Seventh Falls at Busay

I’m not working today, unfortunately the weather is not so good. Here in Oxford, it is snowing and raining. Our car is in the garage for servicing, so I’m staying indoors. The plan is to catch up with the housekeeping, I have a big pile of ironing to do but it can wait. The cold weather is making me feel hungry all the time,  I think I have put on weight since Christmas). I am craving for Filipino food and I am missing my mother’s cooking. During the rainy season on a cold afternoon, we would tuck into a chair with a bowl of warm tapioca pudding ( ginataang sago) with young coconut meat. A simple but very nutritious home made snack (merienda) that I crave so much. So, instead of ironing, I decided to cook this favourite snack my mother used to make.Here are some of my favourite snacks when in the Philippines.

Tapioca w/ young coconut pudding (Ginataang sago)

2 cup of water

1/2 cup young coconut meat

1 cup of tapioca pearl (sago)

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of coconut milk 1 pinch of salt

1 teaspon pandan essence or pandan leaf

• Boil water with tapioca pearl, pandan leaf until soft, you can buy soft cooked tapioca or dried in your local Asian shop. If you are using the dried tapioca pearl, it is better to boil it first, then soak overnight. I have used the ready cooked tapioca.
• Stir in the young coconut and sugar.
• Stir in coconut milk, pandan essence then pinch of salt.
• Simmer for five minutes.
• Serve warm.

Espasol

1 cup glutinous rice

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup coconut milk

1 vanilla pod

Toast glutinous rice in a wok until brown.  Cool then set aside 1/3 cup for dusting board

Boil coconut milk and sugar in a non stick pan.

• Cut open the vanilla pod in the centre, scrape with a knife the soft brown meat .then put it in to the boiling coconut milk.

• Stir in the toasted rice and keep stirring until mixture becomes thick. keep stirring the mixture until it forms into a ball. Remove from the flame.

• Dust the table with the toasted glutinous rice then put the mixture .
• Flatten the mixture with a rolling pin. Cut into rectangular shapes, dust with toasted rice, then roll into a cigar shape.You can put a strip of young coconut meat in the centre before rolling the mixture into a cigar shape.
• Serve with young coconut meat or make a parcel using non stick baking paper.