We had a wonderful weekend getaway staying at this resort hotel we designed years ago – a much-needed rest from the pressures of work I didn’t even plug my internet cable to check my emails. (Advance Happy Valentines Day to you, too!) Just a teeny bit of work… design consultation yeah yeah yeah but that’s it. The rest is simply wonderful especially when everything is free. Haha! The hotel suite, the spa, the pool and oh the food! I just got shy I couldn’t bring myself to take photos but I can still remember the escargots!

So much for that. Here’s my sinigang na manok (chicken in sour soup) using lemon (again!) as souring agent. I admit I never thought chicken could be used for sinigang until I’ve read about it in the net. Karen and Connie, many thanks. Never did I see sinampalukang manok as sinigang, poor me. Anyhoo, it’s actually my first time to cook it this way – chicken, aubergine, taro sans the tamarind. Oh well, sinigang simply rocks!

Ingredients:
1 Chicken breast, chopped into any size you want
1 big eggpant, cut ala-pakbet
4 tbsp of crushed garlic
1 onion, cut into quarters
3 tomatoes, chopped
5 pcs of small-sized gabi (taro), cut into bite pieces
1 green chili pepper
1 lemon (my substitute for tamarind)
patis (fish sauce)

Heat few tbsps of oil in a pan. Fry garlic until aromatic. Add the chicken and saute for a minute. Season with patis and continue cooking and stirring for few minutes until the chicken colors slightly. Throw in the onions and tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes are crushed. Add about 5-6 cups of water (rice washing would be great), cover with a lid and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the green chili pepper and gabi, (more water if necessary) and season with patis and half of the lemon juice. Continue cooking until the chicken is tender and the soup thickens with gabi (maybe cooked until mashed if desired). Adjust the taste if necessary, throw in the eggplant and stir in the remaining lemon juice. Simmer until eggplant slices are cooked. Serve hot with plain rice.

Related Link: Sinigang na Baboy

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.