My Alternative Binakoe
I am in a hurry. My contemporaries in the seminary announced (through SMS, of course) their "unannounced" visit too late. "Al, can we pay you a visit today? We are passing by your place in route to Boracay and have decided to while the hours. Leaving San Ag palang kami." "Copy", I texted back, calculating the time to prepare them something that will delight their palate. I gave them the direction to my place and went about salvaging what are frozen in the ref.
It has been a habit of mine to dress a couple of native chickens during weekend and froze them for some proximate future use. That day, I was fortunate that those were still intact. I thought to myself, the couple will do. I took them out to thaw and searched the orchard for some young bamboo culms. I knew what to do in such extraordinary time: Alternative Binakoe. My way.
For such dish, you will need the following:
Set the fresh bamboo slats horizontally inside the pressure cooker. Put in all the ingredients seeing to it that the lemon grass covers the meat thoroughly. To give it a distinct contemporary taste, add a few leaves of Anaea-taea. Seal the pressure cooker and cook for about half an hour to one hour, mindful of the age of your fowl.
When my long lost brethren set foot on my door, the sweet and fresh smelling aroma of the Binakoe welcomed them and set the ambiance despite the noon day heat of summer. As they feasted, we recollected those bygone years inside the antiquated stone-carved Monasterio de Guadalupe our forebears had constructed late in 1601. Someone mentioned of the artworks once hanging in its wall and wondered of the association I had with some bamboos to Augustine's Credo ut Intellegam principle.
I was about to give them an extemporaneous sermon on the matter but I warned them that Boracay is still roughly two hours ride from my place. Unless they prefer missing Anne Curtis sand bathing in the sugary white beach....
That freed them from the spell of the "lotus charm" and got ready to head off northward...to contemplate on the wonderful miracles of God, of beholding his master pieces like Ms. Curtis laid out on that fading island where its original settlers are becoming marginalized.
It has been a habit of mine to dress a couple of native chickens during weekend and froze them for some proximate future use. That day, I was fortunate that those were still intact. I thought to myself, the couple will do. I took them out to thaw and searched the orchard for some young bamboo culms. I knew what to do in such extraordinary time: Alternative Binakoe. My way.
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| Anaea-taea is an herb that emits an anise-like scent and tastes like a mint. |
For such dish, you will need the following:
- Medium-size pressure cooker
- Newly felled bamboo culms, transformed into slats short enough to be put inside the pressure cooker; washed thoroughly
- Several stalks of lemon grass, washed
Set the fresh bamboo slats horizontally inside the pressure cooker. Put in all the ingredients seeing to it that the lemon grass covers the meat thoroughly. To give it a distinct contemporary taste, add a few leaves of Anaea-taea. Seal the pressure cooker and cook for about half an hour to one hour, mindful of the age of your fowl.
I was about to give them an extemporaneous sermon on the matter but I warned them that Boracay is still roughly two hours ride from my place. Unless they prefer missing Anne Curtis sand bathing in the sugary white beach....
That freed them from the spell of the "lotus charm" and got ready to head off northward...to contemplate on the wonderful miracles of God, of beholding his master pieces like Ms. Curtis laid out on that fading island where its original settlers are becoming marginalized.
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