Out of Practice
Last Sunday, as promised, I made some simple obento(packed lunched) for the team. I decided to make some Spring Rolls, Cabbage Roll(for the first time), Asparagus Roll ( taken from Ria’s Recipe, but instead of glazing it in the marinate sauce, I just deep fried it, I don’t like to overcooked the Asparagus ), Relyenong Ampalaya ( Stuffed Goya(Bitter Melon/Gourd ) — which I have not made in the last 13 years ).
I’m definitely out of practice. The Asparagus Roll was fine, it was just a simple dish.
The Spring Roll was so-so, the flavor was a bit bland though and I was not able to makethe wrapper crunchy.
The Cabbage Roll, it was really bland. The first time I steamed it, the cabbage turned brownish.. overcooked. After that I timed it about 5 minutes I think, just the time when the leaf turns transparent. But it was the first time I tried making it, so.. but the filling was really bland.. darn..
The Relyenong Ampalaya.. now this was really a failure. The “Goya/Ampalaya” was really bitter. I forgot how my mom did it before, I think she did something to remove the bitter taste of the goya, and used a ripen goya instead of a very fresh one..
Darn, my cooking skill is really out of touched. I never used measuring spoons before, I could always estimate the amount of spices to put, but now I can’t. But oh well cooking is an experiment, i will just have to try it again.. once I got my cooking mode back 
Oh yeah Lisa made some slice cheesecake, it was really yummy as well as very
cute. I love the one with the biscuit soaked in coffee Thanks Lisa ..
November 9th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
My mother-in-law taught me how to get rid of the bitter taste of ampalaya. Butangan nimo ug asin ang chopped na ampalaya tapos kumotkumoton nimo. Then get rid of the juice resulting from that process. Then put some salt again and do the same thing.
I didn’t eat ampalaya before, but after tasting the ampalaya dish of my mom-in-law… i crave for it now hehehe.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
@florence.. yup thats one way if the ampalaya is chopped.. pero the one I made is not chopped, bali gitanggal lang nako ang mga liso sa sulod and gi sudlan og filling ( kadtong meat ) , dili siya makunot kay tibuok pa man hehee..
November 10th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Biscuit dipped in coffee — tiramisu?
Cooking skills require practice or else you’ll forget or at least you will lose some efficiency in the kitchen. It is always good to touch base with cooking once in a while. Another way to get rid of the bitter taste of ampalaya is to choose before buying. Choose the less greener, and more plump amplaya. Kanang dili kaau compressed ang iyang kulubot ba…hay kalisod explain..basta kung sobrang green and dikit-dikit pa ang kulubot (not scattered) sure jud na nga pait. Pero murag ang paliya diha sa japan kay di kaau pait or na-immune na lang jud ko?
November 11th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Hey there! Thanks heaps for making us the bento. All that time and effort you put into it amounts to a lot of appreciation from all of us ^-^
And as for the spring rolls and cabbage rolls, they were fine, you can’t really expect spring rolls to be as crunchy when it’s being served cold in a bento.. and besides, we had soy sauce and mayonaise to dip the stuff the rolls in so it tasted fine =)
Good job for making such a huge bento for everyone!
November 11th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Oh, and I almost forgot…
the english muffins you made were good!
November 12th, 2007 at 9:47 am
@Grace. Thanks for the tip on choosing the ampalaya..
@Lisa. Thanks.. Yeah I think the English Muffin was my fave bread from all the bread that I baked.