Philippine Food Illustrated: banana leaf

Showing posts with label banana leaf. Show all posts

November 25, 2018

gatang albacora

gatang albacora - /ga-táng al-ba-có-ra/ Tagalog and Caviteño dish; dw Tag. gata [coconut milk] + albacora [albacore]) [n.] albacore tuna in coconut milk.

Other local name:

ginataang albakora in Tagalog

On one of my visits to the public market of Cavite City, I found behind the market this small carenderia. Delving over its array of turo-turo dishes, I was attracted to this gatang albacora, obviously because I'm a big fan of dishes with coconut milk. This one is a bit picante (spicy hot).

I delved more into this simple dish and learned from the kusinera (lady cook) that this requires two-step cooking (pinaksiw then ginataan) using fresh fish, freshly squeezed kakang gata, and fresh spices. Sounds simple but pressing - for you have to literally press fresh coconut here. It's a big deal that you have to use a freshly squeezed gata when cooking ginataan. Or else, you will never get that heavenly creamy-licious essence of ginataan. Gata must be there at least an hour before cooking time - the shorter the time, the better. Canned or powdered substitutes cannot satisfy this. It's a blessing if you have a kudkuran (coconut grater) in the kitchen or if your place is nearby a mercado (palengke) or talipapa (informal fish and farmers' market) to get your coconut. In the case of this carenderia, the public market is just right beside their feet. No wonder the smell of gatang albacora is so inviting. The next thing in my mind is a plateful of steaming kanin and an ice-cold soft drink - having both the hot and the cold is the yin and yang of Filipino dining.

I learned from the kusinera that she first cooked the fish ala pinaksiw in pure sukang irok (sugar palm vinegar) with bawang (garlic), luya (ginger), sili (chili), and salt to taste. After a few minutes of boiling the pinaksiw na isda, she added the kakang gata followed by cutlets of siling haba (green finger chili). Pinaksiw is a way of cooking that helped remove the fishy odor of albacora and enhanced the taste of fish.

Adding kakang gata or that thick pure coconut milk adds a creamy and nutty flavor. This is the reason why I cannot resist sipping that white sauce. Good to go also as a topping on my rice.

Each fish is separately wrapped in dahon ng saging (banana leaf) to keep the fish from sticking to the pot and to each other. Plus the leaf is adding aromatic flavor.

This reminds me of my version of Visayan linabog dish, the linabog nga tilapia. The ways of cooking are almost similar only if the albacora here was also fried before adding the kakang gata.

Pass the rice, please.

albacora /al-ba-ko-ra/ Tagalog and Caviteño sea fish /seafood) (also spelled as albakora in Tagalog) [n.] albacore (sc.name: Thunnus alalunga) is a species of tuna with unusually long pectoral fins which include some species of yellow fin tuna in temperate and tropical waters across the globe, particularly in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, and in the seas around them. Known also as “longfined tuna” in Hawaii, and “longfin tuna” in Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

Related posts:

linabog nga tilapia

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines. I will search for more and continue to share my findings. It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

August 13, 2017

kalintubo

kalintubo - /ka-lin-tú-bo/ (Maguindanaon meal) [n.] A Maguindanaon budget meal similar to pastil or paster. It is made with freshly steamed rice (i.e., steaming hot plain rice) and topped with chicken cutlets stir-fried with soy sauce, or saucy chicken liver cooked adobo-style, then wrapped in banana leaf folded into a conic shape making it look like a small volcano - open on top.

A Maguindanaon elder demonstrating how to prepare kalintubo topped with saucy chicken liver.

Kalintubo topped with chicken cutlets stir-fried with soy sauce.

The opening on top allows the hot rice to cool off without trapping the moisture. Thus, preventing the meal from spoiling fast. It also makes it easy to tell what topping is on the kalintubo. The sight of it makes the meal attractive as well.

The opening can also be made narrow for easy handling when on the go.

You can eat the kalintubo meal either using your fingers, provided you wash your hands first, or with a spoon and fork. The banana leaf would serve enough as a dining plate, though most would prefer to serve and dine kalintubo on a plate.

