The Magic of Mascobado

These past days i've been avoiding cooking dishes that need a lot of time to cook for fear of the gas stove dying on me. But tonight the need for comfort food was too strong so i thought, "f*** it, so be it," and proceeded to make my family's version of adobo. I chopped up some pork belly, lots of garlic, onions, a finger chili (my husband likes it spicy), submerged them in a pot with soy sauce, vinegar, some Worcestershire sauce and kept my fingers crossed. When it reached a rolling boil I added laurel leaves, a bit of salt and the magic ingredient my friend's husband taught me to use - mascobado sugar. It makes all the difference. The result was well worth the risk and using up all my gas. A dark, sweet and salty adobo with just a hint of heat that hits the spot.

Afternoon Delight

It's been almost four months since we moved to Negros and i've noticed a pattern here in our part of the island: sunny mornings followed by afternoon downpours. Today was no different except i had a tube of cacao tablea from El Ideal in Silay when we went there one weekend. What's a rainy afternoon without a hot drink, right? With the baby napping I had some time to whip up a cup of hot native chocolate for myself. I was surprised at how big the cacao tablets were - each one was at least an inch thick! I used two tablets to a glass of water and stirred it constantly over a low fire until I got a thick cup of sikwate. I added a couple of teaspoons of mascobado sugar and voila - a delicious bittersweet buzz in a cup.