Khok: Pickles and soup

HELLO there, Khokies? How have you been? I hope you are still following the Covid-19 protocol. Get “bakunated,” please (inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine).

With that, let me continue sharing with you my grandmother Awu’s recipes, and for this round, pickled papaya. And more.

Preserved vegetables pair well with grilled, fried, baked and roasted food. The family favorite is achara nga kapayas (pickled green papaya), eaten with grilled fish. Sometimes, we add to that meal a bowl of salted egg salad with eggplant and corn soup with malunggay or moringa. Here are the recipes:

SALAD. Grill and peel two eggplants, and mash. Add vinaigrette dressing. Just before serving, add seeded and wedged ripe tomatoes, minced ginger and minced red onion. Adjust the taste if you want. Mix the ingredients, then add the salted eggs, tossing gently. Enjoy!

MORINGA SOUP. There are many ways of using moringa leaves. It is the basic ingredient for utan Bisaya (mixed vegetable soup) but moringa can also be added to scrambled eggs and pasta or mixed with sliced vegetables to make lumpia or added to veggie burgers or made into juice mixed with cucumbers and oranges.

The soup here starts with sauteed minced onion and garlic to taste. Add grated corn, about one medium ear.

Allow starch to come out of corn, then add one can of drained mackerel in oil (reserve the packing water). We use the brand Pacman used to endorse. Add two cups of water plus the packing water. When soup boils, add the moringa leaves. Season to taste and serve hot.

ACHARA. Prepare 3 c grated green papaya, 1 carrot cut into flowers, 1 paleya cut into sticks, 2 red bell peppers in strips, 1 cucumber in sticks, 1 eggplant in sticks, and 1 chili pepper (optional).

Sprinkle 1 c salt over grated papaya. Mix well and leave for 30 minutes to marinate. Squeeze out the juice from the papaya. Rinse once and squeeze to remove excess water, set aside.

Blanch carrots, paleya and eggplant (two to five minutes) in boiling water. While still crispy, remove them with a slotted spoon. Plunge into a bowl of ice cubes to shock it (stop the cooking process).

Drain the vegetables. Either pack the achara in clean jars by mixing the grated papaya with the blanched vegetables or packing the grated papaya first, then creating a decorative arrangement using the vegetables around the papaya strings.

Do the quick mix-all way or let your creativity lead the way. Top the achara with a pickling solution. To make the pickling solution, mix 1 1/2 c vinegar with 1 1/2 c sugar. Boil gently until the pickling solution is syrupy. Pour into packed jars. Done! Yum!