Eat Matters

Grilling Up on the Roof

   

                

One of the incidental projects that I did  during my stint in Iloilo was to make a makeshift  sulugbahan(grill). We were in the process of constructing a multi-use commercial building. There we lots of cut  (kabilya) rebars  and metal sheets lying around. Before some unseen hand decided to send  it to the junk shop for beer money,I thought of making a grill out of the bars.

I had the rebars precut by one of the construction workers and have it sent to the welding shop and in about two days  we've got a new charcoal grill. I wasn't even charged for the welding job.It  looks like a typical grill you would see on the sidewalks were  ambulant vendors sell chicken inasal,isaw and pork barbecue. Very third world, I should say, but it didn't look that bad with flat black paint. Before adding charcoal, we put a layer of earth and sand on the metal sheet to insulate  the sheet from the heat.
                   

I had the grill sent up to the open rooftop and what fun it brought. Almost every  night we would  have supper on the rooftop. My nephews just loved  the idea.Our menu consisted of  marinated grilled pork belly,  chicken inasal with atchara, kinilaw and all kinds of fresh fish.We didn't have to eat out. It brought the family together and the maids didn't mind carrying stuff to the rooftop every night.  They were part of the party.The view of the Jaro belfry and the  cathedral can be viewed. These rooftop dinners was one of the heartwarming highlights of my vacation. If only  if only for this, I  had second thoughts of going back.

One of the fishes we grilled on the rooftop was Pantat, Hito  or catfish. Some call these slippery, scaleless  creatures mud fish. They can be had fresh at a nearby  town a few minutes away from the city. You  could bring the fishes home still alive and "kicking" in a plastic container with water and a heavy lid.

The fish is killed with a poke of a knife  on the head. This requires a certain skill because the fish is slippery and struggles hard. It is cleaned and rubbed  with guava leaves and rock salt to remove the odor  after which it set on a bamboo skewer ready for the grill. No need to marinate the fish because it is so fresh.Just rub with rock salt  so you don't  mask the distinctive flavors. While grilling, the pantat is brushed with achuete oil until  done.

Spicy Black Eyed Pea Soup

                   
                  

This soup is what became of the leftover  black eyed pea salad that I cooked sometime ago.I made a lot of the salad and it  was becoming  an eye sore in the fridge. It is still  too good  for the garbage bin. The best recourse was to make a spicy soup out of it.

The bean salad was re-sauteed with chopped yellow onions,garlic and cumin seeds. After adding some water, paprika was added as well. I peeked in to the fridge and decided to pour in some President's Choice 8 Vegetable Cocktail into the mix and let it simmer. The veggie cocktail is actually part of my ongoing healthy breakfast regimen with oatmeal and fruits.The  vegetable cocktail  added some body  and new  flavors to the soup  due to an interesting (and healthy blend )of carrot, celery, beet, parsley, lettuce,watercress, spinach and concentrated grape juice. You have the whole  supermarket vegetable aisle in there.

After the peas have softened a bit, the soup  was processed in a blender and returned it to the pan for the necessary seasoning adjustments.

On the serving bowl, I garnished the soup with a teaspoon of coconut cream,chopped green onions and roasted grated coconut meat.

Namit (delicious) I should say. It has hints of  chili bean soup  probably because of the cumin.But it has more to it when the coco cream and roasted coconut meat were added.

This is what I like about making soups. You can play with a variety of ingredients. The possibilities are endless.

Keropok Udang from Brunei

                           

What Kropeck  is to us Pinoys is Keropok Udang to our  fellow  brown Malay neighbors down the petroleum rich kingdom called Brunei. It is the same old  prawn crackers with some difference in taste , shape and texture. This Udang is a bit denser,more starchy, less salty but also packs a ton of MSG like its Pinoy counterpart.It takes awhile for  us who are used to eating our own Kropeck to adjust to Keropok. And saying Kro/peck aloud seems more comfortable and crispier  than blurting out  the three syllable tongue twister Ke/ro/pok. The last syllable reminds me of  an worldly act of sinning. Udang is Malay for prawn or shrimp but sounds like the nickname of the town's  noisy  and nosy spinster.
After frying, the shape of this Keropok reminds me of a Kalachuchi flower that blooms in the plaza during summertime.Nice. And I'm thinking of using it as a base for canapes.

