Day 332

MoonDish "Laing" with Tuna Flakes: Today is my second attempt with these MoonDish brand canned foods, imported from the Philippines. My experience with their gintaang ampalaya (bitter melon in coconut cream) wasn't that spectacular, so when I saw this can of laing (taro leaves in coconut cream) at the Great Wall market last week, I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it. However, it was only $0.50, and I was desperate for new foods that day, so I took one home. It looked interesting enough.

Since I was down to my last 2 items from my stockpile, it was either this or canned shark fin soup for today, so obviously, this won. According to the ingredients on the can, it consisted of coconut cream, taro leaves and stalks, tuna flakes (not sure what they mean by that), ginger, garlic, red chili pepper, and salt. The can also promised it to be "hot & spicy."

Once I got the can open, I heated the contents in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The results looked a lot like creamed spinach or baby food, but I suspected it wouldn't taste like either. Surprise - it actually did taste a lot of creamed spinach, but a spicier version with coconut cream instead of regular cream. The taro leaves were almost a pureed consistency, and while I didn't detect the "tuna flakes," it was still pretty tasty. Not bad. I've thrown away a lot of half-eaten blog food lately, but I may actually finish this one.

In case you were wondering, laing is a common Filipino dish, and can also contain shrimp paste, fish, or pork in addition to the base ingredients of taro leaves and coconut cream.