today, i woke up late from an all-night packing and organizing two balikbayan boxes to be sent back home. laziness wells up as i was having my morning ritual of coffee, pandesal and yosi, hence my planned outing to go and look at the pinoy sunday street food stalls outside the catholic church here had to be cancelled.
then, feeling hungry while watching disc 2 of a tagalog movie [dubai] a friend lent me, i hopped into the kitchen and looked for something to eat. as i opened the freezer, a take-away box slides out and bam! there it was presenting itself to me and begging to be consumed! [a lot of my friends and former colleagues out there would see this scene as quite familiar and would understand why . . . tee hee . . .] a couple of nights ago, i ordered some take-away sirloin steak from the hotel which eventually found their way into the freezer, as a last-minute invite for a lafang with some pinoy colleagues came through.
anyway, i also have the habit of buying and keeping vegetables in the fridge which, i could easily whip something out of when in a hurry and this time i had ampalaya [bitter gourd], another favourite veggie. i usually cook it guisado with hebe [dried shrimps which i always have stock of] and scrambled eggs. but today, my ampalaya came out a bit more luxurious!
AMPLAYA CON CARNE
ingredients and method
cut ampalaya lengthwise, remove seeds and slice into thin diagonal strips and soak in water with salt. soaking ampalaya in salted water apparently takes out a bit of the gourd’s bitter taste. slice beef sirloin into thin strips and set aside.
sauté garlic and onions in a saucepan. add in sliced beef and sauté for another minute or so. add the sliced ampalaya, a teeny bit of water and some oyster sauce, mix and simmer for a few minutes until ampalaya is cooked and sauce thickens. i like my ampalaya a bit crunchy and not too soft.
serve as topping over a bowl of steamed white rice.
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