What to Add to Your Molo Soup

On my first day of breakfast here in Davao, I am confronted once again with something that always leave me at a loss in buffets.

Do you know the Molo soup? It’s a deceptively clear broth that is packed with taste, steeped as it were in a flavorful mixture of shrimp, chicken, ground pork in wonton wrapper and spices.  The name comes from its place of origin, which is in Molo, Iloilo.

The best thing I love about this soup are the slivers of wonton that add a surprising subtlety to its texture.

Usually, when I’m given molo soup in restaurants or in welcoming homes, it’s ready-to-eat. All I have to do is thank the giver, grab a spoon and dig in.

It’s a fairly simple setup confounded by buffets.  Which, with the simple introduction of condiments, complicate things.  

 

Avocado Attraction and Other Things

This may just look like a humble avocado seed, but it’s not!  It reminds me  of the one I’m airing outside.  A little smaller than the usual, but carefully chosen from among other avocado seeds for a very special reason.  My seed was part of the fruit that gave me an almost perfect experience from eating Avocado Mash.

Actually, I’m not sure what to call the traditional dessert of beating together cold Avocado meat with milk and sugar.  Adding ice if you want it colder.  I guess it’s the very rough equivalent of Avocado shake.

Since it’s a fruit-based dessert with simple ingredients, you can really tell if the Avocado flesh is bitter or bland.  Sometimes I get that, and no amount of sugar and/or milk can coax and ecstatic smack of my lips.

BUT from the five pieces I bought, a fruit did get it right!  The meat was very tasty and sweet.  When I combined it with powdered milk and coconut sugar…and then placed it in my mouth…omg, pure sensual bliss.  The combination of flavors played out smoothly, like silk on my tongue.

Since the last time my backyard disappeared to pave the way for a driveway, I haven’t tried to plant again.  There’s not much soil now to put the trees in.  If I start potting, it will be tricky since we’ll be moving in a year or two anyway.

An avocado tree, for example, takes five years before it becomes fruit-bearing.  If I plant one, I’ll have to learn how to miniaturize it; when I move, I have to plan how to move it with me.  So even though my hands are itching to plant and grow things again, I’ve tried to avoid the feeling.

But everytime I look at that seed, I can’t bear to throw it away!  It’s such a waste of good genes, especially these days when the plants that we eat are not as healthy or healthful as they used to be.    There’s a saying that if you want a good tree, get a good seed.  I had in my hands a good one.  I also realize that it took a lot of effort for that seed to land on my hands.

Can you imagine what having 50 or 60 of that delicious fruit will be like?