EVERYWHERE I go, I hear people complaining about how expensive a kilo of rice has become.
“How am I to survive? I earn P100 to P150 per day from sidewalk vending. I have four children, all of school age,” one 40-year-old street vendor lamented.
My impression is many people are scrambling to survive. When all cards are laid out on the table, gainfully employed workers are still ahead in the race to live. In my opinion, at the losing or struggling end are the idle elderly, the willing-to-work but no-one-wants-to-hire retirees and untrained people.
How do we survive? For me, even with the “coin system” of juggling and saving money that I came up with 15 years ago, I now find myself feeling the pinch. How do we survive?
My friend, Illustracio, said he would teach his children the art of cutting down on rice. My Aunt Tita Blitte said she will teach her friends to cook three viands using only one can of mackerel in tomato sauce. Uncle Gustave said he will share with me his pickled veggies and food rehash tricks so I have something to write about next time.
In honor of our shared misery, let me teach you how I scramble eggs. I know scrambled eggs should be bland and soft or creamy. However, since I am never sure whether the eggs I am using are riddled with salmonella, I tend to cook scrambled eggs till set but still soft.
Coated flat-bottomed pans are great, but if you only have an aluminum wok like I do, don’t worry. Your eggs will still be edible. Most chefs use butter, but since we’re scrambling to survive, use whatever oil you have. Heat the wok before you add the oil. Swirl the oil to coat the wok. While the wok has to be hot, it should not cause the oil to smoke once you pour it in. You know it’s the correct temperature because the eggs will not immediately curdle once you start cooking it. Now stir the eggs in a No. 8 motion till they’re set but still creamy on top. I allow myself the crime of doing the eggs till they’re done but still soft.
This is how I do it: When the top of the scrambled egg is creamy, I flip it and allow it to cook 15 seconds more before transferring it to a hot plate.
I leave the matter of seasoning the eggs up to you. Purists saying this is a no-no. But people scrambling to survive say this is a yes-yes because it’s more tasty and makes the rice sing.