Jorey is the best caregiver. He has been taking extra good care of me since I got the chicken pox. I haven’t been able to cook meals lately since it can get really hot in our kitchen and it makes me itch so the past few days we’ve been eating delicious take out hawker food.

I’m a little picky when it comes to food. My motto is: If it’s not delicious, then it’s not worth eating and getting fat over. And Jorey knows that I’m not so much a fan of his side’s cooking. But when it comes to sarabasag I will eat, eat, and eat some more. Sarabasag, I think is local food to Ybanags. It’s like sisig without the sizzles crossed with kinilaw. It’s chopped roasted pork in seasoned vinegar, with chopped onions and ginger.

Last weekend, he took over the kitchen and cooked us some sarabasag. He used pork liempo but the best sarabasag would also include pig ears. He also bought green mangoes, chopped ‘em, chopped some onions and served it with Spicy Barrio Fiesta bagoong. I chopped tomatoes for myself since Jorey doesn’t eat tomatoes. I also made ampalaya (bitter gourd) salad - it’s chopped ampalaya, onions, and a little ginger in vinegar (add a little salt and pepper). I use balsamic vinegar in my ampalaya salad coz it’s more acidic. The trick is to let the ampalaya “cook” in the acid before serving it.

It was delicious and it gave us an extra boost of endorphins for reminding us of home. Sarrap!!