I sowed seeds of pumpkins (kalabasa) along with winged beans (sigarilyas) and hyacinth beans (bataw) about a week and this is how they look like. The larger leaf is the pumpkin, the ones on the left is hyacinth beans, and the farthest left are the winged beans.
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,…
Kinchay or Leaf Celery (Chinese Celery) is a very versatile herb that we use for everyday cooking in the Philippines. It has the flavor and aroma that we like to impart in our local dishes like pancit, chop suey and soups.
Caribbean hot peppers also known as Scotch Bonnet (because of their shape) is found mainly in the Caribbean Islands but widely used in West African dishes. The peppers are scaled at 445,000 Scoville units and a cousin of habanero peppers. Its name was derived from the city of Cuba called La Habana, or Havana in…
Mizuna is a Japanese green vegetable that is gaining popularity in the US. It is in the family of Brassicas which includes kale, rapini or broccoli rabe, broccoli and cauliflower. It is used mainly by Japanese in making soup for New Year celebration as sort of good luck. But its being used now in green…
It’s about a month when I published the picture of the pumpkin seedlings and after I planted them on the ground it started flowering. I noticed only male flowers so far. You will notice a female flower if it has a small pumpkin underneath the flower. It should not be long and I’m going to…
Shallots in the Philippines is called Sibuyas Tagalog or Sibuyas Iloko. Sibuyas is a word derived from Spanish word “cebolla” which means onion. I like this type of onions fresh mix with tomatoes and used as a side dish for grilled fish, especially milkfish. But anything grilled like pork or chicken or even beef will…