Christmas and new year is the most important holiday we have in the Philippines due to it is the longest holiday we have here. Our country is compose of 7000+ island and some of us work overseas or outside the country but wherever they are, many of them travel back home for this very special event. We intentionally save money for this specific occasion to buy gifts that we could share, food and clothes.
Food we share on the table with our family and friends while we connect, talk, laugh, reunite with them is the most important element that completes the celebration. That is why on December 31 our family gathered to welcome the new year and this is our Media Noche or midnight meal.
The Omnipresent Fried Chicken
I guess fried chicken is the most common and cheapest food in our province, Masbate. In the street alone where I live, inside 100 meters we have 5 fried chicken vendors: Andoks, Ogis, Chooks2go and 2 vendor stalls. People love to buy it during rainy days because they don't have to cook anymore specially on weekdays when they are busy at work.
Even though we have small numbers of poultry farm here, restaurants and fried chicken vendors bought their chicken in other provinces.
The Sweet Sauced Spaghetti
Sorry the cheese is not grated properly. By the way many of us here love sweet spaghetti because it has already a sweet sauce when it was introduced to Filipinos way way back. They said that during the war there was a shortage of tomato sauce so they use banana ketchup as replacement and instead of meat balls they used chopped hotdogs.
Spaghetti is not only a part of our special occasions but also in our day to day life because you can have the most famous spaghetti in the country anytime, the Jolly Spaghetti at Jolibee Restaurant.
The Super Kakanin
Sticky rice or glutinous rice cakes or in our term "kakanin". There are many varieties of kakanin, some are wrapped with leaves, some are not and some are types of rice and others are types of root crops. It might be steamed or fried, boiled or grilled. But the most common are rice cakes that are boiled and it is a must try delicacy.
We only have 2 kinds, "Suman sa ibos" and "Suman sa latik". Suman sa ibos is a sticky rice wrapped in buli or coconut leaves and boiled in water with milk and salt. It is a plain type kakanin that you can dipped in sugar or sweet jams.
The other one is Suman sa latik. Sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with the same cooking procedure like suman sa ibos with a toppings of coconut curd and toasted coconut shavings. People wishes closely knit family and that good fortune magnets to them this coming new year, so they have sticky food on Media Noche.
The Dinner Leftover
Together with the fried chicken, lechon belly and lumpia is our left over dinner. We are a small family so instead of cooking a whole pig lechon, my mom buy lechon belly for dinner at Don Jose Miguel Lechon House a newly opened vendor in our town.
Lumpia is everyone's favorite finger food, mouth watering and considered as street food. Chopped veggies and ground meat wrapped in lumpia wrapper by my aunty which is our neighbor also, share some of their delicious lumpia to us.
The Why Sweet Potato?
12 Circle fruits, having the same shape with coins, people believed that if they have this in their table or inside the house it will attract good luck and money this coming new year. Another Filipino new year food superstitious my mom believed. Since I was a kid she always collect circle fruits every year end. But this year is different because she had a sweet potato in her basket. My sweet old lady.
The Appetite Killer Combo
My tonsils hurt every year eating mango grahams, leche plan with grahams, leche plan, ube jam, macaroons and buko salad. Two things in common, one is that they are all my favorite desserts and two, they are all placed in a microwavable plastic platter because my mom buy or ordered them from our relatives or friends. They earn money making good desserts and they have the left over for their Media Noche also.
This is a custard cake, an upgrade from a popular chiffon cake that we usually bought. Chiffon cake is the cheapest cake in town.
The Pressure Control
Both my mom and dad convinced that drinking pineapple juice can prevent your blood pressure to go high. Fresh but mostly they bought canned pineapple juice and stocked it in our refrigerator. They also bought bottled orange juice for me and my sister.
The Chokulet
Additional to the 12 Circle fruits we have chocolates also. I am praying that your new year is full of sweetness and success. That's if for now guys. See you on the next blog.
From our family, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!
Shots using my old Canon m50.
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