I am not a good cook. My bf loves to cook. If we ever marry, I am appointing him VP for Kitchen Services. But I would like to think I am a pretty decent cook. So far, nobody got ill from the dishes I prepared thank God. One dish I have not tried my hands on this dish. It's a vegetable dish so this is perfect for vegetarians (here here aspectimago!) and for those who are simply health conscious. But you may add pork if you're a meat lover like moi.

This dish calls for a couple of asian ingredients like shrimp paste and fish sauce. I think you can buy one from you local asian store but remember go easy on it or else the dish becomes too salty.

So since this is something new for me to try in the kitchen, I sought the help of mommy dearest.

You will need:

2 tbsp cooking oil (canola's good)
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 tbsp ground pork or pork strips cut into thin slices (optional!)
3 tbsp fish sauce or shrimp paste
1 cup water
1 small squash or pumpkin, peeled and cubed
few pieces of green beans, cut into 2 inches long
1 small eggplant, sliced into 2 inches long

1. Heat oil in saucepan. Saute the garlic, onion and tomato. Add the pork(Again optional!). Stir well. Add the fish sauce and water. Simmer for 10 minutes until the pork becomes tender.
2. Add the squash. Once cooked, add the green beans and eggplant. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Okay, rice can be difficult to cook, so here's my step by step guide on how to cook rice perfectly:

1. First rinse the rice in cold water. Rinse it about 3 times. Rinsing the rice removes some of the loose starch making it less sticky and more fluffy.

2. As a general rule, we use 1 cup of water to 1 cup of rice. But if you want to cook it the Filipino way, what we do is stick out our middle finger in the rice soaked in water (yes the middle finger!). Make sure that the rice is evenly distributed on the pot. Now, put your middle finger in the middle of the pot. The water should stop exactly where the first "line" of your middle finger is located.

Here's a very very crude drawing . Not much of an artist with Paint! But at least you get the idea (I hope).

3. Put the pot in medium heat and LEAVE THE COVER ON until it boils. You may check in once in a while but just leave it on.

4. Once the water's boiling, put it on the LOWEST heat. Then wait until the rice has completely absorbed the water. No Stirring.

5. Once water's all absorbed, you may pat the rice (with your hand or with a spatula) and check if it's fluffy. If it is, then it's ready to eat!

Pinakbet