Vegan Korean Jackfruit Bowl

I have read about the latest trend in meat substitute, the green or unripened jackfruit, for a year now but never tried it. I am familiar with the fruit which we call langka in the Philippines. Growing up I ate the ripened jackfruit or sweetened ones cooked in syrup. The latter is used in our native dessert called halo halo and with saging na saba in special fried turon. I have never had the green Jackfruit in a savory dish, however. So I was a bit skeptical about it being this new meat substitute rocking the world of foodies.

I am getting tired of tofu and beans as meat substitutes so I finally gave the jackfruit a try. I bought canned green Jackfruit from Patel Brothers and decided to cook it in bulgogi marinade since I was into Korean flavors these days. Boy I was surprised! It absorbed the sauce readily without getting mushy. It really tasted like pulled pork and did not have the rubbery texture of tofu. I am now a believer.

Here is the simple recipe.

Vegan Korean Jackfruit Bowl

Korean Jackfruit

• 1-20 oz can young green Jackfruit in brine, drained and rinsed (from Asian store)
• 1/2 tsp each garlic, ginger and onion powders
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or according to taste)

Bowl Ingredients

• Cooked rice
• Mango, cubed
• Carrot sticks
• Spinach
• Cilantro

Place all the ingredients for the Korean Jackfruit in a skillet and allow to gently boil till the sauce is absorbed by the jackfruit. You may add water if it dries up but not too much.

Place the cooked rice in a bowl and arrange the  Jackfruit and garnishes on top. Place some sauce on top of you like.

Slow Cooker Mango Pork Bulgogi Taco

This is an OMG taco. I say OMG a lot to my two grandchildren aged 4 and 2 they are saying it just as often. When I ate this I could not help exclaiming just that, OMG over and over again.

It is so simple to make with the help of store bought bulgogi marinade from the Asian store. I have posted in a past blog the recipe of homemade bulgogi marinade.  I have also posted a recipe for korean pork taco before in this blog. This present recipe is simpler with  fewer ingredients and a surprisingly awesome topping, mango. Yes or OMG!

Slow Cooker Mango Pork Bulgogi Taco 

• 3 lb pork butt or shoulder
• 1 cup bulgogi marinade (store bought or homemade see this past blog)
• 12 small tortillas
• Garnish (coarsely chopped Napa cabbage, bunch of cilantro and mango, cubed)

Place the pork and bulgogi marinade in a slow cooker and cook for 4 hours at high setting and 8 hours at low.  I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker at slow cooker setting for 3 hours.

Shred the pork and place on top of tortilla and top with Napa cabbage, cilantro and mango cubes. Yum!

Maxim 82 CSJA Monroeville Prayer Group May 21, 2018

Below are the thorough and wonderful notes on Maxim 82 generously  prepared by Natalie for us  to ponder on. Have a happy day filled with the Holy Spirit and the beauty of spring.

Vegan Tofu with Mojo Sauce

I fell in love with the Cuban Mojo sauce that was used in the Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork I posted recently. I decided to make a vegan version using tofu as the meat substitute for the pork. In this recipe, I used the stove top versus the slow cooker method but one can use the latter also for this vegan version.

That addictive flavor of the mojo sauce that my friends drooled over the carnivore version had its compelling presence in this vegan one. It enveloped the tofu pieces with its enticing flavor effectively.  I assure you eating this dish with beans, cilantro and rice is as satisfying as the carnivore version.  You will not miss the meat. The mojo sauce will make you forget it. Enjoy!

Vegan Tofu with Mojo Sauce

Inspired by Simple Eats and this blog

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dry oregano leaves
• 1 orange, juice and zest
• 2 limes, juice and zest
• 1 tsp salt
• 1- block (17 oz) tofu, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water

For serving:

• Rice, cooked
• cilantro
• black or red beans 

Add the garlic and the 1/2 cup vegetable broth in a skillet.  Allow the mixture to boil and cook till the garlic softens.  Add the rest of the ingredients except the cornstarch slurry.  Heat the mixture at medium heat until half the liquid is gone.  Add the cornstarch slurry in water and allow the mixture to boil till it thickens.

