Recipes… Recipes… Recipes…
When I learned that we were going to have a section in Brown Rice devoted to food, I jumped on the opportunity to share the recipes from my childhood. I love and live for food. My mother and father grew most of the vegetables my brother and I ate while growing up in Honolulu—malunggay leaves (horseradish tree), paria (bittermelon) and Japanese eggplant. For meats, our extended the family of uncles, aunts, and second cousins would pull their resources together to buy a whole cow. There was no waste and every bit of the animal was used.
My mother worked as a fry cook for most of her life and made the best American food. But my dad is the Iron Chef of Filipino cuisine and local Hawaiian eats. And I couldn’t wait to share his wonderful recipes for pork belly pumpkin soup, chicken hekka, and roast caldo…until I realized that none of his recipes have been written down and more importantly, I have never seen a measuring cup or measuring spoon in his kitchen. That said, my father’s recipes will have to wait.
In the meantime, I would like to share these foolproof recipes that are sure to impress your Filipino and non-Filipino friends:
