Ampalaya Guisado

One lazy weekend, it was just my mom and I in the house, and since both of us were lazy to go to the market, she just asked me to cook the ampalaya she bought the day before. She didn't give me any instruction how she wanted me to cook it, she just told me to cook it, so I did.

Checking what we had in the fridge, I came up with this dish:




Ampalaya Guisado
{serves 4}

Ingredients:

• 1 ampalaya fruit, sliced very thinly (rings)
• 1 chicken thigh fillet, sliced into small pieces
• 5 pieces shrimps, shelled and cut into small pieces
• vermicelli noodles (sotanghon), soaked in water
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped roughly
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup water
• oil for sauteeing
  

How to Cook:

• Saute onion and garlic in little oil. Add chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Add water and cover to boil.
• Add the ampalaya then the sotanghon, then the shrimps, and cover the pot for about 10 minutes.
• Mix the dish, adjust the taste, and add water if needed (and wanted). Serve.

Notes to Consider:

• My late father never taught me to put salt in the ampalaya fruit and squeeze out the juice. He told me doing so takes out the nutrients of the fruit, so he taught me to cover the pot as soon as I put the ampalaya to minimize the bitterness. It doesn't work all the time, but personally, I don't mind the bitterness... I mean, ampalaya has always been bitter, so eating it meant I'd eat something bitter. If I don't want to eat something bitter, then I won't eat ampalaya (simple).
  
• The sotanghon will suck up all the water once you put it, so watch out or else you'd end up with pancit. :)
• Feel free to use any seasoning you like.

I was a bit apprehensive when I served this for lunch, and when tasted it, she quickly exclaimed, "Wow sarap!" It's not everyday that I get such good comment from my mom, so I really appreciated it. I never knew chicken and ampalaya (and shrimps) would go so well together, and mom loved it so much she bought another ampalaya fruit three days after for me to cook it again. Happiness! :)

*** Jenn ***