture adapts imported food to its local conditions. Not even established food staples are spared a local interpretation. For commercial institutions most especially, what is of utmost importance is to satisfy their customers. Though not commercial in scope, I also had some satisfying to do two Sundays ago.

Late on a Saturday afternoon, I found myself having to do some cooking the following day even as I had to attend a godson’s first birthday party and fulfil previous commitments. If I hadn’t come home from the city the night before, it would have been easy to make excuses but right at that moment, I was in the centre of it all. I couldn’t refuse any task as they were of equal importance. My godson is the first child of one of my best friends, M, who’s also a classmate from kindergarten till high school. Only a matter of life and death, or extreme forgetfulness, could make me miss his party.

The cooking duty was mainly my own doing when I found out Sunday was also the little girl next door L’s fourth birthday. She is the only child of a couple my mom and aunt recently took in. More than just hired hands, they’re almost like relatives.
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It seems like this blog gets daily referrals from searches for a siomai recipe. To lessen the frustration, let me post a basic formula.

Steaming is an excellent method of food preparation since the hot vapour quickly cooks the food while retaining the flavour, colour and nutrients. A metal or bamboo steamer can be utilised though I personally prefer the latter. The vapour permeates the bamboo which gives the food a fine and thorough steaming compared to a metal steamer whose vapour is reduced to large drops of condensation which result in a bit soggy siomai (but that’s just me, the ever fastidious cook). I wonder though if lining the metal steamer with cheese cloth will give better results. One can also improvise with a rice cooker, a wire or expanding metal basket which will hold the food to be steamed above the water. The water should already be boiling before the food is placed in the steamer.

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This week and most of next will be very busy for me. Since I’ll be offline, I’m leaving two recipes, those I owe Catsudon and Svelte Rogue. I’m amused at how I do this even on my blog, for this is also how I am in real life. If I have to go somewhere for at least three days, I try to fill up the refrigerator as much as I can for those I leave at home. Oh, the habits that mark our lives!

And so we proceed. Both are meat recipes. I’m not including a vegetable recipe here because both dishes are best served with a fresh green salad, or at least with slices of cucumber and carrots. When proportions are not written, it means you can use as much or as little as you want. So goes the sensual cook!

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