Family Meal Plan: Five-Ingredient Filipino Eggplant "Adobo" + Filipino Fried Rice + Island Fruit Flips

Fabulous Five-Ingredient Filipino Eggplant "Adobo"

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• garnish :

  to decorate a dish or plate of food to enhance its flavor or appearance, using things like parsley, fruit slices, or edible flowers.

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• mince :

  to chop into teeny tiny pieces.

• peel :

  to remove the skin or rind from something using your hands or a metal tool.

• sauté :

  to cook or brown food in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

• snip :

  to use scissors to cut something with quick, sharp strokes.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

What is Adobo?

• "Adobo" is the Spanish word for "marinade." It refers both to a popular Filipino dish and an indigenous Filipino cooking method. 
• Why a Spanish word for a Filipino dish? Well, the Spanish Empire colonized the Philippines from 1521 to 1898. It was during the 1500s that the Spanish first encountered the adobo cooking method of native Filipinos. The Spanish named the dish "Adobo" and thereby referred to any dish marinated before being cooked as "adobo."  
• Native Filipinos used the vinegar in the adobo marinade to preserve their meat—long before refrigeration was invented.

Let's Learn About the Philippines!

• The official name of the country is "The Republic of The Philippines." A person from the Philippines is a "Filipino."
• The Philippines is an archipelago or a collection of islands. In this case, the collection is vast, spanning over 7,000 islands total!
• The history of language in the Philippines is rich and a little complicated! The official languages of the nation are Filipino and English. Filipino comes from Tagalog and is the standardized version. Filipinos speak the language primarily in Manila, the capital, and neighboring provinces. People who speak both languages can understand each other.
• During Spanish rule, the official language of the Philippines was Spanish. There are about 182 languages and dialects throughout the islands of the Philippines. 
• Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in the 1500s and claimed the archipelago for Spain. As a result, the Philippines were under Spanish rule for 300 years until 1898. At the end of the short-lived Spanish-American War, at the Treaty of Paris, Spain handed over the Philippines to the United States. The US had control until 1946, when the Philippines officially regained its independence.
• Rice is a staple, and Filipinos eat it in some form at every meal. "Kamayan" is a family or community buffet of Filipino food. Hosts lay banana leaves on a table and then serve seafood, grilled meats, vegetables, and rice on top. In Tagalog, kamay means "hand," so a kamayan feast indicates how you eat the food. First, you put a mound of rice into the palm of your hand,  then add lechon (roasted pig), seafood, or other meat, and stir-fried veggies, and bring it all to your mouth to eat. Guests stand side-by-side to eat together at the long table. 
• Although a version of the yo-yo has been around since Ancient Greece, a Filipino immigrant who came to the US in 1915 popularized it and started the first yo-yo company. He strung his yo-yos differently, using a loop around the axle rather than a knot, allowing tricks like "sleeping," etc.
• The world's longest snake comes from the Philippines. It's called the Reticulated Python, and it can grow to almost 29 feet in length! Yikes!
• In the Tojoman Lagoon, there are millions of "stingless" jellyfish! The lagoon is located in Sohoton Cove on Bucas Grande Island in the province of Surigao del Norte. The jellyfish aren't technically stingless, but their sting often doesn't penetrate skin or cause a reaction.
• Filipino/Tagalog for "Hello": "Kamusta" (pronounced "kah-moo-STAH").
• Filipino/Tagalog for "Thank you": "Salamat" (pronounced "sah-lah-MAHT").

What's It Like to Be a Kid in The Philippines?

• Kids play basketball, which is the country's most popular sport. They also play soccer and badminton. Kids may participate in the national martial art called Arnis or Eskrima, which uses blunt, wooden sticks.
• The school year is from June to April, and school hours are usually from 7:30 am to 4 or 5 pm. In some areas, schools may not have cafeterias, so students go home for lunch or eat outside in the schoolyard under the shade of trees. Their lunch may consist of dried fish and rice wrapped in banana leaves.
• One of the sweets Filipino kids eat is "leche flan." It is similar to crème caramel, but sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are used instead of cream. "Tsokolate" (Cho-co-lah-TAY) is a drink that is popular with kids. The word means "chocolate," and the drink is thick hot cocoa made from tablets of ground roasted cacao beans, dissolved in water and milk. It is common to drink "tsokolate" with breakfast and at Christmastime.