Ginisang Sayote

Photo courtesy:www.gourmetsleuth.com

Chayote also known as Mirliton in the US is a pear shaped light green in the gourd family. It is a perennial vine that climbs on support by clinging with tenacious tendrils, requires well drained moist soil and long warm growing season to flourish. At their natural habitat, mirlitons run along fences, over shrubs and even on straight up trees. In the cultivated farms, however the crop is supported with strong trellis.

Chayote pears will mature and ready for harvest after about 30 days of pollination. Each plant may yield up to 150 fruits in season. The fruit has thin, pale green color skin and several shallow vertical furrows on the surface. Some types have spiky or fuzzy surface while others have smooth skin. Inside it's pale white flesh surrounds a central cream white seed ovule. It features crunchy texture and mild sweet taste that may be comparable to butternut squash or pumpkin.

Health Benefits of Chayote:
Like pumpkin it has very low in calories,16 calories per 100g and no saturated fats and cholesterol. A rich source of dietary fibers, anti oxidants, vitamins and minerals. It is good for weight reduction and dietary programs. Good sourcce of  B complex vitamins and folates. Folates are important for cell division and DNA synthesis when taken before and during pregnancy, this vitamin can help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn babies. Chayote also provides moderate levels of potassium. 100g of fresh fruit contain 125 mg or 2.5% of recommended daily requirements of this electrolyte. Also chayotes contain small levels of aglycone flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as apigenin and luteolin. These compounds help scavenge harmful oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) from the body that play a role in cancer, aging and various disease processes. Fresh chayotes are adequate sources of anti-oxidant vitamin C. It provides about 7.7 mg or 13% of RDA per 100g. In addition they are also good in B-complex group of vitamins like thiamin, pyridoxine, riboflavin and minerals like iron, manganese, phosphorus, zinc and copper.
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In the Philippines, it is available all year round. Chayote is a kind of vegetable that is versatile because it can be added to a number of dishes like chopsuey, dinuguan, tinola and a lot more because of its bland taste. 

I miss chayote, I used to cook this ginisang chayote or sayote when I was in high school. My mom's way of teaching me and my siblings how to cook is placing all ingredients on the table then she leaves for work. So when we wake up, we already know what to prepare for lunch as everything we needed are already set up. 

What I hate in sayote is the wax type liquid that sticks to the skin and sometimes itchy or tingly when peeled. You need to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and cold water to remove it or better yet use gloves as the juice from the peelings are so irritating. 

Sauteed chayote is an inexpensive dish and is easy to prepare. Here's how:
Ginisang sayote ingredients:
1 regular size onion
2 regular size tomato
2 cloves garlic

1 maggie bouillon
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons soya sauce
1/4 kilo pork or chicken meat

1/4 kilo shrimp, peeled and juice extracted
3 regular size sayote
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Peel and wash your sayote and cut in strips (julienne).
• You can massage the sayote with salt to soften it up then squeeze out the juice or saute it straightforward do not add water in this case as the sayote will be watery.

• Saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes then add maggie bouillon and soy sauce. 
• Add 1/2 cup of water if it is dry especially when water is squeezed out.
• Add the meat like pork or chicken until tender then add the shrimp and let simmer on medium to low heat.

For saute

• Add soy sauce and the julienned sayote let boil until chayote are tender but not soggy or over cooked, mix once or twice then remove from heat. Serve and enjoy...