Thoughtful recipe: sinigang and lechon: Actualizations, needs, motivations, the self continues to persist

I am always fascinated about what makes a person say things, their motivations, how they react to stimulus. A wide breadthe of study. I learn from it, there is a saying in Tagalog, "itago ang mabuti, itapon ang masama". Loosely translated, "keep the good, and toss the bad ones". Íf the results are positive, then it must be good, eh!.

At lunch one day, Victoria who's visiting me from LA, she is going to help me move (a story for another day), I was saying that perhaps we do things in response to a need, a need to be appreciated, a need to feel needed, etc. She said, oh that's the actualization theory by Maslow, she continued there is the need to know oneself, which I readily responded as that is our God hole, that indescribable feeling of being lost. Which some responds to by hurting themselves because they need to feel.



Image from Technoped.com

Incidentally, lunch was pork sinigang, a stew of pork belly with tamarind seasoning, radish, eggplant, tomatoes, and spinach, and roasted pork. Two kinds of pork offerings.

The sinigang is cooked by parboiling water (you can also use the rice wash) the tamarind seasoning, tomatoes, onions, add pork until it is fully cooked, then add the radish, followed by eggplant. The spinach should be placed on the pot last,  because it cooks rather quickly.  Season with fish sauce for that savory taste.

 The roast pork or lechon, definitely not up to par to the zubachon of market manila is boiled first and then cooked in the nuwave oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The skin will be very crunchy and the fat would have separated itself from the meat.

Word of the wise, be careful when you buy pork belly, I got this from a Korean Market on Telegraph here in Oakland, and found thar there is almost nothing in the middle of the cut, totally disappointing.

As we mature and develop our personas, and know where to get the best cut of pork belly. Sometimes through experience, influence, and acquired knowledge. I said to G, yeah I noticed that there is a certain confidence about me as I age, like good wine ha ha.. She asked me, if it was pronounced, and I said yes, although I can't really say how or what made me draw that conclusion. I am tempered, but then again Lordy has a lot to do about it too.