The Last Mon on the Planet

My Kitchen Discoveries

I am our home’s official cook. And I discovered and realized a few things while staying at home and cooking the dinner for my father and cousin.

• Except for those that are boiled, grilled, steamed or baked, majority of Filipino dishes follow the same steps in preparation. First- Sauté the meat or whatever it is you’re cooking (it could be clams, fish, or chicken) in hot oil with garlic, onions, tomatoes and/or ginger. Second, when the meat is properly cooked, in case of pork when it is thoroughly browned, pour in the right amount of water necessary for the particular dish. Allow to simmer. Then add the harder and bigger kinds of vegetables (potatoes, beans, squash etc) and allow to boil. Wait until the vegetables are soft enough to cut by a fork then pour in the necessary flavorings; salt, sugar, and pepper. And if you are using tomato sauce, sarsa ng litson (for Lechon Paksiw, or peanut butter (for Kare- Kare) or artificial flavoring in little pouches, this is when you pour them in. Finally, when the precise taste has already been achieved add the leafy vegetables and the chili pepper. Wait until done. Serve while hot.
• The lansa or fishy smell in chicken meat can be removed by sautéing it with ginger.
• The taste of onion is stronger when it is added with the final batch of vegetables rather than initially sautéing it with the tomatoes and garlic.
• I realized that a food is described in Tagalog as MALINAMNAM when all the flavors of all the ingredients and spices blend in harmony that the said food is neither too spicy, nor too salty nor too sour. I don’t know how to describe it, but sometimes when I cook, the saltiness of the salt doesn’t blend well with the sourness of the tomato or the sweetness of the sugar. Sometimes I cheat by adding a little more the usual amount of sugar- since sweet taste is usually preferrred, to mask the disparity in flavor.
• I also discovered that by adding monosodium glutamate to the dish, the malinamnam taste is achieved. So Malinamnam, I think, is the Filipino term for the Japanese word umami (MSG has an umami taste). However, since I do not use artificial flavorings and MSGs in my cooking I sought for a substitutes and I discovered that Malinamnam taste is also achieved by sautéing the meat with a liberal amount of patis (fish sauce) or oyster sauce. Of course you have to reduce the amount of salt to be used.
• It is better to boil the chicken first before frying. Several blood vessels are located in the leg and joint parts of chicken. Frying alone doesn’t cook the blood within these vessels so boiling ensures that this does not happen.
• Buy only shellfish like crabs, clams and even octopus and squid that are still alive since these are the fresh ones. Clams, mussels and oysters are alive when the shells are still closed. Crabs are alive when they’re moving. Octopi and squids are alive when they are still changing their skin colors. Shrimps and lobsters are exemption to the rule. It is okay to buy dead shrimps as long as they smell okay.
• When buying in wet market never buy meat that has already been sliced and cut, especially if it is large fishes like mackerel or the bony parts of the meat like the pork ribs.
• Everything else is cheaper and fresher if they are bought in the wet market that in grocery stores, except in SM where the Lapu Lapu(groupers) and prawns are placed in fish tanks.
• You don’t have to peel the skin of Taro (gabi), carrots, ginger and potato, just wash them thoroughly and scrape the ultra-subatomic-thin layer of skin that envelops the rootcrops.

I’ll write another batch of my discoveries next time.

NOTE: MY specialty is Afritada.

spell check

I need to learn how to spell words correctly. I mean for the longest time I thought the word POSITIVE is spelled with 2 letter S.

My First Ever Edited Template

I am currently staying here with my sisters in Manila. Without anything to do, i decided to edit my tumblr template. I am not really knowledgeable with html, nor even with computer in general, nevertheless I still tried to manipulate my blog’s template. I had a really difficult time and it took me five gruelling long hours just to learn how basically my blog’s template was made and works; nevertheless everything paid off in the end and i am really proud of the result.

Job Interview Blues

A friend called me about a job opening in Clark Field in Angeles City, Pampanga so last Wednesday I decided to go there even though I was not exactly sure how. The last time I set my feet in Clark was when I had a school field trip about 11 years ago. I was surprised on how easy it was to find directions in Pampanga and how far Clark actually was.

There were job openings for Company Nurses but I later on discovered that they only take female nurses. I tried to apply for an HR position but the Interviewer obviously didn’t want me to work with her (she asked me if I was good in Statistics.). So I decided to apply for a Medical Transcriptionist position.

I didn’t know what to expect in the job interview since I didn’t have a formal interview in my past Psychiatric Nurse job. The interview went… I think it went well, but not perfect.

The interviewer asked me to tell her about myself. I answered by narrating my personal and family background and throwing some exaggerated qualifications bout myself. I ended my answer with a smile but then she looked at me and didn’t say anything. I felt like saying more but I didn’t know what to add. And a dead silence followed. It was awkward and I’m sure she felt it so she said, “Uhhhhhhmmmm? Anything interesting about yourself?”

I tried to give an answer, a witty one would do, I know. But nary an idea came. And I silently thought- “Am I that dull?”

My Duty Ends Tonight

My contract in the mental hospital ends tonight. I decided not to continue with volunteering. I want to work as a Nurse with real salary, although I don’t know where or how.

The Evil Eye

One thing I love about the female ward in the Mental Hospital is the ease of handing out the medications. The patients in this ward fall in line alphabetically as they wait for their turns to be called. Many are aware of their medications that they’ll tell you their meds even before you have perused the medication list. Some of the patients who are even watch out for anyone who belches out her meds. But of course there are few who are notoriously difficult when it comes with the medication.

Last Sunday, while I was dispensing the drugs with Theresa, a patient from the Observation Unit of the female ward refused to drink her meds but instead wagged her arms, shook her lips and stomped her feet, and asked for a dose of Biperiden [Akineton]. Anti psychotic medications have side effects that resemble the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (muscle-stiffness, muscle-cramping, restlessness, tremors). The drug of choice to combat this side effects is [Biperiden]Akineton; though proven very useful, the medication has its own downside- it is highly addictive. Normally, I A.) try to reason out with the patients or B.) ask the other patients to force feed her the meds. But Theresa is different. She looked at her menacingly and threatened to put her on restraints. Nurses do this because patients are very manipulative and once they see a sign of weakness from the staff they use it to their advantage- no wonder I was never effective in dispensing drugs at the Male ward.

Yesterday, a patient from the Observation Unit of the female ward was transferred at the hallway where we can see her and was placed on restraints after she have bitten another patient. She refused to drink her meds and cried loudly. She insisted that it wasn’t her fault and wailed, “Eh kasi po sinabi nya pagkain daw sya, kaya kinagat ko.” (She said she’s edible, so I bit her.) The patient is very irrelevant and reasoning out with her would be difficult. I couldn’t ask another patient to force fed her the meds in case I choke her. So for the first time I tried Theresa’s technique, I bulged my eyes and looked at her squarely. I pointed a finger at her, and instead of shouting, I whispered threateningly, “Inumin mo yan.” (Drink it.) She shut up and let me shove the pills inside her mouth. She was speechless for a moment.