Lato or "sea grapes". First time I tasted this wonderful food from the sea is in Taganak, Island Tawi Tawi. Best served with lime or vinegar, the lato melts in your mouth. This batch I got it here in QC one evening I saw it in the fish market. I know that it melts when it is not fresh. This one was just off the basket coming from the province. I asked the vendor where it came because you can only find these kind in the islands or in Palawan. She said that it just came in from Lucena. I was thankful that we were able to have this salad at the dinner table for only 20 pesos. So happy! The last time I had lato for dinner was at Ka Lui in Puerto Princessa.
One of our favorite food in North Park. I love the salted squid :) their fragrant noodles are great! I wish I can cook something like this in the outdoors. Well let see in the future :)
When I was growing up in Laguna. My late Lola Abeng prepared for us "torta". This is the real spanish omelette. I learned from my UNV friend that indeed to make a truly "spanish" omelette it has to have potatoes. All those omelettes that claim to be "spanish" without the potato is not authentic :) I guess this is one of the influences of the 300 years of the Spaniads.
2 to 3 eggs beaten until bubbly
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
1 small onion
salt and pepper to taste
Fry the potatoes until golden brown, drain excess oil, set aside. Sautee onions mix into the beaten eggs together with the cooked potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
One of my favorite dumpling are kuchay dumplings. I always wondered how the plant looks like. I thought it would look like a pechay before. I was happy to find this one at the Suki market.
This was our snack during our workshop. The salad is made from fresh greens from Baguio market and the bread homemade soft wheat bread with lots of butter and shredded cheese. The image on the left is a "baul" old chest in laid with mother of pearl that I want to have.
One of the things that I look forward to in Baguio are the fresh strawberries. I love the Baguio public market where you can find many stalls with several bilao of heaping strawberries--only in Baguio. In one of my previous trips to Baguio when I was younger, we tried going to the strawberry fields in La Trinidad but was unable to forage the farm. I cannot remember the reason. This last weekend, we were not able to go to La Trinidad because we didn't have enough time. Next trip I'll make sure that the whole family will be there and we can all forage together.
Village of Batad at Banaue. This path beside the rice terraces is the way to the waterfalls hidden behind the two mountains.
View from Echo Valley Sagada
Sagada church one early morning.
Kani (japanese crab sticks) and kesong puti open sandwich.
Good for breakfast at camp. Best eaten with chopped tomatoes and salted eggs.
Suman from Antipolo and ripe mangoes. I bought this bunch of suman (sticky rice snack) at the Lung Center weekend market for only P15. We brought it to last Sunday's playdate. It was good because Toni, Hannah and Isay liked it. These suman are wrapped in young coconut leaves. I have always been amazed at the way they wrap this suman. The bunch is then tied with a strand of coconut leaves. I find it very artistic and innovative. All the packaging is biodegradable. It also reflects the amount of time and energy a person has put into wrapping this local kakanin. I am happy that despite the proliferation of plastic, Pinoys still continue this very good way of preparing food.
Pako or river fern salad with tomatoes and salted eggs. The photo above is taken just before I mixed the whole salad up to evenly distribute the texture and taste of the salad. The grown pako is known to be part of flower arrangements. But this kind of pako have edible softer leaves and stalks. I just used the soft top parts and discarded the rest of the stalks. Then I cut up some tomatoes and a salted egg. Then there you have it. Quick fresh and light salad. If you find it a bit salty just add some more tomatoes. One bundle of pako is only P10, the salted egg about P9.50 at Eunilane plus the tomato. This whole salad for less than P30.
We were at the Lung Center weekend market last Sunday and we found pako for our salad that day. At around 8:30 am we took a tryke to Heart Center and then walked from NKI parking towards Lung Center. We realized there are already a lot of people who are done with their marketing. I heard about the weekend market from several friends who were able to buy nice large serving plates, unique rare fruits fresh from the province. They say there are some organic vegetables but one friend warned us that they are not organic.
Anyway, we had a good one hour to roam around and check all the wares. There are lots of food. I was really excited to find "pancit habhab" I bought 2 orders for P10 each. I will make a future post on that one. I also forgot the camera that is why I wasn't able to post some pictures of the great buys.
We had a potluck dinner last week to plan a summer outing with close family friends. I made these flat tofu dumplings. I actually suprised myself that it turned out really good. I love them. Not too big and bulky for the bite and made from tofu. I like eating dumplings. When we are out in the restaurants, I cannot find a single outlet or store that sells tofu or vegetarain dumplings or siomai. It is always pork or beef and the servings are very small. There is the occasional crab or shrimp. The sharksfin siomai are still pork. I think they are called that because they are shaped like a sharksfin. Due to my frustration at finding a good vegetarian dumpling I decided to learn to make my own.
Actually this is not my first attempt to make dumplings. I usually make chicken and tofu siomai. But since we have a vegetarian friend at the potluck dinner, we want him to taste a sample of the local siomai. There were several friends who encouraged me to sell these.
It is really easy to make. 
Chop the tofu, carrots, onions and some parsley. Then add one beaten egg to the mixture. Shape into flat dumplings or siomai balls. Stream for about 10 minutes. Try not to over stream because the siomai wrappers dry out in some parts and disintegrate underneath. If they are just right they look like the top photo. My sister Jinky is the one who inspired me to make my own siomai. I think I should bring some to her so she can sample my vegetarian flat tofu dumplings.
I think you can make this at camp. You can pre-chop the carrots, parsley and tofu. Just add the egg when you are ready to cook. The tricky part is how to steam it. But if you can buy a small foldable steamer (I have one in Laguna) this can easily be done.
Serve this with lots of kalamansi, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce.
