The ride home was nice, and I managed to reach my destination without much worry. I sat for a while to take a short rest.
"Sigh… I feel tired already. So many things happened in that span of a few hours. Uhhhhh." I breathed deeply, then looked at the clock.
"It is already 6, and my parents are on the way home right now. I probably need to cook before they reach home."
I stood up, dragging my tired body. I first washed everything from the vegetables to the meat and prepared the utensils needed.
The meat was already cut, so there was no need to cut it anymore. I started preparing the ingredients. I cut the onions, chili, and bell peppers, and crushed the garlic. I peeled and cut the potatoes and carrots. Then I was done. In a Pinoy house, there will always be an abundance of soy sauce, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. That is why I didn't buy any.
"Let's do this. Hello guys, this is Brier, your chef for today's program!"
I am alone right now. I started acting like I was vlogging or something to ease my boredom. Everyone does weird things when they are alone. I am not the only one.
"Today's menu is kaldereta. This food is a specialty of all Kapampangans (people who live in the province of Pampanga). They are known to be picky and always brag about how good they are at cooking. Well guys, you're in luck because I am a Kapampangan as well!! Give me a round of applause!"
I continued clapping and hyping myself up.
"Let's start. The first step is to always prepare the ingredients. Kids out there who are watching, please do so with the presence of your parents. Okay then, heat the pan! Wait for a few seconds before adding the oil. To check if it is hot enough, drop a few drops of water in it. Once it evaporates, then it is hot enough," I stated as I did the act myself.
"After that, add the oil! When it is hot enough, sauté the garlic, onions, and chili. Others might not put the chili during this time, but those people are just scared of spicy food. Don't do that. Once everything smells nice, add the chicken. Make sure you wash it! Then mix them all up. After that, cover the pan for a few minutes."
As I covered the pan myself, I also started cooking rice so that once the food was cooked, we would already have rice. In the field of cooking in the Philippines, nothing can compare to the despair of not having rice ready once the dish is cooked.
"Well, should I also teach you guys how to cook rice? In a Filipino family, rice is sacred. If you fail to cook it, you should start packing your things. The steps are simple."
As I prepared the rice, I continued.
"First step: put the rice in the casserole. Two cups or about half full of the casserole. Next, wash the rice two times and make sure to clean it well. You don't want to eat small rocks in your rice. Next, for those who don't know how to use their fingers to measure the water for the rice, just add two and ⅛ cups of water. The ⅛ cup is just a leeway in case you forget to turn down the heat later. Then you're done."
I took a deep breath first and drank some water.
Speaking for a while now had dried my throat.
A few minutes passed and I decided to open the pan.
"Once you open the pan, you'll notice that the chicken has released a lot of water. You don't really need to add water in kaldereta. Just sauté it and it will produce water itself for the sauce. Add the soy sauce and the tomato sauce so that the tomato sauce will cook well. Remember this: if you add the tomato sauce late, then the chicken will be cooked but the sauce won't be, and it won't taste good. Next, add the bell peppers, the carrots, and the potatoes, and also the black pepper. Don't forget the Magic Sarap, the Pinoy MSG. Then just wait for it to cook and you're done."
After I had done this, I noticed that the rice also started to boil and produce bubbles, lifting the lid itself.
"For the rice, if you see bubbles coming up, just open the lid a little and turn down the heat to medium. Wait until the water disappears from the top. Once you don't see any water anymore, close it and turn the heat to the lowest it can go. A few minutes from now, everything will be prepared."
With this, everything was almost done. I lowered the heat of the kaldereta and decided to do some cleaning in the house. Every now and then, while I was cleaning, I stepped into the kitchen to mix the kaldereta so it wouldn't burn.
After fifteen minutes, I checked the kaldereta. You'll know if this dish is cooked when you see that the sauce turns dark red and the oil starts to settle on the top.
With this, everything was done: the dish, the rice, and the house cleaning. I checked the time and it was 7:15. Feeling bored, I decided to watch some TV. At this time, every channel was showing the national news. No matter which channel you selected, it would show the news.
The television was playing the evening news.
"It has been a week since Typhoon Gorio passed through the Philippines, leaving severe damage across several areas in Luzon. Many families are still staying in evacuation centers as their homes were either destroyed or badly damaged by the storm. Authorities say some residents are still unable to return home due to flooding and unsafe structures."
The screen then showed an interview with one of the affected residents.
"The wind was very strong that night," the man said during the interview. "Our roof was blown away and the water quickly flooded our house. We had no choice but to evacuate. Even now, we still can't return because the house is no longer safe."
Another resident shared her situation.
"It has already been a week, but we are still here in the evacuation center," she said. "We hope we can rebuild our home soon so we can go back."
The reporter continued.
"Local authorities are continuing to distribute relief goods such as food and clean water to affected families while recovery operations remain ongoing."
The news anchor continued on the television.
"In other news today, tensions in the South China Sea continue to intensify as territorial disputes between several countries remain unresolved. The Philippine government is closely monitoring the situation."
"President Benigno Aquino III and members of the national security committee held a meeting earlier today to discuss the issue and possible actions to address the growing tensions in the region. Officials say the government is committed to resolving the dispute through peaceful and diplomatic means."
The report continued with footage of ships and maps of the disputed waters.
"Authorities assure the public that the government is carefully studying the situation while maintaining communication with international partners. Further updates will be provided as discussions continue."
"This problem started around this time of the year, huh The government will surely just mess this up and escalate the problem even more".
"Ayyy… the government will never change. I am even confused how these people won the election!! Ayyy." I sighed deeply in my heart, knowing how this conflict would end in the future.
I started to feel a little sleepy after a long day and watching the news.
"Thud… thud… thud… thud…"
Footsteps outside woke me up.
The footsteps didn't sound like they came for something nice.