green heaven

when i was young, i looked forward to every summer.  summer vacation, waking up late, trips to the local pool to cool down on weekends, seasonal fruits.

now, ordinarily i would talk about our luscious ripe mangoes.  how they are sweeter than their western counterparts, how sweet and luscious the flesh is, how i would lick my hands and arms to get all the juices as i ate them barehanded...

but i would rather talk about the sour, unripe mango.  almost everyone i know loves green mango. it is eaten as a side dish to fried and grilled food.  i, on the other hand, can eat it as a main dish, much to chagrin of my family.  alongside the green mango is bagoong alamang, which serves as its dip. it is a salty, somewhat pale pinkish, shrimp paste.  it is an important ingredient in asian cooking and  is known by different names.  for more information on bagoong alamang, go to here.

like all recipes, people like their food to taste according to their liking.  i like my bagoong alamang a bit on the sweet side.  i buy fresh bagoong alamang from the market and season it myself. i start with sauteing onions and garlic, then adding the fresh bagoong alamang.  i saute it a some more before i add vinegar.  i use vinegar to cut some of the saltiness.  i let the vinegar cook, then skim the salt at the edge of the pan after some of the vinegar has evaporated.  afterwards, i add sugar to sweeten the bagoong alamang guisado (sauteed bagoong alamang) to taste.

i peel a green mango and slice it into wedges. after dipping it into the warm bagoong guisado, i sink my teeth and...

kkrrrunch!

sour and salty-sweet erupt in my mouth and i'm in heaven.  this is one food i can never say no to.

is there a food that you can never say no to?  something you just have to have, if it's available?