We had dinner at Honey's last week and she served us with the usually favorites, kare-kare, inihaw na liempo, pancit, and a special tofu meal for the vegetarians. She also made a huge serving of Thai catfish salad. It was really good. I usually order catfish salad when I am at Thai Kitchen or Muang Thai.
I was inspired to make my own. When we did our groceries I saw these fresh green mangoes at Eunilane so, I bought some. I can't resist. Since I do not have catfish in the house, I used canned tuna. I chopped lots of garlic and sauteed the tuna flakes until crispy. I peeled the green mangoes and cut it into thin stips. Then I just topped the crispy garlic tuna over the mangoes. I used kalamansi and patis as dressing. It turned out really good.
This simple recipe can be one of your salads next camping trip :)
Durungawan at the summit of Mt. Banahaw. During this time of lent, specifically during holy week, pilgrims flock to Mt. Banahaw. Durungawan is one of the places believed to be hallowed grounds and included as one of the sacred "pwestos". These pwestos are places for meditation and prayer
Local pilgrims known as Rizalistas believe that the Mt Banahaw is the New Jerusalem. There are specific areas that have unexplainable natural formations such as a rock with a footprint at Kinabuhayan. I've visited the Sta Lucia complex several times in the late 1990s. I joined a group of students from the University of the Philippines who immersed themselves over a weekend to the way of life of the people of Mt. Banahaw.
I was able to meet members of Cuidad Mystica de Dios a group of believers living in the foothills of Mt Banahaw which is called the Sta Lucia complex. These people do not worship Rizal (Philippine National Hero) this is one of the reasons that they are misunderstood. They treat Rizal as a Philippine saint not a god. They still firmly believe in God the Father. The holy trinity. When you enter one of the local church, familiar catholic image is in front. Pictures of Filipino heroes and martyrs are on the side and at the back. One church is shaped like a boat. They believe that Mt Banahaw is a holy place, a place for worship and purging one's sins.
We then traced the pilgrim's path. First we went down more than a hundred flight of stairs to go the river and to the "talon" or waterfalls. At the bottom of the stairs is a huge rock where one should meditate. This is the place for mental cleansing and preparing oneself for the journey through the pwestos. Next stop is the talon where one takes a bath underneath the waterfalls. This is the physical cleansing done after the meditation. During holy week lines are very long.
After the cold splash, a pilgrim then is deemed ready to go to the other pwestos. A heart pumping climb up the hundred steps and then walk back to the Sta Lucia. Then the pilgrim goes on to 'balon ni Jacob' or Jacob's well. This pwesto is a cave. The entrance is small and almost just a crack on the ground. There is a huge slab of rock on a slant that would greet you upon entering the claustrophic chamber. Then a pilgrim dips himself onto the cold water while still holding on to a makeshift ladder installed at the side of the rock. It is believed that by dipping oneself in the water, sins will be forgiven.
There are many other small caves and pwestos along the path towards Kalbaryo. But one distinct and mysterious pwesto is the 'husgado'. This cave is literally a crack on the ground. There are no lights inside, thus I had to place all the candles for the others so that they can navigate the cave. There are chambers that are very narrow one is the big tooth chamber. This very small chamber is where you have to navigate by sheer will and faith. First time I entered, I have to calm myself as there are places just enough for my body to pass through. What is amazing about this cave is that people despite their large size can still pass through. Local pilgrims go through this meditation while chanting.
The last pwesto for the day is the summit of 'kalbaryo', the highest point in Sta Lucia complex. The pilgrim believes that one has to go through darkness to see the light. The light is equated to the glory of Easter.
They also believe that at the summit of Mt Banahaw, Durungawan is where one could see the promised land.
These are homemade pure chocolate truffles. Pure evil. It melts in your mouth. These are made by Nina. She brought some during last week's playdate. You can order from her. Please visit her website named after her daughter Toni.
Last week I still have these shabu-shabu ingredients which includes crab balls, lobster balls, fish cubes that we bought from Suki Market. Now, I really do not have any soup base in the house except for my Thai tom yum soup paste which I bought from Shopwise. Well I decided to experiment and this is the result.
First I sauteed the tom yum paste in oil until fragrant, then I added some mushrooms and the shabu-shabu balls. You can buy these at Ongpin and Suki Market. There are some sold at SM Hypermart. I slowly added some water. My friend Honey gave us some tom yum cubes from Thailand and I added just one cube. I let everything boil until cooked. The one in the picture about on the wooden spoon is a lobster ball. The dish turned out very spicy and a bit sour like that of tom yum but more on the spicy side. It actually looked like Lhaksa. Yum.
One of the easiest meals that you can prepare at camp for dinner or lunch is pasta. The photo is the sauteed green olives with anchovies stuffings, tomatoes, and mushrooms. This picture was taken just before I poured the italina tomato sauce in a pouch. Since I do not have anchovies I just put in some fillet of tuyo which taste as good.
When packing ingredients, it is best to remove them from the can and place it in tight plastic wares. It would be less trash for you the carry back. And the tupperwares can double as your plate/mess kit. It is also good to pack leftover if there is any.
Lato or "sea grapes". First time I tasted this wonderful food from the sea is in Taganak, Island Tawi Tawi. Best served with lime or vinegar, the lato melts in your mouth. This batch I got it here in QC one evening I saw it in the fish market. I know that it melts when it is not fresh. This one was just off the basket coming from the province. I asked the vendor where it came because you can only find these kind in the islands or in Palawan. She said that it just came in from Lucena. I was thankful that we were able to have this salad at the dinner table for only 20 pesos. So happy! The last time I had lato for dinner was at Ka Lui in Puerto Princessa.
