Entrepreneurship in Bloom

Times are hard, the price of gasoline went up twice in less than two months, even the lowly kangkong now commands a higher price than its original P5 a bunch. What can the average homemaker do to augment family income? Quite a few have discovered that entrepreneurship is the answer to earning a few more pesos. Homemakers working in their respective homes are increasing, producing a variety of popular foodstuff, knowing that these are the easiest items to sell because everybody has to eat/feed their brood.

At the ongoing (until 15th February) Chinatown promotion at the Shangri-La Edsa Mall to celebrate the Chinese New Year, we found a group of enterprising women engaged in the production of Chinese delicacies in their own residences. They distribute their products to restaurants and outlets, making a headway, perhaps, towards bigger business deals in the future. Among them is Julie Chua who offers a homemade selection that includes healthy radish cake at P60 per plastic container, siopao asado at P195, kikiam at P140 for a pack of four and machang at P35 and P45, depending on the size. The store owned by a gentleman called Stewart offers pork embutido at P140 each, crab kikiam at P120, century eggs at P50 for half a dozen. Cell phone numbers can be provided for those interested.

Items in this particular promotion are not limited to Chinese specialties. Another enterprising group calls itself Oakebarn International Inc. which makes Maxinne’s (an acronym of all the names of the quintet that owns the corporation) ham with the catchy slogan "Ham it Up!" They follow what they call "the traditional way of ham making" in producing the traditional leg (P650 a kilo) and the turkey leg at a higher cost. They also have unagi at P164, much lower than what it sells for in bigger outlets. Miki’s, based in East Fairview in Quezon City, has a collection of snack food, sold at three for P100. The choices are Hot and Spicy Squid, Breaded Crispy Anchovies, Peanut Brittle and Squid. Another stall sells dried dulong at P60 for a half kilo pack, tinapang alumahan at P120 for three pieces.

Back in the South, we got tempted to fill our basket with quite a few merienda items from Makati Supermarket. They have the Hotsa brand of dumplings in very practical packs of four, with expiry dates that allow you to store them in the freezer for at least three months. Choose from asado (P55) or chicken (P58.25). From the Village Gourmet we got terriyaki chicken and barbecue self-rising small pizzas (enough for three to snack on) for P86.25 and P86.70, respectively. We could not resist the Toaster Strudel (P139.50), a good alternative for breakfast when one gets tired of the usual pan de sal and palaman.

Restaurant business must really be very good; why else would some of these new outlets refuse to take reservations in advance? A few days ago we made a date with a group of friends to dine at Big Buddha in Greenbelt 3. To our surprise, before showing us in, we were asked about the exact time our friends would be arriving. Apparently it is not enough for one person to occupy a table. While we were eventually allowed in, this was truly annoying.

Meantime, a dinner we recently had in a Thai restaurant in Malate inspired us to cook Thai. We were served a creamy but thin soup of chicken in coconut milk with tanglad. This is very refreshing with all the unique flavors of Thai cuisine: tangy lemon grass, fiery chili and sweetish coconut milk. Immediately we set out to buy a cook book and found the hardcover Thai Home Cooking, a comprehensive guide to typical ingredients, preparation techniques and recipes, illustrated with attractive photographs.

We noted the new Weekend Market at the FTI area in Taguig. We were told the vendors are among those displaced from the Tesda complex. We have yet to explore this and will be sharing with our readers whatever discoveries we make.

Have a happy Sunday!

Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]