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Pork dish allows
some creativity

Pork Guisantes -- better known as Filipino Pork and Peas -- is one of those basic dishes that comes with just a few rules. The cook vamps from there.

Required are sliced pork, a healthy dose of frozen peas and a tomato-sauce base. Also a must: pimentos or diced red bell peppers.

When Doris Velasco wrote in search of a guisantes recipe (she wants to make it as a surprise for her future son-in-law), I did some comparison shopping, recipe against recipe.

(Interesting aside: If you Google this dish under the alternate spelling "gisantes," the first hit is www.edcase.com, "The Official Ed Case for Congress Website." Case's wife, Audrey, maintains a collection of local-style recipes on the site -- a handy tip if you're cookbook-deprived.)

Some guisantes recipes are jazzed up with fish sauce, vinegar or even garbanzo beans. The best I found was in "The Second Plantation Village Cookbook," published by Friends of Waipahu Cultural Garden Park. It's credited to Gloria Constantino Boylan, wife of political commentator Dan Boylan, who pronounces the dish "one of my favorites."

Gloria Boylan says she got the recipe from her uncle, Vicente Ramelb, and that it's a family favorite. In fact, she made it just last weekend.

The recipe features the intriguing addition of a half-stick of cinnamon, which must do a lot to pump up the flavor. Boylan cautions not to overdo the cinnamon, though. "Once I put a little more," she said. "I thought it would make it taste better. But it didn't."

The cookbook, published in 1987, is still available at the cultural park, for $10. Call 677-0110.

1 4-ounce bottle pimentos, thinly sliced, or 1 red bell pepper, diced

Brown pork butt with garlic. Add tomato sauce, water, cinnamon, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 60 to 90 minutes.

Add peas and cook until tender. Remove pot from heat and garnish with pimento. Serves 8.

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