Sweet Spicy Bagoong: Reminiscing

You know the feeling when your mouth is seeking for something sour? Like green mango sour? I'm having that feeling right now and can't wait for tomorrow to buy green mangoes from the fruit stands in our kanto (street corner). This is what I love about living in a not-so-urbanized area: you can still walk a few blocks to the bakery to buy warm pandesal, take your pick at the local produce stands, freshest eggs and watch gays in one salon holler at each other gossips about the gays in the other salon.

Crisp sour green mangoes paired with sweet and spicy bagoong. *faint*

Whenever I have the green mango craving (no, not pregnant, wish though) I check with my mom if she still has fresh (not salted/processed) alamang (minute shrimps/krill), so I can make my own ginisang bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste). I like it sweet and spicy, reminiscent of the bagoong sold together with green mangoes along the sidewalk of Ateneo High School. While I was still attending school there, during lunch, I would visit a cart and buy a bag or two of mangoes and overload it with bagoong. Haaay... heaven. Sure it's stinky, but I made sure to brush my teeth after because my classmates were the "sosyal" type (typical Ateneans) and feign at the stench of this lowly treat. Pffft... *rolleyes*

Anyway, back then I've been quite curious how they were able to make such an addictive version of bagoong. The ones we buy bottled in the grocery were okay, but not really something I would pair with the mangoes. They were more for viand pairing, not much for snacking. :)

I tried to remember how it tasted like and it's viscosity. When my mom was out one afternoon, I searched for ingredients in our kitchen, experimented over the stove and made sure everything I used were washed as if nothing happened. My mom found it funny that I was hiding what I was doing because she can see that her ingredient supply were clearly being used up. My parents said that I could certainly survive when left alone in the house, unlike my siblings who were dependent on hot dogs and canned goods.

From the time I attempted to copy the bagoong, I nailed it. No. I take that back. Mine was better. Haha! It certainly was not sparse with alamang and not thickened with cornstarch. Sweet and spicy, good enough not only to pair with green mangoes or blanched kangkong (river spinach), but as a viand too. My aunt and grandma ate it with rice, and I was like... uh... interesting, but no thanks.

SWEET SPICY BAGOONG

INGREDIENTS

water

2 tbsp corn oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup fresh alamang

1/4 scant cup brown sugar

3 cloves garlic, well-crushed

1/2 tsp rock salt

a pinch of cayenne pepper

PROCEDURE

1. In a non-stick pan, heat the oils, sugar and a tablespoon of water together in low heat. Mix until sugar starts to melt into the liquid.

2. Add alamang and garlic. Stir constantly so sugar would not burn. Add a tablespoon of water if too thick.

3. Once the alamang starts to give out it's aroma, stir in salt and cayenne pepper. Remove from heat and let cool.

4. Serve with sliced green mangoes or blanched kangkong.

It's so good that instead of the mangoes being the star of the meal, it's the bagoong. My sister said that the mangoes served as rice while the bagoong was the ulam (viand). Hehehe...

Ahhh... Simple pleasures. :)