Everytime we have some company over in our humble abode, I make sure we make them feel special. So what I do is prepare them a special meal on "our meza" to welcome them. I guess it is a tradition in our culture if not in our family. I grew up with this tradition. And as growing up I've noticed that we dont just do it for out of town relatives but when we dont see our immediate family for quite sometime and so when they come back there would be different dishes prepared for them or their favorite dish would be prepared.We are not trying to be over acting or anything with all of this preparation but this is our way of saying welcome back or welcome to someone. And so till to this time, after I got married and all, I always make sure I have something special prepared on "our meza" everytime someone is here for a visit. Whether it is my family or my husband's family or our friends.
And so when Ate Dolly came over for a visit, my husband's sister, I made sure we have something special for her also. She has been very supportive of us Carlos and I from the very beginning. So I guess when she c
omes over it is not just about welcoming her but our way of saying thank you to her also. So on her first day here, I made some Sweet and Sour StripeBass, Stir Fried Vegetable with Sliced Sirloin Beef Steak, Lumpiang Shanghai and Cantaloupe Juice.For Sweet and sour Stripe Bass, ingredients are Stripe Bass fried in extra virgin olive oil or canola oil, red bell pepper,onion,2 cloves of garlic, ginger, vinegar,salt,half a cup of water and sugar, pineapple chunks optional. Fry the stripe bass first, then in a clean frying pan saute sliced garlic,ginger,onion and half of the sliced red bell pepper. Then add the sweet and sour mixture of the juice from the pineapple chunks, vinegar,salt,sugar and half a cup of water if no pineapple juice. Let it come to boil then add the fried stripe bass or any other kind of fish and the rest of red bell pepper plus the pineapple chunks. Let it simmer and voila you have sweet and sour fish. Tip: Sweet and sour mixture, mixed it according to your taste or to make it easier for you buy a sweet and sour sauce and use it.
