Have for Jute Mallow Soup

by Roger B Rueda

This morning I had jute mallow soup for breakfast.

Oh well, if this vegetarian dish weren't recognisable to you, you might think that I made a silly mistake. Don't think I'm going insane. This green soup is a usual Iloilo dish called jute mallow soup. It's so appetising. It is good for our stomach and it has improved my health: I don't feel sluggish and run-down anymore these days.

The quality of this soup is something that must be got through if you're going to have it, since it has a very yukky feel that I love.  It's an earthy flavour. The flavour of jute mallow soup matches agreeably with cloves of garlic, crushed, and is brought out with julienned green papaya and chopped okra. It also tastes good with horseradish tree leaves. Green peppers,too, are ideal for it.

This dish can also be made with fresh or dried shrimp or dried anchovy, but my favourite way to have it is with a Maggi seasoning. I want to go vegetarian sometimes.

It seems to go best with fried or smoked mackerel or milkfish and steamed rice. With it, eating jute mallow soup has a profound complex strong and enjoyable flavour.

Jute leaves, which are lanceolate and serrate and are used fresh and dried, are sold in bunches. It is a good source of fibre. To prepare for this stew, pick the leaves off the stems and roughly cut them. If they're chopped thinly, they will become chewy, so stay with the rough chop. You will need about four bunches to make enough to serve three or four.They go limp like spinach. Put the chopped leaves to one side.

In Iloilo City, jute mallow soup is often sold at eateries nearby universities and schools. Downtown, you can have it at Patapsi across the Hall of Justice. The food here is modestly ready.There is one, too, in Jaro. It is across Petron petrol station. I saw it one time at Mr Cow. You can't have it at malls, I haven't seen one. Or, although it is still dark to see properly outside, you can wake up early at 5 and have a listen to vegetable peddlers going past your house and shouting their crops from the bottom of the street. Ask them if they have jutes or have one of them fix you up with jutes every week.