Fun Way To Cook Okoy

Okoy or Ukoy is a traditional Filipino dish. It is usually made of different ingredients common of which is shrimp or vegetables. It is the way that it is cooked that makes a little difference. It is usually eaten as a side dish or appetizer.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 cups of fresh squash, cut into strips
1 medium size onion, diced
1 beaten egg
batter of cornstarch or flour to coat the squash
wanton or molo wrapper
dash of salt to taste
dash of fine ground pepper
oil for frying

Directions:
Cut the squash into thin, small strips, add a dash of salt and pepper then add diced onion. Set aside.Make the batter mixture, add one beaten egg.Coat the squash with the batter and put on top of each molo wrapper. Fry in hot oil, reduce heat while frying. You could add small shrimp on top but it is optional. The molo wrapper also serve as a binder and it makes the okoy crispy.

Serve hot with your favorite dish.

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Country Lanes and Byways (Part Two)

I miss traveling around, finding places where silence still reigns. I miss the fresh green of the countryside.  How I wish I am close to places like these.

I took the first three pictures along the highway in our province in Pangasinan while we were on our way to Manila. The last two shots  were taken at  a  hilltop  somewhere in Sual, Pangasinan where you can see the Lingayen Gulf at a distance.

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On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever

♫♪♫♪On a clear day

Rise and look around you

And you’ll see who you are

On a clear day

How it will astound you

That the glow of your being

Outshines every star

You’ll feel part of every mountain, sea and shore

You can hear

From far and near

A word you’ve never, never heard before…

And on a clear day…On a clear day…

You can see forever…

And ever…

And ever…

And ever more…♪♪♫♪

I think I am having  a LSS. That’s Capones Island located in San Antonio, Zambales. Someday, I would love to come back here and wait for the sunrise…maybe just greet the early morning with a smile.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

Here are my own interpretations of what the word Beyond means to me in pictures. Come to think of it, I always look forward  to this weekly photo challenge because somehow you get to look  once more at some pictures which at the time you took were just pleasing to your eyes and senses. Sometimes though, they acquire a meaning and you wish you could capture the essence of each view and place you see.

Beyond this mountain is my provincial home which I haven’t visited  in quite a while. My old memories of this places is tied up to the river running below this mountain where we used to catch fresh-water fish during the early parts of rainy months. And yes, the impromptu picnics  beside  the river and taking a long soak after.  Fresh, unpolluted running water and lovely river stones that sometimes my cousins and I used to bring home  for our Piko games.

The cool mountains of Tanay. I remember taking this shot three weeks after my six-sessions of chemotherapy ended.  It was a kind of litmus test how far I can go without tiring myself after such a life-changing treatment.  I miss this place, I hope someday I would be able to come back here.

What lies behind closed doors, do you know? Dreams! Pockets of happy days!  Actually, I was fascinated by the stained-glass door. I seldom see this kind of window and door treatments except in places where they value old-age decor.

There is always something that fascinates me in discovering places and looking beyond.  I took this in Caleruega, the hanging bridge was simply irresistible. And beyond this is a vast garden and an upward climb to a hill that gives a wonderful view of the Batulao mountains in Batangas. It’s one of my favorite places to visit.

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Congratulations Janine!

Congratulations Janine!  In the hearts of every Filipino, you are a true winner and you are our Miss Universe. A fellow Thomasian, smart and lovely Filipina! Beauty and brain, that’s what she is!

The winning form!

Such composure!

And she said that there is no formula to winning the Miss Universe title.

Photo credits: Yahoo.com and Reuters (STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS)

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflection

This may come a bit  late for last week’s challenge  but you may have noticed that I don’t get to blog everyday nowadays. Just too busy catching up on things at home that blogging has become my least priority. Well, for one thing, I just set up another blog for my grandson so I am somewhat focused there.

I have only two shots that I want to include here, not because they reflect the challenge at hand but they remind me of the happier days when we used to go on road trips with the kids. These were taken at The Farm, a spa facility that boasts of large gardens and  nature at its best. This is located in Lipa City, Batangas, about three hours away from Metro Manila. Would love to come back here one of these days, God willing.

This is their Lagoon where I spent so much time reading and just looking at the ducks feeding nearby. Why not try visiting this place, they have some excellent reviews from people who’ve been there.

 

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Adobong Labong

Description:

Between July and September each year, bamboo shoots are in season in our place in Pangasinan. In our local dialect, it is also called labong. It is considered a vegetarian dish and it is cooked in various ways depending on what region or province you come from. One such popular way to cook it is mixing it with gata or coconut milk and we simply call it adobong labong. You have to remove the outer casing first and the white , fleshy inner portion is what is eaten. Unlike the way it is cooked in other areas which they still sauté, ours is just mixed together with the ingredients until it is cooked and dry enough. I don’t normally measure how much of each ingredient goes into the pan, it all depends on how you want it, you can put enough chili just like what you do with laing or just enough pepper to taste. It is best when labong is fresh and not the canned variety we see in supermarkets or the boiled ones we buy in wet markets.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo boiled labong
1 cup pork giniling (ground pork) or any toppings that you want
1 tbsp. diced ginger
1 tbsp. diced garlic
1 small head onion
2 pcs. green pepper
a dash of ground pepper
salt to taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a deep wok or pan except the labong. Add a little water and let it simmer until the coconut milk curdles. Put the labong strips and simmer until it is cooked.  (It is always best to boil the labong first  then drained well before mixing it with coconut milk. Put salt and ground pepper according to desired taste. In our province, fish sauce  is usually used instead of salt and it has that different taste from bagoong alamang.

This morning, Mom brought home  four small shoots and I cooked it for dinner….yummy!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Silhouette 

And I thought that silhouette shots are poorly done so I didn’t give them much thought until today. I did some silhouette shots while experimenting with light and shadows. It was a hit or miss, mostly  the latter

Nuestra Senóra de Candelaria Church in Mabitac, Laguna. This is the bell tower of the old church. I took this  during our Visita Iglesia in the towns of Laguna.

One of my favorite places….Caleruega.

I was actually fascinated by the cloudless blue sky with our old avocado tree in the background.

Transfiguration Chapel, a part of the beautiful landscape of Caleruega in Nasugbu, Batangas. This is one of my favorite destinations.

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Lumiliwanag Ang Mundo Sa Kwento Ng Pasko

Every year, ABS CBN, one of the largest TV network in the country comes up with a Christmas station ID that we always look forward to. It signals the start of  a long, long Christmas celebration in the Philippines. It’s  the timeless Parol. Kris says, you can actually buy one at Kultura for the price of P1,800.oo  and a part of it goes to the charity institutions which ABS CBN helps.  I love the message it conveys. Maliwanag ang mundo natin pag bukal sa loob ang pagtutulungan.

(this video remains the property of ABS CBN).

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Memories

Getting a little nostalgic seeing the pics I took of UST  a few years ago. I spent my high school and college life here. And this central lane leads to the lovely main building of the university.

Bringing back the clock – remembering old friends who were part of  my growing-up years, the heartaches of first love, cramming for exams, early morning student mass at the UST Chapel, the daily walks inside the campus, banana que at P. Noval, cornik laced with chili oil at Dapitan.

I just love taking photos of every corner of UST. This Arch of the Centuries is the “ruin” of the original structure of UST founded more than 400 years ago.

Well…I am just proud to be a Thomasian!

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