Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Food blog take three: Pilgrim's pots and pans

has lots of yummie recipes too.

Here is the link for a typical Filippino soup: Mung bean soup.

Sabo Balatung: Mung Bean Soup

1 cup dry uncooked green mung bean (Vigna radiata)
1/2 cup shrimps, shelled (or pork) (and/or)
1/2 cup bagoong (salted shrimp fry paste)
(or you can substitute pork strips or flaked fish)
1 cup chicharon (pork rind/cracklings)
2 tbsp. garlic, finely crushed
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 bunches chives, minced
1 tsp. lard or cooking oil
salt to taste
2-3 cups of water

For the rest of the recipe, go to the link.

One difference, is that she seives her mung beans, and we don't...

As for bagoong, it is femented fairy shrimp...although there are other bagoongs made of fish.
It is a condiment used to flavour different recipes...for the shrimp bagoong, the fishermen catch the tiny shrimp (about the size of a grain of rice) in a fine net, and then they ferment it. Usually it turns a purplish pink. You add it to recipes or to vinegar, or with tomato/green mango/onions etc. as a condiment. It looks like flaky pink stuff when mixed, but don't look to closely at it, because you will see tiny black specks similar to pepper in it...that's the shrimp's eyes...

My rule is never eat anything that is staring back at you, but in the Philippines, we eat fisheads and the entire shrimp and crabs... so I am getting used to fisheyeballs staring at me.


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