WHB- Madre Cacao or Kakawate

Kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) or Madre Cacao may not be very
well known but for farmers like my Dad, it is a very useful tree.
He would use it as a line fence around our property, as a trellis
for our pepper, ampalaya or bitter gourd and sayote.

kakawate tree as trellis for pepper

The kakawate leaves he would place with the banana fruits,
instead of using "kalboro" or Calcium Carbide (used as source
of acetylene gas, which is a ripening agent) to hasten the ripening
of the fruits.

A favorite at home is smoking fish using kakawate. Place the fish
on top of kakawate branch and cover with kakawate leaves.
Serve the fish with a dip of fish sauce and kalamansi (key lime).

Submitting this post to Marilyn of Just Making A Noise who
is hosting this week's WHB event.
Haalo of Cook Almost Anything oversees this event.


Try also my other WHB recipes:


Laksa


Lechon Manok with
Lemongrass

Sinigang sa Bayabas

Today, cooking sinigang is very easy. Souring ingredients are
already available in powdered form (Mama Sita's, Knorr
Sinigang Mix, etc) Still nothing beats preparing your souring
ingredients from scratch. Boiling and mashing the tamarind
or Kalamyas or in this case guava fruit adds to the excitement
of cooking sinigang.


We get to cook Sinigang sa Bayabas when Typhoon Santi
(Internation name: Mirinae) hit our place last Oct 31.
One of our guava tree was partially uprooted and we were
forced to harvest the fruits.

Sinigang Sa Bayabas

You will need:

1 medium size fish sliced (Bangus or Tilapia)
4-5 pcs ripe guava (quartered)
1 medium tomato (quartered)
1 medium onion (quartered)
sili leaves or camote tops
2-3 tbsp fish sauce
3-4 cups water
salt

In a pot, boil tomato, onion and guava in water. Simmer
until guava is softened. Take out the guava (leave some
if you like to eat them) and place in a bowl. Mashed and
set aside. Add fish into the pot and simmer until fish is
tender. Strain juice from mashed guava into the pot.
Seasoned with fish sauce. Add the leaves, sprinkle
salt on top and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve hot.

October Harvest

Typhoon Santi (international name: Mirinae) made landfall early
saturday morning Oct 31. Laguna was in storm signal no. 3.
Most of our fruit trees at home were down after the typhoon.

Papayas are not yet fully riped

Banana trees suffered the most

Balimbing / Star fruit got a beating from the typhoon

Daing na Bangus

Typhoon Ondoy (international name KETSANA) flooded Metro Manila
and towns along the Laguna Lake last Sept. 26, 2009. In a matter of
8 hours, its has rained non stop, equivalent to a month's supply
of rain. Until now, places along the lake are submerged in water
which experts say will go down only after 3 months.

See video on Typhoon Ondoy's damage


Bangus (milkfish, the national fish of the Philippines) is plentiful after
a strong typhoon due to the wrecked fishpens in Laguna lake. Sold for
only Php40 a kilo, in ordinary days it can reach up to Php 120 a kilo.


When bangus is cheap, we usually make Daing na Bangus at home.
Daing na Bangus is milkfish marinated in vinegar, lots of garlic, salt
and pepper. The longer it is marinated, the tastier it gets. Fry the
fish until crispy and served with achara or salted eggs and tomatoes.

September Harvest

Balimbing / Star Fruit

Papaya

Bayabas / Guava

Gulo Gulo and Maruya

Gulo gulo in Filipino means messy. It is also the favorite snack my
Lola Angge used to cook for dad and his siblings. The same way to
cook Maruya but using unripe banana instead.

In cooking Maruya, the ripe banana slices are arranged like a fan
or formed in a square, coated with a batter of flour and water then
fried. Dipped in sugar before serving.

Gulo gulo as the name implies is cooked randomly. Thin slices
of unripe banana (preferably saba) is coated with batter then fried
without arranging.

Gulo gulo

Congratulations GROW YOUR OWN on
its 2nd anniversay!

