World Class Chefs
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Ramilo (Ram) Villaluna
Ram is a budding chef from Iloilo City (Molo). He gained his training in Culinary Arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies under food guru Gene Gonzalez, Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kumpps) in New York. He took up bread making, and he studied food styling under Delores Custer of the Culinary Institute of America. It all started in Antique where his father owned a restaurant many Antiquenos learned to love. He continued the culinary legacy of his father and now, Ram owns a catering business, Cindy\'s Catering. Food is Ram\'s life, seriously speaking. I am short in saying that he is married to the food industry that, he spends most of his time teaching and mentoring at the Department of Culinary Arts at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo. If one cannot find him in the classroom, Ram will be on the road crisscrossing Iloilo and Antique having first hand in the management of his thriving businesses from both provinces. He also has a once-a-week TV show in GMA 7 \"Food Trip\". I met with Ram once before and he exudes perfectionism, the character that will beam him up to the limelight of culinary arts. At present time, Ram is extremely busy in Manila. I believe he is one of the finalists in The National Food Showdown 2010 sponsored by ABS-CBN. We wish you all the luck, Ram! Maybe, after this showdown, Ram will have the opportunity share favorite recipe here at ILONGGO LIVING.
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Posts Tagged ‘coconut milk’
Ginataang Bagungon
June 25, 2010
Bagungon, a kind of fresh water snail very popular among Ilonggos. They are usually harvested from ricefields but, over decades, people were successful in breeding them in fishponds. Yesterday, I was able to go to the Jaro public market and buy some local veggies and, of course, the bagungon. My sister-in-law choose the smaller kind and, decided to cook it with gabi (yam) and takway (roots runner) and finish it up with gata or coconut milk. Truly, it was a sumptuous lunch.
GINATAAN NGA BAGUNGON. A sumptuous way of devouring bagungon. Having them is an exercise of one's kissing ability.
The star of the show, bagungon. One has to come early during market day so that one will be able to choose the best kinds.
Fresh gabi (yam) is the next important ingredients of the dish.
My sister-in-law added takway (roots runner of a yam) to make the dish more interesting.
Gulai Paku
May 29, 2010
Since fresh fiddleheads are abundant only in spring, I decided to prepare a special dish of Indonesian origin. Such an exotic name Gulai Paku is basically cooking fiddleheads or paku in a conundrum of Asian spices laden with creamy coconut milk. Some of the spices I have no idea where to get it from so, I have to modify the recipe a little bit. Incidentally, I found out the difference between East Indian way of preparing the spicy paste versus Thai-Indonesian. The former uses the distinct cardamom & anise, whereas, the latter utilizes its signature kaffir leaves & lemongrass. Each of these spices have their own distinct aroma and flavor but, basically, the paste is the same. Let us check out this spicy dish.
The interplay of various spices in conjunction with coconut milk makes Gulai Paku very appetizing. This can be eaten solo or as side dish with rice and grilled fish or meat. The coconut milk was cooked until it becomes oily in consistency.
Preparing the paste requires various spices or condiments. One has to prepare in advance the necessary ingredients before attempting to prepare this wonderful dish.
From left to right: lemongrass, galangal root, turmeric root, ginger root, Red Thai chiles. At the back is the Kaffir lime leaves. Wash them thoroughly with water and peel off skin of tubers.
All of the tubers were grated finely. Dare to guess which one is which now that they are all grated up? Starting at the bottom left to right: ginger, lemongrass, turmeric roots, garlic and galingal. At the center : Kaffir lime leaves and, behind it is the Thai red chili.
A parade of other ingredients such as Thai shrimp paste, tamarind paste, coconut cream, cumin and coriander seeds. The latter is grounded finely in a mortar and pestle. I enjoyed the aroma of freshly grounded coriander!
And of course, the last but definitely not the least, the main character of the show... fiddleheads or paku. They SHOULD be washed a couple times to remove dirt and scales. A kitchen spray will simplify the task.
For the rest of the procedure on how to prepare Gulai Paku, follow the link below: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10091-gulai-pakis.
Ginataan nga Ige
April 19, 2010
In Iloilo, there’s a local snail called ige (suso in Tagalog), a very popular edible fresh water mollusk among locals. This snail is particularly harvested from rice paddies during rice planting season. But, the abundance of fish ponds in Iloilo makes way for a year-round supply of ige. Ilonggos are fond of eating them especially with gata (coconut milk) or just plain laswa (with local veggies). I would proudly say that, ige is the equivalent of the escargot, a French delicacy. For all we know, Ilonggos are sophisticated food connoisseur. Not to mention that we are very resourceful when it comes to utilization of foodstuff. Come, join me!
This variety of ige (snail or suso) are elongated compared to the usual round shaped ones. To prepare them, one has to wash them thoroughly with running water and, then soaked them in for an hour or so to remove remaining impurities. Then, remove the tail end (pointed side) by hitting that particular area with a blunt portion of a knife.
Again, batwan is used in this dish to balance the flavor of the coconut milk. I heard that batwan puree is available for export but, I have not seen them here in North America, yet.