To give it a little zing I drizzle the the prawn crackers with garlic salt and dip it in my favorite Thai spicy sweet and sour sauce.

This package of goodies from the sultanate was given to me by a  drinking buddy whose  dear one and only  just ended her stint at the consular office in Brunei.  We met up in Manila a day before I flew to the land of maple leafs. I am mentioning this because in the heavy din of things, I forgot to say Thanks. San Miguel was one of the reasons.

So here, Salamat guid, bord.Kabay pa ka liwat.( Thank you very much, bud. May you bring me some  more)

Black Eyed Pea Salad

                   

This is a recipe which I adapted from either Gourmet Mag or Bon Apetit. I don't remember which one. Since I don't follow a recipe to the T, I either  added or avoided some ingredients according to my taste and mood. Temper is the correct term, I guess.

Ingredients:

About a handful of boiled black eyed peas
Butternut squash peeled, cubed and  oven roasted
Pineapple
Diced Tomatoes
Thinly sliced red onions
crushed garlic
cilantro
lemon juice

quality olive oil

the omnipresent salt and pepper(freshly cracked)

The complicated recipe:(Now,don't miss a step)

1.Mix everything up and season according to your heart's desire.
2.Trust your tongue(it's the only one you have)... and  your instincts.
3.Enjoy eating your salad. You deserve it.
4. Share the dish if you think its worth sharing.
5.If you think it's a  so so failure, what is the cat and your enemies for? "Be kind to your enemies." Wasn't it the scriptures who said that?

In 1931, my friend  X. Marcel Boulestin wrote in his book"What Shall We Have Today?":

   

"The dangerous person in the kitchen is the one who goes rigidly by weights,measurements, thermometers and scales. I would say once more that all these scientific implements are not of much use, the only exception being for making pastry and jams, where exact weights are important."

Before that, in 1928 he also wrote:

    "Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements."

Pata Espesyal

                   

At  around 3 p.m sometime in February  I had a delicious bowl of Pata. I finished the bowl with sweat trickling down my forehead.

Pata is Filipino for hock. It loosely refers to either pork  or beef legs, front or hind. In the professional culinary world ,hocks are the pork's foreshanks which is part of the a primal cut called  as the shoulder picnic. The hocks meat, fat and muscle are propped up by the ulna and the radius which form the foreleg bones. In  North America, Europe and non-Asian countries ,the hocks are often smoked and simmered for hours unto tender to the bones. It's liquid contributes flavor to soups and stews.

In the Philippines, Pork hocks are usually boiled with spices and lemon grass until tender  and then deep fried to a succulent crispiness.When eaten, it is dipped in a combination of  native vinegar, soy sauce,crushed garlic,onions and lots of  bird-eye chilies. A delicious but life-threatening appetizer. The Crispy Pata is a mainstay in binge drinking parties. You just can't say no to it. The number of stroke and heart failures this hell of a leg  has caused have not been officially recorded.

In Iloilo ,when one says "pata" without the "crispy" it means  tender pork hocks simmered in a stock with garlic,onions, vetsin(MSG)  and  a souring agent called batwan . The soup has a thin jelly-like consistency because of the collagen breakdown from the slowly  simmered bones; and  an orange tint due to the added achuete seed extract for coloring.The soup is occasionally garnished with sliced green onions. It is eaten  as a main dish with rice or  as merienda(snack) fare with pan de leche(a kind of  roundish and sweet Filipino bread). During the afternoon coffee breaks, an invite from a peer of : "Ma mata ta"(let's eat Pata) is not uncommon. One usually sips the soup first and asks for a refill of caldo(stock).

