What's up for lunch?

I found a big slab of imported corned beef in my kitchen and do not know what to do with it. Feeling lazy and never wanting to prepare a complicated meal I resort to innovate. What comes to mind is red.

I have leftover red rice. The corned beef is red meat. Sambal is red chili paste. There is a red wine in the corner. So I fried my rice and put in the corned beef and sambal. I have a meal and viand all in one. All red.

One doesn't have to buy expensive food or go to expensive restaurants to have a good meal. You can make your own.

That deserved a dark chocolate and coffee.

A Study on Lunch: Beef-Flavored Tuna

As expected after a fiesta celebration, a good fish recipe is almost always a must. However, with a big hangover from a three-day drinking binge, going to the market is a great effort. So I make use of what was stored in my kitchen cabinet- canned tuna.

I called this creation Beef-Flavored Tuna.

The recipe includes: 1 can of Century Tuna Flakes in Brine, cloves of Garlic (minced), 1 head of Red Onion (diced), a slab of Butter for frying, 1/2 cup of Beef Stock, Sambal (chili paste), Salt (optional) and Pepper.

In a heated pan, I put a slab of butter and let it melt. I added garlic (I like my garlic toasted) and onions until tender. Then I put in the tuna flakes and the beef stock, added sambal, salt and pepper. I let it stand for 5 minutes so that the beef stock would seep in the tuna. Voila!

Perfect for a Bran-Riched Red Rice. Now that is called a healthy meal.

Are you going to eat that?

It was purely a coincidence that I was reading a book by Robb Walsh titled Are You Really Going To Eat That? Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker when we made a stopover in Naga, Cebu for lunch today. A part of the plaza was used by the enterprising local government unit as entertainment and dining area where several seafood restaurants were offering some fare. 

Coincidence because the book was talking about the author's esoteric and peculiar culinary expeditions all over the world and there we were at the plaza in Naga City deciding among the display what to eat for lunch. Some were peculiar indeed and were not-so-familiar type. Some I didn't even know could be eaten.

I decided to eat the kinilaw nga bat (sea cucumber salad, I think and I don't want to think of any other species), nilabog nga iho (shark in coconut milk), and a plate of milled corn.  I asked the tindera if it was really shark meat and commented that they sure were illegal since they were an endangered species, to which she replied- I don't know. I was not sure though which shark was endangered. My companions chose tinolang isda, a salad out of the innards of the sea cucumber, nilabog nga pagi (manta ray, endangered too?), and some pork servings.

My choices were actually good. The sea cucumber salad was crunchy and sweet perhaps enhanced by the use of sukang tuba. The commercialized version of the nilabog shark meat was so-so, I could not even distinguish if it was chicken or real shark, although it was my first time to eat shark meat. But one thing I was sure of I could not taste the coconut milk, the ingredient that makes all nilabog desirable. A hefty sili solved that.

But in general, I felt wonderfully full.

This reminds me to visit that restaurant in Tagbilaran that offers an array of exotica in their menu including python meat (oh my!), deer meat, frogs, etc. I hope I could answer back when Robb Walsh will ask me- are you really going to eat that?

Nilabog nga iho (Shark meat cooked in coconut milk)

Kinilaw nga bat (Sea cucumber salad)

Nilabog nga pagi (Manta ray meat cooked in coco milk)

Speaking of dinner, I mean lunch-

I suddenly decided to eat food at home. Hmmm, nothing unusual really. Not unlike Arroyo's expensive dinners in Washington and New York. 

Result? I made a paksiw na isda I mixed with some adobo ingredients (vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, onions, garlic, calamansi juice, bay leaves, paprika) and bits of pineapple. 

I also prepared fried rice with a hint of curry to make it different.

Voila! Mangaon na ta!