Soy Sauce Salsa #KikkomanSabor

I can only speak for my state but California is big on salsa.  We love our salsas.  You see them everywhere.  Salsa should be the official condiment of the state.  There are hundreds of variations of salsa - spicy, sweet, traditional and new.  The most common are pico de gallo (my favorite!), salsa verde and salsa rojo.  But have you ever heard of salsa made with Kikkoman Soy Sauce?  Of course there was a reason why I'm giving a little history lesson on salsa!

The first time my Mexican husband Chris tried fina'dene he called it "Islander Salsa".  My Islander side of the family makes a version of salsa with Kikkoman Soy Sauce.  My Papa calls it "the sauce" or "da sauce".  The smell of finadene will make your mouth water and eventually pucker when you taste it - it has the right touch of POW!  Just like everyone has their own version of salsa - finadene is made different too.  Most of the recipes call for calamansi juice (or lemon juice) with white onions and sometimes cherry tomatoes.  My version is super simple, fresh and HOT.  Enjoy!  


Fina'dene Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
• 1 cup White Vinegar
• 2 Roma Tomatoes 
• 4 Green Onions 
• 4-6 Asian Chili Peppers 

Fina'dene Directions

• Mix Kikkoman Soy Sauce and white vinegar, set aside
• Chop or crush chili peppers (Crushing the chili peppers will make it really hot)
• Add chili peppers to soy sauce and vinegar mix, let it sit for 30 minutes 
• Chop tomatoes and green onions - Add to mix just before serving 

It is perfect on tacos, bbq meat, chicken, fish, rice, etc.  You can even use it as a base for ceviche.  

The "Asian chili pepper" that is supposed to be used in finadene is called donne' or Guam boonie pepper.  It has an unofficial Scoville rating of 140,000 placing it in one of the top five hottest pepper categories (more than 20x hotter than a jalapeno pepper).  A few years ago, our neighbor had a donne' tree - I would sneak over to pick a few.  The tree eventually died so I started looking everywhere from ethnic markets to farmers markets.  I now get a small bag of Asian chili peppers (aka Japones or Thai chili peppers - they are tiny and red) from 99 Ranch Market.  

Disclosure:  This is a compensated post in collaboration with Kikkoman and Latina Bloggers Connect.  All opinions are my own.

Celebrating Mixed Heritage Week!

To know me is to know my family bloodline.  It  has been mixed for almost 100 years and I am proud of each drop.  My amazing Papa told me stories about our heritage since I was old enough to remember.  Papa's ancestors were Spanish and Chamorro.  Chamorro being the indigenous people of a small island in the Pacific Ocean called Guam.

He married Nana who is Filipino.  Nana not only spoke English, Tagalog and Spanish but also learned Chamorro.  Papa learned Japanese during World War II.  Their love of culture and education is so very inspiring and motivating because the sad truth is that they did not get to finish elementary school.  With only a 2nd grade education, Papa was a career longshoreman in the Port of Guam and Nana was a housewife, they raised 6 children who were in private school and owned their own home on a huge chunk of land.    

Knowing my mixed heritage history firsthand from my grandparents played a huge part in my identity.  It is important to pass down our family's story to my children so they can tell their kids one day.  My children are just as proud as I am to know where they come from and who they are - who their family is.  This is why we are so proud to Celebrate Mixed Heritage Week with Growing Up Blackxican!  

Semi-Homemade Avocado Ice Cream!

My grandparents had an avocado tree on their property in Guam.  Along with the avocado tree, they had coconut, guava and starfruit trees.  I can close my eyes and picture exactly where each tree is even though I haven't visited since I was a teenager.  The avocado tree is right next to this little hill.  We used to get cardboard from cases of soda and slide down that little hill.  Sometimes we'd land right in fallen avocados.  Other times I would be chasing my brother or little cousins and slip on an avocado.  I hated them for a portion of my childhood.  Seriously.  Not because they weren't yummy but because they would interfere with playtime!  Some days though, I would stand under the avocado tree, with its massive branches to hide from the piercing sun and pluck one, squeeze off the skin and have the freshest snack right there.  That was the life.

My nana used to yell at me, "Bring in some avocados".  And then she would make the yummiest avocado sweets ever.  One was "ice candy" - you can make it with coconut or mango but my favorite was avocado ice candy.  I don't remember how she made it but I do remember them sitting in bags in the freezer.  I would open the freezer door and my nana would yell, "close the door, they aren't ready yet!"  Hours later, she would call me in the kitchen, cut off the top and push me out the door to eat on the porch.  It was great being a kid!

Avocados from Mexico remind me of home and family.  The Holidays are all about home and family, here is my version of my nana's avocado ice candy - I hope it makes you feel like a part of our family.    


Semi-Homemade Avocado Ice Cream Ingredients

• 1 Avocado
• 3 tablespoons Sugar
• 2 scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1/2 cup Milk

Directions

• Cut avocado in half, remove pit and skin
• Add avocado, ice cream, sugar and milk in blender.  Puree until smooth
• Pour in a bowl and serve!

You can also put this in a glass and drink it like a milkshake/smoothie.

{ Celebrity Chef Pepín shares Avocados From Mexico Posadas Recipes }

Disclosure:  This is a compensated post in collaboration with Avocados from Mexico and Latina Bloggers Connect.  All opinions are my own.

Getting Inspired At The Laundromat

It's funny how a trip to the laundromat inspired me to start taking "photos" again.  I really miss being in the darkroom.  

I can't stop thinking about our trip to the laundromat this morning.  (Who does that?)  Maybe my Grandma might be saying hi to me from beyond.  (Because I can't explain it any other way.)  Her Birthday just passed on August 26th, she's a Leo like me.  (After I published this, I looked up the Leo dates and my Grandma wasn't one!  I wonder why my Mom told me she was!)  It's sad I can't remember when she passed away (It's something like 18 years ago) - she was sickly, had diabetes and was on dialysis.  We were already living in Southern California and majority of our family was still on Guam - it was crazy expensive to fly out for her funeral so I didn't get to go.  Her death was tough for me since it was the biggest loss of life in my family and I couldn't even be there to say goodbye.  It has bothered me ever since.    

I remember when I was a little girl and would help her with laundry.  I secretly loved alone time with her and would jump to do it.  (Yeah, laundry.  Which I hate doing in my adult life.)  She had a clothesline outside and I would hand her clothespins, I loved the smell of her laundry.  Sun baked towels and hot Levi's buttons.  I remember all the times I would sneak a glance at her face with the sun shining down hard, she was a warrior.       

I don't think I've ever mourned her like I am today.  Finally.