Reliving my salad days

"My salad days / When I was green in judgment: cold in blood..."
-Cleopatra （Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1, Scene V）

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According to Merry and Websty, the origin of the word 'salad' can be traced back to the Latin 'sal', which means salt.  The earliest salads were seasoned with-- you guessed it-- salt.

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My two Salad Rules are:
1. At least three colors are present.
2. One of those colors should be green.

Then I try to apply the five-taste-rule in Korean cooking: bitter, salty, sweet, sour, and hot tastes should all be present in a dish to make it balanced.

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"Eat cress and gain wit." (Greek proverb)

Last Day 18

Mango coated with chili soybean paste + carrot + nori + peanuts

Last Day 19

The recipe for Cyma's Roka Salata (Greek rocket salad) can be found here.

Imbento Time: Nori lumpia

A friend asked me what the critic thinks of my cooking. 

Imbento daw, I said. 

That sounds scary.

I don't mind that he calls the stuff I make (and eat) 'imbento food' because, well, it's true.  (I went through my blog posts recently and confirmed his observation.)  I guess the reason I like making up new dishes is because I know I'm going to spend quite an amount of physical and mental energy into cooking so I figured I might as well have fun doing it, too.

And last night, not only did I enjoy preparing my dinner but I also had a pleasurable time eating it.  Nakachamba na naman ako!  I'm planning to make the dish again for our weekend lunch so C will understand that imbento food can be delicious.

Here's how to make Nori Lumpia:

1.  Take out the tools: cutting board, knife, two plates, frying pan, wooden cooking spoon, kettle, small bowl, and a strainer.

2.  Gather the ingredients*: a small carrot, a small orange,  a small onion, two cloves of garlic, a small block of tofu, a tablespoon of coconut oil, 1.6 oz. vermicelli (sotanghon), chili soybean paste, two nori sheets, and salt and pepper.

3.  Julienne carrot. Peel orange and slice segments into piso-sized pieces.  Finely chop onion and garlic.  Set cut vegetables on plate.

4.   Place the block of tofu in the palm of your hand and squeeze it until it's mashed.  Leave it on the cutting board.

5.  Set frying pan on stove, medium flame.  Heat oil.  Brown garlic then throw in chopped onion until the pieces become translucent.  Add the tofu.  Cook for five minutes or until light brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set cooked tofu on plate.

6.  Fill the kettle with enough water for a small bowl and set on stove, high flame.  Then pour boiling water over the vermicelli in a small bowl.  Leave for 3-5 minutes then strain noodles.

7.  Reheat frying pan on medium flame then toss in the noodles and a tablespoon of chili soybean paste.  Mix evenly.  Kill stove.

8.  On a nori sheet, layer noodles, tofu, carrot strips, and chopped orange, then roll and fold nori into a lumpia log.  Repeat.

9.  Eat!

Last Day 17

Take some fiery hot noodles...

...and salty-spicy tofu, crispy carrots and sweet-tangy orange...

...TA-DAHH!

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*good for one person

Pancit in 15 minutes!

Pancit is one of the easiest and most versatile dishes to make... from scratch!  Here's an energy-efficient way to prepare it:

1.  Take out the tools: kettle, cutting board, knife, plate, small bowl, frying pan, wooden cooking spoon, and a strainer.

2.  Gather the ingredients*: 1.6 oz vermicelli (sotanghon), one tablespoon of coconut oil, a small onion, a clove of garlic, one tablespoon of soy sauce, a smear of chili soybean paste, a small carrot, 1/2 bell pepper, and a small pechay.  And of course, salt and pepper.

3.  Fill the kettle with enough water for a small bowl and place on stove.  Set flame on high.

4.  While waiting for the water to boil, wash the vegetables then roughly chop onion, garlic, and pechay; and julienne carrot and bell pepper.  Set cut vegetables on a plate.

5.  Place vermicelli in a bowl and pour boiling water over the noodles, covering them.

6.  Place frying pan on stove, medium fire.  Heat oil.  Brown garlic then add onion.  When onion becomes translucent, stir in soy sauce then dump (strained) noodles.  Add chili soybean paste.  Mix all ingredients well.

7.  Turn off fire then stir in the remaining vegetables (carrot, bell pepper, and pechay).  Season with salt and pepper.

8.  Transfer everything from pan to plate.

9.  Eat!

Last Day 16

Pancit for (long) life!

