The Unofficial Cook

I’ve been reading a lot of food blogs the last few months.  My favorites are those authored by Filipinos living abroad. It’s just so interesting to read about other Filipinos’ adventures cooking familiar foods in a foreign land or learning to cook new recipes. There is something I find amiss though. Cooking pancit or anything guisado used to mean using shrimp juice to add more flavor to your dish and I do not recall reading about that in any of the blogs I chanced on. Perhaps, it’s because this one ingredient is not something you can pick up in any store, unless you make do with bouillons and instant mixes.

Making shrimp juice takes time and patience, both of which everyone seems to have very little of these days. I remember shrimps being peeled, making sure the helmet-like shell at the top of the head with the sharp tip was thrown away. Then putting all the shells into the “dikdikan” or mortar and pestle where they were pound to a pulp. My mother would dilute this with water and strain it into her sauteing meats for pancit or anything guisado. She always made sure to wring every bit of juice out of this mess saying, “There’s still a lot of flavor there…” The shrimp juice would follow the patis and the steam would rise immediately. The smells coming from this wonderful mixture was simply mouth-watering.

I’m big on smells especially in cooking even if I’ve developed a virulent allergy to crustaceans - the “Drop dead, Gorgeous!” kind of allergy.  But I still have a fondness for the smell of shrimps during cooking.  mmmm….sounds almost vengeful…

Mama always said the secret to cooking is in how well you do your guisado. There are so many gourmet terms for it these days..caramelizing, sufrito..it’s just cooking your ingredients long enough to make brown bits in the bottom of your pan.  This will be the base of your sauce or soup which adds other layers of flavor to your dish.

Patience was never a virtue of mine but through the years you somehow give more respect to every dish you cook. Food can be so much more than something to shove up your mouth when you’re hungry. If it’s good, it becomes a standard or an experience, a conversation piece or the basis of a memory you will share and keep going back to for years and years to come.

Authentic Recipes From the Philippines

Related posts:

1. Pancit Sotanghon Guisado
2. Guinisang Sitaw (Sauteed Asian Long Beans)
3. Everyday Filipino: Shrimp Sinigang for One
4. Pancit: Philippine-Style Fried Noodles
5. Shrimp Salad

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