The Bitter Melon Gamble

We are now approaching our final 2 weeks in the Philippines. I’ve got mixed feelings about leaving. I know I will miss some things here. And, in the spirit of not leaving too many things undone, I decided it was time to take on the “bitter melon” vegetable here known as: Ampalaya. This green vegetable reminds me of cucumber (a little) and also squash. What is it? I don’t really know, but I do know (having watched some Filipino cooking shows here and read a few of their culinary magazines) it has a reputation as a “love-it-or-leave-it vegetable,” because it has a lingering bitterness if it is not cooked properly. In fact, it is perceived as SO bitter that ampalaya is also called bitter melon in some places. Apparently it is better to cook this vegetable with some type of protein. I decided to make a tofu curry (with onions and garlic, yum) and I figured I could make the ampalaya separately…in case my preparation didn’t work out…so that way I could decide if I wanted to mix it in with the rest of the ingredients or not. And, of course, we’re serving this with rice, our go to grain. And, for fun, I’m including a few photos of the process. Stay tuned for the photos, I can't upload yet because the internet speed we have is too slow at the moment.

NOTE: Colleen REALLY does NOT like the taste of bitter. So, it wasn’t really worth gambling on this one, it was my first try at making it after all. Anyway, below is a recipe I found that seems like it might be good. So give it a try IF you can find some ampalaya . It’s a Filipino preparation of ampalaya with eggs.

WARNING: this vegetable does live up to its reputation in terms of how bitter it can taste. I followed the steps below (and maybe the water could have been hotter? The hot plate I used was maybe not quite good enough for medium heat?). Alas, the ampalaya turned out to be way TOO BITTER for our palates. And, so you’ll see that the final shot of our dinner omits the bitter melon and substitutes it with peas and carrots (which we had on hand). Oh well, at least I tried. Perhaps I’ll try again, maybe I need to do more research…

“Gisadong Ampalaya”

1. Cut the ampalaya into thin slices. They will look like crescent moons. (be sure to remove the seeds)

2. Liberally cover these slices with salt on all sides. That will help make them less bitter. Do not worry about using too much salt because the excess will be rinsed away.

3. Place the salted ampalaya into a colander, and rinse off the excess salt. Transfer the ampalaya to a bowl, and pour boiling water over it to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain the boiling water off the ampalaya, and let it sit while you prepare the eggs.

4. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil once the skillet gets hot. Let the oil coat the bottom of the pan, and then add the garlic and onions. Cook these until they turn translucent and become fragrant.

5. Add the tomatoes, ampalaya, and salt and pepper to the pan, and cook this mixture, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat or until hot.

6. Pour the beaten eggs over everything in the skillet, and stir the mixture until the eggs look slightly underdone. Remove the skillet from the heat, and serve immediately with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

I got this recipe from: http://www.ehow.com/how_5122178_cook-ampalaya.html

Under three weeks

Hey readers, I'm back.

As Kiara mentioned in her previous post we decided we should probably update our blog after a long absence. Blogging fell down my list of activities--partially because we found out how difficult accessing a reliable internet connection was in our apartment. The frustration of trying to upload a post or some photos certainly contributed to my disappearance from the blogsophere (yep, I said it ...you can punch me in the face now for being a nerd KT). But in addition to a ridiculously spotty internet connection, I'm just a really private person and would never be one to maintain a blog for reasons other than the ones that prompted this one. I love other people's blogs, I just don't have much of an interest in sustaining one about my own life. But with a little gentle urging from Kiara and a "what happened to your blog?" email from my dad---here I am.

Today I'm going to share a couple of photos I took in the archives. It explains one of the reasons I love studying the postwar era and particularly the 1950s so much--COMIC BOOKS! The two images from above are from a Tagalog language anti-communist publication (the red one with the pointing man is the front cover). The translation of the question posed on the front (Ano ang magiging kahulugan sa iyo ng komunismo?) is essentially: what would communism mean to/or for you? Like English language versions from the era the comic presents a deeply apocalyptic vision of communism and what the Philippines would look like if the communist inspired Hukbalahap gained power. It's a clear disregard of the political position of Huks--but it's Anti-Huk propaganda so the purpose is to portray the Huks as outside the bounds of legitimate political discourse---or even more simply: as anti-citizens of the Philippine state.

Propaganda exist across the political spectrum of course.

But, I have yet to encounter hyperbole as entertaining as some of the stuff found in Anti-Communist propaganda. I've found a limited amount of Huk propaganda and it is WAY less entertaining---for one, it is not a comic. And of course, when I say 'entertaining' I mean it in the way that one can look at something and laugh at the ridiculousness of the claims and wonder "how does someone actually believe this?!"---kind of like recent Tea Party claims about socialism in the US. How I would love to see Tea Party propaganda in comic book form! But while I may be 'entertained' by anti-communist hysteria as a 21st century historian, I'm also knee deep in the historical 'facts' about the narrowing of legitimate political positions. Not unlike the US red-scare of the 1950s, the Philippines red scare sucked in activist, intellectuals, and with left-leaning political views--regardless of their stance on communism.