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| Dinengdeng: wild ampalaya leaves and wild mushroom |
Maybe its bitter-sweet thing. I mean how Ilocano love wild ampalaya leaves than the farm-grown bitter gourd. The rainy days are the most prolific season of the vegetable. They are everywhere, in the bushes, mountains and backyards.
Then we have the seasonal mushroom that grows in the wilderness of your rural place. The dark brown and white stem wild mushroom that can only be harvested during the rainy seasons. We often say its the flower of lightning and thunders because it usually popped out in the ground the next morning when lightning strikes.
This is the best combination among wild things. Its like partners in crime. The taste of food is subtle... bitterly subtle.
Ilocanoes usually cook it with lots of water together with other ingredients. Yes, dinengdeng. But of course the ampalaya and mushroom is different from other dinengdeng of green leafy and vegetables fruit.
Good to have it. I don't know if this is exotic food but one thing I know for sure, its a good food.
