Manga-on Ta! (Let's Eat)

Tabas or Bilong-bilong or Chabita or Kadis - with English name Moonfish of the family Menidae is one of the available fishes here in Cagayan de Oro City and one of our favorites. It is colored silver and is usually cooked paksiw style in vinegar, ginger, and onions - but we love it deep fried cause you can eat every part of it. hehe. Here's some picture of it when cooked deep fried. And some pics of Mom's little assistant, Zaza , almost finishing them off, eating it together with Champorado / Tsamporado which is Sweet Chocolate Rice Porridge in English. Champorado is soft-boiled rice with cocoa powder or tablea (blocks of cocoa powder made from cacao beans) - Mom uses the latter cause she says it tastes much better. Tablea can also be used to make hot chocolate. Mom prefers the brand Maestrado Tablea from Mambajao, Camiguin - which is also available here in Cagayan de Oro City - because of it's "orig" taste. At the back of their packing is also steps ...

Kinason is what we call this kind of clam in the picture below. It is usually cooked as a soup with Malunggay and spices. But here, Mom mixed it with Okra , Kamote Tops/Leaves , Sili Leaves/Saluyot (Jute Leaves) , Kamatis (Tomatoes) , Luy-a (Ginger) , Sibuyas Dahon (Scallion/Spring Onions) , Tanglad (Lemon Grass) and some salt to taste. When this soup is cooked, it'll be a bit thick/slimy looking because of the okra and saluyot leaves cooked together. Galunggong or Mackerel Scad (Decapterus macarellus) can grow up to a foot in length and has a dark somewhat oily but tasty flesh. This fish is an extremely common fish in Philippine waters and markets. It is usually cooked fried or grilled. Below is a picture of how it looks like when it's fried. This is what we had today :) The clams only worth 20 pesos, the galunggong 50 pesos, all the vegetables 30 pesos. So for a total of 100 pesos, this could feed about 5 people for 2-3meals depending on their consumption :) We'v...

Is what we're having today. :) Chow Fan (Chaa Peung) - Fried Rice in Chinese is cooked in different ways, this is one of them. Usually its much better/tastes better if left over rice is used with it. I don't know why, it just is. My Mom - Susan Lim - also known as MamSue or Mamsuy by her friends, cooks really good food but only cooks these kinda good food whenever she wants - whenever she feels like it. If I had her talent and if I could just clone myself, one would be cooking in my own restaurant, one would be doing my current job, and the other taking care of Zaza. So anyway, back to the Chow Fan. Mom made use of leftover rice from last night, scrambled eggs, spring onion, bell pepper, and some seasonings to add color and taste . I was up late lastnight working so I woke up a bit late, Zaza was already up and helped mom cook this. He woke me up and said it was time for us to eat breakfast, so I stood up and ate with him. Here's a photo of Mom's little helper, Zaza, r...

Is what we had for lunch today and what we'll have for dinner tonight. Binas-oy or Bas-oy is a vegetable soup usually mixed with Malunggay (Horseradish Tree) , Alugbati (Malabar Nightshade) , Okra , Kalabasa (Squash) , Kamote Tops/Leaves , String Beans, Tanglad (Lemon Grass) , Kamatis (Tomatoes) , and Luy-a (Ginger) . Some mix it with more veggies and some with Fried/Grilled Fish but I like it this way and this is our recipe - actually my mom's , but I usually request that no fish be added so it'll only be just veggies. I usually have these cooked when I feel sick and it does work wonders. This is also highly recommended for lactating mothers and sickly children. Kutob is a common salt water fish that's always readily available in most wet markets here in Cagayan de Oro. Mom says there's no season for availability for this fish. I can't seem to find any picture of live Kutob nor information about it. I also forgot to take a photo before it was fried, i'll...