Let's have lunch! "Linaga", anyone?! :-)

Linaga  can be stated in English as a stew.

It's cooked with beef or pork with the touch of the fruity sour flavor of  batwan.

Big chunks of unripe langka are added to the  Linaga.

LINAGA

Ingredients:

1/4 kilo batwan

1/4 kilo petchay

1/4 kilo hilaw na langka (unripe langka), diced

4 pieces Knorr beef cubes

1 kilo beef/pork, cut into serving size

2 pieces onions, sliced

1/2 medium size garlic, pounded

1/2 cup cooking oil

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic and onions.

2. Put the beef/pork and mix for 2 minutes.

3. After a few minutes, put some water.

4. Let it simmer until the beef/pork gets soft.

5. Put langka, salt, and Knorr beef cubes.

6. If the langka is soft enough, put the batwan.

7. Take out the batwan from the broth if its skin is already open.

8. In a small bowl, press the softened batwan to bring out the juice.

9. Strain the batwan and put the juice into the pot.

10. Simmer for a few minutes.

11. Put the petchay.

12. Simmer for a minute and add the chili peppers.

13. Mix, simmer, and serve.

(*If batwan is unavailable, use 1 pack Knorr Sinigang in lieu of 1/4 kilo batwan.)

batwan fruit

Its taste is sour but not acidulously pungent.

Batwan  is an important souring arsenal of cooks in Negros Occidental and some parts of Panay. It is also abundant in some parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

Batwan  is a small round fruit and being under the genus garcinia, is a close cousin of mangosteen. It actually looks like green and stunted mangosteen.