La Mesa Grill's Sigarilyas/Winged Beans in Coconut Milk

I belong to the generation where summers meant spending time with one's grandparents, with the whole neighborhood as one's playground. Many homeowners grow their own vegetables, and one I particularly like are the sigarilyas or winged beans vines and their pale blue flowers that turn into curious frilly ribbed pods. The pods are usually cooked with other vegetables and flavored with fish bagoong (fermented fish paste).

A few months back while dining at Filipino restaurant Lamesa Grill with my friends, I was reacquainted with this vegetable, this time cooked in coconut milk. You know that the dish was cooked right because everything came well together--the sauce was rich and creamy, the pods were fresh, thus sweetish and slightly bitter, and the bird's eye chilis gave enough heat to make things interesting.


Lamesa Grill, Mall of Asia
(+63) 02 556 0737