Bagoong Tomato Heads

I was shipped off to the Cebu Blog Camp over the weekend and the trip came with a baggage of worries. First, I was worried that typhoon Chedeng might have left its tail over the path I was to travel. I can’t swim by the way. Second, I was worried of leaving Jan all by himself with the kids.

Yes, you read that right. The hard as nails reputation of my kitchen slave had to bow even further as he played nurturing parent to two balls of bouncing energy. I shouldn’t have worried. Although they kept him on his feet for hours on end, he managed to feed them, dress them and, to his utter surprise, comb their hair into neat little ponytails.

I left strict instructions that there would be no recipe concoctions while I was away. Alas, my little girl, in my absence, took the role of the household’s queen and started ordering the personal cook around. I was told they feasted on delectable water spinach with barbecue sauce among other things.

I can’t offer a verdict without having tasted his latest creation. So for this week’s post, I will have to leave you with Jan’s old experiment from my birthday two weeks ago. I call this the bagoong (shrimp paste) tomato heads. Not to send out the wrong mental image here, but the tomatoes looked so large they almost seemed like little heads topped with bagoong.

To make some of your own, chop off the tops of tomatoes, top with shrimp paste, wrap in aluminium foil and grill. That was a juicy adventure with saltiness on the side, just what the weird Filipino in me wanted.

Next week, I will be back in charge of ordering the cook around so expect a longer experimental recipe here for the next post.