i've posted dinuguan here before but my dear anggiwa in tokyoland, pining for her mommy's cooking, mentioned the addition of tamarind leaves. i've also seen it mentioned in other food blogs that sinigang mix (the powdered kind sold in packets) made a good souring agent.
i had neither tamarind leaves nor sinigang mix.
but i had this:
tamarind block
simply cut off a piece, using as much or as little as you wish, soak in medium-hot water for at least 15 minutes, then extract the liquid and strain into your dinuguan pot.
the puto came from a box...white king puto mix, following the instructions on the back for the pandan variation. the only disobedient thing i did was to use up a whole pack of frozen pandan (boiling in 4 cups of water & reducing down to 2 cups; the recipe needs only a cup, so freeze the rest and use up later), figuring that the freezing might have lessened the power of its flavoring. it tasted terribly...GOOD.
the mildly sweet puto gets along very well with the tangy rich stew. #1 son saw me dunking the puto into the "black dish" and asked "but why MOM?" they love it as a snack/dessert item only for now. *sigh* i need to bring them to Manila for some cultural orientation....
