Filipino Taste: Food Recipes based on Noli Me Tangere

by: Izaiah Montano

Ever since before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the Filipino people share the love of food and, of course, of cooking. It is, so to say, a reflection of our own culture and a way to bring us all together in front of the table. We cannot deny the fact that Filipinos are happiest in times when there are many food during fiestas, celebrations and gatherings. In Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, he showed how we, the Filipinos, find ways no matter how small or petty the reason is just to get the food into the table. So, here are some of the recipes of food found in or based from the novel. You can try and recreate them if you want to taste the past and feel how the characters of the novel felt.

Sisa’s Salad

Ingredients:

  • 20 pieces of pako (fiddlehead fern)
  • 1 ampalaya
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 patola
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tomato, sliced
  • 1 hard-boiled egg, sliced

How to prepare:

  1. Wash vegetables. Slice patola in half, remove seeds, and chop. Set aside. 
  2. Grill the eggplant until tender. Slice into round pieces.
  3. Press on the ampalaya to release bitter juices, then cook until tender. Chop and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, combine all vegetables. Dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and toss. Top with egg. 
  5. Serve to Padre Damaso and beg him to release Crispin and Basilio.

Sinigang ni Andeng

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium hito or catfish
  • Hugas bigas or rice water
  • 3 tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 10 kamias, mashed (may use miso as an alternative souring flavor)
  • 1/4 kilo of squash tops and flowers
  • 1 long green pepper
  • 50 grams of snow peas
  • 50 grams of paayap or black-eyed peas

How to prepare:

  1. Fry hito a little to remove odor. Saute onion and tomatoes.
  2. Pour mashed kamias or dissolved miso, season, and let boil. Add hito, snow peas, and paayap and simmer until cooked.
  3. Turn off the fire and add squash tops and flowers. Simmer for another two minutes.
  4. Add long green pepper. Serve hot.

Tinola de Damaso

Ingredients:

  • 2 whole chickens, cut (include one neck for Padre Damaso)
  • oil for frying
  • 100 grams chicken liver
  • 100 grams chicken gizzard
  • 2 tablespoons ginger, julienned
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
  • 4 to 5 cups water
  • 1/2 cup squash, sliced (may use green papaya as alternative)
  • 2 cups squash tops and flowers
  • 1 tablespoon patis or fish sauce
  • salt, to taste

How to prepare:

  1. Boil the chicken until cooked. Set aside the broth.
  2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
  3. In a pan, heat oil over medium heat, then sauté the liver, gizzard, onions, garlic, and ginger.
  4. Add the cooked chicken and sear all sides lightly. Add patis and let boil.
  5. Add enough water to cover chicken and bring to a boil. Add the chicken broth, squash or green papaya, and stir.
  6. Turn off the fire and add squash tops and flowers. Simmer for another two minutes.
  7. Serve at a feast. Reserve neck part for the enemy.

Recipe credits: https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/recipes-from-noli-me-tangere-a00293-20200227-lfrm