Luffa Gourd/Patola

20140331_092144_resized

Patola is what we call the luffa gourd. There are two types of this gourd but I am only familiar with the one that has angles or ridges on the skin. This is the specie called Luffa Acutangula. The other specie must have been introduced in the Philippines at a later date. We call it Chinese okra.

I like patola in several dishes like stir-fry or dinengdeng, a recipe that is almost Japanese where they boil water flavored with fish stock like dashi, and then just drop the vegetables like the cut-up patola, kalabasa or pumpkin and eggplant and long beans, whatever vegetables you have in hand. I specially like patola with misua. It is made by sauteeing garlic and onions, diced pork and shelled shrimp. Add water or chicken stock and as it starts to boil, you may drop the misua, a type of noodles I can compare to somen noodles, actually I use somen noodles as substitue, and the last one is the sliced patola. You may garnish it with green onions. You have to use a young patola for all your recipes otherwise it will be fibrous.

Incidentally, the mature patola or luffa is turned into a sponge and used in dishwashing or even in baths to exfoliate skin. I was not aware we’ve been living green since I was a child. And since it is biodegradable, you can always toss it in the compost pile when it is frayed. How fun to know that now.

Similar Posts

  • Kale

    Kale is becoming the most popular vegetable nowadays because of the health benefits it provides. It has cholesterol lowering properties which is good for me because my cholesterol is quite high according to my doctor. It also lowers the risk of certain type of cancers like ovarian cancer which I battled with two years ago….

  • Baguio Beans

    We call these delectable green vegetable Baguio beans because they are mostly grown in the Mountain Province where the temperature is cooler than the lowlands in the Philippines and Baguio City is the most popular destination during the hot summer months.

  • Leeks

    Leek is a vegetable that is related to onions and garlic which belongs to the family of Allium, scallions or spring onions and shallots included. It looks like the spring onions only bigger in diameter. The white part closes to the roots is the most used in cooking, the green part or sheath of leaves…

  • Bok Choy/Pechay

    Bok Choy or Pechay is one of the earliest vegetable that I have encountered in the garden as a high school student. We were taught how to plant vegetables back then and the easiest to grow was the bok choy or pechay. I like to plant bok choy in my garden here but space is…