Bixa Orellana Achuete is probably the most important ingredient in the Filipino cuisine. The bright red color that imparts in the food makes the food more palatable and presentable. It is most used in recipes that we inherited from the Spaniards like the dish we call “menudo” or the famous “paella”. Achuete is an evergreen,…

SINGKAMAS- Jicama, Mexican yam, chop suey yam, yam bean. Singkamas or jicama is a very popular summer savory snack in the Philippines.

Kamatis or tomato is the ever popular vegetable in the world, rightly so because of its versatility in the culinary world and also for its nutritional value. Regarded as either a fruit or a vegetable, either way, tomato is good to eat by itself or combined with other foods especially in salad or salsa. There…

Kalabasa or pumpkin is a favorite vegetable of mine. I like to cook them in coconut milk with shrimp and a little bit of curry powder. It’s so delicious especially with ginger and lemon grass as added flavoring. It is easy to grow. When it starts to flower, you can gather the flowers too for…

Bataw or Lablab is a relative of the purple-hyacinth bean. It is a very versatile bean because you can use it in almost all type of cooking that requires beans. I particularly like to cook it stirfry with pork and shrimp. It takes a while before the seeds germinate after sowing but when it does…