A few months ago, Michelle and I were in a “one-dish-meal” mode with rice as the base ingredient – two of which I already have posted here . . . The first one was an experiment on a favourite dish of ours – Adobo Rice, cooked (and baked) a la Paella. The second was a tweaked version of Claude Tayag’s Bringhe from his popular book “Food Tour.”

And because of these delectable (and easy to eat!) one-dish treats that everyone in the ‘orphanage’ enjoys, we’ve been dubbed by the yayas as the “binahog” (Visayan word for ‘mixed’) duo.

For the 22^nd round of Lasang Pinoy, the monthly Filipino Food Blogging Event that is now into its 3^rd year (yehay!), our host Jeanette (aka JMom) of Cooked from the Heart tackles RICE as its theme.

This carb-loaded activity is sure to have sent everyone participating and all those rice cookers, crockpots, woks or other cooking vessels you could think of working at a frenetic pace.

As Jeanette says, “We have gone through 21 months of Lasang Pinoy and we’ve covered a spectrum of Filipino dishes. Every one of those dishes, if you notice, always paired well with rice. See if you can count how many recipes end with ‘serve over rice’ or ‘serve with lots of steamed rice’. I lost count. Rice is a huge part of Filipino cuisine.”

“Rice is woven so tightly into the Filipino palate that it is often taken for granted. It is simply assumed that you will have rice with your meal. It is never the center of the meal like the main dish, but for a Filipino, no meal would be complete without it. Without rice, you’ll have one hungry Filipino feeling a little short changed.”

“We eat rice three times a day. I should say I can eat rice three times a day; for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even in-between snacks and dessert. Carb-free diet? Nah, that will never work on me.”

Well, I couldn’t disagree with you those points, Jeanette.

So for my entry to this event, I am posting another one of my experiments lifted from a daily broadsheet (the Manila Standard, if I remember it right) called Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya Rice.

Ingredients: Butter | Onion, chopped | Garlic, finely chopped | Celery, chopped | Bell Pepper (Capsicum), chopped | Chicken or beef stock | Uncooked Jasmine Rice | Spicy Hungarian sausages, cooked and cut diagonally | Paprika | Cayenne Pepper | Dried Thyme | Bay Leaf | Shrimp, peeled and de-veined | Hot sauce

Method: In a casserole, melt butter. Add onion, and garlic. Saute until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients except shrimps and hot sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer. Cover until rice is cooked. Add shrimps, celery, and bell pepper and continue cooking until shrimps turn pink. Add hot sauce and serve.

What is Lasang Pinoy?

Lasang Pinoy, which could mean ‘tastes of something Filipino’ or short for ‘the Filipino taste’ is a monthly food blogging event to promote Filipino food. It is a product of e-mail brainstorming sessions of several Filipino food bloggers who thought it was time for a Filipino event in the tradition of Is My Blog Burning. The blogger organisers of Lasang Pinoy and participants strive to make the events reflective of Filipino culture.

So, to all Pinoy foodies and lovers of Pinoy food, please feel free join us in the next round!

Thank you for hosting this round, Jeanette!