Fishes & bees

Tita Len-len's Wais Tips

By Len-len Pataytay

The last time you heard from me, I was talking about food. This time, let me talk about food again, particularly the preparation stage, and let me just add practical tips that will make your kitchen life breezier.

Fishy thing

Most kids hate fish due to the embarrassing scales. Make sure fish is scaled before cooking. Rubbing it with vinegar will make it come off much easier. To cut down the mess, fill a basin half-way with water. Hold the fish down and scale it underwater.

Oh so sweet! Honey can be stored for a long time and it can cure several skin diseases and serve as beauty regimen.   

If this fishy scaling job makes your hands too smelly, rub with vinegar and salt, then rinse with water.

Honey, honey, honey

Honey is not easily found here in the country and whenever they are available in grocery stores they are truly expensive. But honey is the healthiest sweetener and is being used since antiquity to cure several ills. So, if you ever get the chance of buying honey make sure it is 100 percent pure and original. Frauds made of brown sugar and kalamansi extract are everywhere.

Remember, never store honey in a refrigerator. But if you have already made this mistake and honey becomes grainy, set its container in a saucepan of hot water. Place two sticks of wood under the container so hot water can circulate freely under it. Let the jar stand for several hours but do keep the water hot, though not boiling, until the honey is normally smooth and consistent again.

The best storage for honey is a dry place otherwise it'll absorb the moisture of a wet place. So, again, keep it away from the ref.

Cheesy thing

Unlike in Europe, we don't normally find different kinds of cheeses in various shapes and sizes in town. Thus, it is one of our precious food item we normally store in the ref and most of us, mothers, cross our fingers that the small bar we bought would get through to the end of the month.

But, be very careful in storing any kind of cheese, even the ordinary processed cheese we usually buy. Never put it in the freezer but in the warmest part of the ref which is often the vegetable compartment.

When serving guests your precious cheese, take it out of the ref 30 minutes ahead so that it regains its right consistency and full aroma.

When cooking with cheese, it should be the last you add to the dish to impart the full cheese flavor.

Unlimited rice

Lastly, let's take on rice. Cook rice with a dash of vinegar and viola it gets fluffy! If you want rice to get the whitest of white, no, don't try glutathione but kalamansi juice or lemon. Just a few drops will do the trick!

If boiled rice is half-cooked, or what we call lagdos, directly pouring water doesn't do any good. Instead, get a clean sheet of white paper and dip it into drinking water and spread it over the rice. Cover the container very well and set to moderate heat for a few minutes until well done.                                

Do not forget that the heart of every home is the kitchen. It is there where meals that kindle the fire of togetherness are prepared daily. It is important that we know the basics on how we maintain the goodness of food we store in it.