she who eats...a peach

ah, the poesy of peaches!

the first of the japanese peaches have arrived. inspired by chika's evocative post on she who eats, and the rather pragmatic words of missy elliott (is it worth it? let me work it!) i shelled out the small ransom that one fruit held.

the romantic side of me sees a voluptuous blushing beauty, with skin like velvet, and a plucked-from-the-branch ripeness that botticelli would fall head over heels for. the aberrant side of me sees me living in it with a giant worm and a little boy named james. this thing is *ginormous*.



lilo is 3 inches tall; james' giant white peach is just a shade shorter, and rotund. the flesh is a creamy pale yellow, veined with dark arteries of pure, sweet juice that burst with every bite. the skin literally blisters with juiciness when you cut into it. the taste is much more delicate than that of a yellow peach but is pronounced enough to make you greedy for more; it is soft, sweet, even, and somewhat lacking in tartness. the velvety skin really adds another dimension to the flavour.

it was gone in seconds.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

--T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". 1917.

no to the hair whimsy and white flannels, mermaids are always a bad sign, but give me a peach like this any day.

chile relleno

chile relleno, made with a fire-roasted anaheim chile, stuffed with queso blanco, asadero, and monterey jack cheese. dipped in flour, eggs, then fried. served with a crema fresca(mexican sour cream) mixed with chopped cilantro.

lunch at jamaican grill.

jamaican grill entrance

today was sunny and breezy, so we decided to have lunch somewhere with a patio. you would think that would be common on island, but no; it's too damn hot most of the time, or raining. luckily, one of our favourite restaurants, jamaican grill has one.


the patio. notice convenient jumbo sized paper towel rolls


view from the patio

as you can guess, this little but extremely popular restaurant in the chamorro village specialises in jamaican style jerk-spiced grilled items. jerk spice is a spicy, pungent mix of chili pepper, onion, allspice and other spices that is used to flavour meats before grilling or roasting. jamaican grill features everything jerked, from burgers to prawns; the downside of this is that no matter what you order, it will pretty much taste the same. the upside is that their particular spice mix is really, really good, their products are fresh, and they are expert grillers, so everything comes out cooked perfectly.

today we ordered their most popular beverage, the reggae sunsplash, a pineapple, mango, guave juice mix:



we started off with the soup, a tomato vegetable chicken combination, that was loaded with tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, and had a very subtle spiciness:



i don't know why we ordered it, considering every meal also comes with a green salad, a chopped veggie salad or fruit bowl! i suppose the relaxed and casual atmosphere really whets the appetite.

we ordered combination plates of the two most popular items, the kingston barbecued jerk chicken, and boston beach ribs, which either come with chamorro-style red rice or a jamaican-style rice with adzuki beans:


combo with red rice


combo with jamaican rice

yes, i know, a festival of meat. but they do have seafood and vegetarian selections, including steamed fish (in white wine or coconut milk) from the fishermen's co-op next door, and a lovely vegetable curry. most entrees range from $6 to $10, and as you can see, the portions are substantial. i'm told they have some sort of dessert (a weird barbecued banana that's *not* a bananacue), but most people never get that far. they also do family and party-sized platters, and fundraising events.



jamaican grill
in the chamorro village, across from paseo stadium.
hågatña
472-2000

another blog event: reader's funky appliance fiesta!

as suggested by anthony from spiceblog, and realised by umami, the first reader's funky appliance fiesta (rFAFi). celebrate culinary kitsch by posting a photo of your favourite funky appliance on sunday, august 1st, 2004. you can check the links for submission guidelines.

oh my giddy aunt! where do i begin?!

IMBB 7: You're Just the Cutest Little Dumpling!

