Globe-trotting

Saturday I went to H-Mart so that I could attempt a shrimp and vegetable pancit - H-Mart is clearly a global market, the antithesis of eating locally, but when you're dabbling in ethnic cuisine, local is not always an option. One solution would be to grow your own produce and there ethnic communities that are doing this in community gardens throughout the city. 

I'm quite pleased with my Filipino cooking.  I recreated pancit (stir fried onions, garlic, shrimp, carrots, cabbage, sugar snap peas and canton noodles) and escabeche (Tilapia with plenty of onions, ginger, carrots, and red peppers sautéed and simmered in a sweet-and-sour sauce), my mom loved it; she came by last night just as we were sitting down to eat.  My brother has generously suggested that I come down to learn the dishes that I've been missing out on -adobo manuk, lumpia, sio pao, empotida, ensaimada, enpanada, appritadad chicken, rellenong isda, etc.  I have lots to learn, but I'm looking forward to it. 

Monday morning is always a bit of a scramble.  I was up late completing my lecture (the repercussion of changing a textbook), made mango lassi for breakfast, and was able to get everyone out of the house on time...I really need to avoid being out of the house after 5pm on Sunday...it causes a systemic delay in the routine. 

I'm not going to get back to my brother's for a few weeks and I was thinking about what to cook next.  My Brazilian friend suggested muqueca de peixe, but I think I want to move on from the stews but have no idea as to what to make, and I need to go to the grocery store. 

My mom mentioned the movie Skin; somehow this triggered a culinary response so of course I decided to call my South African acquaintance for some ideas.  Cooking varies by region, she is from the Sotho ethnic group (it surprised me to hear someone identify themselves as being part of an ethnic group) - her mother is from a pig family, hence she does not cook pork.  She told me that she doesn't really like cooking and that I should talk to her niece when she returns in January - apparently she knows lots of vegetarian recipes "from back home."  Some of the dishes she initially described sounded rather boring (fufu, fish stew, etc) and she acknowledged that they were indeed bland.  She said that they often season food with masala, have beets with every meal (yummie!), and they eat a lot of greens - cabbage, kale, spinach. 

She suggested mngqusho (a cracked corn and bean dish that sounds a bit like a porridge) as a flavorful dish- I think I will try that tomorrow perhaps with some cabbage or a West African spinach dish.