The Coconut Story of My Life

As a child I remember that when my mother goes to the market she always takes home a package of freshly grated coconut, or if not she gets a whole coconut from a store across the street and grate the meat the old-fashioned way. Old fashioned way meaning, my mother will crack open the shell with an itak (huge knife) ; grate the meat out of the shell with the pangkudkod attached to a bangkito (grater attached to a stool); and squeeze the milk out of the meat by hand. Since it was somewhat a tedious process in the past to get milk out of a shell of coconut, having a dish with gata ng niyog (coconut milk) on the table is like having a feast or like celebrating a special occasion in our home.

Of the many mouth-watering dishes with coconut milk that my mother used to make, three main dishes made it to the top of my list simply because they were the most requested ones by us the children. They were the ginataang kalabasa with sitaw and talong (squash in coconut milk with string beans and eggplants); ginataang alimasag or hipon (crabs or shrimp in coconut milk) and ginataang biya (fish in coconut milk). Toplister for dessert is of course ginatang bilo-bilo (glutinous balls in coconut milk). I tremendously enjoyed all my mother’s dishes but sad to say I never really learned how to make them. Quite frankly I never cooked at all while I was single in the Philippines, mainly because it was not really my cup of tea then, but also because my mother never trusted me in the kitchen just like she trusted my older sister ;-). Well, the one who spent more time in the kitchen turned out to be a really good cook and a marvelous baker. Of course I was not talking about myself, I was talking about my sister, lol.

I used to run the phone bills calling my family for recipe of Filipino dishes that I want to try. I always wanted to try a dish with coconut milk but felt intimidated by it for it might not turn out to be as good as my mother's. But my sister taught me how to do a simple dish of Shrimp in Coconut Milk and Tomato Sauce. She didn't give me the exact measurement for anything, she just sort of told me a story of what I should do with what, lol. I'm not as good as my sister when it comes to eyeballing so I tried to measure and record the ingredients I used, especially the spices.

Ingredients: 1 lb of Shrimp with shell or tail on; 1 can of Coconut Milk; 1 can of Tomato Sauce; 1 tbsp of minced garlic; 1 tbsp of canola oil; 1/2 tsp of hot pepper flakes; 1/4 tsp of salt for the sauce and 1/4 tsp of salt to season the shrimp. Procedure: 1. Season the shrimp with salt and set aside; 2. In medium heat, saute the garlic in canola oil until brown but not burnt; 3. Add the coconut milk and stir constantly until reduced to half; 4. Add the tomato sauce, pepper flakes and salt; stir constantly until the consistency is thick. 5. Add the shrimp and mix with the sauce, cover and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then its done. Don't overcook the shrimp.

This dish is really very tasty and goes well with hot steamed white rice. My husband loves it and he eats it like appetizer. Coconut milk truly makes any dish delectable and appetizing; and very pleasurable to the palate, one will really yearn for more, lol. So that's the coconut story of my life.