PPPans

And balimbing in the Philippines. Ripe starfruit are usually rather juicy with a slightly tart/tangy flavour; however, a Google search reveals that there exists a variety called honey starfruit that's rather sweet and fragrant (source). ← Yes Mooshmouse, the honey starfruit is quite common in the Philippine countryside. In Pampanga, it's called taranati while the sour/tart one is the balimbing.

I've brought in plums, persimmons, nuts, etc. from Europe and Israel without problems. Sometimes it's a question of how much you're bringing in. Am trying to find websites that can help but I think the most efficient way is to call the Consulate or Embassy to see if there are any restrictions. They're usually the best source for location specific info. Will update later if I find something.

It was in fact identified last month with the help of someone at the GardenWeb forum. Barbados gooseberry - Pereskia aculeata Mill., a type of cactus. Such a wonder!

If it's Southeast Asian, it's most probably taro, Colocasia esculenta. Malanga a.k.a. tannia, tannier and yautía (Xantyosoma sagittifikium) is more of a Central American and Caribbean root crop.

Thanks for liking my clay pot, Smithy! It was originally my grandmother's. Here's a top view of most probably the same pot. Yes, I'm the Karen who writes that blog.

Fifi, where are you? Important cuisine? I am not sure if I should laugh or what, hehehe! Filipino cuisine is at the bottom of the totem pole in American consciousness, from what I've heard. This discussion is drawing out my obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Let me know the replies to your queries. I'll try to find out from the manufacturers here if there's any possibility of shipping. Most probably. Clay pot makers are artisans with no financial backing. To have their products go through analysis would be too expensive. Richard, did they tell you why they don't carry the pots anymore? Too few orders? Expensive shipping? Hmmm...

That's the Filipino way too!

There has been a lot of interest in our clay pots lately. If you get to buy any, ask for the black pots. They are far more durable than the red ones and will last for generations if you are careful with them.

Hi Diva! Someone fabricates them for me. I sometimes get frivolous and ask for serving spoons in all manner of shapes.

Although I'm no professional I'm very particular with spoons. The ones I use most often are made from coconut shells with wooden handles. I have a complete set with handles ranging from 6 in. to 24 in. with deep and shallow heads. Just bought these - Coconut shell spoons have the features of wood without being absorbent. With all the strong smells and flavours in a Filipino kitchen, you'll need that advantage.

Oh, I think what you mean is that there is the Tagalog language and it has multiple variations called dialects. Example of Tagalog dialects are what they speak in Laguna, Quezon, Bulacan, etc. Just to get back on topic, I have been wondering about the similar freshly harvested rice delicacy in Thailand. I still haven't found the way it is processed or what it's called. I hope someone from the forum can help.

Not to nitpick aznsailorboi, but Tagalog is indeed a language and not a dialect. In other parts of the Philippines: Mountain Province = tsu-om, du-om or do-om Ilocos = dumdumen Pangasinan = deremen Tagalog and Visayan regions = pinipig Indonesia = emping By the way, I've uploaded a video of how the rice is pounded. The first part is for the detail, one mortar to three people. The second part is when at least three mortars assembled in one place have the pounding synchronised. Click for the video.

In Filipino-style pochero and arroz ala Cubana. Saute ground meat in garlic, onions and a bit of tomatoes (or tomato sauce). Add some salt and diced potatoes and raisins. Set aside. Fry some plantains sliced length-wise. Fry an egg, sunnyside up. Serve egg on top of rice, plantains and meat side-by-side. Rice can be steamed or fried.

You can still salvage the re-cooked Cốm. Make some rice pudding. We do that with duman. Or make some Filipino-style champurrado. Dissolve chocolate paste/tablets/chips in boiling water, add the Cốm and sugar. Milk if desired. I just hate to see something so precious go to waste.

Oh! It's not supposed to be cooked like raw rice. That kind of rice is called Cốm (wrong diacritical mark - it won't show properly on many sites) and is pounded roasted unripe rice grains. When did you get it? It's about to go off season now, I can imagine. When you cooked it, did the green colour leach into the water? I would love to see close-up pictures as I've been researching this kind of rice. It's something many Southeast Asian societies have in common. I recently did an extensive write-up for the Filipino equivalent - duman. I found a Vietnamese website which indicates it's made almost exactly the same way. Here's my write-up with step-by-step pictures of the process - Duman: Epitome of Artisanal Food. P.S. You can upload the pictures on ImageGullet or on a free hosting site. PM me if you need help. Edited to add the link to the Vietnamese green rice flakes.

For Italian, read Marketman's review of Galileo Enoteca. Not fine dining but definitely authentic. Check out Lori's review of L'Opera too. Her reviews of other restaurants might help you too.

Greens are my favourite! Tender leaves of yard-long beans - sauteed with the beans and meat. Sweet potato leaves (the tips) are simply steamed then dipped in spicy vinegar and bagoong (salted shrimp fry paste) Several other greens like tender leaves of mango are shredded and put into a salsa-like preparation Kangkong of course can be prepared any which way, from stews to soup

Indeed Pan! Asam gelugor doesn't look anything like Tamarindus indica, sampalok/sampaluc to us Filipinos - picture of ripe fruits below. On the left, still with some green is a semi-ripe fruit. The shiny seeds are in the middle. If eating the fruit, crack the shells open, discard then suck till the flesh comes off the seeds (poor Mottmott). The unripe fruit would be full, flesh sticking to the shells as it hasn't contracted yet. I'll take pictures when I find some in the marketplace.

When you say tamarind paste, block, etc. - is it ripe or unripe? Ripe is brown, unripe is green. I'm asking because we always use unripe tamarind as souring agent for soups and stews. Ripe ones are usually candied.

How long will you be in the country? There are many great places within Metro Manila but much more outside. Do you have time for that? Around two hours away is Tagaytay (south) and then northwards you have Pampanga. Let us know your general timetable and help you with your culinary itinerary.

Upon cooking, add a generous amount of fried garlic, chopped spring onion or leeks, crumbled chicharon, slivers of hard-boiled eggs and the juice of one calamansi. That's what we have for a proper ramen and it should do for instant. Same with congee.

I love them! They're sold in stores all year-round. Some shells are easier to crack than others. Someone told us before, there are certain types of watermelon which are grown especially for the seeds.

Here are Philippine rice-paddy snails being sautéed in ginger for soup. Pan, tahi is tae (ta-eh) in Tagalog. To fast the snails is to get rid of their tae, hehehe!

I just had snails the other day. For our native Philippine species which on the average are an adult's thumb-sized, fasting them overnight or for five hours is enough. These usually come from rice paddies or rivers and not too slimy. The basic recipe is to sauté them in ginger, with the shells, lightly salt then simmer with lots of water for a few minutes, add chilli leaves. Great soup! Half the fun is shucking them out of their shells during family meals. They can also be used as omelette-filling. Remove from shells, chop them finely, sauté in garlic, onions and tomatoes.

Hi Ludja, Fresh lard isn't strongly flavoured provided you don't salt the meat too much. My grandmother used to render pork fat all the time. The result is dependent on the heat. Low fire = rind, high fire = cracklings. No need to trim off skin. Many Filipino baked goods (inherited from Mexico/Spain) like one biscuit (masang taba) make use of lard. Empanadas are fried in pork lard too. There's also hopia baboy (hopia is similar to a Chinese moon cake but much lighter - baboy means pork or pig) which is actually made of a type of melon but uses lard as shortening.