For a working mom like me, there really are times when there is so much work to do that I couldn’t afford to cook something tedious to prepare. Kaldereta and the likes are definitely for the weekends. Well at least if we are not rushing to meet deadlines. It’s a good thing we don’t have a boss and home is just downstairs.

Here is a simple stir-fry recipe. I craved for cashew nuts few days ago and still have a pack which I bought at the neighborhood Russian store.

Ingredients:
1/4 kilo lean pork, sliced into thin strips for stir-frying
about 2 cups of baguio beans (or green beans), trimmed and sliced diagonally into 2 inch pieces
1 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt & a dash of pepper
a cup of cashew nuts

Marinate the pork with sugar, a dash of salt & pepper and about 5 tbsp of soy sauce for about 30 minutes. In a bowl, mix a cup of water, a pinch of salt, cornstarch and the remaining soy sauce. Mix well and set aside.

Heat about a tbsp of soybean oil over moderate heat, add the cashew nuts & stir-fry for a minute, toasting them lightly. Remove & set aside.

Add more oil if necessary & heat on high flame. Add in the green beans and stir-fry on medium heat until cooked al dente. Remove from the wok & set aside.

Once again, add a tbsp of oil to wok. Add in the pork strips and stir-fry over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the cashew, green beans and the reserved marinade mixture. Mix thoroughly with the pork and stir-fry for half a minute. Serve immediately.

This country isn’t a melting pot. Think of this country as a stir fry. That’s what this country should be. A place where people are appreciated for who they are. – Jane Elliott

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.