Thursday, September 5, 2013

Leftovers for lunch: Ginisang Upo

Since I am currently in between jobs, it's a little easier for me to figure out what to eat, since I am not in a constant hurry to get to a job, etc.  The decision-making process is quite difficult though.  Then there is the aim to not waste.  And so, leftovers are generally what the choices boil down to for my lunches these days.  (Actually, even when I was working, leftovers often ended up being my lunches - they're quick, less work, and so not to waste.)

Today, I was exceptionally hungry (thanks to a really light dinner), and had this for lunch:

upo

What is it?  Good question.  I can tell you that's half a cup of brown rice.  Yes, switched to brown rice for its higher fiber content.  It does not taste as good as white rice, but you get used to it.  The "ulam", or the dish on the right, I presume to be ginisang upo.  HUH?

"Gisa" is a verb in Tagalog (the main language/dialect of the Philippines) that essentially means "to sautee".  It is a common start to most Filipino cooking... usually beginning with garlic and onion, and then whatever else that follows.  "Ginisa" simply the past tense of gisa, and the added "ng" I think is what converts the word to an adjective, describing the following word.  

Upo, in the meantime, is a vegetable.  I think these things in the photo are upo.  

upo

I am a little unsure because I have never cooked with it before.  I know what upo looks like in the store (and these don't look like those).  These were given to us by a colleague of my husband's.  She's Filipino (heard Engineer was married to a Filipino, so she's an instant mom!  I love Filipino moms.  They spoil ya!  And I haven't even met her yet!), and she grew these in her garden.  In fact, the onions in the background are also from her garden!  The dish I had for lunch, was actually also made by her... this is why I'm not entirely sure what it is.  But it is tasty, for sure!  And from the ratio of vegetables to meat, I am assuming the dish is healthy as well.

If you know what these things are, could you please verify my guesses?

In any case, I think my lunch choice was good today.  Satisfied with both quantity and quality.

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