Kalintubo is often taken with a hard-boiled chicken egg as siding pair to rice

Kalintubo topped with chicken cutlets stir-fried with soy sauce.

Kalintubo topped with saucy chicken liver cooked adobo-style

Related posts:

Pastil

Pasong

Puso (plain rice)

Puso (sweetened rice)

Tapay

See Index of Entries here

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Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

July 30, 2011

suman maruecos

suman maruecos – /sú-man ma-ru-we-kos/ (Tagalog and Bulaqueño snack) [n.] purple rice stick.

A sweet and sticky rice snack delicacy made with ground glutinous purple rice, sugar, and coconut cream. The rice mix is wrapped in banana leaf and rolled into a log and topped or sprinkled with latik (the aromatic brown curd of boiled coconut cream) and then steamed to cook.

Its consistency is quite similar to tikoy or a thickened calamay.

Can be taken and eaten as is or with hot coffee, hot or cold chocolate drinks, or ice-cold cola drinks, and other palamig (cold refreshments).

Suman maruecos of a booth that sells native Bulaqueño snacks and delicacies in Market-Market, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

To make suman maruecos, 2 cups of purple glutinous rice is washed, drained, then soaked in water enough to cover and for at least 4 hours. Afterward, the water is decanted and the soaked rice is ground into galapong (rice batter).

Another 1 cup of rice flour (ground ordinary rice, not malagkit) is added and blended well in the glutinous galapong to minimize the stickiness of would-be suman maruecos. Then 1/2 cup of coconut cream and 1/3 cup of sugar are added and mixed well for every cup of galapong produced.

The mixture is then cooked in a pot on low heat and stirred continuously until the mixture thickens into a paste. The pot is then removed from heat and set to cool.

When cool, 2 spoonfuls of thick rice paste is laid and spread on a banana leaf wrapper and rolled into a log (size similar to a jumbo sausage), and sprinkled with latik (those aromatic brown curds of boiled coconut cream, as in when making coconut oil).

The banana leaf wrapper is then rolled and pulled to wrap the suman maruecos. Both ends of the banana wrapper are folded to seal the contents. Several pieces of suman maruecos are piled in a steamer and cooked for about 30 minutes.

When cooked, the consistency of suman maruecos would look like tikoy (Chinese sticky rice cake) or a thick calamay (sweetened sticky rice paste).

If purple glutinous rice is not available, white glutinous rice can be used as a substitute added with mashed ube to give the suman its purple color.

Check this simple recipe for suman maruecos

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For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Edgie Polistico

December 29, 2010

tapay

tapay - /ta-pay/ Maranao snack [n.] fermented rice with yeast.

Tapay is prepared using ordinary rice boiled either in plain water or in coconut milk in a process similar to cooking kanin (steamed rice). A locally made yeast called tapai is sprinkled and mixed thoroughly into freshly cooked rice that is then molded into a big mound and let stand to cool and ferment for one to two days in a deep platter or any covered container. It is kept covered and undisturbed until fully fermented.

The fermentation of rice with yeast would cause tapay to emit a liquor-like odor and taste. A scoop of produced tapay is spread on fresh banana leaves (or leaves of alum tree, Adelia monoica), spreading tapay thin and flat into a square or rectangular shape. The leaf is then folded on both ends to serve as a wrapper. Fermentation continues in the folded leaf.

A serving of tapay (click photo to enlarge image).

To serve, the leaf wrapper of the tapay is opened and the tapay is transferred into a deep bowl. A milk solution is prepared with chilled coconut cream and if coconut milk is not available, chilled fresh milk or evaporated milk is used. The coconut milk is added with some ice (crushed, cube, or tube ice) and some condensed milk as a sweetener. The ice-cold milk solution is poured into the bowl and mixed well with the tapay. A condiment called tiyolo, which is a pounded roasted grated coconut meat with brown sugar, is added to the mixture to give tapay a distinct aroma and flavor.

When done adding and mixing the coconut milk solution and tiyolo, the prepared tapay is all ready to be eaten. If it is your first time to try eating tapay, you would mistake its smell for that of spoiled cooked rice. But no, tapay is not really spoiled at all. It is just the natural smell of fermenting rice with yeast.

