You are bitter. That's why I used to hate you. But since adopting a plant-based diet almost a decade ago, I've learned to love you ampalaya (bitter gourd).
I had a traditional Filipino favorite breakfast dish, ampalaya with egg, for dinner. After the practice with the university swim team (they will have their pep rally in 2 weeks and I was asked to choreograph their number... it's pro bono), I decided to run for 30 minutes around the academic oval.
Running can be very liberating. It never really became a habit to run regularly. The last time I ran was last April 13. I know because that's was the last record in my HR monitor, and I don't run without it. And why am I running now? That's another story.
Let's fast forward to the dinner. So after the run I passed by the alumni center cafeteria to buy a bottle of water when I saw the ampalaya with egg on the food counter.
"How much is an order?" I asked.
"30 pesos." The lady behind the counter replied.
"Give me two orders of that please and a cup of rice. Please re-heat the ampalaya also. Thanks."
"That will be 85 pesos in total."
Great! A healthy dinner for less than 100 pesos. My meal is usually somewhere between 110 to 300 since I've stopped cooking. Eating out can be very expensive and predictable. I only have a handful of choices, Italian spaghetti with tomato sauce, vegetable pizza, Chinese mixed veggies, fried tofu, eggs, vegetable burrito, veggie bibimbap, or kimchi fried rice. Having that ampalaya with egg for dinner was a welcome change to the usual routine.
It's really easy to cook ampalaya with egg. They said that you have to either squeeze the sliced ampalaya in salt or slice it really nicely so that it won't be bitter when cooked. I haven't prepared this myself so I really wouldn't know. Maybe when I get home to Davao I'll try to cook this. It's basically just sauteing garlic, onion, tomatoes, then the sliced bitter gourd, maybe a dash of water, it should cook in a few minutes. Add the egg, mix well, like you're scrambling eggs, season with salt and pepper.
Here's a simple recipe and instructions from Lutong Pinoy. Enjoy!
I had a traditional Filipino favorite breakfast dish, ampalaya with egg, for dinner. After the practice with the university swim team (they will have their pep rally in 2 weeks and I was asked to choreograph their number... it's pro bono), I decided to run for 30 minutes around the academic oval.
Running can be very liberating. It never really became a habit to run regularly. The last time I ran was last April 13. I know because that's was the last record in my HR monitor, and I don't run without it. And why am I running now? That's another story.
Let's fast forward to the dinner. So after the run I passed by the alumni center cafeteria to buy a bottle of water when I saw the ampalaya with egg on the food counter.
"How much is an order?" I asked.
"30 pesos." The lady behind the counter replied.
"Give me two orders of that please and a cup of rice. Please re-heat the ampalaya also. Thanks."
"That will be 85 pesos in total."
Great! A healthy dinner for less than 100 pesos. My meal is usually somewhere between 110 to 300 since I've stopped cooking. Eating out can be very expensive and predictable. I only have a handful of choices, Italian spaghetti with tomato sauce, vegetable pizza, Chinese mixed veggies, fried tofu, eggs, vegetable burrito, veggie bibimbap, or kimchi fried rice. Having that ampalaya with egg for dinner was a welcome change to the usual routine.
It's really easy to cook ampalaya with egg. They said that you have to either squeeze the sliced ampalaya in salt or slice it really nicely so that it won't be bitter when cooked. I haven't prepared this myself so I really wouldn't know. Maybe when I get home to Davao I'll try to cook this. It's basically just sauteing garlic, onion, tomatoes, then the sliced bitter gourd, maybe a dash of water, it should cook in a few minutes. Add the egg, mix well, like you're scrambling eggs, season with salt and pepper.
Here's a simple recipe and instructions from Lutong Pinoy. Enjoy!
4 comments:
thanks Jon, for the idea. we have a giant gourd here that is sold in slices and maybe i could prepare it that way.
cheers
arturo
Thanks for dropping by Arturo. You'll like it. Simple but nutritious. And you only need salt and pepper to taste. Cheers!
Ako din! I'm getting the hang of it's taste!
Had it for breakfast this morning. ;-)
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