A scientist in the kitchen

In the Philippines, Father’s Day is celebrated every third Sunday of June. But, I just read that different countries have different officially recognized Father’s Day celebrations. Some have specific a date such as March 19 in Bolivia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Honduras and Liechtenstein. Then similar to ours, a particular day of each month. Nepal has a more interesting day, every New Moon of September!

How do you celebrate Father’s Day at home? Well, as usual, I do the cooking usually whatever dish my Dad is craving for. My first paella was on Father’s Day, although that one was what I really wanted to cook rather than his request. And we had a very late lunch then! This year, we’re probably going to have a barbecue picnic in the garden. I still have to pair it with some salads or vegetable stir fry.

Didn’t you notice, Moms tend to get cards and flowers on Mother’s Day. What about Fathers’ Day gifts? Wine? His favorite food? A necktie? Wallet? Probably enroll him to a club like a monthly beer club where they feature a beer of the month club? Hhmm… the possibilities are endless.

In the end though, what really makes the day special is spending it with the family, have long talks over lunch and just relax.

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Beans are not really part of Filipino cuisine. A pity since they are really nutritious and delicious legumes. Growing up, the most familiar legume for me is the mungbean. White and red beans can be bought from the market but these are usually prepared as desserts. My Nanay, who used to be a cook in a hospital taught us this dish. Or rather, I grew up observing her cook this dish until I became the cook at home. I have blogged about this pork and bean stew before and the recipe is here. Growing up, whenever I hear of pork and beans, it is usually canned pork and beans with an overcooked beans and teeny-weeny amount of pork slices in tomato sauce. This pork and bean stew is soy sauce-based. The coming together of beans, soy sauce and pork broth is rather heavenly, if I may say so.

–> Is cooking an art or a science?<–

Let me tell you about the ingredients. The dish calls for sliced pork legs (pork hock) which is pre-boil till tender. We need lots of tomatoes for sauteeing. The beans are also pre-cooked till tender. I like to mash half of the beans to thicken the stew. The rest of the beans add some texture. Be liberal with freshly crushed black pepper, too. For the greens, we use pechay which is similar to bok choy.

Pechay is a common vegetable sold in Philippine markets. It is commonly used in stews or boiled meats. The stems are white rather than green as in bok choy, but these are of the same family.

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I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by the Wandering Chopsticks.

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Today is D-day for Filipino boxing fans as Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao takes an old foe, the Mexican champ Juan Manuel Marquez.  I am not much of a boxing fan, but my dad is. Everytime Pacquiao has a fight, he and his elder brother would watch together, beer in hand and appetizer to boot! Even if the fight is scheduled 8am Manila time (we are more than half a day earlier than Las Vegas), he want’s his beer as it’s the only time he’s allowed. He’s been excited about this fight.

Guess what he wants for appetizers? Pork and tofu stirfry with lots of Chinese celery. Lately he has been really crazy about tofu, or tokwa, as we call it in Tagalog. I like tofu but not almost everyday. And we’ve come to a point, at times, not to ask for his suggestion on our meals as he would always ask for this pork and tofu stirfry dish all the time!

At the rate that the Filipino frenzy for Manny Pacquiao boxing, there should Manny Pacquiao boxing parties all over the archipelago. Even the police is predicting that there’ll be a dip in crime stats while the game is ongoing. Perhaps if I sell Manny Pacquiao boxing party invitations (something similar to Kentucky Derby Party Invitations) I might earn big bucks. But probably not, as I can not stand to watch a boxing fight.

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Next comes the house. Our house is a fusion of traditional housing materials and modern amenities. From the outside, you could see the walls made from woven bamboo propped up by posts from coconut lumber. The roof is made up of nipa, a type of palm with wide leaves that are folded in half through a bamboo stick, sewn closely to each other and then dried. Once dried these are now ready to use, People would also assume a more traditional set-up inside.  Once inside though, guests would always be surprised with the television set, the piano and fridge much like what one would find in modern Filipino homes. We do have modern plumbing and electricity contrary to expectations of a native house.  Continuous upkeep is needed though, and very attractive to bugs such as termites. Coconut lumber is particularly attractive to termites, such services like Terminix are very much welcome.

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