Pickled veggies with 'winged' twist: Shortcut recipe for Atsara
MANILA, Philippines — We all know what Atsara (pickled vegetables) can do to uplift an otherwise boring dish. It is great as a side dish to fried or grilled fish and meats.
Unfortunately, sometimes the commercially available Atsaras do not meet our taste standards, and making it ourselves can be a bit tedious because we have to cook the pickling liquid, and grate and slice our vegetables thinly.
Faced with the same working mom’s dilemma, Mama Sita’s marketing executive and weekend kitchen warrior Ces Nepomuceno-Gamad thought of making a shortcut to simplify the preparation of Atsara while at the same time making use of readily available vegetables.
Ces made it simpler by using bottled salad vinaigrette dressing as pickling solution and, as a unique twist, adding blanched sigarilyas or winged beans to the usual ingredients of a green papaya atsara.
She shares her usual "shortcut" in this recipe.
Atsara with Sigarilyas
Ingredients:
3 pcs. small green papayas, peeled, seeded, and grated (about 500 to 600 grams when grated)
5 tbsps. salt
2 pcs. small red bell peppers, julienned or thinly sliced into strips
1 pc. carrot, julienned
1 bundle sigarilyas (winged beans), thinly sliced into small star-shaped pieces
525 ml. Mama Sita’s Pinoy Ensalada Vinaigrette (about 1 1/2 bottles of the 350 ml. vinaigrette)
Materials needed:
Mixing bowl
Cheesecloth or katsa
Sterilized glass jars or any airtight containers (approximately 250 to 300 ml. each)
Procedure:
1. In a bowl, add salt to grated papaya, mix, and let it rest for 30 minutes or until the juices are released.
2. Using a cheesecloth or katsa, squeeze out the excess liquid from the papaya.
3. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Blanch sigarilyas briefly in the boiling water then drain.
4. In a large bowl, combine grated papaya, sliced carrots, bell peppers, and blanched sigarilyas.
5. Prepare 2 to 3 sterilized glass jars. Fill each jar with the vegetable mixture up to about three-fourths full.
6. Pour in Mama Sita’s Pinoy Ensalada Vinaigrette until the vegetables are fully covered. Press down gently to ensure the vegetables absorb the vinaigrette.
7. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours to allow the vegetables to absorb the vinegar mixture.
8. Serve with your favorite silog dishes, or with fried or grilled fish.
*Makes 24 servings.
