I am a self-confessed probinsyana. And even though I didn't like eating vegetable when I was young, I knew how to cook them (and eventually ate what I cooked) by the help of my mom. She's not really a good cook, but we love her pacham recipes. Pacham as in pachambachamba lang haha.
Today, I cooked one of the recipes I learned from her -- ginisang mais. I thought it was a Kapampangan dish, but I recently realized that it is a proud Tagalog dish. Jeff loves this so when he went for a tripping the other day in Nuvali and Tagaytay, he made sure he'll grab some white corn along the way.
You only need few items for this recipe.
1. Native white corn
2. Shrimp
3. Ampalaya leaves
4. Fish sauce or bouillon cubes
5. Onion
6. Garlic
7. Hot waterThey say the first step is always the hardest. It is very true in this recipe. Shred the corn off the cob. Jeff bought eleven native white corn so it took me about thirty minutes to finish. Make sure that you have white corn and not the yellow Japanese corn that you also see along Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road or Katipunan. In Antipolo, you can actually buy shredded corn near Iglesia ni Cristo. If ever you pass by the area, say hi to mom in Jun and Fe Cold Cuts! ;)
I had about 750 grams of shredded corn.
Prepare the shrimp. Ask your husband to shell the shrimp because besides eating, this is the only thing that they will do. Do not throw the shrimp heads. Why? I will tell you later. ;)
You can also ask him to pluck the ampalaya leaves off the vine. The ampalaya leaves will balance the sweet taste of the corn.
Now let's start cooking. Sauté the onion and garlic. My Tita Tess told me to put the onion first so the garlic won't burn. Put the shrimp afterwards.
When the shrimp turns orange, put in the shredded corn. Mix and cover.
Remember the shrimp heads? Pour hot water and mash it. I learned this from my father-in-law. We are just basically getting the shrimp flavor from it. Get the strainer and pour the juice in the pan.
Mix and let it boil. Make sure to check it once in a while to prevent from drying, the corn may get all the water so make sure to pour more hot water. Let the corn cook. Season with fish sauce or bouillon cubes. Today, I used shrimp bouillon cubes. Let it boil.
Put in the ampalaya leaves. You can also use sili or malunggay leaves. Cover the pan and turn off the stove.
Let the leaves cook.
This is best served with fried fish but we discovered that we don't have fish in the fridge anymore. Huhu.
Top it on your rice. Carbs on carbs! Haha!
Enjoy and happy weekend!
Lovelots,
Photos taken using my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, edited using Snapseed, and watermarked using eZy Watermark.
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