                  

Arguably, the best place to eat Pata in Iloilo is at Andres Pata. The patahan which has somehow become an institution in the Pata business is a typical low-end shack made of nipa and bamboo. It cradled beside  the road and the river. This used to be a good location for  business because a few meters away was the city abattoir or slaughter house. We call it ilihawan. Ihaw means to slaughter. To our Tagalog brothers, ihaw means to grill in charcoal. Sugba is  grilling  to us. With this set-up the eatery has the advantage of getting the best pata in the yard. The abattoir is set to transfer its location soon but I don't think that would affect Andres' business.

       

Spaghetti w/ Chicken,Spinach, Olives, Cherry Tomatoes and Queso de Bola

                  

The weekend hiatus caught  us sinning on pork and munggo (mungbean). The pork shoulder with its tender fatty tissues  cooked in the bean soup just couldn't stop to beguile us with  its  treasure of cholesterol. Add to that a side dish --a mainstay of spicy bago-ong or guinamos( fermented fish paste) that threatens to  push the blood pressure skyward. I am not ready for heaven yet. The world in all its ghastly beauty, I still want to discover, yet, while I can.

For Monday dinner, I have to make amends to the weekend travesty. Pasta was the ingredient of choice as it was easy to prepare. To go with it were an assemblage of  of  chicken,sweet cherry tomatoes,spinach and olives. A cup of shredded queso de bola was the contrasting flavor  of sorts.

Easy does it with this dish. Boil water in the corner of  the stove and salt it until it tastes like the sea.On another burner heat olive oil on a skillet  Slice  the garlic and onions and the rest of the veggies.When hot enough put in the chicken until they become golden. Take  the sliced  parts of the  bird out of the skillet and throw in the aromatics.Throw the vegetables next and add your braising liquid.  The braising liquid can be water, veggie or chicken stock  or wine. Your choice. Return the chicken parts to braise. When chicken parts are done take it out again and slice. Return to the skillet to continue cooking.

When the  pot of water boils, throw  the pasta in and cook to al dente. When done. drain the pasta water and transfer the pasta to the  skillet with the chicken and veggies. Plate, sprinkle with shredded queso enjoy.Better with any red wine of your choice. Beer works fine too.

Illegal Pinamalhan:Lupuy or Siliniasi

                   

One fine morning at the onset of sunrise, I drove  to the Iloilo Central Market to see if there is something interesting for breakfast  at the fresh fish section. In one of the stalls, I came across a small pile of small fish nestled on a banana leaf. They were a bunch of lupuy (larvae of sardines) that the  fishmonger offered for a song. First thing that came to my mind was pinamalhan. For our  non-Filipino friends, Pinamalhan is a way of cooking fish in a shallow pan or earthenware with vinegar and spices till the acid dries up. Mala means dry. It is also a traditional cooking technique developed way back when refrigeration was unheard of. The vinegar preserves the fish sans the aid of General Electric or Frigidaire.

The other method of cooking  is to charcoal broil these small herrings  with the condiments wrapped in banana leaves. . This method creates another layer of flavor to the fish.Equally delicious like the Pinamalhan.  Because I was so excited to have the fish on the breakfast table on time, I didn't bother my all-around sidekick, who was still snoring anyway because of Tanduay  rum overdose, to go and cut some banana leaves.

Segue to Canada. . . .

I was running a little research on the lupuy on the net and this is what  I stumbled upon. According to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources(BFAR)  memo  dated 1939 signed by a certain Benigno Aquino, the incumbent Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce during that era( i wasn't even a speck of creation then), "It shall be unlawful for any person, association,or corporation to kill or catch, or cause to be killed or caught or taken from these waters, purchase, sell, offer or expose for sale, any sexually mature sardines,or herrings, or their larvae of young known as siliniasi or lupoy during the closed season from November 15 to March 15, inclusive of every year, in that portion of the Visayan Sea, north of the island of Negros and between the northern parts of the island of Panay and Cebu."

Hahaha.So I broke the law by purchasing those delicious lupuys and ate them with steaming rice like there was no tomorrow. And that was last January during the prohibited season.Gee. I didn't know buying those is illegal as smoking pot.  Really,why are the  authorities beginning to deprive  us as  the most enjoyable things( i don't mean the pot) in life by making them illegal.Look  at what the Chicago authorities did to the foie gras.

