This is how one Filipino battles his longing for his country, gastronomically. This is my own version of the essay “Where’s the Patis” by Carmen G. Nakpil and my own list of “Only in the Philippines”.

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Take the guilt out of your love for coffee. Here are some great benefits of drinking coffee.

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Nutritional experts say that eating healthy food give us more energy compared to eating processed, preserved, and ready-to-eat junk food. There’s no better way to a well-balanced diet than by eating what Mother Nature has prepared especially for the human stomach. Wheatgrass is one of the breakthrough food supplements that one can take to feel healthier and stronger to fight off sickness.

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I was never a fan of hot and spicy foods when I was younger. Only a couple of years ago, I have finally submitted to the influence of my friends and took the courage to feed on chilis. Nah, not really. But somehow, I have learned eating the ‘light to medium hot’ dishes in authentic Asian restaurants we crash in at guilty pleasures. And oh, my grocery basket would always contain chili-mansi or sweet & spicy pancit canton now. In Bicol, a region of the Philippines, they are most famous for their spicy dishes. They even have this annual festivity where locals compete in eating the most number of red hot chili peppers!

CNN has listed the effects eating chilies has on the body:
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Perhaps the less-featured entrepreneurs in our country are those selling dried fish and the like. Coming from a coastal city like Tagbilaran, I have come across some very successful ones and yet have remained relatively unnoticed. I bet part of the reason of their success is being able to keep their “trade” secrets. Read more at Pinoy Seminars.

Here’s something that OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), even ordinary house husbands/wives around the world, might be interested with. Amazon Grocery not only offers 22,000 non-perishable grocery items including some of your favorite brands shipped to your door just like any Amazon.com purchase, they have also introduced a Subscribe and Save Program which would allow you to save money on items you use routinely. Read more at Pinoy Seminars.

Our office received recently an invitation to the launching of the Livelihood Lending Facility for Government Employees this May 2, 2007 from 10 am to 5 pm at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC). I think this marks another milestone for the Go Negosyo campaign, reaching out to a big (and underpaid) sector in Philippine society. Where I belong, of course. Read more at Pinoy Seminars.

No fuss. No frills. Just plain simple boiling.

This is how tinuwang isda is cooked. It is the first dish I learned to cook as a young girl because all I have to do then is simply drop the fish and the panakot (or spices) in the boiling water, then wait for a few more minutes and presto! I ‘m done with my cooking.

But that is not the end of the story. When I got older, I learned that the secret to a real good tinuwa is in the fish. Got to have it fresh because it is the fish that will give the soup its distinct taste. When one can afford, one can choose the likes of lapu-lapu , tangigue, mamsa and other big fishes with white meat (mga isda nga hiniwa or sliced fishes). However for us ordinary folks, we can readily settle for smaller fishes like anduhaw or tamarong.

The spices are sliced tomatoes, green onions (although sometimes I used the bulb onions), sili (medium green pepper) and tangad (or lemon grass). Okay, the lemon grass lives up to its name by giving out a lemony scent, but it is the green sili that perfects the aroma and gives the tinuwa that hot sting. How hot it is going to be will depend on the cook’s discretion. A few more sili could be added to make it really HOT! One could stop there already. But other people would like to add ginger. And then, for the true blue Bisaya, lukot (or sea weed) is added to complete the dish.

Actually one can make a hundred and one variations by simply adding some vegetables here and there, the most common vegetables of which are kamunggay and agbati. However most often people would prefer to keep it very simple, so that only the flavor of the fish will be the most dominant feature. This simple dish is actually a favorite in all social classes. The only difference would lie in the choice of fishes. Otherwise, it is a leveler of sorts. For a Bisaya “makalipay ug maayo ang makahigop ug init nga sabaw aron panington ug bugbog” (sipping hot soup can give happiness to a Bisaya, especially when one breaks out in sweats). I am not sure if I have translated it correctly. But just try to get the gist. Thanks!