Thanks to Praveen of Masala Heaven
who is hosting GYO #35 roundup.

Check out other banana recipes:






Ginanggang or Grilled Banana

Laksa , cooking with banana heart / bud

August Harvest

Rambutan

Rambutan

Banana (Saba/Plantain)

Gabi/Taro

July Harvest

Puso ng Saging (Banana Heart Bud)

Pomelo

Kalamansi and Siling Haba

Banana

Kaswela, sauteed sinigang?

Kamias Tree

It was only when we transferred residence here in Pila, Laguna that I
have tasted Kaswela. Back in Iligan City, we also have Kamias or Iba
(Averrhoa bilimbi) tree but we didn't get to cooking Kaswela.

We usually use Kamias for our Sinigang, Ginataang Hipon or Sinaing
na Tulingan. During summer, when fruits are in season, my sister Gay
and I would eat raw Kamias dipped in rock salt. Kamias are also dried
and made into candies.

Because of its high acid content, Kamias fruits are also used to
remove stains from skin, clothing and rust from metal blades.

Kaswela, I think is just sauteed Sinigang. You boil with sinigang while
you saute with kaswela.

Kaswela

1/2 kilo fish, sliced
4-5 pcs. Kamyas, sliced
1 medium tomato
1 medium onion
1 - 1 1/2 cup water
2-3 Tbsp patis (fish sauce)
2 TBsp cooking oil

Sautee onions and tomatoes until limp. Add sliced Kamias and stir fry
until kamias changes color. Add fish and patis and cover for 1 minute.
Add water and simmer until fish is cook. Served hot with rice.


Grow Your Own #33 roundup is hosted by
MomGateway.

For more GYO recipes, check out my entries:
Everything's Herbed Grow Your Own.

June Harvest

makopa (Malay Rose Apple Tree)

siling haba (finger chilllies)

papaya and banana

Banana - saba

Chicken Krapao

It's been a while since I last ate in my favorite Thai restaurant,
Ning's Thai in Los Baños,Laguna. The owner, Tita Cora gave me
some krapao seeds to plant at home. Krapao is Thai Basil.

This recipe is an attempt to try one of her best sellers,
Chicken Krapao.

Krapao plant


Chicken Krapao

1 chicken breast
crushed garlic
1 tsp sugar
chili powder
4 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
1/4 Baguio Beans, sliced
bunch of krapao
1 Tbsp oil

Saute garlic in oil. Stir in chicken, chili powder, sugar and fish sauce.
When chicken changes color,add Baguio beans and oyster sauce.
Stir fry until chicken and beans are cooked. Turn off heat and add
krapao. When krapao leaves are limp, transfer to a plate and serve.

May Harvest

Puso ng Saging (Banana Heart/Bud)

Saging (Banana)

Papaya

Rice

GYO- Burong Mangga

A week before the mangoes were due for harvest, a branch broke off

from the main trunk.

My uncle says it was because of the weight of the fruits.

So here we are with so many green mangoes.


A recipe that calls for green mangoes is Burong Mangga (Pickled Mangoes).

The usual way to do it is to cut the green mangoes into 1 centimeter
thick strips. Discard seeds. Place mangoes in small clean glass jars.
Add about 1 tsp salt and water barely to cover well the mangoes.
This will be ready to serve in 3-4 days.


Here is another recipe shared by chef Jackie Ang Po from Yummy
magazine (April 2009), perfect timing with our green mangoes!

you will need:
3 pieces green mangoes
4 cups water

for the syrup:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp salt

Peel and cut green mangoes into strips. Discard seeds. Boil 4 cups
water and let cool completely. Soak sliced mangoes in the cooled
water overnight.

To make the syrup: Fill pan with water. Add in sugar and salt.
Boil and let cool completely.

Drain soaked mango strips. Place in airtight container. Pour syrup
over the mangoes and cover. Refrigerate 2-3 days.

This is usually served as a side dish. Enjoy!



This month's roundup of Grow Your Own
is hosted by the Daily Tiffin.