Meet Baby Jones

My mom says that if Avery was being raised in the Philippines, he’d be regularly eating monggo (mung beans) by now. I said to her that it would probably be ok for her to feed him this as long as she eliminates the MSG, fish sauce and shrimp.

Monggo is a cool dish because it is a hearty soup made of starch, so for many poor folk in the Philippines, it is sufficient to eat by itself (without the staple, rice). My mom made this tonight and as usual, it was delicious.

Monggo Guisado
1 cup monggo (mung beans)
3 cups water
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 lb. pork (or shrimp or a combination of both), sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups water or broth
1 tbsp. patis (fish sauce)
salt to taste
1 cup ampalaya leaves or spinach

Boil mung beans in water until soft and easily mashed. Set aside. In a pan, heat oil. Cook pork until it turns slightly brown. Add garlic, onions and tomatoes. Sauté for a few seconds until tomatoes wilted. Pour in water or broth and add boiled mung beans. Season with fish sauce (patis) and salt to taste. Bring to boil and let it simmer until thick. Add ampalaya leaves or spinach. Cover and remove from heat. Serve hot.

My mom is convinced that she won’t be around to see Avery grow up. She’s still in fairly good health at 67 years old, but long life is not in her genes (most of her family members have died in their 60s with only a few living to their 70s). She thinks that by the time Avery is in middle school, she’ll be long gone from this earth.

This makes her tremendously sad because she says she has so much she wants to pass on to Avery. Stuff about being Filipino and such. So, I thought it would be a good idea to start documenting her contributions to Avery learning about his culture. What better way to begin this than with recipes of some of her favorite dishes. Afterall, there is nothing my mother enjoys more than cooking for those she loves.

Below is the recipe to one of the easiest but tastiest Filipino dishes to make.



Bistek
2 pounds sirloin steak (or filet mignon),cut into thin 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
minced garlic (as much or as little as you want)
1 cup thinly sliced onion rings
1/4 cup cooking oil

Marinate the meat in soy sauce, lemon juice and pepper for at least 3 hours, but preferably over night. Cook onion rings in oil until transparent. Transfer to a dish, leaving the oil in the skillet. Add the meat and minced garlic to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring often, until tender. Add marinade and onions to the skillet and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with rice.