Noodles and Rice

LP15: Recycled, Reloaded: “Meatballs”

by Stef on November 4th, 2006

Mike Mina of Lafang is the host for LP XV — the theme? Recycled, Reloaded. With Filipinos’ reputation for being matipid — frugal, you have to wonder what took us so long to finally have this as our theme. If you know Filipinos, you’ll know that we take this “katipiran” seriously — even, and especially so, through our cuisine. Sometimes to unbelievable extreme. Using — or rather, to use Mike’s terminology, recycling and reloading — leftovers is one of the many ways we practice this noble principle. From the time we are toddlers all the way to adulthood, if you’re Filipino, you’ve been taught by your parents, repeatedly if necessary, that you should never throw away food, and that you should make new dishes out of old ones.

At our house growing up, Mom was known as the expert recycler. But when Papa retired, he became king of the kitchen too, and compuesto as he calls it is his specialty. Compuesto — or compound. Two unlikely things put together to make something new. Think sinangag and coffee. Mixed together. Or even sinangag and hot chocolate.

So when I had my own kitchen, I had some inkling of what needed to be done. Steaks or corned beef turned into spaghetti sauce. Caldereta turned into sandwich filling or pizza topping. Chop suey turned into soup or pansit. And of course, almost anything can be put into an omelette. Or slathered with some ketchup- or soy-sauce- based sauce or gravy.

My parents’ recycling goes on, to this day, and we kids who are now grown and have our own styles of cooking still tease them about their penchant for recycling food. Why? We have many memories of food that we think had aged enough and grown to be perfect candidates for the sewer… but guess what? It succeeds in making another appearance at the dinner table. There have been many instances when my brothers — in their moments of snobbery — have turned up their noses at the latest “compuesto” and opted to cook their own meal. Okay, I’ll admit I’ve had those moments too.

The funny thing with my parents is that they go through phases, wherein a particular spice or style of cooking becomes the favorite….. and this phase lasts for many a day…. to the point where we get tired of their experimentation and refuse to eat. For instance, my Mom went through a “use all the old spices and herbs” phase, and so oregano and basil and marjoram were pushed into service almost daily, sometimes often with near-disastrous results. The worst was when she went through the “five-spice” phase, and everything tasted of this ubiquitous Chinese blend. We still talk about those days. And our youngest still tends to stay away from any dish that uses five-spice — even those that are very different from my mom’s concoctions.

My parents are coming over for Christmas, so I am busy cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer. I want to make sure there are no leftovers when they come, or I’m in trouble. They are sticklers for saving, and I have often borne the brunt of their displeasure when they open my fridge and see that I have lemons that have started to get moldy, greens that have begun to wilt, apples past their prime. Such waste is unacceptable to them. (And I have no excuse, I should be a better kitchen manager, but I’m still working on that!) And any leftover dish will most certainly be taken out and turned into something new. As you can predict, I am both looking forward and dreading the time that they will be here.

To be continued…

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POSTED IN: Beef, Lamb, Pork, Filipino, Seafood Dishes : Asian, Soups and Stews