Greens Bloghop: Moringa and Corn Soup

Philippines, as an agricultural country, is very abundant with vegetable produce especially the greens or what we locally called 'talbos' or sprouts.  With 7,100 islands the variates are endless!  I can only name name a few but I know there are tons out there yet to be discovered by me. 

When the the Love Bloghop group headed by Junia of Mis Pensamientos decided to do #greenslove for March which means greens, not color green but leafy greens, my default mode is to pertain to the lettuces.  I did not immediately fall in love with the theme until I realized that I am living in a country where sprouts and greens are everywhere!  Then I got really excited!  Yeah, very excited that co-hosted in this month's theme.

I grew up in a neighborhood where people plant their vegetables and eat everything edible in it.  I was exposed to the number of 'talbos' or sprouts like talbos ng kamote (sweet potato sprouts), talbos ng sitaw (string beans sprouts), talbos ng kalabasa (squash sprouts) and so on and so fort.  These are just the popular ones and those I know of.  There are even green leafy vegetables in our local market whose names I cannot say for I don't know them.  So you see, there are so many! Not to mention the tree leaves we eat like dahon ng sampalok (young tamarind leaves) and the famous malunggay or moringa leaves. 

For my first entry (if ever I'll have a second) for #greenlove, I chose to give a particular attention to malunggay.  Moringa, according to Trees For Life International, is a gold mine of nutrients.  Packed with vitamins and nutrients, these leaves are considered super food!  Supplements, delicacies and even beauty products being produced using this as the main component says it all, don't they?

Moringa leaves can be eaten raw or in this case, cooked.  Moringa is slightly bitter in taste, just a hint of it.  According to some articles I have read, taste and texture is similar to collard greens, spinach and kale.  I cannot say for sure for I have not eaten or even seen collard greens and kale (actual or in person) but I am confident about spinach, they are quite similar. If you are looking for alternative for moringa, spinach is the closest as far as my 'ingredient knowledge' is concerned *wink*.
 
This soup is packed not only with nutrients but with childhood memories as well.  My grandmother, being the grandma or 'lola' that she is, would always want her grandchildren to eat vegetables and she accomplishes her goal whenever she makes this dish.  My cousins and I would dig in, pour it over rice and  finishes our food in no time!

MORINGA and CORN SOUP 
(Print this Recipe)

  
Ingredients
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
1 and 1/2 Tbsp shrimp paste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing
1 cup shredded sweet corn, keep the husk
4 cups pork stock, if you don't have this, you can always use 1 pork cube instead
2 cups moringa leaves
fish sauce (optional depending on taste)

Method
In a saucepan, heat oil and start browning the garlic, add onion and saute until translucent.

Add shrimp paste and stir for 2 minutes.

Add water, shredded corn and husk.  Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Remove the the corn husk and add moringa leaves. Simmer for 1 minute.

Turn off heat.  Using a stick mixer or blender, blend soup until leaves and corn kernels are blended.  Bring back to simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Turn off heat and serve hot.

NOTE: Moringa leaves can be substituted with spinach and any other similar vegetable leaves.

I'm honored to be co-hosting this event with these fabulous foodies from around the globe! Be sure to visit them as well!

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz

Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen 

Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~@TAofCRF

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

March is #greenslove month!

Please join in on the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe for the month of March 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenlove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.