Best Side Dish For Crabs

Last weekend, I had a one day visit to my hometown ( Guinayangan Quezon) and quick and short as it was, I still managed to indulge myself with the best crabs in the country ( for me, our crabs are the best!) over lunch that day.

 

We set-up a random budol ( foods are laden on banana leaves spread and eaten with bare hands, everything is meant to be shared to everyone in the table) lunch at my father's backyard.


 

Hence the randomness, we really didn't have much food, except for the stars of the table _ the crabs ofcourse and the hot rice and some fresh fruits.

Can you spot that white dish over there?



It's  the best side dish you could eat with your crabs. An eggplant recipe my brother and I had grown-up with and til' this day we couldn't enjoy crabs without it. A hand-me-down recipe from my beloved mother, I'll try to share  with you. Actually, it's my brother who is more keen on preparing this as I rarely eat crabs at home if not the rare times I make it to my hometown.
Anyway, as my memory serves me right, the recipe goes like this:

> peel off the grilled eggplants,say we're using two large pieces, set aside
> in a bowl prepare the vinaigrette, everything just to taste please, vinegar, salt & pepper and a dash  of sugar.
> now combine the vinaigrette with a cup of coconut cream
>everything now into the eggplant, mix and taste, already pleasant to your taste, no need to add anything

 Eat your crabs  and rice with this, perfection!!!

Snack Houses in My hometown

Summer is definitely around in our country. So hot, the sun is scorching. Thirst is best quench by cold drinks. Personally, I go for fresh fruit shakes and my favorite halo-halo ( - a kind of dessert made of sweetened fruit and crushed ice with milk or ice cream, particular around islands in the Philippines ). See Digman Halo-Halo here.



My love for halo-halo rooted from my childhood years in my hometown_ Guinayangan Quezon.
As a child, my mother would take me and my brother to Aling Aida or Aling Pina, then both equally popular refreshment parlors in our town. Both served superb snack menus which included sandwiches, spaghetti, pancit, noddle soup and ofcourse halo-halo.


Growing up into teens, I spent half of my highschool still in my rustic town. These two refreshment parlors were our Starbucks where I would hang out with friends after school. But instead of fraps we enjoyed our tall glasses of halo-halo.




Summer vacations from college in Manila, were also full of memories of meet-ups with my friends in these snack houses.

These were also the places of our quaint town where you would be obliged to treat your friends on your birthday, incase it was randomly remembered on the spot. Hence, an unplanned halo-halo treat was a practical decision both for your wallet and for the grateful well wishers.







My regular yearly short vacations with my own family to my hometown, keeps me abreast with updates about these establishments.

Between these two snack houses, Aling Pina's remains standing up to the present. Only, it's now called by a different name_ Jomari. Still owned by the same clan ( Isaac's), one of them was Tin-tin a classmate/friend way back in my primary school.





At Jomari's (Aling Pina's), halo-halo is presently priced at P27. Still using the same vintage ice crusher, must be the secret of a delicious halo-halo.



Good news! Our favorite halo-halo mates shanghai rolls in a bun sandwich still keeps our mouth waters at P15 which I remember used to be P2.50 per sandwich.

I would say this sandwich is particular here. I remember one incident in the past, when I brought a friend/guest from Manila introduced her to this unique concoction. She said : a whaaat? rolls inside a bun? She took a bite and loved it!

The humble beginnings of this snack house which used to be a pharmacy was these original shanghai sandwiches in recycled milk carton boxes being sold infront of the owner's aunt pharmacy. The rest is history.



Today, the place is not limited to snack menu anymore but offers lunch and dinner dishes too. My brother brags to me about its newest unique concoction which is a spaghetti in black sauce made up of pork blood stew dinuguan. This one, I haven't tasted yet. A must on my next visit this summer.





As for the other one, Aling Aida's, whose owner with the same name, died years ago, had closed down and since then the place with new owner turned the place into a funeral home.
Is this ironic or what ?

Lunch at My Father's Hut

We set a little lunch picnic at my father's refuge. We used fresh banana leaf from his "plantation" (?? haciendero?? )




- sweet , fresh shrimp and fish



- grilled local chicken



-ready ?



- set ....



- attact !!!!