Jessa and I are showing you how we prepare a truly local mountain meal.
Living in the mountains of Ginatilan, you realize you never have to go hungry because there's so much fresh food right around you. Today, the main ingredient was bamboo shoots, or "dabong" as they call it here. Jessa’s brother had already gone down to the river to harvest a couple of fresh shoots for us.
Jessa took the lead on the preparation, showing how to peel away the tough, dark outer layers to get to that tender, white heart of the bamboo. It’s a lot of work to slice it all down into small pieces, but it's worth it for the freshness. In Norway, I’m used to seeing bamboo come out of a can, so seeing it harvested and prepared fresh like this is a completely different experience.
While Jessa handled the bamboo, I was busy in my "mountain kitchen" experimenting with a homemade dressing and a sweet and sour sauce. I'll admit, I was a bit of a mad scientist! I didn't have the "proper" ingredients for a traditional dressing, so I improvised with what we had—mayonnaise, some vinegar to cut the sweetness (mayo here is quite sweet!), sugar, pepper, and even a splash of pineapple juice and Tabasco for a little kick. I was actually quite proud of how it turned out; it only cost about 40 pesos to make, whereas a small bottle in the store can be 140 pesos or more.
For the main dish, we combined the sliced bamboo shoots with pork, onions, and tomatoes. We had to boil the bamboo for about 30 minutes first to make sure it was soft and ready to eat. Then, everything went into the pan with my homemade sweet and sour sauce.
We joked around a lot while cooking. Jessa was singing and teasing me about my "big stomach," and I was just enjoying the process. It’s these moments—working together to make a meal from what the land provides—that make living in the mountains so special. We didn't even have a specific recipe to follow; we just tasted as we went and adjusted things until they felt right.
By the time we were finished, we had a massive plate of rice topped with the pork and bamboo shoot stir-fry. It looked—and smelled—incredible. It just goes to show that if you’re willing to work a little and explore the local ingredients, you can have a feast that’s healthy, delicious, and almost free. Now, it's time to eat!
