LP 18: Kwentong Gulay
Before I post my recipe contribution to LP 18, I’d love to share some veggie-related childhood stories. Let’s go down vegetable-lined memory lane together!
I remember asking my Mom for spinach because of Popeye. I wanted to grow muscles too! It was my first time to try that vegetable and was immensely disappointed when I saw how slimy and wet it looked. How could Popeye eat that?? Many years passed (about twenty?) before I ate spinach again.
I remember learning in Home Ec that I wasn’t cut out to be a farmer or gardener. We were assigned to nurture a tomato plant each in 5th grade. In our group’s plot, my tomatoes were the most shriveled, ugly and pale ones. Bah. Needless to say I got a low grade.
I remember wondering why garlic and onions were bad for your breath. They’re yummy, so what if they stink, I thought in my pre-teen years. I wondered what the fuss was in taking out the onions from your burgers or not ordering garlic pizza on dates. These situations I read from romance books like Sweet Dreams or watched in movies. It was only when I started dating that I did realize that, uh-huh, they are indeed best avoided. 
I remember wondering why so many kids hated brussel sprouts. How can something that looks so cute taste so terrible, I wondered. I was a veggie lover and took pride that I won’t hate this veggie. During a trip to the U.S. in my early teens, I had my first taste of this much-hated vegetable and finally understood why it isn’t too well-liked. Blech.
These were the moments when I’d wrinkle my nose at veggies. And now for the love stories…
I remember my friends and I debating on what “linga” was, as featured in the song Bahay Kubo. I think they’re sesame seeds. Are they? I also remember wanting to live in a bahay kubo with all those vegetables! I also loved playing the Bahay Kubo game (one where you use your hands and a lot of “slapping”) with three other friends!
I remember being entertained with the different vegetable folk tales — mga alamat. Folk tales weren’t only entertaining, they also created personalities for each vegetable. According to one alamat, the ampalaya (bitter gourd) was one plain vegetable and was very jealous of the sweetness of the squash, sourness of the tomato, the color of the eggplant and other pretty attributes of other vegetables. He stole their beauty hoping to become the most beautiful vegetable. But because of his greediness, his plan backfired and he turned out to be the most bitter and wrinkly of all vegetables. Awww, poor ampalaya.
I remember falling in love with kangkong because of Pong Pagong. I have a separate LP 18 entry dedicated to Pong Pagong but I just have to say this right now! Pong Pagong inspired me to eat more kangkong, even though I never saw him eat any. Kangkong is one of my favorite veggies EVER.
I remember being so giddy when I learned how to cook Ginisang Pechay. Ginisang Pechay (Sauteed Chinese Cabbage/Pak Choi) was one of my comfort foods and my folks’ household help would cook it a lot. When I moved out of my parents’ home, I didn’t really know how to cook at all but wanted to have this dish badly. It is a very simple dish but one that seemed so complicated to me! I was ecstatic when it came out right and H loved it.
I’ve come a long way from my “I hate spinach” days — I love spinach now especially when it’s steamed with garlic. I’ve also steered clear of vegetable plots in case my not-so-green thumb attacks. Ah, gulay. You love them, you hate them, but you have to eat them anyway. Thanks for taking a trip down my vegetable-lined memory lane! Will you take me along yours too? 
Note: Thanks to H for the Kid and Onion illustrations!
May 18th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
ah, i just had the spinach with garlic last night. sarap! oh and i love reading folk tales!
i never liked okra when i was young, to me it was soo “malaway”. pero now, i steam it over rice and then eat it with bagoong isda squeezed with lemon, mmm sarap!
D did such a great job on the illustrations!
May 18th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Yes I think “linga” is sesame seeds. I just got some recently in the palenke. I asked the tindero for the seeds you put in palitaw and he gave me “linga”. It was sesame seeds.
We love kangkong. Whether its in sinigang, bulanglang, abraw, ginisa with garlic, and adobo. My 2 girls love it too. They ask for it everyday. They call sinigang “kangkong soup”. Masarap din yun “talbos ng sayote”. Just plain ginisa with lots of garlic, onion, and tomato. Then add “chicharon”. If you don’t have chicharon, pwede din lechon kawali.
May 19th, 2007 at 3:14 am
we share a lot of veggie things in common!
