Tag: marag

Kangkong (Water Spinach)

Marag Vegetables

Kangkong, photo by JMorton

Kangkong (Water Spinach)

I love kangkong, or water spinach in English.

Kangkong is a green leafy aquatic vegetable that is rich in vitamins and nutrients.

They have long slender leaves attached to a hollow tubular stem which is crunchy or there is a bite to it. Yummy

They usually grow in anything watery plot, in fields, swamp, lakes, river or even in bogs.

I remember that they grew near a dike in the middle of our rice field when we were still living in Marag.

Kangkong can grow rather vigorously and needed a good trim to prevent them from overpowering the water surface.  Good thing they are so edible and delicious.

I remember going into the waist-high water in our field to gather the kangkong sprouts.  I almost had a near panic attack after a carabao leech decided to attach itself to my stomach. It took ages to remove it and it seems the more you pull at it the longer its body gets, truly elastic.  That still gives me a nightmare to date.

My father did smoke whenever he plowed the field.  He would use the burning ember of the cigarette to unhook any pesky leech.

Oops, back to kangkong, they are delicious in sinigang recipes as well as blanched and made into a salad with lots of chopped tomatoes and shallots with a good dash of fish sauce.

Croton Punctatum

Marag

Punctatum, photo by JMorton

Croton Punctatum

The above plant grows profusely in the Philippines, where the photo was taken.  It is apparently called punctatum of the croton family.

As a young girl, still living in Marag, my sister and I would go to our neighbours, who grew the plants in their yard. We had kind neighbours who would willingly let us loose into their well tended garden to get cuttings.

They would allow us to turn their once beautiful shrubs hedging in their yards into stringy sorry sight of bald shrubs as if a ravenous swarm of locusts had been.  🙂 🙂 :). Massacred.

With our treasure of twigs of beautiful narrow verdant green leaves speckled with golden dust, we would dash home and plant these twigs in our front yard.  We would religiously water our new plant for at least a few days and then we would forget about them as by then we moved on to another hobby.  Some of the twigs would live and some would die and shrivel under the punishing sun.

I must say that they do make a lovely hedge.  It would not be so strange to see people in the province using them to drape their washing to dry.

Dalanghita Vs Dalandan

Philippines Trees
Dalanghita, photo by PH Morton

Dalanghita, photo by PH Morton

Dalanghita Vs Dalandan

Dalanghita is a Filipino word adapted from the Spanish naranjita, which mean small orange.  The scientific name for this dalanghita is Citrus Nobilis.

Dalanghita is really juicy, perfect for the often hot weather in the Philippines.

There is another variety of this citrus fruit which is called dalandan, scientific name is Citrus Aurantium.  

Most Filipinos would probably find it hard to tell a dalanghita from a dalandan.  These fruits are so similar, they can be often interchanged.  I supposed you can tell one from the other by their size and sometimes, the texture of their peels.

Dalanghita is smaller with smooth outer skin while dalandan is definitely bigger and has a thicker and pimply or pronounced pores.

Whiles growing up in Marag, we had a dalandan tree which grew so big in our side yard (garden).  During fruiting season, the citrus tree was laden with fruits that the lower branches touched the ground.

It was a joy to eat the fruits straight from the tree.  When it is still young, it can be sour and that is when we had to eat it with a bit of salt.  But when it is ripe, it is so refreshingly sweet.

Our tree was much admired by the whole neighbourhood of Marag.

Dalandan tree, courtesy of http://seventeeneightyfour.blogspot.co.uk/

Dalandan tree, courtesy of http://seventeeneightyfour.blogspot.co.uk/

Me & My Doppelgänger

Blogs Marag Philippines

My Doppleganger

Me & My Doppelgänger

 

Having seen this spooky effect photo of myself, taken by Peter while taking a walk in the park, it reminded me of a ghostly story when I was a young girl. As it is Halloween, I thought I would recount it here.  When I was twelve years old and living in the province of Marag, Luna, Kalinga-Apayao, Philippines I was told that I had a doppelgänger (spooky double).

It happened when we, my girl classmates, went to the town of Luna to attend a Girl Scouting jamboree.

We stayed at our teacher’s house in the town and as she was my cousin I was sort of given a relative preferential treatment.

All the other girls stayed downstairs and I slept in the bed upstairs.

It was a hot and humid night and it was hard to sleep because the restaurant nearby had a very noisy clientele.  Filipinos seem to sing even with the slightest provocation. LOL

Despite the uncomfortable temperature, I fell asleep all the same.  I was young then!!!

The next morning my schoolmates asked me who I was talking to outside last night? They said they saw me go out and was heard talking to someone.

This was so spooky! I told them that I did not go down after I went to bed. I would have been too scared to walk around in darkness. I never had a history of sleep walking and would have been noisy.

We were all rather spooked because they all saw me and yet I was sure I stayed in bed all night and my cousin/teacher Manang Tessie,  who was sleeping in the other bed near mine ( I was nearest the window), said she would have heard, woken up & seen  if I’d left my bed as I needed to climb over her bed to leave the room!

But my schoolmates maintained that they saw me.  Strange that!!!

Kalamansi (Citrus Fruit)

Marag Sauces & Relish (Pickles + Preserves)

kalamansifruits

 

I love kalamansi with a passion.  I prefer their taste to that of lemons.

When I was growing up and living in Marag, Luna, Kalinga-Apayao, we had a very tall kalamansi tree just by our house.  Sometimes when it is  windy , we can just about reach the fruits from our rear window.

When I was about 10-12 years of age, I was a bit of a tomboy.  I love climbing trees.  If a tree had branches, I was climbing it. In fact even without branches, I would climb the tree.  I climbed a few betel nut trees; betel nut trees are like coconut, only half the height.  I even tried to climb a coconut once but it was really hard plus I remember my mother telling me that if I tried climbing another coconut tree, I had to be prepared to live on top of the tree because she would smack me so hard, I would wish I stayed on top of the tree. LOL  Of course she did not mean it.

Anyway I digress. Kalamansi tree is rather tricky to climb because the branches and the twigs have these thorns which are at least an inch long.  I must say it did not deter me, the sweet and at the same time sour kalamansi tantalisingly out of reach on the top branch of our tree was too much of a challenge. I won of course.  I got the fruit and a few bruises and scratches.  To these days the effect of climbing trees, especially the  kalamansi had marked me for life.  My legs have battle scars against the kalamansi tree. LOL

Aside from eating the kalamansi as an ordinary fruit, which I would sprinkle with sea salt, they are also so yummy and the number one choice for every self-respecting Filipino to spritz on their noodles, pancit, or to most sauces.

Soy sauce with a spritz of kalamansi is a piquant dipping or marinade sauce that complements many recipes.

Fish sauce with kalamansi is perfect with blanched salad of spinach, pechay/backchoy, cabbage and even lettuce.  Try to get Kalamansi in Oriental supermarkets that stock Filipino goods.

Kalamansi juice is also better than lemon juice.  I find that after drinking a glass of ice-cold lemon juice, it has some effect on my throat.  It makes me want to cough.  Kalamansi juice is more calming and heaving with vitamin C.

You will be pleasantly surprised!