miracle fruit

A miracle fruit tree on the roadside of Brgy. Mambago, Sta. Rosa, Babak, Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) in Samal island, Davao del sur.

miracle fruit - (Mindanao fruit) [n.] calabash (sc.name: Crescentia cujete).

Miracle  fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (in red). Latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

Miracle fruit (internationally known as the calabash) is a tree that bears huge fruits that looks like a buko (young coconut). It grows abundantly everywhere in Mindanao, some parts of the Bicol region, and in the Visayas. Few are also growing in Luzon up to the northern part of Ilocos and Cagayan region (see the food map, above, for the latest inventory). 

At first glance, you could have mistaken this as a young coconut fruit growing on a small tree.

Sadly, most of the fallen fruits were left to rot on the ground. Most local folks do not know what to do to make good use of this wonderful fruit. They dreaded the black color of its flesh and the gummy smell. What they do not realize is that black juice is sweet and has healing wonders, the reason why old folks called it the "miracle fruit."

I tried one. And yes, it was wonderful.

The  outer shell is very hard that you have to cut it with a saw to split open into halves You cannot just cut the calabash fruit with a knife, unless you use a big bolo or machete.   

Many who tried this drink claimed they experienced rejuvenating vigor and mental alertness. It is good when you are going to study, review, or take an exam.  

Local women who have tried the freshly extracted black juice claimed it helped ease their menstrual pain. 

Drinking miracle fruit juice is relaxing and helps you go to sleep, relieve stress, and feel well-rested as you wake up. It makes the skin glow healthy, and feel younger again.

Good for those who are recuperating from sickness and a treat after a weary activity. 

The flesh is white, moist, and soft.

 

I experimented with the first calabash fruit I got from Mindanao. I extracted the juice and processed my first miracle fruit wine at home. I hand-carried one fresh green fruit of calabash on my flight from Misamis Oriental to Metro Manila. I cut open and processed the fruit juice into miracle fruit wine using the needed ingredients that were found in the groceries. After three months of fermentation, I had the wine and enjoyed it.

I wonder if this fruit once grew in the fountain of youth. The vigor made me feel younger. Next time, I will no longer bring a calabash fruit. I will bring the tree.

When boiled, the flesh of calabash turns black.

Here's a calabash fruit I found in Cagayan de oro City, Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. I brought it home in Metro Manila. Cooked it into tea and later processed into wine.

How to know if the miracle fruit is already ripe to harvest:

• The color of the fruit is dark green and has slight shades and spots of brown.
• The surface or outer skin is no longer shiny.
• It is heavier and sounds dull when you knock it with your fingers.         

Personal Notes

Miracle fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (shaded red in the food map, above). The latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

I first saw this fruit and the tree on the campus of Notre Dame University, Cotabato City on November 10, 2010. Since then, I took notes on where else I found miracle fruit in Mindanao.

In 2017, I picked a fruit from a tree in Cagayan de Oro and hand-carried it on my flight back to Manila where I tried to process it into wine. The wine turned out good - it tastes jammy and fruity. I kept a bottle of it until now for aging.

Related readings:

• Calabash the miracle fruit, Henrylito D. Tacio, Business Mirror,  Oct. 15, 2015, https://businessmirror.com.ph/2015/10/15/calabash-the-miracle-fruit/
• Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete Linn.), Dr. Godofredo Stuart, Stuart Xchange, http://www.stuartxchange.org/Cujete

Know more about calabash here 

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Related posts:

How to make miracle fruit juice
or miracle fruit tea.

How to make miracle fruit wine

Lipote

Sawa

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

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Edgie Polistico

For more abou

 

t Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

pipinong gubat

pipinong gubat - /pi-pi-nong gu-bat/ Tagalog fruit; dw Span. pepino [cucumber] > Tag. pipino  + gubat [forest] [n.] creeping cucumber (sc.name: Melothria pendula, Linn.) \wild cucumber.

Other local common names:

pipinong ihalas in Cebuano and Boholano

a.k.a. pipinong ligaw in  Tagalog

A variety of very tiny cucumbers having a smooth and watermelon-like berry.

Pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan.

Pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan.

Pipinong gubat found in Tagaytay City, Cavite.

The plant is a perennial climbing vine and can be found growing uncultivated or wild all over the Philippine archipelago, and in other countries on the other side of the world.

A pipinong ihalas found on the roadside of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental. It is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat in Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite.

Pipinong ihalas found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

Pipinong ihalas of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

The vine bears tiny oblong-elliptic yellow-green berries which turn black when matured and ripe that grow 10 to 20 millimeters long, and about 12 to 15 millimeters in diameter. 

The crisp young green berries are edible and can be pickled or put fresh and whole in salads. The black ones can be used as purgative for livestock.

Pipinong ihalas from the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

Trying some pipinong ihalas at home in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

 

Personal notes:

Our rural folks still wonder what to do with these tiny cukes. They do not eat them. They thought it is not safe to eat. They regarded the vine as a pesky plant on the farm. They do not know this plant is edible. Few recalled that their old folks used to pick this along the trail and have it as a snack. My dear friend, Jose Benigno Salvador, a Bulaqueño food historian, shared that the Katipuneros of Bulacan used to forage this wild tiny cucumber while trekking the terrains of Bulacan.

The pipinong ihalas I found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite. Last summer, I found it growing in the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte. I learned later in my research that this plant grows all over the archipelago. The fact is, we can actually find this tiny cucumber on the other side of the world, where it is pickled or put in a green salad. Last June 12, 2017, this was served as an heirloom salad by the Siglo Modern Filipino at the View Park Hotel of Tagaytay City, Cavite.

