These days, as always, my ingredients are incomplete for a really nice menudo. But before we go into details, let me highlight that this recipe isn’t the famous Mexican dish but our native dish – Spanish w/ asian fusion. I would say I know how to cook this dish by heart – a recipe from my dad. As a teenager, I used to cook this dish when we have this small cafeteria back home.By the way, this was lunch last sunday.

Ingredients:
500 g. of pork
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. of tomato paste
1 c. of chicken broth
2 pcs. potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

My missing ingredients:
1 red bell bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup of raisins
2 slices of pork liver

Place the pork in a casserole and cover with water. Add some salt & bring to a boil (always take off the light grey stuff as it rises). Continue boiling the pork until the fat comes out. Put aside some pork broth & continue cooking until it dries up & the pork gets brownish. Then, saute the garlic until golden brown. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes & potatoes. Pour in the broth. Season w/ salt & pepper. When u think the potatoes are almost cooked, add the bell peppers, raisins & bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. When the sauce is thick, add the pork liver & simmer for another 5 minutes. Another ingredient that u may add is garbanzos.

I don’t like food that’s too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I’d buy a painting. – Andy Rooney

Photo updates with chunky ingredients:

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.