Serve with rice topped with cilantro and beans on the side or on top.  

Childhood Games We Played

When I was growing up, my parents hardly bought us any toys.  My cousins' parents were not fond of buying them any either except for Olie and Dodie's.

Instead of playing with toys, we played what I call playground games with other kids on any vacant lot we could find.  Most of these games hardly need any equipment at all.  We played "piko" which is similar to hopscotch on bare ground using a stick to make the lines on the soil.  We also played "patintero" where your goal is to avoid being touched as you go through three lines each manned by kids.  Another game I love is called by "tumbang preso" where you hit a can without being touched by the "it".  A very simple popular game that we loved to play is "luksong tinik". Two kids form the fence that the other players have to jump over without touching the fence.  This is very convenient since one uses ones feet and hands to make the fence starting with one foot of the two kids and progressively include the other foot then the hands.

I think having nothing but what you have around you can make you creative to think of ways to use them as your toys.  My cousin Pepe proved that.

He was creative in devising a sort of game to amuse himself and us, his cousins. We usually played in the compound where the fish sauce, which my family made, underwent fermentation in large vats. These large round wooden containers which later were made of concrete. were pretty close to each other creating dark corners where spiders loved to create their cobwebs.

Pepe loved to catch some of the small spiders and place them in matchboxes.  He would then take them out and allow two of them to walk on a stick.  He would then invite us to watch as the two spiders fight each other and predict who would come out alive at the end.  He delighted on putting this show for us especially when make believe bets were made like the grown ups did real ones during the ever popular Filipino past time, cockfighting.

Who needs electronic games when you have a creative cousin like Pepe?  

Memories, What a Gift

Brought me back to a
time when I could not only
see but feel all there's.

Vegan Dinakdakan

I had a similar dish at the wonderful Gerarda's Restaurant in Bohol, Philippines during a recent trip there with a group of high school classmates from St. James Academy, Malabon this past February. This refreshing salad/appetizer was one of the favorites of our group. The gracious owner generously shared the ingredients they used in preparing this fusion version of an iconic Ilocano dish.

Dinakdakan is customarily made with pig parts that are boiled till tender then grilled. The sauce is even made with pig's brain. A recipe for carnivores can be found in Panlasang Pinoy.

This vegan version is based on the fusion preparation of dinakdakan by Gerarda's Restaurant. They used green tomatoes and red onions and grilled pork. I really have been been wanting to duplicate their version but I could not find green tomatoes. I decided to substitute green pepper since if one tasted the dish one could mistake this vegetable for the green tomatoes  anyway.

Since I wanted a vegan version, I have to decide between tofu or sweet potatoes as the pork substitute. I opted for the latter and was very pleased with the choice. Done properly the sweet potato pieces had the crunch and flavor of the grilled pork.

The dressing used makes the dish. I followed the ingredients shared by the owner. I utilized balsamic vinegar but you can use white or cider. I combined it with vegan mayonnaise and added a little sugar. There were other ingredients enumerated by the owner but their contribution to the dish was minimal I am skipping or making them optional in the recipe below. I believe coconut milk, ginger and hot pepper were also added. I totally skipped the coconut milk and made the latter two optional.

Here is the simple recipe. My oh my I had this this morning and for lunch yesterday. I would have had it for supper but I was full from a wonderful buffet I attended.

Vegan Dinakdakan

About two servings

1/3 green pepper, cut into small cubes

1/2 small white or red onion, sliced

1/2 medium tomato, sliced into bite sized pieces

1 medium sweet potato, cubed (cooked in vegetable broth till cooked but crispy and doused with hoisin sauce and just heated)

2 tsp vinegar, ( I used balsamic)

2 tsp vegan mayonnaise

1/4 tsp ginger powder (optional)

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and enjoy. 

