Two for the Road

A few weeks back, my husband surprised me with an invitation to spend a weekend at Tagaytay. This, I considered, was a major road trip.

Now if you know my hubby, you will just be as surprised.  For the longest time now, he would rather stay at home than go out and smell the gas fumes.   Traffic, weather conditions, house security— there was always a reason not to go out.

Reversal of Roles

My mother was opening cabinets in the kitchen.  It was still early in the morning and she was looking forward to her morning cup of coffee. But she needed to find the kettle to boil water in. There is a microwave oven that could easily heat up some water but my mother was afraid she might set my sister’s house on fire. Lately, it takes so little to make her anxious. And being in a kitchen that is not hers made her uneasy.

If not for the need to seek a second medical opinion in the States, my mother would be puttering around her kitchen in Cebu. She would have easily prepared her coffee by then.

For the duration of the visit, I was her companion. While my sister, M, and her husband, J, went off to work each day, having someone to spend the days with in a house not her own made the visit bearable for my mother.

Luckily, another sister, V, was available to drive for my mother during the days of her medical appointments.

Going to the Doctor

It also was a relief for her that she had someone to fill out the forms required before a medical examination can be conducted to validate results on tests she had done in Cebu. Lately, questionnaires, forms, and interviews intimidate my mother.

As we sat at the waiting room of the laboratory and at the doctor’s office, I could not help remembering the many times my mother accompanied me to the doctor’s office. I was and still am such a scaredy cat. There were countless times she held my hand when I had to be given a vaccine shot. There was also the time she flew in from Cebu to arrive at my bedside a few minutes before they wheeled me into the operating room. And how could I ever forget the scandalous time I screamed for her as I was in labor with my first child. Demanding “I want my mommy”.

Calmly my mother waited and when her name was called, she confidently walked into the doctor’s office knowing that she had two daughters who would be with her when the doctor explained her condition to her.

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The visit to the doctor happened almost a month ago. The doctor is optimistic that all will be well but there is need to monitor my mother’s health. Meanwhile, my mother is happily back in Cebu in familiar surroundings doing the things she loves.

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My mother may be getting more forgetful as the years go by. But there are some things she will never forget: the names of the people who owe her money; and, her skill at whipping up delicious dishes with the simplest of ingredients.

While in the States, I was her kitchen assistant. My task was to put out the chopping board, the knife, the ingredients and the pans. Once these were ready, she would begin and would rather I stayed a short distance away so as not to crowd her. I would only be called in when she needed for me to increase or decrease the heat of my sister’s range.

My mother allowing a sister to help her

Of the many dishes she prepared while we visited, the following soup is one that my siblings and I enjoy for the comfort and satisfaction it brought us --- not to mention the large amount of rice we end up consuming. Best paired with crispy fried budburon (Visayan) or galonggong (Tagalog) or scad (English).

Mother’s Pork Sinigang

1 kilo pork (preferably with bone—ribs would do fine) or 1 kilo chicken ( i prefer drumsticks and thighs)
1 lemon grass bulb
2 thumb-size ginger, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 jalapeno or sili pahaba or espada
2 bunches of spinach, washed
1-2 t Knorr sinigang mix (amount will depend on how sour you want your soup to be)
Salt and pepper

Place the meat, the lemon grass and ginger in a pot and add water to cover. After bringing to a quick boil, lower the fire to allow the water to simmer. Continue to cook until meat is tender. Remove and place in a bowl.

In the same pot, add a tablespoon of cooking oil and sauté the onion and garlic. Once done, return back the meat and the resulting broth. Add the jalapeno, some knorr sinigang mix and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the spinach and cover the pot to allow the steam to wilt the spinach for another 5-10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and once to your liking, transfer to a soup bowl.

Serve piping hot.

Pork Sinigang

Chicken Sinigang

When I 'm Sour-y

You meet one occasionally and unfortunately, you and I become one from time to time.

I am referring to sour-y persons. An encounter is enough to pucker up one's heart in grimace. And that's not all. Being one attracts the worse kind of vibes.

If you try this little experiment, you will see what I mean.

Pour out a little vinegar in a saucer.

Now place this saucer outside-- maybe in your garden or out in the open air.

I’d bet that the first visitor to your sour offering would be a fly. And I’d bet that at least 1 big fly will then drop by to take a sip or two.

I try to remember this experiment every time I find myself transformed into a saucer of vinegar-- snapping at people's simple inquiries or making snide remarks at someone's inadequacies.

And what good are sour-y persons anyway? Amazingly, I was able to think of an outstanding feature. These persons enable others to highlight and appreciate even more the sweeter things in life. For with the presence of ugliness, we know beauty; with the dark, we know the light. It stands without reason that meeting up with sour-y people, we know sweetness.

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Going back to the topic of sourness, my kamias tree is presently heavy with fruit-- again. Usually, I use kamias when making "Paksiw na Isda".



This time, after going through some of my recipe books for inspiration, I decided to try kamias instead of sampalok (tamarind) in my sinigang (sour soup) dishes. To my surprise, I found that the use of kamias highlighted the mingling of flavours in my sinigang broth. So the next time you are thinking of serving sinigang for lunch, substitute your tamarind sauce with kamias. It's so easy:

Wash about a cupful of kamias. Drop in a small saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the flame to create a simmer. After about 20 to 30 minutes, your kamias would be very tender. Now drain fruit of water and set the water aside. Mash each fruit through a fine sieve and add a spoonful of the water it was boiled in from time to time. You can then throw the pulp and the resulting sauce is what you can then add to your soup-- same way you process with sampalok.

You are sure to get a smile out of anyone trying your sour soup.