BEBUT’S TRAIL XIX: Taro Tendrils

WHEN YOU ARE KEEN on exposing people to creative cooking using unfamiliar ingredients in an outdoors setting, it is just second nature for you to rise up from your comfort zone and heft a bag for the woods. Today, August 20, 2017, I would walk with seven others on the same route I walked last week - “Heartbreak Ridge”. Our destination would still be that shed in Sibalas. It is now a spot well-loved by the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild.

One of those who would hike up the infamous hill is the not-so-little Titay anymore. She will be with his dad Aljew. Titay have grown into a beautiful dalaguita - an adolescent lady – and how time flies. Also braving the bare hill are Bonna, Jhurds, Theresa, Jingaling and Glyn. We left the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at 08:30 after acquiring the ingredients for our noontime meal from its side market.

It is now 09:00 and it is very warm here as was last week. I am worried about Titay so I gave her my elastic headwear to shield her head, face and nape from direct sunlight. She begins to tire when she reached the steel tower and her dad has to goad her gently so she would overcome the last hump. Beyond there are bush and woodland and a shaded trail where many birds found refuge.

 

I bought this time two bundles of jute leaves (Local name: saluyot) which I preserved upside down and covered in loose layers of parasol tree leaves (binunga). I also acquired several pieces of okra, a few green pepper, onions, garlic and two bundles of vine-like taro root tendrils (takway). The main ingredient would be the young taro sprouts which I plan to cook in two different dishes.

If you have 230 grams of taro sprouts, if boiled, it provides you 3.22 g protein, 165.6 mg calcium, 0.92 mg iron, 1534 µg vitamin A, 0.05 mg thiamin, 0.18 mg riboflavin, 1.45 mg niacin and 48.30 vitamin C. It provides you energy with 110.40 kcal. (Source: Cooking Smart by Blecenda Miranda-Varona and David Arsulo Varona, Philippine Publishing House, 2005.) We have about 1,200 grams of that.

It can reduce high blood pressure, controls blood sugar levels, protects the skin, prevents different types of cancer, enhances digestion, increase circulation, prevents heart diseases, improves vision, boosts immune system, strengthens muscle and nerves. It also contains dietary fiber, which plays a very important role in the digestive system. Consumption of this can increase our gastrointestinal health. It also prevents diarrhea, cramps, constipation, bloating, excess gas, and improves the overall health of the body.

We arrive at the shed in Sibalas at 10:15. This wooden structure is built at the instance of Jhurds, currently Camp Red’s head shed, and with the assent of Luceno Labrador, the lot owner. Camp Red helped in reforesting the place with fruit, hardwood and indigenous species. The shed would host outdoors seminar someday but, for the moment, it sufficed as a place where we do “dirt times”.

As on previous occasions, the shed becomes the center of a few hours of camp life. The split log seats are there to give spartan comfort and respite to the tired limbs while the wide center table gives convenience to those who would prepare the food prior to cooking. The table is now accommodating the food ingredients and the tools for cooking. The men among us proceed to forage dry twigs and firewood. The ladies stayed to process meat and slice the vegetables.

Fire begins to blaze by the time Aljew’s firebox and my Swiss Army wood burner were set up. A pot of water is boiled first for that beautiful thought of a coffee drink. I took care of another pot for rice. One of the ladies, Bonna, watched the cooking on my behalf while I busy myself with the taro sprouts. You have to peel the outer layers first as it would cause itchiness on your tongue, gums and throat. It has a substance that is common among taro species.

It would be painstaking work. You have to use the edge of a blade lightly so skin will be stripped away and there are around twenty of these long stalks, which measure around two feet each. As you work on these taro part, you would notice that the color of dark purple adhere to your thumbs and fingers caused by the natural dye that is found on the insides of the skin. When done skinning, you chop the stalks about 2 inches long each.

On the other front, an earthen hearth is prepared for cooking the marinated meat on glowing coals. Aljew and Jhurds help each other that there is sufficient firewood to make this possible. Titay watched all these and sometimes would sidle by her dad and asked a few questions. Aljew taught her how to safely use a knife, chop firewood and feed wood on fire. This is another aspect of Titay’s ongoing education into a better adult that his dad envisioned of her. He is training her in this unconventional setting.

Half of the processed taro stalks, I would cook as a soup. I would not use any meat ingredient (subak) to achieve taste. The taro is the main ingredient and it has its own special taste, which is enhanced by the addition of jute leaves, sliced onions, salt and black pepper. It is a traditional Cebuano fare called bas-oy (vegetable soup) minus the meat.

Sliced okra is mixed with the other half of the taro tendrils. Garlic, sliced onions and green pepper are sauteed first before the taro is dropped into the strong-smelling oil that is simmered a bit. Care is observed not to stir the tendrils while it is cooked for a few minutes so it would not release a substance that causes itchiness. When the texture becomes brown, the okra is mixed to the fare and stirred while soy sauce is added.

On the other hand, the marinated meat took time to cook. Everybody waited. At 13:30, we got our meal. For the rest, it is their first time to taste young taro tendrils. I am used to its slimy appearance but, once you get to like its taste, you forgot about it and you crave for more. The taro adobo is the easiest to cook but it can also be cooked with coconut-based soup, simply fried in a pan, or rolled in rice-paper wrappers.

Plant identification is very important in bushcraft and survival. Today’s session educated the people from Camp Red the appearance of jute leaves and young taro tendrils. They were also exposed to the methods of cooking these. Sharing what I know and showing them how. The pots, plates and spoons are washed in a nearby well. In an hour we would be moving out but, for the meantime, we engage in small talks.

Aljew foraged a green coconut from a short tree and opened it. Titay watched how his dad did it. She drank the natural water straight from the small hole. The coconut was split in half by his dad while Titay scraped the meat with an improvised spoon made from the green husk. It might be ordinary for you readers but bonding with a daughter or son and exposing them to the outdoors is something you would crave for if you have the time.

By 14:00, our things are slowly returned to our bag. We took another trail that led to Baksan. We reach a road and it is a long way back to Guadalupe. We will pass by the Sapangdaku Spillway and going there would all be downhill by a concrete road. We crossed a bridge and walked the rest of the way to the church. Titay felt the fatigue and the pain but her dad never left her side. She reached our destination and she got her fish balls.

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