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TWO
major images have affected my regard for Bicol. Over
land, it is the perfect cone of Mayon Volcano which, at
one time, made me wonder how much atomic-bomb power was
generated to get this perfect cone out of the ocean bed
and onto Bicol ground. The second awesome wonder is
underwater: the butanding, the gentle giants (wide and
long or longer than a subway train) of Donsol, which
seem to be wearing earphones because they are not
bothered at all by our presence, noise and the sound of
the banca motors.
Other
than these two major sights, we also had on a recent
trip the Firefly Tour which was beautiful—one could not
tell the stars against the dark, moonless sky from the
afterglows of the fireflies against the dark shadow of
the forest. These were our eye candies to the max! (Go
visit Bicol...it’s worth every moment and every peso.)
You gata
taste this!
Bicolanos are gracious, Bicolanas even more so. It’s
true, these women are alluring and they can really make
one feel so at home. This was the lucky break we had
during our visit to Legaspi—to be under the care of
budding tour operator Cristy Marifosque Ferrer
of Sorsogon. The Marifosque patriarch was once mayor of
a town in Sorsogon, and as Cristy remembers, there was
always something delicious being cooked by the clan for
visitors. Cristy spoiled us rotten for three whole days
in Bicol.
The
family business is into egg production, partly run by
her son Archie Ferrer. And as her guests, we always had
a sumptuous breakfast at her farm house. To start with,
the freshest peewee eggs (still warm, just off the
layer hen’s...uhm...egg ‘outlet’), as many as we wished,
in any style we liked, with the egg yolk standing proud
and round and fresh—something we hardly have in Manila.
At a
walk to the wet market during the Magayon Festival, I
noticed some sharp, long leaves that looked to me like
green San Francisco leaves. At a glance the leaves
looked too thick to make into ginulay, and I
assumed it was to be used as a food wrap. Cristy then
grabbed a bundle and said we would have it for lunch.
Maray!
THE
lunch of ginulay na lubi-lubi and other
vegetables with fried fish on the side and malagkit
rice cooked in coconut milk was simply lovely. As one of
us (Judy Lao) was a vegetarian, the dishes were healthy
and green. But lubi-lubi was a discovery for me.
First, I had never encountered it before except in a
song. Second, I was really curious that it could be
cooked and be made edible if not downright tasty with
good mouthfeel. In short, the whole serving was cleaned
up. Maray! Ang sarap pala.
 It
was prepared by Manay Fe and Cristy proudly told us that
the bunch they cooked came from her farm. (See photo of
Manay Fe holding a big bunch.). The leaves are washed
clean, then sliced. Blanch the leaves in water with some
salt, especially the big outer ones because there is a
certain acid taste that needs to be washed out. Strain,
squeeze out the water and then proceed to cook in a
light gata with dried fish or alamang and chopped chilis.
Either you like the lubi-lubi or you hate it. We
all loved it. Other vegetables that were also ginulay
were the kulis and the sigarillas, known as
purupagulungan. You can combine all these veggies in
one dish and boost it further with malunggay.
You’ll be so green and fibrous for your own good!
Lubi-lubi
is also called niyog-niyogan, according to
Cristy’s relatives. Perhaps because the fruits look like
minitoy coconuts, while the leaves look more ornamental
than gustatory. From reading about it in Market Manila
(http://www.marketmanila.com/), it is also known as the
Garden Nightshade. (Visit the blog for more pretty
photos of lubi-lubi.) Now we all know that “night
shade” has a dark connotation and, in a sense, the name
is quite appropriate. The young fruit (niyog-niyogan)
could cause hallucinations when eaten young, but its
narcotic effect fades out as the fruit matures. Better
stick to the young inner leaves.
Here
again is the procedure for cooking ginulay na
lubi-lubi:
In water
add some salt. Cut the lubi-lubi and plunge into
the water and blanch, about one to two minutes. Cool.
Strain out and squeeze out the water. Bring coconut milk
to a boil and drop the leaves. Cook through and check if
leaves are crisp-tender. Serve. You can add malunggay
leaves, kulitis or kulis and sigarillas
or other greens...and treat yourself to a very green
and healthy repast.
Mabalos,
Cristy for the maray na lubi-lubi! |
