UPWARD MOBILITY AND ANGELO'S VERSION OF THE UPLAND DRESSING

I was once told that, "It's just a job."

I heard this line after one TV show I was writing for had stopped airing. I am a newbie at TV writing and I left my corporate life so I could write...

...about food like  kalabaw lugaw (porridge with water buffalo meat) sold  from the lowly karinderia (street food stall) and the expensive Wagyu Beef cooked on volcanic rocks served in upscale restaurants.

I just want to write.

About kids with learning disabilities and how the world treats them like they will never be able to contribute to society.

I just want to write. 

About all the crazy shit stuck inside my head, from the crazy tikbalang afraid to make friends to the two menopausing women conversing about abortion on their way to Quiapo to the sub-atomic sized letters that make up a world brought alive by the continued narrative told by these letters when they are linked. 

I really, really just want to write.

My days of upward mobility are gone. Job titles don't appeal to me anymore. Doing a good job and contentment in what I do are what's important to me now. This is something I tried to share with my younger brother, Angelo, when we were discussing his career path in the culinary and hospitality industries. He couldn't quite picture what I meant when I said job titles shouldn't matter. But I guess that's him being a product of the era of labels, the time of technology.

Good thing that he has his own passions. Cooking being one of them, I tried to explain my new work philosophy to him using the cooking analogy.

One of the lowest positions in the modern kitchen is that of the garde manger or pantry chef who is in charge of the cold foods including the pates, cold appetizers and salads. But when a meal starts with the salad, it becomes the garde manger's job to make sure that the meal becomes a success right from the start. A badly dressed salad can make a meal the epic fail that you don't want it to be.  

Whatever your station is in life or the kitchen line, it's always important to do the best work, one that you can be proud of.

So after sharing that analogy, we went on to make a dressing based on Cafe by the Ruins' upland dressing. My brother made some adjustments to suit his taste. So, here it is.

UPLAND DRESSING
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
2 tbsp honey (or brown sugar)
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tsps finely pressed garlic (or finely minced garlic)
1/2 cup corn oil (the aroma of any other kind of oil does not go well with this patis flavored dressing)

 Toast the sesame seeds. Mix in the lemon juice, patis, honey and garlic. Incorporate corn oil by pouring it as you whisk the liquid briskly. (If you want to do it faster, pour all the liquids in an airtight bottle, and shake vigorously). Add the sesame seeds just before serving.

 Serve with lettuce, arugula, halved seedless grapes, tomatoes and cucumber. I find that this goes well with salads that don't have any meat in it.

Boys! Boys! or How to Make a Meal Out of Martian Brains

Halloween was never an occassion celebrated by my family as I was growing up.

My first and only Halloween Trick or Treat experience was around ten years back when my then ten-year old baby bro' Angelo and his friend Bernard decided they would try their hand at amassing sweet treats from Bernard's neighbors in a gated community in Marikina. 

   Angelo and Bernard then...

Bernard's dad, Chito, and myself played costume master and mistress, borrowing Roman soldier costumes ---complete with toga, helmets and sandals--- from another friend,. When the boys went out in their costumes, Chito and I realized that we had just dressed two boys in flimsy white skirts, something that they'd probably never forgive us for when the pictures resurface via Facebook.

A few hours later, the boys returned with a bagful of candies, plastic toys and unhappy faces. Apparently, they realized that the homes they visited towards the end of their Hallow's Eve jaunt were already having supper.  And when they were handed their treats, they were disappointed  because the tired and hungry boys wanted to be gifted with rice and adobo instead of sweets!

They are now both in the cusp of adulthood and are on the brink of facing the truths of life that turn boys into men. But Angelo and Bernard will probably always be those pre-pubescent boys in my eyes.

   ...Angelo and Bernard today.

Here's a Halloween recipe for the boys...

Martian Brain Noodles

Ingredients:

1.5 kg Malunggay pansit

1 cup pork,  sliced into thin 1 inch lengths

1 cup Pork or chicken liver, cut into ¼ inch cubes

1 cup Chinese sausage, cut into ¼ inch circles

1 cup Shrimp, shelled, deveined and halved

1 cup tenga ng daga, softened and cut into 1 inch long strips

1 ½  cups Squash, cut into 1 inch high triangles

250 grams tofu

500 grams wombok

4 ½  cups water

3 tbsps soy sauce

1 tbsp Kutchai, minced

1 tbsp garlic, finely minced

1 cup onion, finely minced

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 shrimp bouillon cube

Salt and pepper to taste

Place pork in ½ cup water and add a dash of salt. Allow water to boil and the pork to become tender. When about 1 tbsp of water is left, add the Chinese sausage. Turn fire to low. Allow the remaining water to cook the sausage and bring out the oil of the pork to brown the meats.  Add cooking oil, garlic and onion. Then add the liver and tofu. Sautee until brown.

Dissolve the shrimp bouillon cube in 4 cups of water and add to the mixture when the liver is almost cooked. Add in the tenga ng daga, and squash. When the squash is slightly tender, add the shrimp and soy sauce to taste.

When the shrimp changes color, add the malunggay noodles and mix gently. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix gently for five minutes, making sure to evenly distribute the ingredients and keep the noodles moist.

To serve,put a helping of the noodles in a bowl and mold. turn over to a plate and garnish with vegetables.

ha