Breakfast someone once said that this was the most important meal of the day… and they are absolutely correct! The word all by itself can be broken down to say, “breaking one’s fast”. The fast, being the time that the human body goes into its beauty coma; the break, being the time we awaken from this state of unconscious bliss. Like many people, sometimes life just gets too busy to grab a quick bite before taking off to meet the challenges of the day. What usually happens? Crankiness usually sets in, followed by headache, stomach grumbling, and finally, crash (well… that’s what happens to me anyway 🙂 ). The lesson here is: never skip breakfast. It’s a bad idea, not just for myself, but for the poor people who have to put up with my crabiness when I’m hungry.
Enough about the lack of – let’s talk about what to eat! I woke up this morning with the usual rumble in my tummy. My stomach was gnashing about, and my mouth began to salivate with thoughts of something hot, salty, pungent, sour and most importantly, something filling. I go on a mission, and dive into the fridge in search of something to tantalize my taste buds. After a few minutes, I found what I wanted. Voila!
A cup of old rice, a clove of garlic, half a chicken and apple sausage, two eggs, and a tomato. Filipino breakfast, here I come! What do I do with these ingredients? Slice up that sausage into thin rounds, and fried them up until they were nice and crispy. Unlike pork sausages, these were a little less greasy, but still packed with flavor (not my usual type of sausage to eat, but it was delicious!). While the pan was still hot, a little olive oil, and in went some minced garlic. Before that garlic gets toasty, in goes the rice and a pinch of salt.
Fry fry fry… mmm… the house is beginning to smell like toasted garlic, and my mouth is already watering. Out goes the rice, and in goes a little more olive oil. Two eggs go in – simply fried, sunny side up. Slice up the tomatoes, and here I go with a plate of good eats that took less than 10 minutes to make. To accompany this fabulously Filipino meal, a side of sukang maanghang (distilled vinegar with thai chilis).
The garlic fried rice reminds me again of my childhood. Ester, my grandmother’s cook who has been with the family for 60 years, would cook everything in this old, blackened wok… I don’t remember that wok EVER being changed. (ever). The rice always came out perfect – the grains were fluffy, not mushy or oily, and the perfect amount of salt paired with delicious not-quite-toasted garlic. The eggs were always the way I liked them, sunny side up with the yolk extra runny and cooked so that the sides were crispy and brown. She would usually pair this with some type of meat – sausage, bacon, or even daing (dried salted fish that is usually fried before serving. This can come in a boneless dangit, my fave, or tuyo, which is a little harder to eat because of the bones, but still delicious). Tomatoes or some kind of fruit (mangoes, guavas, bananas… whatever’s in the fruit bowl) usually accompanies the meal, this is mostly to break up the salt. Personally, I like having some kind of fruit because I don’t feel so guilty eating all that fried food! To top it all of… condiments in the form of patis, vinegar, maggi or toyo (what’s a Filipino meal without these delicious bottles of flavor!).
Whenever I reminisce about life when I was younger, I’m always grateful that I have family who can teach me how to prepare these dishes so that enjoy them today.
