A Morning Grilled By Necessity/ A Daily Blog

Early morning today, I was able to cook grilled pork for breakfast, since my sister was craving for it. She was the one who bought the meat and other ingredients in the market, for I woke up too late but just exactly in time to cook for breakfast. There were only two of us in the house today since my parents are out of town, and my younger brothers wanted to stay at grandma's home, as their early bond, for this Christmas we won't be there.

I'm really good at cooking for breakfast but not actually my type of daytime cooking, since all I want in the morning is to tend the backyard and pick some dried leaves from last night's sleep.

But still, I had to cook since no one would do it. Not even my sister, who knows nothing but to do her paperwork in her room.

First thing to do is clean the meat thoroughly. For the record, this is a two-kilo meat, but only one kilo will be grilled and I set aside the other for future cooking. Who knows, I might be needing it for my cravings. I like to put lemon when cleaning the meat to flavor and tenderize it. But since my sister forgot to buy lemons, unfortunately, I just had to trust the water and a half of vinegar to remove the meaty smell. Then I marinated it with available ingredients.

The sun was hitting my cornea by the time I started putting the meat, so it means I have to cook it immediately so we won't get our breakfast late. My wake-up time was good but the preparation took more time.

I just put some charcoal on the ground in front of the house and prepared it to make sure the meat will be cooked perfectly. We lost our grilling station in our house so I can never have one today. Well, I am not that dumb to not figure out how to cook it without a grilling area, since my grandpa used to cook it in the Earth's crust.

I can smell the aroma of the meat tenderly softening in the heat, and the ashes that were too annoying started to smell like breakfast. The oil produced by the meat as it cooks gives me the savory feeling, and I was excited to eat it with some cucumber beside. I put some sauce and oil from time to time also to make sure the meat would get the moisture it needs and lightly coat the surface of the meat, which would soon give me the brown I want.

Slowly, the meat was cooked and I put it on the plate, then replaced it on the grill with the uncooked one. The ashes from the burning charcoal made me cry a river because of its stinging sensation. The sun was actually hitting my skin and I was using an abaca fan to light the charcoal from time to time.

On the table, I was making sauce with fish sauce and vinegar with some sliced onions and tomatoes. I like the onions and tomatoes sliced medium so I can eat them also like meat. Grilled pork will never be perfect and complete if no sauce is set beside it.

But also, cucumber will be one of the best pairs for grilled pork. I sliced it in circles, just one cucumber only, and put it on a little square-shaped plate for presentation.

Then all the meat was cooked already. The smell of the meat cooked by the heat, with its oil still burning on the plate, and the cucumber waiting to be crunched, made me so excited to eat for breakfast. My sister also enjoyed eating it, and we had some conversations about Christmas and what we would give to our parents, as we usually do.

That morning felt simple and tiring, but fulfilling. Sometimes, breakfast cooked with effort tastes better than any planned meal. What about you? What did you have earlier? Share it in the comment section.