-I ate spinach because of popeye (but ended up loving it too like Kangkong)
-I LOVE LOVE Kangkong, initially inspired by Pong Pagong too! hehe Later on i realized i just looove green leafy veggies!
-As i said i love green leafy vegetables, so needless to say, i am head over heels with Pechay! hehe especially the Ginisa… i also just learned to cook recently the taiwan bok choy with Oyster sauce. yum!!
But, i have yet to taste brussel sprouts, i never got to tasting them on my trip to the US or Oz. hmmm maybe i can ask my cousin to send me some? eheh
May 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
you just gave me an idea for my entry! hahaha…H is gooood! nice illustrations!
May 19th, 2007 at 11:26 am
I don’t particularly like vegetables… I just eat them because they are healthy… but it is definitely not a love affair…
May 21st, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Toni Toni to-toni banana-bana Toni fee-fie-mo-monie… Toni! wala lang hehehe
Syempers, living in Baguio has its benefits. Vegetables everywhere. We just pick sayote, or buy it very cheaply. When a student is failing in class, the teacher would say, go and plant sayote! Or camote, depending on the mood. hahaha. Because by planting these, at least you’d be able to do something with your life. Masyadong sadistic ba? hehe
There’s a trivia about spinach. Did you know that the nutritional value of the spinach was a mistake? There was a publication in the old old days that listed the nutritional values of the spinach. It gave rise to Popeye eating it as his energy food. It was later learned that the numbers were very wrong but the Popeye-spinach affair went on. Yeah, medyo vague yung kwento ko kasi I forgot which numbers went wrong
. I need a vegetable to boost my memory.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:10 am
I love your kwentong gulay Toni! I really have to sit down and reminisce for a while…
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Hi Toni. I finally posted my contribution to your LP 18. Hope you find it interesting.
I enjoyed reading yours and I can relate to some of them. When I was young, I was also fascinated with spinach and how it made popeye stronger. However, the fascination was instantly erased when I first tasted it. Today, however, I eat crunchy fried spinach. I love it as an appetizer with special mayo dip.
I learned something new today. I didn’t know linga was equivalent of sesame seeds.
Oh yes, I have fond memories of Pong Pagong and how he loved kang kong. I like eating kang kong whether adobong kang kong, blanched kang kong with bagoong or part of sinigang.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
BTW, your husband did a great job with the illustrations. I love them!
May 24th, 2007 at 1:26 am
i used to love eating kangkong, too. pero may horror story ako about it na siguro best left untold na lang.
ps. i love ginisang pechay! fave na fave ko yun.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:44 am
hindi ko rin alam kung ano ang linga
ang alam kong linga yung lingon, hahaha!
love this post. i enjoyed reading it
May 24th, 2007 at 11:26 am
i get kale withdrawal if i go too long without it. can’t say that’s a childhood thing, though; i was pretty much a snickers kid.
your illustrations are amazing!
– anne, menuism.com intern
and vegetable lover
June 1st, 2007 at 9:58 am
Toni,
Funny and great insights. I can relate …lol
June 4th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Credited with thanks. I have conviniently forgotten from where I took the beautiful image. Thanks.
June 4th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Love this post, Toni! And yes, linga=sesame seeds. *I’ve* always wondered what the plant looks like. Do/did we really plant this in the Philippines?
April 14th, 2008 at 2:53 am
stumbled on this site by accident but yup.. took me to my days when generally gulay was yuk to me but now i’ve grown more appreciative of having gulay in my diet especially now that am getting older .. anyway i don’t know if this site is still current but i have a question.. something that i never thought but my wife who is not pinay asked me anyway .. when am cooking it’s always garlic and then onions and then other stuff like bellpepper, or tomatoes, or ginger.. she asked me why always do it like that…garlic first and then onions… i told her i don’t know.. that is how they always showed me (sa boarding house sa college ..) .. anybody knows the rationale to that guys?
November 22nd, 2011 at 7:06 am
Hola tinolas! Was just looking for what “linga” meant in the bahay kubo song and came across this website. Great stuff! I love alamat also and love lots and lot of gulay in my sinigang, my tinola, kare kare and and my pinakbet. I think coz my Papang used to eat lots of it and the way he ate it when I was very young, he made it look like he’s eating the most delicious thing the in the world! I now do that in front of my little nieces and nephews! I think it worked too!
Maraming salamat for creating this site. Ciao por now, siopao