Pork sinigang (style ni Mama)

 

Pork Sinigang
1 kilo pork, preferably spare ribs, cut into chunks

1 regular red onion, diced

5 tomatoes, sliced half

1 roll lemon grass (tanglad)

100 gm. river spinach (Kangkong)

100 grams string beans

3 pieces horse radishes, sliced

3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed and sliced

4 pieces sili (green finger pepper)

200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

4 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

1 liter of rice wash, pork broth or water

1.        Boil sampalok in water until the shell cracks.Cool and  peal off the shells, mash and with the use of strainer, separate the meat from the seeds. Set aside the sampalok juice.

2.        In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

3.        Add pork, tanglad and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to boil then simmer for 10 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

4.        Add the horse radish and simmer for 5 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili . Let boil for 2 minutes.

5.        Serve hot.

(cooking tip: you may use commercially available tamarind cube or sampalok seasoning instead of tamarind fruit)

Laswa or Linapwahan

Lapú (with stress at the last syllable), or linapwahan or laswa is vegetable stew.  There are numerous versions of linapwahan, depending on your preference. Here’s the basic recipe:

from cooking-in-small-spaces

Boil 1 cup of water with sliced onions (bombay) and some dilis (dried anchovies). Add sliced squash, cover and simmer for a minute. Then add string beans (cut to 2 inches long) and crushed garlic, cover and simmer for another minute. Then add tagabang and/or malonggay. Add salt to taste and ½ teaspoon oil. You may add vetsin. Cover and remove from heat. Eat while still simmering hot.

Lapú could  be a combination of any or all of the cited vegetables. You may also use alogbate leaves instead of tagabang and malonggay. Combining alogbate with either tagabang or malonggay do not taste good for me. But tagabang and malonggay make a tasty combination.

Instead of dilis, you may use flaked fish. Left over grilled or fried fish will taste just as great especially if you include the head of the fish. Shrimps are also great! If you have some shrimp heads kept in the fridge, you can use this for lapu. But for ground beef/pork it is better to use alogbate instead of tagabang and or malonggay. If you use fried fish, pork or beef you don’t have to add oil to your linapwahan. But you can do away with the oil if you will be having pork or beef dishes in addition to your linapwahan.

Saykwa or sikwa (patola in Tagalog) will the make the linapwahan smell so good. Tanglad (lemon grass, known for its anti cancer property) will surely make the linapwahan awesome to the palate and you’ll beg for more.