Staff Blog
Humba was another one of my most favorite Filipino recipes, so when I had the chance to watch the aunties in Eicher prepare this meal I was so thrilled.
Humba is a variation of pork adobo. It's salty-sweet, with just a little bit of acidity, and the meat is completely tender and full of flavor.
This is going to be a little scary for us non-Filipinos, I know, but in order to really make this good you need to buy pork belly (pictured above). It just doesn't compare when you use a different cut of pork. Even if you don't want to actually eat the fat on the pork belly, you still need it to cook with the lean parts so that it gives off that flavor.
First you fry the meat, and then you let it simmer together for a while with all this good stuff....
Until it becomes this golden, delicious, saucy meat that goes perfectly over a pile of hot rice.
So, so good.
Humba
Recipe from the Eicher house
2 lb. bone-in or boneless pork belly*
1-2 cups oil for frying
1 tablespoon azucena (substitute onion)
1-2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (more to taste)
¼ cup pineapple tidbits
¼ cup black beans
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vinegar
5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 ¼ cup water
½ cup green onions
1. Separate the fat from the lean meat by cutting the pork belly into medium sized pieces (about 2 inch by 1 inch).
2.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium low heat and cook the
pieces of pork until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oil and
drain in a bowl lined with paper towels.
3. Transfer the pork to a
large pot and add all the remaining ingredients except the green onions.
Mix well and bring to a low boil over medium heat. Cover and simmer,
stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, add the green onions and stir
to mix them into the pot.
4. Cover again and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, or until the pork is very tender.
*It
really is best to make this with pork belly, even though it might
require a trip to a special meat market to find it. The CSC aunties use
bone-in pork belly. Since each piece of pork belly has both a lean part
and a fatty part, it makes the meat extremely tender and full of flavor,
even if you choose not to eat the fatty part. I've made this with
pork sirloin as a subsitution, and I was disappointed with how much
tougher the meat was than with the original pork belly.
An early morning hike with Uncle Marv and Auntie Marlys
7:00 am is early for some folks on a Saturday morning, but for the CSC kids its a great time for a morning hike. Recently Auntie Marlys invited a visitor, Marv Hadenfeldt, to join her and 20 of the kids for a hike up the mountain to see the sights and enjoy the beauty of nature. Marv is a regular visitor to CSC and loves to hang out with the gang. And the feeling is mutual.
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Science Fun!
Friction, motion, and static electricity are just a few of the topics we've been learning about lately in science! It is EXTREMELY difficult to teach about static electricity in Cebu's very humid climate. There are no flannel sheets to show off sparks, rubbing your feet on the carpet doesn't do anything, and even rubbing balloons in your hair doesn't always produce the desired effect. But along with the help of the air conditioned library, we have been attempting to see or feel a little bit of static electricity. The kids were extremely excited on Friday when the balloons finally "worked".
Friction and motion are easier topics to tackle! After discussing them for a week, we had some fun with the "tablecloth" pull. We started simple with just a small piece of paper and a marker. Soon we moved up to using a large piece of paper and several dishes, bowls of water, pencil boxes, and other things. The kids loved it, but I had to make sure to tell them NOT to try it at home!!
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Satisfaction
Ruth, Anthony, Andrew, and I traveled to the West Coast this past week to visit family and friends, giving us the opportunity to spend the afternoon with several "kids" who were adopted from CSC 15-20 years ago. We were hosted by Neil and Nelia (Healy) Collins for a delicious lunch of Filipino fare.
Joining us from the greater Washington and Oregon area were Jennifer, Nolly, and Aida, along with their families and friends. It was a great joy to be "cared for" by these wonderful "kids" whom we ourselves had cared for so many years ago. We all got to wow over each other's families and share stories from the past. Often the discussions drifted to the topic of how tall some at the gathering had grown and how vertically challenged others had remained. Puzzling.
But an even greater joy was to see how these now young adults have grown in their personal lives, established loving marriages, had beautiful children of their own, and gone on to find success in life despite some challenges along the way.
It gave Ruth and me a great deal of satisfaction to see a few of the successes of CSC's ministry and the ongoing benefits children are having from adoption. God has continued to bless so many who received the gift of a new family so many years ago!
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Elesio and the Workshop
I'd like to introduce you to Elesio Ewayan, or as he's known as around here, Sho.
Sho has worked at CSC for 13 years.
Sho is one of the reasons why, as a visitor recently told me; "the Children's Shelter of Cebu has the best kept facilities in all of Cebu."
If you're looking for Sho the first place to check is the workshop. The kids know that this is a place they can't play, but they will often times stand at the invisible fence in front of the shop doors as Sho works to patch the sole of a shoe, repair a desk drawer, or mix a batch of paint.
The workshop isn't state of the art, but it's amazing what he can accomplish with a basic set of tools.
When CSC's president Matt Buley came to Cebu earlier this year he met with the staff and handed out bracelets. The braclets had CSC's logo on them and the phrase "These hands change lives." As I watched Sho work I looked down and saw that he was wearing his bracelet.
What an incredible example of someone using their hands to change lives.
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Student Interviews
The Group 4 kids recently finished a video interview project for one of their afternoon classes. Everything about this was done by the students! The questions, the recording, and the video production. I hope you enjoy getting to know three of our very smart, creative kids in this video! :)
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