Free Will to Live While Dying

When my friend was at Forbes Hospital two years ago, I paid her a visit weekly.  She was being kept alive by all kinds of contraptions. I knew she could not recognize me or even hear me but I still visited her and every time I had some goodies with me like bars of chocolate that she loved when she could still eat and not fed via tubes through her veins.  I leave them on her table hoping her grandchildren would eat them when they visited.  At times I offered them to the nurses sort of sucking up to them so they would take extra care of my friend.

One time I even touched her with a piece of cloth taken from the clothes of Our Lady of Torumba, one of the Marian devotional destinations in the Philippines.  This was given to me by a Filipina who told me how it had worked miracles on her sister who had suffered a major stroke. A nurse was there when I was doing this gesture which I was afraid he would think to be weird. I did not have to fear, as I turned to him to check his reaction, he encouraged me to just do it with a look of understanding in his eyes.

My friend was in a section of the hospital where most patients with terminal conditions stayed.  After my visit, I used to walk through its corridor and I would confess it was not uplifting.  One particular day the whole experience of being in a place where it seemed the hand of God was pretty heavy got to me.  I was beginning to feel upset and thought He or She should be more merciful and generous and not make their sufferings linger.  I decided to go inside the hospital gift shop for a breath of fresh air and beauty before I got to my car. I confessed to the sales lady that I had no intention of buying anything and was just there to surround myself with something else other than the depressing signs of death and dying.

I told her how frustrating and sad I was that my friend was suffering and totally in a hopeless condition to live any further and yet was kept alive.  It was then, she, a stranger, shared with me her personal story.  Several years ago she had a friend with terminal cancer and was going through a lot of pain.  She, the sales lady, was mad with God for prolonging her friend's condition until an epiphany came to her. I am not sure now how this enlightening thought came to her but it consoled her.  God put in her mind that the decision to die does not rest on God.  The person has still free will and has to decide when to die when she feels she is ready.  Her friend needed more time for some reason. The sales lady decided to join her friend in the final chapter in her journey in life in peace after this gift of clarity from God.

I never forgot this insight which had helped me understand why God was prolonging another friend's life who was in a helpless and painful condition these past few months.  I somehow was able to get a  handle on something that was incomprehensible and confusing.  Perhaps indeed as somebody said, life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived even during its death and dying stages.

Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork

This is a simple dish with few ingredients that comprise the so called Mojo sauce popular in Cuban cuisine. It has garlic, two citrus fruits, orange and lime and lots of oregano.  The latter herb gives the dish that distinct taste that surprisingly is loud and clear but not a turn off. It makes it addictive with its spirited flavor.

The slow cooker method is the perfect alternative to the usually arduous long baking time that the Cubans use to prepare this dish. This recipe was inspired by the one found in Simple Eats. I skipped the olive oil and mint in the list of ingredients and used dry oregano not fresh.  In this website, the author mentioned the first time he winged preparing the dish the pork was dry.  If only he knew to use the slow cooker.  But you do.  No excuse.  Make this and you will eat it morn, noon and night.  Delicious. Complete the Mojo Cuban experience and eat it with black beans, rice and cilantro.

Slow Cooker Cuban Mojo Pork

Inspired by Simple Eats

Sauce

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dry oregano leaves
• 1 orange, juice and zest
• 2 limes, juice and zest
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Pork

• 3 lb pork shoulder or butt (I used pork butt)
• 1 tsp dry oregano leaves
• 1 tsp salt

For serving:

• Rice, cooked
• cilantro
• black beans (I used straight from can, drained)

Add all the sauce ingredients in the crock pot and mix.  Coat the whole pork with oregano and salt.  Place the seasoned pork on top of the sauce ingredients

  

Cook for 4 hours at high setting or 8 hours at low. I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 3 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve with rice topped with cilantro and black beans on the side or on top.  Serve with the sauce on the side.

Yesterday My Heart Burst with Joy

That radiant smile,
the unexpected wave. Did
I see God in him?

Some Memories Are Like Chili

The feelings they bring
like spices need time to blend.
To relish their meanings.