My Lunch Today.. YUM!!!

I've been blogging for almost 8 hours now, and I didn't know that it could be so much fun! I know I'm supposed to be studying for our prelims next week, but the weather just won't let me get in the mood for that... so anyways here is my lunch for today...

Since the weather won't allow us to go to the market and buy more food, my mom just cooked whatever was left in the freezer...

First Dish:

Tilapia

Tilapia is a fresh water fish belonging to a cichlidae family. Filipinos, I think especially Bicolanos,  are fond of fried tilapia. Its affordable and its easy to prepare/cook. We first have to clean the fish, tilapia vendors commonly clean the fish when they sell it, The remove the inedible parts like the intestines, the gills, and whatnot. My mom removes the jaw whenever she cooks it, she says that it ensures that even the insides of the fish are cooked, and that it removes the fishy (malasa) smell and taste of the fish.

 

Seasoning the fish is also a breeze, you can either choose to just season it with salt, or you can do it using other seasoning mixes that are commercially available. First you must, cut the fish so that its flesh is exposed, like how it is shown in the picture, than you just spread the salt/seasoning mix using your palm on the fish, do this on both sides of the fish. Then let it soak on the seasoning (manuot), maybe for about 3 hours, or you can just go ahead and fry it immediately if you are not so much in to waiting. Filipinos are used into soaking their foods in seasonings, especially the fried ones, and while they are waiting, they use this time to cook another dish. The seasoned tilapia is then deep-fried in oil, i suggest you use vegetable oil, or canola oil, there's no rationale for it, I just think that it tastes better. My mom once used Olive Oil, and I didn't like it.

 

Next Dish:

Mung Bean Stew (Mongo Stew)

Another all-time favorite in the Philippines. Mung Bean is a leguminous plant in the Fabaceae family. It grows easily on any wet environment, even on a wet cotton, but don't expect that it will live long if you plant it in cotton. Anyways, mung bean stew is perfect for cold weather, just like the weather our place is currently experiencing (southwest monsoon rains). Cooking mung bean stew is pretty easy but requires good tongue, so you can know what it lacks when you taste it. The mung beans, is first cleaned and soaked in water for about 2-5 hours, you then removed the floating mung beans (I don't know why they do that, i just know that they do). You then let it simmer until the beans are soft enough to last another cooking with the ingredients. I'm not really familiar with the steps on cooking this dish, so I'll just go ahead and tell you that it is TASTY! Or maybe I'm just biased, this is my common carbohydrate source, since I don't eat rice (a staple food of the Filipinos), it is also high in proteins, so I find it energizing when I go to gym. Best served hot! 

Enjoy!!! YUM!!!