Foodies

Hey hey, before I start, just wanna ask, have you guys read the article of @JonicaBradley about Food? Well, if you haven't you must. Click here. She inspired me to write this one.

So, today I will be taking a trip down memory lane as I share with you some home-cooked foodies that I love so much! Let us begin!

1. PANCIT

There are a ton of varieties of pancit but the one that I grew up with is pancit bihon and pansit sinabaw. I remember one memorable birthday that I had when I was a kid was when mama and papa bought some egg noodles and cooked pancit on my birthday. That was so special for me because most of the time we don’t really celebrate birthdays back then. Having pancit on my birthday is a big thing for me, though it was just topped with hotdogs, it was such a hearty meal for me.

1. SRAMBLED EGG

Scrambled eggs are very common but my mama’s scrambled eggs are soooo sooo good that even my husband agrees that she makes the best scrambled egg in town. One time when we visited my parents, my husband asked mama, how does she make goo scrambled eggs. He asked,” Ma, what is your secret why this (pointing to the scrambled egg on his plate) so good?” I laughed while I was listening to their conversation.

1. VEGETABLE SOUP

In our province we call it “utan”. It is a native dish where you mix different kind of veggies in a pot. Some of the vegetables are taro, squash, eggplant, lady’s finger, moringa leaves, spinach add a bit of ginger and a piece of fish and you will surely ask for another plate of rice. Back in the day, Sometimes papa would add coconut milk to it and its gonna be super yummy!

1. TARO STALK IN COCO MILK

Another dish that my papa is so good at is, his Taro Stalks in Coco Milk. When we were little, we would go to a nearby stream and get some taro stalks, peel it and then chopped it and cooked it in Coco Milk. You got to be very careful in peeling the taro stalks because it will leave some nasty maroon stain on your hands. So, whenever we would peel some stalks, we would wrap our hands with plastics while peeling it. Also be careful with some taros because some of them are itchy when eaten.

1. STIR-FRIED BANANA BLOSSOMS

In the province you can find many banana trees in the neighborhood. When we no longer have money to buy viands, we would ask for some banana blossoms from the owners of the banana trees and then we will cook it. Same with taro stalks, you must also cover your hands when cleaning and chopping a banana blossom if you don’t want your hands to be stained. Cleaning banana blossoms are a bit of a work because it has sticks in it that needs to be removed, the sticks look like tiny matchsticks. You get them by pinning and pulling your knife on them. After that you will boil the blossoms until its tender and then you set it aside until it cools. Once it’s cold you squeeze the water out of it and then you stir fry it. It is a bit of a hard work but It’s okay because stir-fried banana blossoms are so yummy. Some would make some patties out of banana blossoms or sometimes they would make some balls.

1. PORK AND JACKFRUIT

I don’t know if some of you tried this, but since my grandam has this huge jackfruit tree, we would usually get unripe jackfruits, peel it, chop it then cooked it with pork. Papa makes this recipe so good that I usually end up eating the soft jack fruit pod with no rice. Men! I can picture it out in my mind, it is so soft and yummy!

1. STIR-FRIED NATIVE TREE SNAILS

This one is the favorite of my younger brother. He would go to the forest with long sticks on his hand to get some tree snails. We call it in our dialect “takgong”. After getting the tree snails, my brother would boil them, remove the shells, remove the intestines. Chop it into sisig cuts and then sauté it with onion and garlic, add a little calamansi juice and soy sauce and then voila! It is so yummy BUT my mama hates it hahahahahaha. She abhors it.

1. YELLOW CORN IN COCO MILK

The name sounds fancy but it is just milled corn in coco milk. My mama makes it so yummy that you’ll forget that is yellow corn. She adds a good amount of ginger and pure coconut milk, and that makes it super yummy as in superrr.

1. RICE CAKES IN BANANA LEAVES
   

In our dialect we call it "bodbod"! Sometimes it is made out of rice flour or sometimes it is made out of cassava or corn flour. Either way, it is cooked in same manner. you mix all things in a wrapped it in banana leaves and then steam it until it is cooked. It is best paired with hot choco or milk.

Did I just made you hungry? hahahaha. Sorry!

So yeah, there you have it. These are some home-cooked dishes that brings me back to the good old days, whenever taste them.

What home-cooked meals did you love so much when you were a kid? 

Share it with us here and let us go back in time as we reminisce them all!

By the way, a major thanks to my kind sponsors!. Thanks a ton to the both of you!

Here are some f their great articles:
Unlocking the Secret of Farming by Eunoia

You Versus Yourself by Renren16