A mouthful from the text world

So what’s cooking in the world of text? Well, here’s a book – eat your hearts out, fellow texters! – titled Y2K Text Recipes by Elizabeth Pomer, that’s available at National Book Store. But b4 all ye avid texters out der start cooking, here’s a friendly message on what to consider in food preparation:

• When peeling vegetables (like potatoes, carrots and turnips), skin only a very thin layer as most nutrients lie just under it.

• Then either very quickly dip them into a container of water or hold them under a running tap to wash off bacteria, eggs of insects, worms or sand. Much of the nutrients are preserved if you cut vegetables into large pieces or leave them whole for cooking. Never soak vegetables in water after they have been cut, as some vitamins are water-soluble. Cook vegetables as soon as they have been prepared because some cut vegetables lose some of their nutrients through prolonged exposure to air.

• Vegetables lose much of their vitamins and minerals if cooked too long or over high heat. Cover vegetables while cooking to prevent the nutrients from escaping.

• Meats are usually washed very lightly and any excess fat is trimmed off if desired. Frozen meat must be thawed before washing and cooking. Meat cut against the grain is more tender. Meat can be cubed, sliced or cut into strips as desired or depending on the way you like it cooked.

• All meats or food containing protein become tasteless, tough and leathery in texture when cooked over high heat for a long period. The protein is also destroyed. For best results, stews and roasts should be cooked over low heat. Steaks need quick cooking over moderate to fairly high heat (grilled or broiled) to seal the juices in them.

• Pork, however, needs to be cooked quite well to kill off any existing bacteria which are usually found in pork. Even cured pork needs to be cooked.

• Frozen fish is usually bought cleaned, with scales and entrails removed. All you need to do is thaw, wash and season the fish before cooking. Even if you buy fresh fish, you still have to clean it. Hold the fish firmly by the tail and with a sharp knife, remove the scales by scraping them off from the tail to the head. Cut off the head of the fish if you like, slit the abdomen and remove all entrails except the fish roe, leaving it in the abdomen if preferred.

• Most shellfish (like oysters, mussels and clams) are prepared with their shell partially removed. Crabs and lobsters are eaten deliciously right off their shells or with their meat completely taken out, prepared and replaced in the shells.

• Milk and all milk-rich foods need to be cooked over low heat for maximum nutritional value. For best results, milk should be steamed. Milk-rich foods can also be baked in an oven set at a low temperature.

The book contains a whole vocabulary of kitchen terms that may sound as Greek to a first-time cook as text language is to a neophyte texter. For added flavor, there’s a table on the cholesterol counts of Pinoy foods. Like did you know that the utak (brain) of the kalabaw (carabao) has 1,884.9 mg of cholesterol (the recommended amount of dietary cholesterol is no more than 300 mg per day). Plus sharp tips on which knife to use for what cutting job.

K. So let’s cook:

STEAMED FISH

1/2 k. tilapia or lapu-lapu
3 pcs. onions, sliced
salt to taste
kinchay
aluminum foil

Sauce:
2 tbsps. soy sauce
2 tbsps. calamansi juice

Salt fish evenly in and out to desired taste. Lay each fish on an aluminum foil. Garnish on top with onions, tomatoes and kinchay. Wrap and steam for 20 minutes. On a separate dish, prepare mixture of soy sauce and calamansi juice for dip. Serve hot.

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TOMATO CRAB SALAD

4 big ripe tomatoes
1 pc. chopped onion
pimiento and lettuce for garnishing
mayonnaise
1 cup crab meat, boiled
salt and pepper to taste

Wash tomatoes. Scoop out the insides and drain tomato juice. Chill. Mix mayonnaise, onion and crab meat. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture. Garnish with pimiento and arrange nicely in lettuce bed.

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PEPPERY DICED CLAMS

2 pcs. red and green pepper, diced
2 pcs. onion, diced
1 pc. tomato, diced
2 pcs. ginger, peeled and diced
pepper to taste
1 k. cooked clams, shelled and diced
3 tsps. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsps. calamansi extract
1/2 quickmelt cheese, diced
sugar (optional)

In a salad bowl, combine red and green pepper. Add onion, tomato, ginger, clams and cheese. Blend mixture with Worcestershire sauce and calamansi extract. Season with pepper. Stir evenly. Chill. Serve as an appetizer or side dish.

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CHICKEN IN COCO MILK

1/2 k. chicken, cut in desired size
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 pcs. big onions, diced
1 pc. ginger, diced
2 pcs. siling labuyo, diced
1 cup catsup
2 tbsps. butter
salt to taste
2 cups kakang-gata (evaporated milk is a good substitute)

Heat butter in a pan. Fry chicken half-done. Put garlic, onions, and ginger. Saute. Pour catsup and put siling labuyo (hot sauce is a good substitute). Simmer for five minutes. Pour kakang-gata and season with salt. Boil until thick, as desired. Peking duck or turkey is a good substitute for chicken. Serve hot in a platter.

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LOMI

1 k. miki noodles, washed and drained
1/2 k. chicken breast
1/4 k. cow’s liver, cut in strips
1/4 k. squid balls
1 pc. onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsps. Kikkoman sauce (or its substitute)
water
1 cup spring onions, diced
2 pcs. carrots, cut in strips
1/2 k. cabbage, cut in strips
1 pc. small patola, cut in rings
butter or cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken to boil until tender. Cut in strips. Set aside soupstock. Heat oil in a frying pan. Saute garlic and onions. Add squid balls, liver, and chicken strips. Bring soupstock to boil. Add sauteed mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and Kikkoman sauce. Cover and simmer. Add cabbage, carrots, patola and spring onions.

* * *

MISUA PATOLA SOUP

1 pc. med.-sized patola, sliced
1/4 k. ground pork
1/4 k. shelled shrimps
1 pc. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oyster sauce
1/4 cup spring onions, chopped
3 pcs. misua noodles
water
pepper and salt

Pan-fry meat. Set aside and saute garlic and onion. Add shrimps. Pour water. Season with oyster sauce, pepper and salt. Cover and boil. Add patola, spring onions, and misua. Simmer. Serve hot.

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SUMAN INANTALA

4 cups malagkit rice
6 cups coconut milk
3 tsps. salt

Wash malagkit rice very well. Drain. In a carajay, cook it with coconut milk and salt. Stir it occasionally. When mixture is almost dry, stir continuously to avoid sticking to pan’s bottom. Lower the heat and continue cooking with banana leaves, covering for a few minutes. Drop the sticky rice mixture by spoonfuls in wilted banana leaves and wrap. Tie in pairs or sizes desired. Steam for half an hour. Serve with sugar.

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This final message to our fellow texters: Don’t text and cook. Message sent!