hungry sofia » Philippines

Spring Forward

hungrysofia — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:55:37 +0000

I didn’t realize what a hard winter we were having until it got warmer this week and everything became SO much easier. I was in a neighborhood shop the other day when someone asked what I’d been up to. My mind drew a complete blank – I couldn’t remember what I’d been up to because I felt like I’d just woken up. We’ve been so storm tossed the past couple of months that it felt like winter was having us. It’s been weeks of face down, boots on and scurrying from one place to another. All that changed overnight – which it always does though I always forget.

With the weather warm enough to wander – head-up, ballet flats, scarf-as-accessory – I took the long way to Soho through Chinatown. I couldn’t have been happier if there were actual leaves on the trees. I was having my first scoop of outdoor ice cream (red bean) from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory when I decided to look into a few grocery stores to find the ingredients for ube ice cream. Made from a purple yam native to the Philippines, I tried it for the first time last Spring when I did a market tour with my blogging group that ended with us making a traditional Filipino meal led by Chef Annette Tomei at the French Culinary Institute. With a new tour planned for this weekend almost a year later, I couldn’t wait another minute and decided to break out the ice cream maker.

After a few misses, I finally found the yam powder packets exiled far from the Chinese powders in the curry section of Hong Kong Market. I stocked up on the boiled beans and jellied fruits we’d added in class but decided to throw in a few of brigadeiros as an alternative. I didn’t have the shaved ice to make it a true halo-halo sundae but I’d had enough snow for awhile anyway.

Ube Ice Cream
Adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Amy Besa and Romy Doroton by Anette Tomei of Wander, Eat and Tell. At the time of the class, my teacher Steven Shaw asked why there weren’t more Filipino restaurants in the US on his e-Gulltet site. The question is still out there because a recent article in the Los Angeles Times wondered the same thing.

1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ube powder
1/2 pound (2 cups) frozen ube puree, thawed

1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup milk, the coconut milk and 3/4 cup sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking well.

Add the ube powder. Whisk well. Whisk in the ube puree, lower the heat. Switch to a wooden spoon. Stir constantly until the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Reserve.

In a clean saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cream, 1 1/2 cups milk, and 3/4 cup sugar. Add the ube mixture, whisking well until completely blended. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Pour into a bowl and set the bowl in an ice bath. Stir frequently until completely cool.

In a blender, blend the mixture until smooth. Strain. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cold, at least 3 hours.

Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream machine. Store frozen in an airtight container.

In a Manhattan Kitchen, Part 2

hungrysofia — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:11:15 +0000

As promised, I’m posting the results of our market run through Chinatown. When it was all laid out, I have to admit I was intimidated. I knew absolutely nothing about Filipino foods. A combination of Spanish, Mexican, Malaysian, Chinese and Indian, I had never seen many of the ingredients before and their names wouldn’t stop moving long enough to be written down so I’ve included a lot of pictures. With Benjie’s help, Annette explained the origins of what we would be making. Then it all started going at once…

Steven prepped the vegetables for the mixed fish kilawin/kinilaw, a ceviche made from golden pompano mixed up by Haley. The fish sinigang, a tamarind flavored soup, was inspired by the soup Annette had when she first visited the Philippines. We almost didn’t have time, but Haley managed a final push to include it.

The chicken and pork ribs for the adobo had been marinating in a combination of garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, vinegars and soy seasonings including Toyomansi with calamansi. It was all set to a low simmer until cooked through. Steven and I were given the task of browning the pieces and returning them to the pot. He finished his half without any drama. I added too much oil to my pan so had to duck for cover whenever I set a new piece popping.

When we made our way back to the kitchen, we were met with the fantastic aroma of the pig trotters for the crispy pata that Annette had left simmering in bay leaves, garlic, onion, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and most importantly, rum. It was then heated in the oven, and finally deep fried so the outside crisps but the inside stays juicy and tender.

There was also “Bangus” style trout marinated then fried.

Annette added the sauce from the crispy pata to the the water spinach adobong then some bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste) to taste.

Raque put together the base for the ube ice cream. Over shaved ice and topped with boiled sweet beans and fruit, it becomes halo-halo. I could have this every day.

Annette worked on the rice flour (“Mochiko”) dough for the Palitaw, glutinous rice cakes. After forming the dough into patties, they were boiled and cooled in an ice bath. Raqui coated them in sugar, sesame seeds, and shredded coconut. The recipe is posted on Annette’s blog along with the complete menu.

Julia and Benjie moved the banana leaves slowly across the open flame to deepen the flavor when they used them to line that pan for the cassava bibinka, a cake made of yucca, coconut, and gouda (though manchego was substituted). The cake is baked then topped with brown sugar and coconut milk and put under a broiler. It was impossible to get a picture of Benjie not in motion.

I had no idea how it was all going to happen but it did!

By the time we stopped to eat, the stores, stories and flavors had been brought into a deeper focus. It has the brightness of Southeast Asian ingredients with the heartiness of Spanish food, and I can’t wait to try more. Steven asked in his blog why there weren’t more Filipino restaurants in the US, which I hope will change soon. Until then, I am grateful to the Filipino ladies who set their conditions and to Annette for keeping her promise.

In a Manhattan Kitchen, Part 1

hungrysofia — Sun, 31 May 2009 09:44:24 +0000

New York City’s Chinatown offers everything you could possibly want while seeming completely inaccessible at the same time. That’s why I really wanted to take advantage of the market tour and Filipino cooking class offered by a member of my blogging group, Annette Tomei. Annette is a chef, writer and teacher at the International Culinary Center. Her blog, Wander, Eat and Tell, chronicling her travels and food experiences is always a push out the door, especially when she turns her attention to nearby neighborhoods I can explore with new eyes. One of her trips was to the Philippines to visit her brother-in-law Benjie’s family. While she was there, she spent time in a Filipino kitchen learning from four elderly women who shared their recipes and cooking knowledge in exchange for a promise that she teach it to others in her own country.

To that end, Annette planned today’s class. I met the group at the ICC and we walked over to Chinatown to pick up the final ingredients (and do some snacking you can read about here). The group was made up of Annette; Steven, our writing teacher; Hayley, another ICC instructor; Benjie and his friends, Luisa and Raqui. Food markets in Chinatown can be overwhelming so it was great to work our way through with a sense of purpose and Annette prepped guide. Looking the pictures now, it all seems so vivid. Before today I never felt like I could find the same spot twice, now I can’t wait to go back.

Rambutan, cherries, mangoes, lychees and mangosteens at Tan Tin Hung Supermarket.

Steven, Hayley, Benjie, Annette and Raqui check out a fruit stand on Mulberry Street.

All the rice in the world at Sun Vin Grocery…

and everything you could use to cook it with.

Live fish stall at Hong Kong Market.

Picking out toppings for the ebu ice cream.

Some candy to stop with.

Shopping completed we worked our way back to the kitchen and Annette and Benjie put us to work. I’ll post more tomorrow to show what we did with it all!