Ok. let the BFAR authorities catch me if they can. But before tightening the noose on an inconsequential small fry like myself, let them catch the Big Fishes first-- those  big time businessmen earning millions engaged in illegal fishing right under their noses.

Right now I am thinking of cooking lupuy wrapped in marijuana leaves.I think it's gonna be heavenly.

Hey, don't call the cops. I'm just kidding.

Calamari Rings w/ Mayo/ Wasabi Dip

                           

Had this  deep fried cephalopod  with my beer last Saturday while everyone else was going  green celebrating St. Patrick's Day. I wasn't in the mood to drown myself in pints of  dark Guinness or Irish whiskey in the local Irish pub nor lather my face with green paint. and party like crazy.

Calamari is a bestseller appetizer and is easy to make. Just cut the squid cross wise into rings, season it with salt and pepper and marinate in your favorite citrus juice. After a while, dredge  the squid into  seasoned flour, dust and deep fry it in oil with the correct temperature. The secret to a good Calamari is to  deep fry it  in the correct oil temperature. Doing this, you will get the perfect crispiness and  attractive  golden brown color.  The oil should be heated up to between 160C and 190C. The deep fried will end up soggy if the oil  is not hot enough. This is where a cooking thermometer comes in handy. An avid cook should have one.

For the sauce,  thoroughly mix some wasabi paste, garlic powder with mayonnaise in a bowl with a drizzle of lemon oil.You can use a small whisk if you want but a spoon will do the trick as well. Since wasabi has a very strong taste, add it gradually until you get the desired taste.

Fried Pollock w/ Ginger Miso Sauce and Spicy Pickled Vegetables

   

In the hands of an able cook, fish can become and exhaustible, source of perpetual delight.
                                                                                                                        -Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I cooked this dish sometime last week after a visit to my favorite Oriental grocer. I took  a fancy on the Miso paste on the Japanese aisle and got curious with a bottle labeled Kim Chi on the Vietnamese section. It was not the Korean Kimchi made of pickled cabbage but a  spicy sweet and sour combo of pickled vegetables. The bottle was packed with thin sliced carrot rounds,white baby Bok choy stems, small green onion bulbs and chilies. The taste was not as hot and salty like the authentic Kimchi but tastes similar to the sweet and sour atchara(pickled shredded green papaya),but spicier . I actually got a second bottle because  the first was gone in a matter of three days. A perfect constant accompaniment  to steaming rice.

To make the dish, I cut the Pollock into portions and marinated the pieces  with key lime juice,nam pla and  some  crushed black pepper. Then I made a Miso sauce by adding  Chinese wine and minced ginger to the Miso paste and mixed them well. I added a little sugar to balance the taste of the sauce. This I made as a base sauce for the fried fish. I added about  two teaspoons of the vegetable pickles and a little drizzle of it's liquid on top the fish, to compliment the slightly salty Miso sauce.

I think this would make  a good spicy Lenten treat.

Lucid Interval

                               

Most dishes that I create are a result of  instinctive, spur -of-the-moment experiments with texture and flavours.  I never really follow a recipe. Nor I enjoy writing one.No rules either.It's the rebel in me  I guess. I enjoy cooking this way--to come up to  the challenge of playing  with ingredients.Yes, there is always the fear that I'm churning out hog's feed  and worse. And it does happen when the dish lands in  a receptacle underneath  the sink.  But the joy of creating surpasses all that. Once  an idea is applied into a main ingredient, everything flows logically.For a moment you loose yourself to chaos. You release the inner chef.

The inventor Henry Ford said: One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't.  I know that these creations couldn't hold a candle against the  fabulous dishes of the gifted chefs--or maybe it can-- but that is not the point.By overcoming a fear and ending up surprising myself is. A Eureka in my small kitchen. I like to call these discoveries  my "delicious little morsels of self-satisfaction". It makes me happy even if the rest of civilization is not.