Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Tidbits of Folk Wisdom

Malunggay

Abe V Rotor

1. Eye bagAloe vera, cut lengthwise, with cotton ball, wipe sap and apply around the eye bag before going to sleep. Potato (Solanum tuburosum) is also effective. Slice and wipe sap with cotton ball. Apply around eye bag before retiring at night. (From Salamat Dok, March 29, 2009)

2. Malunggay (Moringa oleifera) supplement in noodles. Noodles are in various preparations: sotanghon, bihon, mami, pasta, others. Enterprises are producing malunggay supplemented noodles.

3. Salt hastens cooking time. Whatever is the explanation why rice cooked in a pot previously heated with a pinch of salt will not spoil fast is beyond scientific explanation. Yet it is common knowledge in the rural area.

This is what housewives do. The call the process “gibba, literary, to heat at extreme temperature like firing clay in a furnace. Put a pinch of salt in the cooking pot - aluminum or clay pot, heat until the salt disappears. Cooked rice as usual in the pot. This will prevent rice from getting spoiled in a short time.

Another technique using salt is to place a pinch of it on the cover while the rice is boiling. This is to shorten cooking time. (Lesson from Manang Veny, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, affirmed by Tinong Viernes, April 8, 2009).

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