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| Monday Menudo |
Monday is rough.
It's the morning when we're jolted awake by a blaring alarm rather than gentle sunlight. It's the day when we drag ourselves back to the nitty-gritty of the workweek, trying hard to concentrate while the buzz of a fun weekend lingers teasingly in immediate memory. And it's the night when we realize there's still another four such days to trudge through, until it's weekend again...
But every once in a while, Monday is easy.
It's the day when the transition between weekend and weekday is smudged, like when you go from being a guest at one party and move right along to another. It's that kind of Monday for me, as I segue from wedding guest to guest blogger today. Last week, just before Mr. Noodle and I headed for a whirlwind 48 hours in Hong Kong to help celebrate our friends' nuptials, I put together a short (for me) guest post for another great friend, Betty Ann of Asian in America.
The Mango Queen, as she's fondly known in the Twitterverse (@Mango_Queen), is a double-food blog threat: in addition to AIA, she also shares recipes and food stories in The Queen's Notebook. Whether they are Filipino classics, fusion cuisine or family meals created from love and memories, Betty Ann's recipes come from the heart and soul of a prolific, thoughtful writer and cook. The details of when and how we met have dissipated into the ephemera of the blogosphere, but what remains is our shared love of food, story-telling and Pinay pride that brough us together in a virtual world and will hopefully bring us together in the real world some day.
Betty Ann asked me to share a favorite Filipino dish that is both budget friendly and adaptable to Western kitchens and palates, and I found the perfect candidate in Menudo. Although it shares a name with a better-known Mexican dish, Filipino menudo is distinctly different. The recipe I use is one that Mr. Noodle and I have enjoyed at my parents' home and which I now make in my own kitchen. Easy on the wallet and tempting to the tummy, I hope you will enjoy it.
Please head over to Betty Ann at Asian in America for some Manila Menudo: A Family Recipe!
P.S. It's been a good kind of busy for me lately, as I'm getting more freelance writing work here in Manila. Unfortunately, Tangled Noodle has suffered a bit of a dry spell as a result. I'm working on revamping my blog - some cosmetic work on the old girl, as it were. On tap are some design updates to freshen up the look as well as to share some of my recently published articles. I hope to finish soon and that you'll come back to see for yourself!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Your blog is one of the few that I regularly follow.
ReplyDeleteA couple of questions: I would probably enjoy a hint of sweetness in this. How much raisins or sugar is traditionally added for this amount of food? And is the pot left uncovered throughout the cooking process?
Thank you very much.
Sampalok - Thank you for your kind words! 8-) With regard to adding sweetness - for this recipe, I recommend 1/3 to 1/2 cup of raisins, or start with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, then add more to taste. I find white sugar to be sweeter so you could probably use less of it than brown sugar. But brown (or muscavado, if you have it on hand), has a deeper, more caramel-like flavor that I think suits this dish better. Whether you use raisins or sugar, start with these amounts, give it a good simmer, then taste and add until you get the flavor you want!
ReplyDeleteI do leave the pot uncovered during the cooking process, first to allow the simmering water to evaporate just a bit, then, after adding the tomato sauce, to allow the sauce to thicken. Do keep it on a gentle simmer! And of course, like so many Filipino dishes, menudo is even better the day after!
Enjoy! 8-)
menudo has always been a staple food choice in our home. :-) excited to see the aesthetics revamp of your blog.
ReplyDeleteRainbow Whisker - Thanks! I don't want to raise expectations too high, but I plan to clean up the front page by moving some widgets into separate pages (i.e. "About", "Favorite Links", etc.) and fiddle with the columns. Hope to have the makeover done soon! 8-)
ReplyDeleteHy,
ReplyDeletechanced upon your space while blog hopping...awesome space you have..
very interesting posts with mouthwatery cliks..
menudo sounds utterly delicious..
Am your happy follower now..;)
do stop by mine sometime..
Tasty Appetite
The thing about menudo at our house is that it's never been cooked with the same sweet flavor as everyone else's. In fact, the tomato sauce we use in ours is similar to that for callos ala Madrilena - which isn't bad at all, but it DOES bring down a LOT of rice. :) Great post, Tracey!
ReplyDeleteOops! I cooked the menudo without waiting for your reply and added 2 dinner spoonsful (heaping) of brown sugar while it was simmering. I wanted to use raisins but could not find my supply. Regardless, my son went back for more not once but twice - and that is high praise indeed from him.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Congrats on getting all that freelance work. Hope you had a great time in HK. Thanks for the introduction to Betty Ann's blog(s). I can't wait to start checking it out more often. That dish sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteTracey, it's a great guest post! I love the part about Lyn and how she wrote the recipe. Never heard of menudo before, but looks like a perfect Winter dish. The colors are inspiring! As we don't eat pork, I must substitute it with chicken or beef.
ReplyDeleteon my way to her blog and can't wait to read your articles
ReplyDeletethese really looks great!
ReplyDeleteOh menudo...I haven't had for so long...since my husband does not eat menudo I do not make it, otherwise will end up eating for a couple of weeks. Looks beautiful and so tasty.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week and thanks for this guest post Tracey :-)