today, supermarkets and shops around town are closed as it is the first day of hari raya aidil fitri, the muslim festival of sacrifice, which follows the fasting month of ramadan.
been looking forward to go for my usual round of houses to visit and enjoy specially-prepared malay dishes (and desserts!) but laziness struck once again so i decided to stay put at home for a while and enjoy the four-day-long weekend ahead. anyway, hari raya celebrations normally lasts for a month, too, and there would still be lots of houses for me to go to and, loads of food to indulge on later . . .
on days like these when there’s nowhere else to go, i am left with no choice but to make do with whatever is in the fridge for my lafang. i’ve got some left-over veggies from the pinakbet [an ilocano vegetable dish] i cooked the other day, plus some tinapa [smoked fish] given by a pinoy colleague and managed to come up with two simple dishes out of these for my dinner tonight.
here they are . . . as simple as they can be . . . quantities and measurements? none, just whipped ‘em up ala tsamba!
GINISANG SITAW AT SIGARILYAS
[sauteed long beans and winged beans]
ingredients and method
in a sauce pan, saute crushed garlic, onions and tomatoes. cook until tomatoes are soft. add diced tinapa [smoked fish] and continue to simmer for about a minute. add in cut-up sitaw [long green beans] and sigarilyas [what's the english word? winged bean?], a bit of water, some bagoong na alamang [shrimp paste], and continue to simmer until vegetables are tender [not soggy]. adjust taste with patis [fish sauce] if necessary.
this dish reminds me of an all-time-favourite dinengdeng, another ilocano dish my mother loves to cook. lakay junfon promised to cook the real dinengdeng soon . . . if and when he finds a palayok [pinoy claypot] here in brunei to use for cooking!
TORTANG TALONG
[eggplant omelette]
ingredients and method
boil talong [eggplant] in a small pot until tender. most pinoys would grill the eggplant but since i hate removing and cleaning up the charred eggplant skin from my fingers during preparation, i like it boiled. remove and peel off skin. flatten and mash eggplant using fork or spatula. beat some eggs, add some salt and pepper. dip eggplant in the egg mixture and fry both sides in oil until golden brown.
this is the simplest variation of eggplant omelette. another popular [but takes a bit longer to prepare] variation would have some sauteed minced meat and potatoes. i also tried it one time with sauteed tuna flakes — just as yummy!
again, most pinoys would normally eat tortang talong with ketchup [catsup] but for me — it’s vinegar, ground black pepper and crushed garlic dip with finely sliced red chilies . . . or bagoong na alamang with calamansi juice . . . yum! also, a great side dish for the plain torta would be pritong tuyo [fried dried fish] which goes perfectly well with the vinegar dip, and eating with your hands! :-D
a friend and i enjoyed these simple dishes tonight while watching an old tagalog dvd movie . . . tee hee . . .
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