Mock, mock minced pigeon

Last week, we had lean ground pork in the freezer and thought we’d cook this for dinner. But we lacked quite a few of the ingredients for the mock pigeon recipe, so we “mocked” it a second time and came out with an equally flavorful dish.

This is the second “mocking” of an original recipe. Initially a friend gave me the recipe in which she substituted ground pork to minced pigeon meat. It was good. Then last week, we had lean ground pork in the freezer and thought we’d cook this for dinner. But we lacked quite a few of the ingredients for the mock pigeon recipe, so we “mocked” it a second time and came out with an equally flavorful dish.

We had a kilo of lean ground pork. We took a knob of ginger and minced it, had a head of crushed native garlic, chopped what remained of a few pieces of water chestnuts. We got one tablespoon of soy sauce, one teaspoon of mushroom oyster sauce (mixed with one cup water), and a dash of sesame oil and ground pepper. We sautéd all these ingredients, adding the sesame oil last. The resulting dish was indeed delicious, served with hoisin sauce on the side. Voila, another easy, quick delicious meal!

We revisited the Seaside Market, a.k.a. Dampa, on Daang Hari to get some prawns. We always come here whenever we want reasonably priced seafood. What sells for nearly P700 a kilo in supermarkets is tagged below P600 here. We got really fresh and big prawns for P560 a kilo, a bargain indeed. There were eight pieces, enough for a main course for our family of three adults and one young girl.

The market has undergone some face-lifting. The place is much drier and neater, with a new coat of paint. The stalls are properly labeled with big signs as to the specific type of seafood sold. One can bargain up to at least a discount of P20 per kilo. The crabs are classified into male, female and bakla, and priced according to size, from P350 to P520 a kilo.

Here is a recipe which is very easy to follow. Wash and drain the prawns, set aside. Crush a head of native garlic, slice thinly a knob of ginger. Saute in a little oil. Add the prawns and slightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let cook, then add a third cup of sweet chili sauce and a teaspoon of oyster sauce. Add a stalk of leeks, cut in small pieces. Mix well and serve at once.

There has been a notable increase in the selection of facial and bathroom tissues. We recently noted the Vanita and Freshies collection plus Shopwise’s house brand, SureBuy. They are priced much lower than the more established brands and are of comparatively good quality. We prefer to get the 3-ply type, as they are sturdier and do not disintegrate when wet. It does pay to look around, examine the prices, compare and in the end get some savings.

We have been watching Asia Food Chanel (AFC), but missed the episode where traveling chef Anthony Bourdain was in the Philippines, sampling our cuisine and giving it his thumbs up. We became familiar with this chef when we got his book “Kitchen Confidential,” from an Australian book store. It is an irreverent piece that gives both the pleasant and unpleasant sides of “chef-ing.” A good read, however.

Have a pleasant Sunday with family.

E-mail comments and questions to [email protected].