This was another IMBB of many options. So many noodle dishes, so little time!

For this month’s theme, Amy chose Use Your Noodle to make us think and improvise around a food article beloved the world over. I am already looking forward to reading the other entries during the round-up.

It is still cold even in this tropical country. There are nights when one wishes for a nice steaming bowl of something, anything to keep down the chill. Oh the possibilities one can think of! But then a hearty noodle soup was right up there on top of the list!

Although it wasn’t easy choosing my entry for the month, I knew I wanted something I haven’t had for sometime like mami (pronounced ‘mah-mee’). This is a noodle dish innovated by a migrant Chinese entrepreneur who started out very humbly in the late 1900s then was so successful he was able to build up a chain of eateries in Manila. In fact, the word mami is a combination of his name, Ma Mon Luk and the word for noodle - mi. Kirk over at mmm-yoso!!! has even had an encounter with his descendants in the US and writes about it in Asian Noodles - I Want My Mami. What Ma Mon Luk pioneered has since then become very popular and can now be found almost everywhere - from respectable restaurants, makeshift eateries and even as street food!

Read the rest of this entry »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

The heartiest of appetites are brought on by rainy days - that’s what I notice. Almost anything tastes good. Freshly steamed rice with tuyo (dried salted fish, usually sardines) dipped in very spicy vinegar, bibingka, fish escabeche - all these and a lot more are perfect when the skies are pouring. At home, all sorts of soups make their appearance.

One of the most favoured is a soup made from tinapa (smoked fish) in a tomato base. Originally, it is called sabo tinapa-culut apalya but since I couldn’t find culut (culatding in Tagalog - thanks Maricel!) - the tendrils and very small leaves occuring in clumps and only emerge after harvesting the bitter gourd (ampalaya in Tagalog - Momordica charantia) - I had to settle for the regular bulung which means dahon in Tagalog and leaves in English.

If culut is used, the leaves are placed into the soup upon serving it on the table, just before eating. If regular leaves are used however, these are dropped into the pot to cook slightly. Since the leaves are still somewhat fresh when eaten, there is no bitter taste. However, if they are left to steep in the soup for a long time, the bitter taste then comes out. For many Kapampangans however, it is this taste which is sought after. We love spicy, sweet, sour and bitter in our food. And apalya is not worthy of its name if it is not bitter. In our family, much as we love this soup freshly cooked, we also like it the day after, when the taste of the leaves have flavoured the broth. Re-heated once or twice, it is a balm to the body and soul, especially on a rainy day.
Read the rest of this entry »