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*good for one person

Kimchi noodle soup PLUS

As the saying goes, 'necessity is the mother of invention', and in my kitchen, it couldn't be truer.

I was tempted to just grab a fresh Chinese lumpia at Landmark Supermarket in Trinoma last night but the price (70 pesos!) hindered me.  So I racked my brain instead for possible things to cook with the leftover ingredients in the fridge.  My eyes wandered to the noodles aisle so I thought kimchi soup it is!

I use to live with two of the coolest Temperate Asian dudes in a co-ed boarding house run by a notorious white Canadian guy.  One was a talented Japanese b-boy who showed me how to make okonomiyaki (a savory pancake usually eaten as a snack) and the other was an opinionated aspiring Korean diplomat who taught me the recipe for kimchi soup.  Now, I didn't make notes back then, but all I can remember was adding kimchi and Lucky Me Pancit Canton noodles (without the sauce and powder) into a pot of boiling water, then dumping Spam Hot & Spicy slices.

Since I don't eat Spam, I sliced and re-fried instead the leftover tofu I had for Day 11 (which had been marinated overnight in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic before they were fried), then added it to the boiling soup of kimchi and noodles.  I added a bit of chili soybean paste since the hotness of the kimchi had been diluted by the water.

The PLUS part: I was about to enjoy my soup when I remembered that I bought nori some two months ago and it was just chilling in the fridge, unopened.  So I took two sheets out, tore them to pieces, and added them to the steaming spicy bowl of noodles.

Last Day 14

The best things in life are cheap!

The Attack of the Cabbage Patch

Do you remember the Cabbage Patch Kids?  I heard of those dolls when I was a kid but I never had one.  What I had instead was a paper doll that I never showed to anyone because my mother had drawn breasts and pubic hair on it.  True story.

Anyway, back to veggies.

I didn’t know when I picked up that head of cabbage that I would be holding in my hands one of the most awesome vegetables there is!

Some cabbage facts:
1. Rich in vitamin C and selenium, a chemical element that combines with proteins to prevent cellular damage

2. Contains HUNDREDS of plant compounds that can prevent cancer (read more in this book) 
3. Natural remedy for stomach ulcers 

Cabbage belongs to the cruciferous family which includes cauliflower, cress, bok choy, horse radish, mustard seeds, arugula, wasabi, and broccoli.  These “super veggies” are all good sources of cancer-fighting components like beta-carotene and fiber, as well as supply calcium, iron, and folate.  Whew!

I went on a cabbage holiday and cooked the vegetable three different ways:


DAY 4

Stir-fried cabbage with spicy bagoong, red rice, tomato, and pineapple juice.

DAY 5

Coleslaw with pineapple and carrots.  Dressing is cane vinegar, olive oil, muscovado, and salt.

DAY 6

Cabbage pansit with bell pepper and carrots.  Smeared with chili soybean paste.

A Raisin Story

There was a raisin that lived in a land of cool, fresh cucumber hills.  She had a lot of sweet raisin friends and for a time she was happy in her familiar home.

One day, a stranger came to town.  He told tales about the Big City, a place peppered with all sorts of spices and seasonings.

The little raisin wrinkled with excitement.  Pickled fruits!  Intricate garnishings!  The city sounded like a delicious and colorful salad party!  She decided that the city is where she should be.

She climbed out of the refrigerator, crossed the kitchen sink, and skipped over the rice box until finally she arrived at the Big City.

It was everything she thought it would be and more!  She roomed with a couple of maraschino cherries and immediately dove into the pulse of city life.

But after a few years, the raisin turned bitter.  She felt like the city had an overpowering taste and she couldn't blend in.

She began wandering aimlessly around carrot skyscrapers, trying to find substance in the white pepper dust.  She finally stopped at a pool of chili soybean mush.  She squinted as she looked down on the shiny crimson surface, feeling the sting from the reflection of the white onion sky.

Then she saw it, the green cucumber moon.

The raisin remembered the cool cucumber hills but at the same time she knew her home was now this savory, sometimes pungent city.

She realized the reason for her bitterness was because she had treated herself like a condiment, always putting her unique zest on the side.

As the raisin created new dreams, her sweetness oozed.  It flowed through her folds, coating the salad city with her beautiful, suggestive flavor.

This is my salad. What's yours?