Tapay has a light sweetness and distinct smell and taste of a liquor, which is actually a lace of alcohol produced in the fermentation process of tapay.

Tapays wrapped in alum leaves (Adelia monoica). These are sold in the Pier Area of Cotabato City

A Muslim Maranao selling tapay at the entrance gate of Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila during the observance of Eid al Fitr or the end of Ramadan or Maulidin Nabi.

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Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling.

Edgie Polistico

December 22, 2010

pasong (rice in banana leaf)

Pasong from a food stall in Cotabato City.

pasong - /pá-song/ (Maguindanaon rice meal) [n.] conic rice. Steamed rice wrapped in banana leaf folded into a conic shape.

Plain ordinary rice is steamed into kanin. A ladle scoop of steamed rice is wrapped in banana leaf and folded into a conic shape. Before wrapping, the banana leaf wrapper can be made pliant by wilting. It is done by passing the leaf over the flame or hot ember.

This is how the Maguindanaos of Mindanao sold their cooked rice or packed them as baon (food brought along to work or travel).

The packaging is very environmentally friendly as it uses a banana leaf as a wrapper and not the non-biodegradable and health-hazard sheets of plastic cellophane or styrofoam. Not, unless you use a plastic bag to hold the pasong when buying it.

Related posts:

Pastil

Puso (sweetened rice)

puso (plain

See Index of Entries here

If you liked this post and our site, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. We need to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss about.

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling.

Edgie Polistico

pastil

pastil – /pas-tíl/ (Maguindanaon packed meal) [n.] rice topped with sautéed shredded meat.

Similar dishes:

also spelled as pastel in Maguindanaon
patel or pater in Maranao
paster in Iranun

It is closely similar to the Tagalog binalot sa dahon except for the way how it is wrapped in banana leaf.

A scoop (about a cup) of steamed or boiled plain rice is placed on the center of a spread of banana leaf and topped with shreds or flakes of sautéed meat or fish called kagikit.

The cut of banana leaf is wilted first in fire or ember to soften and make it a pliant wrapper.

The scoop of cooked rice is then molded by folding the banana leaf. Before finally wrapping the rice, it is topped with kagikit (sautéed shredded meat) usually that of shredded meat of braised fish or chicken. Then the leaf is finally rolled around the topped rice. It is sealed by folding both ends similar to that of suman (Tagalog rice stick), only that the pastil is wider and flatter in shape than that of suman.

The special version of pastil has more meat, plus a hard-boiled chicken egg (shelled and cut into halves) as toppings, and the rice is mixed with a little amount of glutinous rice that would bind well the molded meal.

Pastil is considered the budget combo meal of our Muslim brothers in Mindanao.

In Manila, it is sold and readily available in the ubiquitous Halal restaurants and eateries near the Golden Mosque in the Quiapo district and in Maharlika Village in Taguig City.

Pastil is usually served and eaten by pouring some soy sauce right before eating and paired with hard-boiled chicken egg. It can also be eaten on the go by holding a piece of pastil and peeling it just like when you open a banana and eat it while standing, walking, or on a ride.

A Maguindanaon food stall vendor skillfully prepares pastil.

A mold of rice is topped with kagikit of sautéed shredded chicken meat from Cotabato City

A mold of rice is topped with kagikit of shredded fish adobo. This one is from Quiapo, Manila.

This mound of pastil is sold at a Halal eatery at the Welcome Rotunda in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. Boiled eggs complement with the packed meal.

Mounds of pastil is a common sight at the many foodstands along Sinsuat Ave ext. cor Quezon Ave. in Cotabato City.

In Metro Manila, you can have pastil from the ubiquitous food stalls and eateries near the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila. I bought a bag of my first pastil experience from this place.

In Metro Manila, you can also buy pastil in Maharlika Market and in talipapa and eateries nearby the Blue Mosque in the Maharlika Village in Taguig City.

You can eat pastil with bare hands, but make sure to wash your hands before eating to conform with the Muslim law on hygiene in dining Halal food. Here, I'm eating pastil with a pair of spoon and fork at home.