I got some stuff to augment my calorie deficit nutrition plan to lose the quarantine pounds and I'm so happy about my purchases from friends that will last me a few days.
Maricar Anatalio sent me her now famous Sinantolan and Everlasting while Knorr Baldovino brought me Keso'ng puti. Since I want to eat a light dinner, I made everlasting and keso'ng puti sandwiches. The keso'ng puti was freshly skimmed and wrapped in the usual banana leaf parcels. I like that it's not crumbly but pliant, almost like a buratta, that compliments the Everlasting's savory peppery flavour.
Now, Everlasting is a pretty common dish hence the name. Made of minced meat, hard-boiled egg slivers, pickle relish, capsicum, carrots, onion and garlic, the dish is arranged in tin oval pans (llaneras) and steamed until it has the consistency of a meatloaf or embotido. So it's other monicker is Marikina meatloaf. Maricar Anatalio's version definitely complements the creamy local cheese from Laguna with its well balanced peppery goodness. The keso'ng puti is the perfect accompaniment that adds a salty note to the everlasting.
I wrote about the Sinantolan in a previous post. Santol, a.k.a. as cotton fruit is where the dish gets its name from. The rinds are grated and cooked in coconut cream mixed and sauteed in garlic, onions, anchovy or shrimp paste and a little fish sauce. The dish is cooked until the cream renders it's oil. It was about time I re-ordered.
Tabaron has a humorous etymology. Taba (fat) + chicharon (crispy pork rind). You know you're getting the best of both worlds! This version got the attention of Manila's Yorme Isko Moreno. I tried a few pieces and then I ordered a stash of three more packs. That doesn't mean I'm giving up my calorie deficit, though...
