Sunshine and smiles, Hivers! It's been a while since I posted a new blog. For today's blog, I'm going to share with you all how I prepare our dinner for tonight. Let's get started!
When I got home from school, I felt hungry and craved some food. Instead of buying and spending money, why not I'll just cook since it's been a while since I cooked for dinner. Mostly, my mother will just buy meals outside, so when she gets home, we will go straight to eating. Sometimes I don't cook because I always spend time relaxing my mind or just sleeping because of being mentally drained from school.
I scroll in the black app where I'm finding some easy meals that I can cook, and the food that I choose to cook is the "pinakupsan". This dish is a Visayan dish that we only use salt for the flavoring. We called it pinakupsan because people will cook this dish to make the pork shrink and be cooked from its oil. This is also very crunchy, and some people who had braces or other dental issues could not eat this because it is very hard.
In making pinakupsan, these are my ingredients for this dish. Just excuse the onion because I just used it for the sauce for this dish. As a Filipino, we don't usually use plenty of seasonings and herbs in our dishes since it was our habit to cook food that had 2-3 seasonings to be added. Sometimes, we just only use salt for the taste because some of the family here in the Philippines don't have the privilege to buy seasonings for their food. Seasonings are very expensive, and salt is the only flavoring that they can afford.
First, I marinate the pork with salt. I just added some chili powder and pepper because I wanted to make it more spicy for the pork. If you want to add more seasoning, you can actually add it, depending on your preference, but the original in cooking pinakupsan is just salt that you will add to the pork.
After I marinate the pork, I heat the pan without oil on it. I just use a nonstick pan so the pork will not stick to the pan. If you're going to use a pan that is not a nonstick pan, I suggest that you mix the pork every minute so the pork will not stick to the pan, and be careful because this dish is very risky. The oil will keep splashing while the pork is cooked, and it may cause burns on your hands. That's why you should put some cloth on your hands to shoulder so the oil cannot touch your precious skin.
After that, I put the pork in and then covered it. I just waited for the pork to let out some juices. After that, the pork will begin to let out some oil from its fat, and I just mix it and then cover it again because I want the pork to cook from its oil. That's the way of pinakupsan to be more delicious and crunchy. If the pork is brown, set it aside and wait until it cools down. If the pork is not hot anymore, begin to put oil on the pan and then put the pork again in the hot oil.
As you can see in the picture, I added a garlic to the pan since this will be an added aroma to our pork. I didn't peel the pork; I put it all in and made it fry together with the pork. At this stage, the pork began to shrink and crisp.
I take a picture while waiting for my pinakupsan to be cooked. At that time, I was busy watching a movie on Netflix and chatting with my friends while waiting. I watch the carry-on on Netflix; this movie is quite thrilling, and for now, I haven't yet finished watching this movie.
This is the finished product in making pinakupsan. Very brown and very crispy. I choose to dip this in a coconut vinegar since coconut vinegar is a perfect match for this dish. After that, I decided to cook a fried eggplant since we still have eggplant in the fridge, and I will not cook this; it will be rotten in the fridge, and it will be waste. I just cut the eggplant and put some cornstarch and egg as a batter and then fried it. While cooking, one of my mother's friends gave us fried green beans and shrimp because she cooked plenty of it, and she could not finish all of it.
As you can see in the picture, this is our dinner for tonight. Pinakupsan, friend eggplant, fried green beans, and shrimp. This food will make us more full and satisfied for our dinner since it's only me and my mother who will eat for today's dinner.
After I arranged the table, I went home, and it was a good time since I'm really, really hungry and wanted to eat now. She brought me a lemon juice because I told her to buy me a lemon juice because I want it to drink it while eating our dinner.
I and my mother eat together and share this delicious food that I prepared for us. I miss those times that we are complete while eating our dinner. This time, it's only me and my mother who have dinner every night because some of my siblings are far away to achieve their dreams, and my father died. That's why it is very lonely to see that we are just two sharing this food. Way back, we ate and shared together with my mother's friends and also my aunt. I remember those days that while we eat, my father will jokingly be around, and all of us will laugh and enjoy our food.
And that's the end of my blog, Hivers! This little thing that I made for my mother, making dinner for us, is a great effort that I do since my mother is tired and exhausted from her work. Maybe this time I could help her by cooking some food for us so that when she arrives, we will go to eat right away.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and see you in my next blog post! Ciao!