This is express comfort food. Easy, economical and relatively healthy. We cook some version of this soup in our household at least twice a year. A more detailed recipe was posted a couple of years ago, here, but even this version is slightly different. From the freezer into the soup pot went PHP60-70 worth of ham bones. Cover with water, add a chopped onion and some peppercorns and boil for some 30-40 minutes. You can go back to your computer and write a quick post for your food blog while this is gurgling away. Then strain the soup to remove bones and solids and put it back in the soup pot and place it over high heat…

Add some peeled and cubed kundol or winter melon and let that boil for a few minutes, throw in some baby shrimp, peeled or unpeeled, whatever you have handy. Add some sliced strips of ham, in this case the cheaper “ham bits” from oursuki Majestic ham vendor, and let this boil another few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In this version, I added some chopped greens or bok choy and it was ready to serve. A bowl of this soup chockfull of “laman” or “stuff” and some steamed rice, and it’s simple lunchtime bliss. The flavorful ham broth is an excellent base, and it tastes like you worked on it for hours. The shrimp adds sweetness and softness to the bite. The ham provides the salty sweet hit of flavor, and the winter melon, a mushy flavorless sponge that sucks up the broth. The greens add color and nutrition, not to mention roughage to help push this through your plumbing. :)

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