Gabi (taro) is also added to make the flavor and texture more exciting while eating the cooked ige. Again, nothing much is wasted as the leaves, stem and roots are being utilized for the dish.
Viola! Guinataang ige! Very delish and unique Ilonggo dish. Some of my North American readers will wonder how to eat the snail. The reason why one has to chip off the tail end of the snail before cooking is to facilitate in sucking out the meat inside the shell! Otherwise, one has to pry out the meat with a piece of toothpick. But why bother when one can suck out the meat instead. It's fun eating ige.
A good combination for this type of a dish is, fried fish with sinamak saw-sawan. KAMAYAN ANYONE?
Alimango sa Labong at Saluyot
March 03, 2010
My chef was enticed by the Ilonggo foods I had during my recent trip that it made her crave for Alimango sa Labong at Saluyot (Crabs with Bamboo Shoots and Jute Mallows). This dish is not something new to her as she used to prepare it once in a while when we crave for it. Without further ado, she raided the Vietnamese store and grab some dungeness crabs from Vancouver, B.C. She had all of the ingredients ready and in no time prepared the dish, and as always, with gata (coconut milk). A very savory dish, I might say.
Dungeness crabs from Vancouver, B.C. It's the best time (winter) to buy this crab as it is full of aligue (crab fat). A bit on the expensive side as it is $12.99/ pound but, it's all worth it!
This kind of crab is huge in size and one piece is good for two persons. A very meaty kind of a crab, not to mention the amount of aligue it carries.
Alimango sa Labong at Saluyot is a very delish kind of a dish and easy to prepare.
THE INSTIGATOR. A reminiscent of what I had in Iloilo during my last trip, guinataang alimango with labong and saluyot with extra load of takway (root runners of a yam plant).
Pinakbet with Gata, Anyone?
March 01, 2010
I posted about PINAKBET a few months back, trying to compare the Ilocano-style against the Tagalog-style of preparing them. Lo and behold, during my recent trip to the Philippines, my sister-in-law in Iloilo prepared yet another style which I’m proud to label it as Ilonggo-style pinakbet. And who would have guessed that gata (coconut milk) may be added to a basic pinakbet and call it Ilonggo style? NOBODY! Incidentally, my friend Sachi Villareal of Namit ah! just posted an Ilonggo dish, Inubaran nga Manok with gata, as well! Can someone please tell me when did Ilonggo foods married to gata or coconut milk? I thought the Bicol region is known to be the most avid user of gata (and hot pepper) in almost all of their foods. Well, count Iloilo in, as well.
Here it is, the Ilonggo-style pinakbet! With coconut milk and it tasted so good.
The Ilocano-style of pinakbet, distinctively different from the rest and I love this style of.
Another Ilocano version of the pinakbet, with play of colors and veggies. The secret is: bagoong base soup with vinegar.
And of course, the popular Tagalog-style of pinakbet. With alamang as its soup base.
Arroz a la Valenciana
July 26, 2009
It has been over a month now since I posted Arroz a la Paella. That post was the catalyst in preparing today’s dish, the Arroz a la Valenciana. They are both undeniably Spanish in origin and did you know that both originated from the province of Valenciana in Spain? Comparatively speaking, each are prepared differently. The paella is basically baked, whereas, the valenciana is purely stovetop cooking. As to their distinctive ingredients, the paella calls for a variety of seafoods while the valenciana, more of a variety of meat. White wine and saffron is needed in paella, while the valenciana requires turmeric powder and optional gata or coconut milk. But basically, the main ingredient for both is rice (as the name arrroz implies). Back in the Philippines, arroz a la Valenciana or Bringhe in Pampanga, is a special dish prepared only during special occasions such as town fiestas, weddings or Christmas dinner. Valenciana is at times dubbed as poor man’s version of paella. But today, I will prepare mine as lavished as paella.
My lavish Arroz a la Valenciana
Ingredients & Procedure:
This recipe calls for a 1:3 ratio of glutinous rice (malagkit, pilit) over regular rice. In doing this, your rice mixture won’t be that sticky. The rest of the ingredient are: pork, shrimps, chicken breast, Spanish sausage (chorizo), green peas, red bell pepper, chives, tumeric powder, achuwete and gata. It is interesting to note that after boiling your meats (except chorizo), use the soup to cook the rice together with the turmeric powder and achuwete. Slice up your cooked meats and save the head of shrimps to be pounded in a mortar and pestle to extract the juice.
Sautee garlic, onion, all the meats and add gata (coconut milk) and the juice extracted from the shrimp’s head. Let it boil for 15 minutes. Adjust salt. Add your cooked yellow rice, followed by your red pepper, green onions, green peas and raisins. In lieu of raisins, I used black mission figs for a change. Stir rice mixture occasionally for the next 10 minutes under low flame so as to allow admixture of ingredients. Place valenciana on a platter and garnish it with sliced hard boiled eggs. Note: Some people do shortcuts to avoid sauteeing and the final “tiring” stirring part of cooking by putting all the ingredients at once while cooking up the rice. That’s doable, but, one will sacrife the flavor tremendously.
The process of cooking valenciana is somewhat more tedious than paella.
PRESTO! A flavourful ARROZ A LA VALENCIANA!
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