LP6: Adobong Isaw

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My chosen field is said to be a man’s world. Back in college where one interacts with more males and t-squares than females, important and close friendships between opposite sexes is as natural as breathing. And after each semester of hard work and sleepless nights, breaks and summer vacations were celebrated with parties full of booze. (Parents, no need to worry. As long as you know who your kids’ friends are there is no reason to panic.)

The 1st time we had a drinking spree at home was my 19th birthday and that day marked the beginning of a series of inuman either with friends and relatives. My parents were always there enjoying every bit – mom drinking liters of cola while dad with just half a bottle of beer that’s consumable for the whole night.Social drinking eventually played a huge part in my kind of work for a lot of reasons. Dealing with colleagues, clients, consultants, suppliers, contractors, even laborers. Also like Ting said, drinking is a way of unwinding. It’s a person’s way of de-stressing from a hard day’s knock although now it’s been quite a while since I went into such a pinoy-style gathering and my tolerance to alcohol has diminished considerably.

Pulutan is a kind of food that is served as accompaniment to a drink. It comes in different kinds like meat, fish, nuts, chips. It’s prepared in different ways… fried, steamed. Basically, it is anything that makes drinking enjoyable.

Too bad I forgot what Dad & Mom normally prepared for pulutan. My guess, menudo or inihaw na tilapia (broiled tilapia over live charcoal). With my friends, I do remember that isaw has always been a favorite. It could be IUD (chicken intestines) from a street vendor (IUD photo is courtesy of GUTS. GRIT. GUMPTION.) or crispy chitterlings as prepared by my friend’s mom. Here in Beijing we occasionally go to this English bar with Pinoy musicians, an equally Pinoy chef, and among our favorites are sisig (a sizzling dish of spicy chopped pork head & liver) and chicharong baboy (pork rinds).

However, when it comes to pulutan it’s the other way around over here as it is alcohol that accompanies food. The Chinese traditionally drink while eating so you can imagine the scenario as it’s considered improper to say no to the host especially if he’s our Client. Gan Bei! ( Pronounced ‘gam bay’, meaning ‘dry cup’) You are expected to empty the glass. The good thing is that drinking with food decreases the rate of alcohol absorption and may also reduce the amount consumed.

For LP6, here is the recipe of our carinderia adobong isaw ng baboy (stewed chitterlings, chit’lins or pork intestines, whatever) as I remember it from my Dad. It’s not standard turo turo (eatery) food but a delicacy especially popular with the common masses served as pulutan. Oh was I glad to find that the chitlins being sold here in supermarkets are really clean.

Ingredients:
250g chitterlings, thoroughly washed, sliced about 2in long
slices of pork fat (optional, for additional flavor)
2 tbsp of crushed garlic
1 medium-size onion, cut into quarters
2 pc of bay leaf
about 10 pieces of peppercorns
1/2 cup of say sauce
1/2 cup of vinegar

Add the chitterlings in a pot of boiling water and boil for about 2-3 minutes. Get rid of the water, drain the chit’lins and rinse in strainer. Add about a liter of water to your pot and bring to boil. Return the chit’lins to the pot, add the pork fat and boil for about 30 minutes over low heat. Add all the other ingredients except the vinegar and bring to boil. Add the vinegar without stirring. Simmer for an hour or more until tender. Add more water if necessary. Don’t dry it up, leave a cup or two of sauce. Your pulutan is ready as it is or spice it up with chili.

This guy here who’s basically a non-drinker brought us premixed alcoholic flavoured drink as shown above – Red Square (green vodka ice flavor) and Bacardi Breezer (tropical peach flavor) to be enjoyed w/ my isaw while watching DVD. The left-over? Cean & I ate it with rice. Sarap!

This post is for Lasang Pinoy 6: Let’s Wash it down with Booze!

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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.

11 thoughts on “LP6: Adobong Isaw

  1. wow Cean likes chitlins! i’m the only one here who likes intestines :( so i don’t make it that often.
    happy Chinese New Yeariska and family! kung hey fat choy naman dito…

  2. hi lani! oo nga taas cholesterol. well paminsan lng naman dba? 2lad nito dahil sa LP6 lng hehehe

    hi dylan! welcome again to my blog!salamat uli sa isaw photo mo ha. i managed to take a photo of isaw when i had may vacation but still decided to use yours :)

    stel, nag try lang ako if cean will like it. aba! nagustuhan! e napakapili pa naman nya kumain. even his dad doesn’t like anything lamn loob pero nagustuhan. i guess masarap talaga ang pagkaluto ko :D

    again… xinnian kuai le! (happy new year in mandarin) gong xi fa cai (wishing you prosperity in mandarin) and whoa! the fireworks last nite was really awesome! at ang tunog ha parang we r in the middle of war.

  3. Uy, ang tyaga mong maglinis ng laman! Love chitterlings too, but alas, I am the only one in my family who likes it. Wish we could taste your version :lol:

  4. hmm..another good one. I used to see my father clean the isaw with banana leaves first to get rid of the smell. when the isaw is eventually cooked, wow, is it ever yummyyy! thanks for joining LP6

  5. naku isa pa to di ko na expercience..
    sorry no hopping for a while
    my cousin was actually here when ting rounded it all up

    then isang araw lang (naglinis ang hotel sha) dumating na naman friend
    aba filipino cook sa beijing???

    OFFAL ITO DITO SA GRESYA.. tinatapon di pwede i benta

  6. ces cge try mo yan. teka kumakain ka ba ng isaw? :lol:

    JMom & ting, im so lucky the one i bought from the supermarket next door is really clean. walang residue or foul smell but then nilinis ko pa din just to make sure. JMom, u could buy just few grams and cook for yourself kahit paminsan lang…

    hi sha! dbale malay mo u could try it some other time in the future. dka ba magbabakasyon sa atin?

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