Eat Matters

Lasang Pinoy 17: EGGS A DEAL Round-UP

Without much ado, here are the rounded-up entries of the resurrected Lasang Pinoy theme event on its 17th issue.

My apologies for the delay. Am hoping and fervently praying I don't get pelted with chicken, quail, and other eggs of various sizes and colors for not  doing the round-up sooner. But even if I do, I have a frying pan ready to shield me from the yellow yolks of hatred. Then, I can either have them raw at the expense of the Salmonella infection or cook them over easy, sunny side up or boiled.

Just the same, thanks for letting me host the "resurrection" version of Lasang Pinoy 17: Eggs A Deal.

Lasang Pinoy Round-up in Progress

Hi Everyone!

Just  giving you a heads up that I am on the process of doing the  round-up. The  bad finger has somehow healed  just in time for another  dose of slicing come Mother's Day.What can I do. I have to cook for the mother of my daughter or I will be in the bartolina myself on Father's Day. :)

In the meantime, while waiting for the round-up, have some Cheesecake

                                                                   

This is Cheesecake with  Saskatoon Berry Sauce with Raspberry Coulis.It is garnished with Gooseberry   on whipped cream. This delicious cake is served at the Saskatoon Hilton Garden Inn.

                                                              HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Eggs of Comfort: Sinamo nga Hilaw nga Itlog

Fresh.Simple. Easy to make. A comfort food of memory. A childhood craving, Very Pinoy. These are the reasons why I chose this egg dish for Lasang Pinoy 17. Except for the steamed rice, it doesn't need heat and sophisticated dexterity to prepare.

When  a fever  is raging , this dish never fails  to act as abre gana ( appetite stimulant). It is a constant rainy weather friend that brings a bit of cheer to the dinner table. Think  typhoon season, brownouts,howling winds, leaking roofs and knee deep water from an overflown river nearby.

Itlog nga Sinamo is how we call  the egg dish. Literally, it means Mixed Egg. But what it is, is fresh native chicken eggs mixed with hot steaming rice and seasoned  well with sea salt or Tultul .The tultul we would pull out from the garapon--a lidded glass container.( Tultul is a naturaly processed greyish cube of salt that is pressed all over on a plate of rice to give it a mild salty flavor.Sad to say, the art of tultul making  is in the fringe of extinction.)The sinamo can go well with tapa,tocino, pinamalhan or dried fish.Spam or carne norte even.A drizzle of garlic or green onions over the can improve the flavours.

I think the process and concept of Sinamo nga Itlog is popularly local , more Pinoy if not Asian.It is fast food the precedes the contemporary concept of fastfood. Mix and eat fresh. That is all there is to it. From the chicken coup to the table.A nutritious table fare for a farmer on the go.

Everytime I think of Itlog nga Sinamo, I can see the  smiling, warm and nurturing image of my  late Lola Meren preparing the dish  with a grandmotherly cajoling for me to eat the dish.I can imagine her ignoring my childish tantrums to wiggle  a spoonful of the sinamo into my mouth. I am or was a spoiled brat, you know. Lolo's and Lola's boy.

I have not  prepared and eaten Itlog nga Sinamo for ages. Wary of  Salmonella infection, the craving for it has somehow diminished.Fear can dilute the gustatory demands of the taste buds. If not for Lasang Pinoy 17, I wouldn't have cooked the dish again.

The "Eggs a Deal "sortie made me unearth this dish once again from the dusty bins of my gray dura mater.  The theme  egged me to do a little snooping about  eating raw eggs. Well, I found out that  my all-time boxing idol Rocky Balboa,( yes,  he's my favorite more than Congressman M. Pacquiao) drank a couple of  Hollywood grade raw eggs at dawn before a stamina building road run and didn't die. The eggs  fueled him to pummel his  foe to a gory submission. I am more than convinced that nothing will happen to me if I actually relive my happy memories of eating raw chicken eggs on steamed rice. Begone Salmonella!

Hey look.Rocky returns and  flops  at 60. But he is alive. So am I. It's the  chicken's gift, I think.If not, it's Lola watching over me. Remember , I am Lola's Boy.

Ingredients:

1 native or organic  fresh chicken egg.
a plateful of hot steaming  white rice
Tultul or salt to taste.

Recipe:

Wash the eggs thoroughly in water.
Break the egg on top of the steaming rice
Season with salt and mix the rice and egg well.
Serve
If using tultul, mix the egg with the rice first and gently press the tultul on the rice.

This Lasang Pinoy host is Late

                           

I know. I host shouldn't be late for his own event.

I had it all planned for the week. Since work wouldn't  let me have my way, I was going to post my  Lasang Pinoy entry yesterday, May the 6th(May 7th in Pinas) in the evening. But  as fate would have it,  a taste of the unforeseen happened. I was  skinning and slicing a pineapple when my super sharp Henckels serrated knife lost its way and sliced through the tip of my precious unblemished left middle finger as well. It deeply cut the flesh and took a portion of the fingernail too.  Blood  spurted out that I had to put pressure on it and run it through cold  running water until the bleeding stopped. It finally took three heavy duty "band aids" wound tightly  to stop the bleeding. By  measure, it is just a small wound  but  the gap was deep and the blade pierced  the most sensitive part of the hand-- the fingertip. I tried putting a "finger  condom" over that dirty finger but had to take it off later as it was constricting blood flow.Gosh. The pain yesterday was really awful. It is a lot better today. The bleeding has stopped. A single band aid keeps it protected and hopefully it will heal heal fast. I could have the wound in a less functional part of my  not-so-sacred  body.

That small accident  has led into another uncomfortable situation. I am one of those rare species on earth who types on the keyboard with four fingers--the middle and the index fingers of  both hands. Now, I can type with with only three f_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ones not to mention  a super slow God-given WPM typing skill and a Lasang Pinoy  17 Round Up coming up.

In an hour, after bringing my little kindergarten girl to school,  I am gong to  see Mr. Medicine Man to have this finger checked. Tonight I am going to post my entry and start the Lasang Pinoy 17 round-up. Slowly but surely with  a dirty finger on the left hand dangling in midair cursing the nightingales I will finish my tasks.

So pasensya na mga Mare at pare, for the delay.