By Reynaldo's death anniversary. Thirteen years. But I covered this at the Mountain View house in week 247 during the actual February anniversary. Wait — no, week 247 was December 14, 2020 in the corrected timeline. So this IS the actual February anniversary.
Thirteen years. Lourdes and I in the Mountain View kitchen. The salmon sinigang. Reynaldo's place at the table — fork, spoon, glass of water. The ritual that doesn't change because changing it would mean he's less dead or more dead and neither is true — he is the same amount of dead he was last year and will be next year and the consistency of his absence is both the cruelty and the comfort.
This year the cooking felt different. Lighter. Not the grief — the grief is constant — but the context. Lourdes is vaccinated. The pandemic is loosening. Carmen is carrying twins. The family is expanding while the founding member remains absent, the expansion built on the foundation he laid, the recipes he invented, the crossing he made. Every new Santos — every Marco, every Sofia, every potential child that Angela might someday have — is a continuation of Reynaldo's decision to leave Iloilo and come to Alaska. The family is his legacy. The sinigang is his legacy. I am his legacy.
One more squeeze. For Papa. For the legacy. For the man in the thin Manila jacket who got cold and stayed and made a family and died before the family finished being made. The sinigang was sour. The tears were salty. The combination has been the taste of every February for thirteen years. I know this taste. I honor this taste. The taste is love.
The sinigang is Reynaldo’s recipe — it belongs to February, to the ritual, to the place set at the table for a man who is still the same amount of dead he was last year. But the morning after, when Lourdes and I were still quiet in the Mountain View kitchen and the grief had settled back into its familiar shape, I made this: a corned beef omelet, the kind Papa used to throw together on Saturday mornings from a tin and two eggs, because he believed good food didn’t have to be complicated to matter. It’s not sinigang. It’s not February. It’s just the other recipe he left behind — the everyday one, the one that tastes like him on an ordinary morning, which is its own kind of love.
Corned Beef Omelet
Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons whole milk or water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup canned corned beef, broken into small chunks
- 1/4 cup white or yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 small roma tomato, seeded and diced
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce (optional, for the filling)
- Sliced green onions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the filling. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 2–3 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the tomato and cook 1 minute more. Add the corned beef and soy sauce if using, breaking up any large pieces, and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes until heated through and slightly caramelized at the edges. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Wipe the skillet clean.
- Beat the eggs. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl. Add the milk, salt, and pepper and whisk vigorously until the yolks and whites are fully combined and slightly frothy.
- Cook the omelet. Return the skillet to medium-low heat and add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil or butter, swirling to coat. Pour in the egg mixture and let it sit undisturbed for 30 seconds until the edges just begin to set. Using a heatproof spatula, gently pull the cooked edges toward the center while tilting the pan to let uncooked egg flow to the edges. Repeat until the surface is mostly set but still slightly glossy on top, about 2–3 minutes.
- Fill and fold. Spoon the corned beef filling across one half of the omelet. Carefully fold the unfilled half over the filling to form a half-moon. Press gently and let cook 30 more seconds to seal.
- Serve. Slide the omelet onto a plate, garnish with sliced green onions if desired, and serve immediately alongside steamed white rice or toasted bread.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 5g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 680mg