Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Cooking with Auntie Eva

If you've never traveled with one of your aunts, then I'd highly suggest you try it, at least once. I spent two weeks with one of my paternal aunts in Buenos Aires and had a ball. Not surprisingly, some of the most fun we had together was spent cooking (well, cooking & eating!)

From her I learned how to make pancit and lumpia (with adobo, the three most common dishes of the Philippines). From me she learned how to make real chicken and beef stock and was amazed by how freshly made stock could add so much flavor to simple dishes. I learned that like my mom, she doesn't throw out anything from the kitchen (and I mean anything). I tried to sneak a few old (and hardened) garlic cloves into the trash one day only to be reprimanded with a voice that sounds eerily similar to the voice of my grandmother's (also reprimanding me for doing something wrong in her kitchen 20 years ago). She enjoyed hearing how much this grandmother inspired me to want to learn how to cook when I was young. And I enjoyed hearing all of her childhood stories, in particular those that involved food!

We cooked a number of meals for friends and neighbors. The biggest hit was chicken and pork adobo (using my mom's recipe which she emailed to us after I sent her a note on my Blackberry while standing in an Argentine super-market ... you have to love technology!) One of our neighbors loved it so much they actually made it the next night for dinner and have since named it "Eva's Chicken". Its quite simple and very good with fresh and hot white rice. Here is my mom's recipe.

Mom's Adobo
Cut 1 pound pork (with some fat on it) and 1/2 pound chicken into serving sizes and put into a pot. Add 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup vinegar (rice or white; not balsamic), 1 head of garlic smashed and diced, a sprinkle of sugar, generous servings of pepper and 1-2 bay leaves. Simmer for 1-2 hours or until the pork is fork tender. Like most braises, this gets better and better in the fridge with every passing day. Try it -- and maybe serve it to one of your aunts!