There was a study that found out that the “chemical-bromatologic” analysis of this wild cucumber constitutes a source of water, vitamins, minerals, and even some proteins. The fruits of this plant, despite their reduced size, have a pleasant flavor and are edible for humans. Its foliage is given to livestock as forage. Thus, this “wild cucumber” could be an additional nutritional alternative for men and animals. The wild cuke is 12.6% protein, 16.30% fiber, and 56.8% carbohydrates. The entire plant is good for ruminants.

In Myanmar, the green leaves are eaten as vegetables. One of my friends who learned about this suggested that the leaves can be stir-fried or sautéed with garlic just like when you cook talbos ng kamote (sweet potato tops) or added in soupy dishes as you do with spinach. You may add sahog (meat ingredient) and seasonings of your choice.

When matured or ripe, the fruit would turn black and can be used as purgative, usually to livestock and other foraging farm animals, and even to humans.

Propagation of pipinong gubat is by seed and cuttings.

Related posts:

Lipote

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

Miracle fruit

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Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. 

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico

tarang bulan

tarang bulan - /ta-ráng bu-lan/ Ta'u-sug snack; dw Bahasa Melayo tarang [bright] + Tausug bulan [moon]) [n.] bright moon pancake \stuffed folded golden pancake.

Other local name:

• Muslim hotcake in Chavacano [Zamboangueño]

A traditional pancake made with a runny batter of flour mixed with some water (or fresh milk), baking powder, sugar, and yellow-orange food color.

A Tausug lass selling tarang bulan in Zamboanga City public market.

A pan is pre-heated and brushed with butter (or margarine) on the surface. A scoop of the batter is poured on the pan and set to cook on medium fire until the batter formed into a round patty of pancake with bubbly perforation on its surface and smooth on the underside. The pancake is removed from the pan and the top side is spread with sweetened boiled mongo beans (mung beans) then folded halfway making it look like a half-moon.

When serving, the tarang bulan is sliced into parts.

This snack originated in neighboring Asian countries and can be found also in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tausug tarang bulan in the corner of Zamboanga City's public market (2013). 

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The name tarang bulan is from the Bahasa Melayo tarang meaning "bright" and Tausug bulan meaning "moon." The shape and its bright yellow-orange color are enough explanations for why this folded stuffed pancake is aptly called the bright moon.

What makes tarang bulang different from the usual pancake we have in other regions is that it has a spread of sweetened boiled mongo beans inside the fold.

Personal notes:

If you need to look for this in Metro Manila, don't go far, you can find them on weekends in Maharlika Village near the Blue Mosque.

If you prepare the pancake of tarang bulan by yourself, you can follow the way western pancake or the Tagalog and Visayan hot cake is done. Just make it way a lot bigger and thicker than those you found in the morning menu of Jollibee and McDo. You sprinkle the batter with a little amount of ground salt to make the patty pancake more savory. Adding a dash of cinnamon powder or droplets of vanilla extract would make the pancake lusciously aromatic. Boiled pandan leaf extract will do it too.

For the sweetened mongo beans, you can prepare them like the way minatamis na monggo is done for the traditional summer halo-halo or of pan de mongo and hopia monggo. It's the same sweetened mongo you can find stuffed in ensaymadang monggo.

If you're fed up with mung beans all your life or afraid of having gout pains later in your joints, you can vary the fillings.  Instead of sweetened mung beans, use haleyang ube, strawberry jam (from Benguet), minatamis na buko or macapuno, peanut butter, cheese, omellete, chocolate spread, or leche flan.

For fresh milk, you can substitute it with milk powder mixed with water.  Try kakang gata, it will do wonder too.

Related posts:

Parirutong

Bibingka royal


Daral

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Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure. 

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. 

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others. 

Edgie Polistico  

  

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

pebre

pebre - /peb-re/ Caviteño sauce/condiment; dw Chilean (Chile, South America) pebre [salsa of assortment of chopped spices, tomatoes, and pepper] = Catalan (Catalonia region, Spain) pebre [pepper]) [n.] lechon sauce \liver sauce for lechon baboy.

Similar local dishes:

lechon sauce or sarsa ng litson in Tagalog

lechon sauce in Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano, Capampangan, and other Philippine languages and vernaculars

This lechon sauce of Cavite City is used to be for lechon baboy (roasted pig)  only, but later on served also as a dipping sauce for other roasted and fried dishes, such as litson manok (roasted chicken), fried pork chop, pritong isda, even for lumpia.

It has a paste of ground cooked liver of pig (or chicken), bread crumbs, water, brown sugar, onion, garlic, other spices, salt, and ground peppercorn. Named after the Chilean condiment of the same name but the foreign salsa is quite different being that it has no liver in the ingredients but an assortment of spices, ground or pureed spicy aji peppers, and chopped tomatoes, and may vary in different regions of Chile. 

The word pebre in Catalan (Catalonia in northeastern Spain and partly southern France) refers to the pepper of any type. 

The Caviteño pebre is a combination of sweetness and sourness and the peppery piquancy of ground peppercorn. This is the origin of your fave Mang Tomas sauce, a popular commercial liver sauce for your lechon baboy and litson manok.

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See Index of Entries here.

If you liked this post, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines. I will search for more and continue to share my findings. It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure. 

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. 

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.