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.
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Pinamarhan nga isda
Or fish cooked in vinegar and spices.There a number of ways of doing this. One was taught to me by Boy, a family friend and a Bicolano. He cooks the fish in very little water with crushed garlic, ginger, lemon grass, sliced onions. When water almost dries up, add some vinegar. When the vinegar is almost dry, add some salt, vetsin (optional) and oil. Instead of oil, you may use thick coconut milk. Cover and simmer for a while, then serve. If you use coconut milk, your dish becomes linabug nga isda.
By the way, when cooking pinamalhan (or pinamarhan, paksiw, inun-unan nga isda) using vinegar (langgaw or suka) use only stainless steel pot. Clay pot is a lot better. Never use aluminum-made pot and ladle because it chemically reacts with vinegar (acetic acid) forming toxic substance that will cause gastro-intestinal illness.
Another way of cooking pinamarhan is using sliced tomatoes or iba (kamias) to give it its sour taste instead of vinegar. You simply cook the fish in little water with crushed onions, garlic, ginger, sliced tomatoes/iba, add salt to taste, vetsin (optional) until the water dries up. Little oil may be added before removing from heat.
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Egg sarciado
Saucy egg (sounds good, right?) is basically hard cooked egg with sauce. All you have to do is hard cook some eggs let’s say 5 eggs, by boiling it in plain water for about 15-20 minutes. Peel and quarter lengthwise. Then arrange the sliced eggs in a platter and set aside.
Then, sautee some crushed garlic, minced onions and about a cupful of sliced tomatoes. Add some water, cover and simmer for about 3 minutes. Mash (duludogmokon) the tomatoes to extract the flesh and produce the sauce. Add salt to taste. Then pour mixture over sliced eggs. Ola!!! This is best serve for breakfast.
