papait salad

the papait (mollugo oppositifolia) is popular among bitter-loving ilokanos who has the distinct and rather unique taste preference for something bitter, the more bitter, the better. which translates to the ilokano’s fondness for the “native” paria (the “ilocos” variety: round [or oblongish] and smallish) or for the more exotic wild bittermelons or balang a paria or paria ti bakir/bantay (forest ampalaya?). and yes, to our love of the authentic ilokano goat/cow/carabao pinapaitan, or kappukan and imbaliktad, flavored with the animal intestinal bile called “pespes” or “papait” in some places. bitterness defines authentic ilokano meat dishes as well as vegetable preparation notably pinakbet with the ilocos paria. or dinengdeng with paria tops. or simply roasted paria with bugguong and kamatis slices. or even the kilawen a paria, raw and succulently bitter.

and comes the even bitter papait that stands to its name of its bittery appeal and simpleness. papait is great with boiled balatong or other peas. and papait is even greater as it is, as a salad, simply blanched or boiled and garnished with bugguong and kamatis or perres (calamansi or dalayap).

i prepared my papait almost expressly (quickie). i blanched it in a boiling water for some 3 minutes or less. you should never overcook it. one other great way of blanching leafy greens is to wash and soak and partially rinse the leaves in tap water then put it in a empty kaserola or pan over high fire. let just the water that clinged to the leaves blanch the whole thing. then after a couple of minutes, put off fire/flame and immediately transfer the blanched leaves in a bowl and toss it with your garnishes. this is perfect for camote tops to avoid the darkening of the leaves/stems.

and here’s my simple papait salad with bugguong juice and tomato slices:

this is heavenly sweetishly bitter, so delicious with steaming rice: