• Description

Vernacular Names: sikwa

Parts utilized as vegetable and availability: fruits, leaves, shoots

Cultivated/Foraged: planted

Market presence of vegetable:marketed; not-marketed

Habitat: homegarden, under the tree, borders, garden, fence, farm

Availability: harvestable 3 months after planting;
harvestable 5 months after planting;
all year round, harvestable 4 months after planting;
May to June

Other uses: lowers blood presure, leaves for burns

Dishes:grilled, tinola, sautéed, law-uy, tinunuan

Law-uy

Ingredients

Tanglad
Sibuyjing (Sibuyas)
Luy-a
Sikwa
Malunggay
Alugbati
Likway
Sibuyas
Atsal
Balatong (Sitaw)

Procedure

1 . Fill pot with water and throw in tanglad, luy-a (crushed ginger), atsal and sibuyas (onions). Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
2 . Throw in the balatong (sitaw), sikwa (patola) and talong (eggplant). Bring to a boil and simmer for another 5 minutes.
3 . Add asin (salt), stir and adjust the taste.
4 . Turn off heat and add the likway, alugbati (spinach) or malunggay. Stir to mix. The residual heat will cook the leafy greens enough.
5 . Ladle into individual soup bowls and enjoy!