Greetings Asean Hivers!
Last week of March my 3rd sibling arrived here in Manila from Bicol, he will be staying at the house of our 2nd sibling. The moment I learned that he will go here I asked my mom to buy me some longganisa and pancit. The day before my 3rd sibling's departure my 2nd sibling called me and ask me why did I send money to our mom to buy my favorite food 'cause he already bought enough foods for us. We ended up laughing each other, he wanted to surprise me I guess? But he was the one who's surprised. That simple thought from my sibling makes me feel so happy, even though we have our own families we still thought of each other.
Let me show you what they got for me:
This is "Pili Nuts Candy", my grandma made it for me. From picking to cooking she did it by herself, when my grandma knows that my siblings will send me some foods she quickly cooked this in the morning on the same day that my younger sibling will travel. Fortunately, his departure is in the afternoon. My heart aches every time I remember how she always cares and loves us, I really want her and Grandpa to be with us but they said that even if I have my own house they will miss the province life. They think that they will feeling weaker because in the province the air is fresher, there are a lot of soil to plant vegetables, fruits and flowering plants unlike here in our place almost every where is already cemented. I don't know if I'm just being emotional but when it comes to them it always hits the softest spot of my heart, maybe because they loved me so much since I was born until now that I have my own family. Having them as my grandparents is really a blessing.
"Tablea", this is also homemade by my Auntie and Grandma. This made from the seeds of cacao fruit which they picked from their cacao trees. Making this is a long process, they made it ahead of time and they also sell it. This is perfect for cocoa drink and champorado.
"Guinobatan's Longganisa", these are the longganisa special from my hometown which I crave for a long time. The pinkish one is made from the fatty part of the pork meat while the other one is made of pure red pork meat where the fatty part was removed along the pig skin.
"Pansit Bato", this is the famous pancit (noodle) in Bicol, I heard it was originated in Bato, Camarines Sur that explains it's name. If anyone here know mami(another noodles), they were sold like mami in some food stores and they call it "Pancit Loglog". It has a lot of soup with special pork and topped toeated garlic, chicharon and egg. You can choose how spicy you like it to be 'cause in the tables there are conciments such as ground pepper, fish sauce, chili sauce and calamansi juice (for seasoning). It can also be cooked guisado specially if you are preparing it for birthday celebration to prevent the noodles from being saggy.
"Lubi-lubi", my partner's favorite veggie. This is a kind of vegetables you can find in the wild, just kidding. My grandpa specially picked these with my mom because it is for their favorite grand/son-in-law. Yeah, you all read it right. Every time we call my grandpa he will always look for his "favorite grandson-in-law". The first time they meet each other they talk and laugh with each other's silly stories, he got my grandpa's vibe.
"Katnga",(Taro Leaves/Plant). They pant this in a watery are and harvested when they leaves are not so big. Moest peaople in Manila cooked it while the leaves and stems are fresh, but in Bicol we let it dry by hanging it while it was tied like this.
There are a lot of foods that I really like that can only be found in Bicol, I hope we can go there soon. I will surely share it with you soon.
See you on my next blog!
