Star of the Sea

"Oh star of the sea keep burning bright..."

I went to a Catholic school for girls that was managed by Franciscan missionary nuns. For eleven years, from kindergarten to high school, this was my world.

The school grounds were huge. Upon entering the school gate, one had to drive thru a pine tree-lined road and rows of asosenas and rose bushes as one approached the L-shaped building. The school was a narrow three-storey building consisting of very long hallways.

I remember how during my elementary years, I would “skate” down the hallway in my white socks— with nary a thought on the extra work I would give to the laundry lady. And oh the thrill I would get from taking a walk at the back of the building to investigate the insects and frogs that lived in a thick bamboo grove.

I knew almost every nook and cranny of the school minus the nuns’ cloistered area. There was a closet under the stairwell where it was rumored that the nuns “aged” their habits to get that particular shade of ivory. The threat to be placed inside for misbehaving was every little girl’s nightmare.

During my high school years, there were more threats and thrills. The sisters kept a close watch on the lengths of our skirts, our hair styles and our eyebrows. Those were days when chunky boy shoes, rolled down socks and tiny brass bells were the in-thing. And how vividly I remember our Principal (Sr L) standing in the middle of the road to block the entrance of a motorcade consisting of several busloads of high school boys. I joined in with the rest of the girls screaming at Sr L to let the buses through.

Fun and crazy. An emotional rollercoaster ride of growing pains and joys shared with girls of different backgrounds and personalities. Of overnight stays at retreat house where wet toilet paper fights broke out and buckets of tears were shed during “bull sessions”. A shared time that bonded classmates together.

My high school batch was the last to graduate. The school had to close down because it could not manage to pay the real estate taxes on its huge land. The convent has since relocated to another area on the other side of the city.  With no school to go back to, there have been sporadic reunions arranged in other venues.  And as we continued to age, the desire to meet up more frequently became stronger.

Thus two weeks ago, after much search for each other – some with ease, some with hesitation, some involving travel of great distance— a dozen classmates came together once more in what could only be described as a riot of a reunion. Although time has managed to change our physical appearances, a strong connection still lives inside our 16 year old hearts.

Our hearts swelled with happiness as we spent time catching up with each other’s lives. And even if there were sad stories told – of separation, of death in the family, of health issues—just being in each other’s company gave everyone a natural high. Reconnection was complete.

Before we bid each other good-bye, we promised to get together more frequently in the coming years. In the final analysis, a lot of change have occurred in our lives but one thing remains constant— true friendship.

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Very recently, I was told that the school property was sold to a real estate developer. In a matter of time, our school will fade away like so many landmarks that have been replaced by condos, malls and call center buildings. But no matter.  The memories I have always make going back to Cebu a happy occasion.  In addition to my happy memories, there still remains a delicious array of delicacies and dishes that give me a sense of connection.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Steamed Fried Rice ( now served in many dimsum establishments but was exclusively served at Ding Haw Dimsum Revolving Restaurant)

Cebu Lechon (Sunday family lunch would not be complete without a kilo or two of lechon.... there's Luz, CnT, Rico's, ZuboChon, and many more outlets now)

Puso ( rice in a handy heart shape coconut leaf woven container). Where there is barbeque, there is puso.

Bibingka from Catmon, Rosquillos from Liloan, Tagaktak and Marreal from Mandaue, Ampao and Chicaron from Carcar (rice cake, a cookie with scalloped edges, triangular shaped fried sweeten rice noodle, peanut based delicacy, rice puff and pork crackling. Now available at most food carts in the mall)

hot bibingka

ampao, tagaktak, piniato, marreal, rosquillos etc.

Breakfast of corn grits, fried eggs, chorizo and tsokwate

Ngohiong- similar to a long spring roll but with a crunchy exterior and an ubod-singkamas based filling (used to be sold only at a rinky dinky canteen near San Jose Recolletos Universary but is sold almost everywhere—fastfood areas in malls and street food stalls)

Cebu breads and pastries: King Roll, Bohol, Elorde, Everlasting, Monay, Binankal, Darling, Sweetheart and much, much more.

The ultimate Cebuano treat: Sweet Mangoes paired with puto (steamed coconut and ginger flavored sticky rice) or budbud (same as puto but rolled up in banana leaves and steamed) AND tsokolate (thick chocolate drink whisked to perfection from hand-made chocolate tablets.

I yum Cebu-- the star of the Visayan sea!

Start with a Bam-i

Time does fly when one is having fun and the two years as a retiree has been all that I wanted and more. I have to say that life after 30-years of corporate work continues to get better. In the short time, I have gained more friends than wrinkles; and you my friends are more than enough reason for me to continue with my musings.

So what do I have "cooking" for such wonderful people at the start of a brand new year?!?! Why only the best that Cebuano cuisine can offer: I give you Bam-i. (Nope, this is not the Cebuano version of W. Disney's "Bambi".) Bam-i is a soupy noodle dish bursting with flavor that can only be described as "Lami kaayo!" (delicious) .

