Since I was a kid this kind of fish is often found in our dining table especially during Sundays in the form of inun-unan or paksiw – I guess that is the only way to cook this kind of fish. It was only in recent years that I actually appreciated, enjoyed and learned more about this kind of fish which is known in the dialect as hinok or baby ulisi (another favorite fish that I want to eat grilled.)
Ormoc’s traffic is starting to gain notoriety; everyday it just.keeps on getting more congested. I do not believe in the notion that traffic is sign of a good economy. I hope the local govt. will address this situation before it goes out of control. Yesterday, I was stuck at the bridge along Osmeña St. f
or almost 30 minutes – that’s like forever for us Ormocanons. From my vantage point I can see that the traffic from the two other bridges (Alegria and Cogon) are at a standstill for minutes on end. I could blame the inummerable tricycle and single motorcycles who are mostly in a hurry and so forget or refuse to follow and abide traffic rules and basic road courtesy.
so I craved for fresh Chinese lumpia last night.
I just have to make my own. In this sleepy city, you can’t find Chinese lumpia that’s good to go.
It’s almost 3AM and Mr. Sandman is still not here.
I need my shuteye, I have a 9AM appointment tomorrow.
Good luck to me.
I was trying to tire my eyes by watching TV. I was tuned to TLC channel – it was all cooking shows one after the other.
So, I got more interested by the shows and I got excited – watching these shows would only spark my imagination. So, it defeated the purpose of making meself go to sleep.
So, now, I’m hungry. and now I am craving for:
fresh chinese lumpia
FRESH CHINESE LUMPIA!
I swear to God, I’m going to make some tomorrow.
My first initiation to this food that I surmise were created for the gods, was back in my freshman year at Cebu Doc’s. The sophomores and the juniors would give us tips where to eat and get good food with our student budget (read: always inadequate), and then we were introduced to the Chinese Lumpia!
We would walk all the way to Robinson’s to devour the Chinese lumpia there, until we lost count how many we’ve actually eaten…it’s the one that were at the basement near the supermarket…although they’re no longer there.
And then my good friend Angel Kangleon and I discovered back in 2004 while doing our grocery one Sunday morning, we spotted thesame manang who served these delicious rolls back in college. Our hearts were racing, we were kinda hoping she ws selling thesame stuff. Alas! Yes. We spent most of our grocery money that day to good ole’ Chinese Lumpia. It brought great memories of the care free years we all call: college. We forget how good they were. And so, it became a Sunday habit…although, I would take a cab from our house to Fooda in Guadalupe when I crave for them.
Now that I’m in Ormoc…I guess I just have to recreate it.
Let’s see if I can do it.
And, yes I am still very hungry. I thought blogging about it would distract me. No it didn’t!
So here’s a recipe of this that I recreate in my mind:
Shredded ubod (hearts of palm), shredded carrots, diced tokwa (silk tofu), small shrimps, togue (mongo sprout, optional), shredded cabbage, ground pork. salt and pepper to taste. All you have to do is saute the ground pork in garlic and onions, then just throw in everything and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Wrap it in lumpia wrapper, but sprinkle a mixture of ground peanuts and sugar before wrapping (the kind that they use in lumpiang shanghai).
I have yet to experiment on the sauce…I will keep you guys posted on that one.
i ken cook 