The first thing I often miss when I am out of the country is the Filipino food. Many times, it is difficult to look for ingredients, like tanglad, achuete , batong , or ubod. They can only be found in oriental stores. And Ethnic stores are hard to come by especially if you‘re in the midwest. Even eating Chinese food such as the ‘pancits’, lumpia shanghai’s or sweet and sour ‘whatever‘ is not even as close to satisfy the craving for real pinoy food.
However, we Filipinos are creative and we try to improvise just to satiate our palate. I make my fresh lumpia with jicama, ham, and coleslaw veggies while friends wonder where I get my ubod from. Or that I flavor my puto bisaya with orange zest. Or I make my own bagoong by sautéing lots of garlic with anchovies, and eating it with plain rice.
Tools, equipments and appliances, as well as ingredients also play a major role in the preparation of delicious home made cooking. Having said that, let me enumerate a ’must have’ for every OFW who just loves to cook pinoy food and still not be contstrained of time and added resources.
1) RICE COOKER - Rice is the staple diet in the Philippines therefore a rice cooker is a must. We have a National brand Rice Cooker that is turned on 24 hours a day. My family can come home to a meal of hot rice to eat with leftovers or canned something. The only time the cooker is turned off is when it is being replenished by a new batch. Isn’t it that when someone walks inside a pinoy home, the proverbial question is, “Kumain ka na ba?”
2) SLOW COOKER - time constraints often hinder us from cooking favorite dishes like nilaga, kari-kari, tinola, caldereta and other stewed Filipino dishes. By placing the ingredients in the morning and having it ready when you come back after work , makes you feel like you’re in the Philippines sans the maids. Using a slow cooker to cook beans without having to check on it every now and then is a safe way to do and it comes out really soft especially when mixed with your favorite chorizo. Home made beans are better than canned ones, I should say.
3) TURBO BROILER - the best invention for those yummy to make lechon kawali, crispy pata and my favorite ‘bisayang lechon manok’ without the hassles of deep frying or grilling. You can even make bibingka in the turbo.
And if you are truly filipino, there are two ways of preparing adobo. You can either use the slow cooker and when cooked, let it laze in its sauce.
Or after it has been cooked and softened in the slow cooker, you can broil it in the turbo to make it dryer and a little crispy. Then pour a little sauce over it when serving. Now that is truly FILIPINO.
Whether you are just having your own meals at home or planning guests over, the three must haves are all you really need.
I can’t think of anything else….Can you?
No comments:
Post a Comment