My first encounter with "Bam-i" was at my first Noche Buena (Christmas dinner) as a new member in my husband's family. There was the usual fare of ham and cheese and tsokolate. But in their home, Bam-i was the most welcomed treat. It's aroma and warmth was enough to drive the chills out of one's bones.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

The following recipe was taught to me by my mother-in-law. This recipe has been passed on from mother to daughter from one generation to the next. If you have done some cooking or messing around in the kitchen, you will know that a good cook does not relay on exact measurements. She (or he) uses her senses-- smell, taste, touch, sight and even hearing. Measurements are at best estimates or guide-- so trust your senses and let's begin.

Bam-i ni Mommy Janet

Ingredients:

1/2 k kasim
1 chicken breast
1 small onion, quartered
1 c shelled small shrimps
1c shredded dried squid-- the rounded one, not the elongated one
1/2 c tengga sa daga (mushroom)
1 small pack of miki (egg noodle)-- about 1/2 k
300 grams of sotanghon (glass noodle)
1 Knorr chicken cube
1 med. onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
some cooking oil
soy sauce and/or patis (fish sauce)
salt, pepper
green onions, sliced



Preparation:
First, you got to have a lot of soup stock. So boil the chicken and the pork in 5-6 cups of water with a small onion and a pinch of salt. Once the meat is tender; remove from stock and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred the chicken meat and cut the pork into thin strips.



Soak the mushroom in some water and when soften cut into strips as well.

Shell and de-vein the shrimps.

Ready the onion and the garlic by slicing them thinly.

Soak the sotanghon.

Cooking:
Saute the garlic, then the onion in a little oil. Follow this with the knorr cube, shrimps, the chicken and the pork. Add the squid and the mushroom. Then add enough stock to cover. Simmer over low flame until flavours have blended.



When serving time is almost near, add the miki and the sotanghon (drained of it's water) to the soup. Check that your soup does not dry out. If it does, add the reserve stock. Stir and season with the soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Serving:
Put this noodle soup in a pretty bowl and sprinkle sliced green onions on top. Serve with pride.

Tips:
• Knorr cubes may be omitted. Although these magic cubes does add the necessary kick (maybe because of the MSG).
• To have more stock on hand, you could boil some chicken back and neck pieces and reserve the resulting stock.
• To devein shrimp, after shelling slit the back and remove the black vein. This is the shrimp's intestine (yuk!)
• As you will realize at the end of the cooking experience, noodles tend to soak up the broth in which it has been placed in. So it is important to have on hand extra soup stock. To guarantee that this is a soupy dish and not some ordinary pancit guisado creation, do not add the noodles until close to serving time so that the noodles will not have time to soak up the stock.
• Use a scissors to cut the squid into match stick strips.
• You may increase, decrease or omit the amount of meat (pork, chicken, shrimps, squid) depending on your preference.



Here's hoping this soup warms up your spirit and jump starts your year in the right direction.

Healthy Option From My Garden

Did I plant the seed of inspiration to start your own home garden?

Well, I do hope so because depending on what you planted, in a short time, you could be cooking up the following dish with produce from your garden! Meanwhile, you can start practicing by getting the ingredients for the following recipe from your local supermarket or wet market.

The recipe is for a vegetable stew-- so very Visayan. Although I think there is a Tagalog version of this but I can't seem to remember the name. Something about a thousand vegetables.

This dish is also very personal. The reason is that the vegetables used in the stew depends on the preference of the cook. So you may or may not add alugbati, okra, squash, string beans, or even gabi (yam). But the dish must have at all times Malunggay leaves-- no buts about it. To add flavour, you should have green onions, ginger and/or tanglad (lemon grass).

This vegetable stew pairs very well with fried fish. And if times are hard, a small dish of ginamos (fermented fish) or bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp) would do nicely.


Utan Binisaya



Basic Ingredients:
Leaves from 4 stalks of kamonggay (malunggay)
2 stalks of green onions (sibuyas dahonan;murang sibuyas), sliced into 2 inch length
1 stalk of tangad (lemon grass), tied in a bundle
1 thumb-size luy-a (ginger), quartered
salt to taste

Optional:
1 small tawong (talong), sliced into cubes
3 pieces string beans (batong; sitaw), sliced into 2 inch length
1 small sikqua (patola), peeled and sliced into cubes
Leaves from 1 bunch of alugbate
1/2 c cubed calbasa (squash)
1/2 c cubed gabi (yam)
2-3 pcs okra, sliced
1 sili espada (jalapeno)
Procedure:
Boil 3-4 cups of water. When the water is boiling, drop in the ginger and the tanglad. These are the ingredients that will flavor and add a lovely scent to your stew. Then add the vegetables in 3-5 minute intervals. Start with vegetables that take a while to cook (eggplant, string beans, squash, okra) and end with the malunggay. If you want some heat to the stew, add one sili espada. Season with some salt. The malunggay cooks quickly so you can kill the fire and just cover the pot for a few minutes. Be proud to serve such a healthy, nutritiously economical dish.