Truth or Fantasy

Why is it that parents or the oldies have to lie their way just to satisfy a child’s curiosity ? Why can’t they just tell it as it is and give the child the responsibility to understand. Am not saying, that a child should be told scientific or graphic details, but one that is understandable to the level he is capable of absorbing.

Most little minds would ponder on the question “who made me” and the proverbial reply would always be “God made you!”…why can’t they just say that parents have sex and after nine months, out comes a baby. Well I guess, talking about sex in those days was taboo. Even just the words ‘sex’ was rarely mentiond unless some bisdak with a loose tongue would say that it’s the number which comes before seven.

Then also, the tradition of leaving peso coins under the pillows when a molar has been extracted. The real tooth fairies I realized where those gay dentists who pull out your good teeth and charge you exorbitant rates for a porcelain implant.

When we were younger stories we were often told were that of princes saving the princesses and then lived happily ever after….NOT…In reality, they get married which translates to moments of passion, hours of leisure, and days of ceasefire from arguments. The rest is spent in juggling children’s activities, balancing house budgets, cleaning, washing, cooking etc..etc..etc.

How do you know Snow White’s prince didn’t leave her because of the meddling seven dwarfs? Or that Cinderella’s step sisters were successful in achieving their wanton desires over the prince leading them to have affairs? Or that Beauty had botox because every time she looked at the Beast, was a reminder that when you get married, you end up looking alike. Who knows, right?

The truth of the matter is, we only realize that most of what we had read when we were young, were either myths or far from reality. And adding to our curious and rambunctious state, how many times were we told to behave or else…
….the police will lock us up in jail
….or that your daddy will give you a whacking when he gets home.
….the moomoo would come and get us

Fear is a very powerful tool in instilling discipline in a child. That is why our parents often would concoct stories of monsters, evil persons and beings, who will be responsible for stealing the comfort or happiness in our lives. But fear is not the absence of courage, it is the absence of knowledge. It is because we did not know any better.

As we grow older, the truth will often reveal itself and the myths that once held our belief would be discarded. Being creative in disciplining children to be good persons, is the ultimate goal of every parent. Therefore, we often adhere to what our own parents had taught us because, hey..we came out to be fine, didn’t we? If not, how else would we train if not from our very own experiences.

But like it or not, what may hold true in their time may not be relevant in ours. It is time for us parents, to face our children with utmost honesty but with the creativeness of handling situations depending upon the level of maturity.

Take this holiday season, where Santa is the flavor of the week. Mike told my grandchild that Santa does not exist and that the real Santa was just daddy and mommy giving them presents. Elise, my grandchild, started getting teary eyed. She did not want what Mike had said. And she blurted, “no, lolo, mommy and daddy has no white hair and don’t have beard, so they can’t be santa!”

Oftentimes, we believe what we believe because it brings comfort to our understanding . It gives us assurance that what we know is indeed the truth and veering away from it would lead us to an unknown territory needing to be explored anew. For a little child, Santa represents judgement of being good during the year and rewards of gifts are inevitable. Whoever invented him is brilliant because he has created a multi billion industry that brings the economy into a rock and roll mode.

And speaking of Santa, weren’t we told that he would go back to the North Pole and start preparing for next year’s Christmas? Well, that’s a LIE. Santa lives in New York, drives an SUV (and not reindeers anymore. He goes with the times, you know) His red suit is an ARMANI and he doesn’t hire elves , but has an assistant just like his size. He probably realized that he’d get in jail for hiring child labor. You don’t believe me…I have proof…probably joining in the ‘After Christmas’ mega sales since it’s easier to buy the ‘made in china’ stuff than making their own. Here it is:

Aay Doe Beng Menak ala Noo Yok

You are not Filipino if you do not know how to cook adobo. But there are many ways of cooking adobo. It's either pina-uga (dry) or sarsiado (with lots of sauce). But the commonality of the dish, is that it is made with vinegar, soy, garlic, (sometimes onions),salt/pepper and a little sugar for added flavoring.

Adobo in spanish really means marinade. My tagalog friend normally marinates her adobo for a few minutes before boiling them together. After which, she takes them out from the sauce and fries them. After frying, she puts them back for a few minutes more and then serves it.

My aunt, stews it for awhile and instead of frying, she takes it out of the pot and places them in a cookie sheet to bake (frying them per piece is tedious and oily). Then she places them back with the reduced sauce.

Some prefer to stew them until the sauce is all gone and if your meat pieces have a lot of fat, they will eventually just fry in it's own oil. This is the dry kind.

The procedures above, although handed down through generations, are a bit dry due to the shrinkage of the meat. The sauce camouflages its dryness and gives it the wonderful taste that Filipinos love. I decided to make my own version of adobo by innovating and still keep the juiciness of the meat.

With 4 pieces of leg quarters (cutting them in half thus making 8 pieces composed of legs and thighs) I massaged the meat with salt, pepper, garlic onion and garlic powder, herbs such as rosemary and tarragon. I fried them until golden but half cooked. Place them on a pot with 1 piece of cut up celery rib. Then I poured 1 can of chicken broth. Boil till tender. This way, I not only have cooked chicken but the sauce/broth I can use to boil my vegetables for later use. Cooking it this way retains the juiciness and flavor of the chicken.

In a sauce pan, I placed balsamic vinegar, datu put vinegar, bay leaf, lots of garlic and onion. (No need for soy sauce since the balsamic vinegar is dark as it is) and a little sugar. This is the basis of the adobo sauce. When the sauce has been reduced and the spices are soft, I mashed them and returned them to the sauce pan. If the concoction is too thick, I took broth from the chicken, and mixed it with the sauce for the right consistency.

this is my aay doe beng menak ala Noo Yok





Of course nothing is complete without the side dishes.

The mangoes here do not compare with what we have back home. They are not as fibrous and lacking in flavor. I grated the mangoes, chopped one piece of small red onion, placed cut up salad and mixed them together. To add flavor, I mixed a few tablespoons of the olive juice which is salty.

Another side dish I made was cucumber in salty kyamoy. And that's just what I did. Peeled the cucumber. Separated the skin from the flesh. Mixed the flesh with kyamoy and bwalah! Red flat strands of cucumber.

The other pinky item is the Japanese ginger--store bought and still yummy to go with my adobo.



Notice in both pictures above, you can see the kyamoy sticking out.
The above picture, I placed the sauce right below the chicken piece, and garnished it with my cucumber and manggo side dish. This plating, I gave to my husband who is my critique.

Below is another plating style, where I placed the sauce separate like a condiment, and the side dishes atop the rice.



Okay, so if you want to know how to make it the regular way, check this out.
(my aunt sent this to me last year, but I saw it again last week from a friend's site)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTwagrvCJ4o