Plantains (saging na saba) and Sweet Potatoes

I put saging na saba (plantains) in my pochero. I fry these bananas with brown sugar and stick them in a cue. I mash them with flour as in maruya or roll them in an egg wrapper as in turon. But I don't think I can eat laing or kare-kare in bagoong with plantains. That will take a lot of overhauling the palate.

hello albert, Yes,it is possible. Way back in my childhood days where i grew up. I lived my life for 16 years in Cebu,and mosts of my friends/classmates doesn't eat rice ,instead,they cook grinned corn (some are very fine and some are coarse) same thing how rice was cooked. That is mosts Cebuano's staple food (grinned corn,not rice)some eat plantains and sweet potato. I love grinned corn esp the fine ones,so,during lunch time,i always exchange my rice to grinned corn (to my classmate named Elena)becoz at home we eat rice (my grandfather doesn't like grinned corn since he was used to eat rice,as he is a native of La Union,a place in Northern Luzon where rice is the main product) So,if ever this rice shortage will get worst to worst case,why not eat plantains and sweet potato,it is also much beneficial to health.

Your discussion reminded me of a documentary featured in the History channel "When Food Runs Out". Here they tackled the possible food shortage because right now people are centered on three basic staples worldwide; that is rice, wheat and corn. What is disturbing is that our country was featured in the near future where farmers are getting violent because the rice is being hoarded. We used to be a country with bountiful rice fields. We never had a problem with crops before. But the problem that I see right now is that there is no farmers, nor fertile land to be planted. I went up north last week, and what used to be a sea of green (rice or corn) are now bulldozed lands being readied for large subdivisions. Land owners who used to grow crops are selling their lands to developers because they get to earn more and just move away. We do have an abundance of sweet potatoes and plantains. When we had a rice shortage two or three years ago, I switched to pasta and oats as a substitute for rice. But that was when we did not have a maid. With the looming rice crisis, I will have to look for other alternative means. But our poor kababayans should also learn to adapt. We are a country blessed with fertile soil for growing crops. People are just not taking advantage of that.

Reliance on one staple food is never a good thing as the Irish found out in the 19th century. At that time the staple food of the Irish was the potato but the crop became diseased with the potato blight and as a result there was famine resulting in the deaths of thousands and the migration of many more thousands to America and other places. Of course, the Irish blame the English for the bight, but then, they blame us for everything. (shrugs) It's a good idea for your government to try and get people to diversify their staple crop growing but I'm not sure that it'll be successful - people, especially farmers, get pretty set in their ways and are very reluctant to change.

Hi Capt! I know you are asking Filipinos this question, but I hope you don't mind your pal Opal sticking her 1/2 cent in! Sweet Potatoes are delicious and happen to be nutricious and I am by no means a person who eats "correctly"! And I also happen to like Plantains too and I believe that they are also quite good for you. And combined with rice they would be quite tasty! The price of food here in the USA has gone totally out of control too. Actually, the price of everything has gone out of control here and it is very difficult to live here. We have alot of homeless and near homeless people. I, myself have my own financial issues, but we all must eat. Try adding the sweet potatoes and plantains mixed with the rice just so that you can stretch the rice a little further.

Every now and then I would join a friend or a cousin in their advocacies and live with a community for some time. We eat what they eat and most of the time its sweet potatoes during non-harvest seasons. It's okay, I think they just have a bad reputation and we associate them with poverty and so we turn our noses up at them but they can be quite filling. Some of the people there tell me that the reason I don't mind is that because I know that when I leave the place I can have rice. I think that may true because even though I don't mind eating them, my palate still looks for the taste of rice. But I know that if pushed, I am perfectly willing to eat the substitutes.

Actually as I observed it, we just got used of eating rice. But once we tried to divert having other carbo sustainance, our system will get used to it. Just like those people who are dieting to have good health benefits, they succeeded in having alternative to rice. Actually, personally, I used to have rice for lunch and dinner, but now that I know I need to be concern with my health, I usually takes quaker oats for dinner and I think I'm getting used to it, for everytime I try to have rice for dinner, I feel that I'm full and could no longer take it. I know for eventually I could attain my target goal of taking rice only during lunch. I'm not saying to totally avoid rice, but there are lots of alternatives that offer better nutrient content than rice.

Hello Captain, Your plantains are called plantain bananas in Europe. Plantain is here the common name for some herbaceous plants -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago --. Some of them are eatable in sauerkraut or salads : as somebody said in this discussion, a man can eat herbs when he is hungry... We need to have various food for vitamins and minerals. If these two are easily produced in your country, it is good for your agriculture. You can eat cereals only everyday -- rice, sweet corn, or in flours --, but vegetables are not a so good source of calories... Potatoes were introduced in Europe in the XVIIIth C against famine, but it would be an horrible food if you had only them to eat, even if "hunger is the best sauce". I think it is why there is not only one staple food here -- though bread has been one during famine here, but it is a cereal based food --.

I think that is good but i don't think people will embraced that fast cause rice is really delicious (I admit it cause I have gain weight because of rice) to eat and that a meal doesn't seem to be satisfying if it is not a rice meal. Maybe planning the menu for a week with a combination of rice meals and those alternatives that you said will do. Corn has been used as a substitute to rice. They pound corns until they become small but a bit bigger than rice and then cooked the same way like rice.

Yes you are right about that. They wont be hungry if they will just plant crops in the province. I just don't know why they always wanted to live in the city or in urban areas where they will just stay on the streets asking and begging for money to other people.

Oh i learned a new word today, plantain. Of course when worse comes to worse, every one will learn how to eat those mentioned foods. Beggars cannot be choosers , remember? The only thing that deters Filipinos to eat those as staple food is because we still have rice that can be bought. But given the worst scenario, no one would want to be hungry , so they should just be contented with what is available. I am sure of that.

Yeah, this is the problem in our country. This is because of poor management of our agriculture industry and the lack of modernization of our farms. As for me, there is no problem if I eat potato or banana every single day. As long as its edible (and not ampalaya) then it is fine by me.

Its brutal when things like that happen. Unfortunately there isn't much choice but to adapt. On the bright side it will open up a whole new variety of recipes for the menu.