IMBB->7th edition-->hosted by life in flow--->theme: dumplings!---->deadline: sunday august 22

lamb-basted and flamed

lamb rib chops, slathered with a paste of olive oil, cilantro, garlic, fresh red chili peppers, green onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then grilled for 3-4 minutes. served with cucumber and mint yogurt.

i don't normally eat or cook lamb, as i honestly believe i can taste sweaters. however, apparently i needed a lanolin fix, because i felt like cooking it the other night.

i don't have many recipes calling for lamb, and as i was heading towards a bookstore, i thought i might find some inspiration in the food section. i know this guy who goes down to said bookstore every wednesday and basically cribs the night's menu straight from the books. i don't have any problem with lifting a recipe from a book, esp. if it's pricey, or if you don't like any other recipes, but really, wouldn't it be simpler to just check the web? having said that, i did pinch this recipe from a donna hay cookbook (i don't know which one, they all sort of look the same).


viagra: a help in more ways than one

free ice cream cake, this thursday!

this thursday, july 29th, all cold stone creamery ice cream parlors will be giving out free slices of oreos® and devil's food ice cream cake to customers from 5-8 pm. while the slices are free, they are encouraging people to donate a little cash to the make-a-wish foundation®, which benefits children suffering from life-threatening medical conditions.

i am not a fan of the whole cold stone creamery thing, but it is a good cause--and you get free cake!

ch-ch-cherry bombs

deep fried bing cherries, in a batter of flour, sugar, kirsch, eggs and milk. dusted with confectioners sugar.

grilled sea bug

sea bug tails, of the thenus orientalis/slipper lobster/moreton bay bug variety. marinated in sake, grilled on charcoal, brushed with olive oil, served with 'alaea (baked red clay) hawaiian sea salt.

lunch with dominica

my friend, dominica, is currently on island; she's been here for weeks, but we haven't spent any time together, so teresita and i planned on having lunch with her. we didn't really set a menu, but i wanted to do something spanish or tapas influenced. not because i wanted to do something out of the norm (although filipino and chamorro food is heavily influenced by spanish cuisine, it doesn't really exist as a separate entity here), but because i seemed to have an abundance of ingredients that would lend itself well to genre. so basically--my apologies to dominica--i was cleaning out my fridge.

the meal turned out pretty well considering the ulterior motive, the fact that the cooking range where dominica was staying didn't work, and that teresita didn't show up (and as a result, neither did her tortilla española). i'm sure part of that had something to do with the white sangría (an oxymoron, certainly), made with white wine, cointreau, sparkling lemonade, and lime juice:




with such a tasty refreshment on a warm sunny day, it didn't matter what the food was! however, the dishes were successful, mainly because the ingredients used were quite fresh and of a decent quality. we basically had four dishes: braised lentils and pork, albóndigas (meatballs) made with turkey and simmered in a tomato-wine sauce, queso fundido (melted cheese dip), and a salad of mixed field greens, assorted herbs, tomatoes, niçoise olives, and red onions drizzled with balsamico and olive oil.



the queso fundido was super simple, just melted smoked provolone with a mix of chopped fresh herbs and chili peppers, then drizzled with some olive oil. it was served with some crusty bread, dry cured salami, and more olive oil.



the albóndigas were sort of a tribute to a guy i knew in college; he didn't really cook that much, but if he wanted to make an impressive meal, he would buy a piece of beef, throw in some veggies and garlic, pour a whole bottle of wine on top, then simmer it. it worked out more times than not. the meatballs were made with ground turkey meat, bread crumbs, eggs, garlic and chopped parsley, browned, then simmered in a bottle of white wine and some tomato puree.



i had originally intended on making crispy lentils with ham, with some lentils i had braised earlier with lots of onions, garlic, and some leftover roast pork. however, since the cooktop didn't work (my fault), i just decided to serve the lentils as is, on a bed of mizuna (chrysanthemum leaves), that would wilt from the heat. it was delicious--the tiny, creamy, salty green lentils complemented the sweetness of the pork, and the mizuna added a little bit of bitterness to the dish. however, i'm still keen on taking the leftover lentils, fishing out the pork, and sautéeing them in crushed garlic and olive oil with some prosciutto until they are crispy on the outside, but retain that sweet creaminess on the inside. it would be lovely paired with some fried sage leaves and a smoky tomato salsa.

mmm. i would make that into another meal with dominica, but i promise, i'll actually go shopping for the next one!

a startling discovery

today was a really weird, rushed day that culminated in me refurnishing an apartment in less than 4 hours. not mine. i don't know if that's a big accomplishment, but it felt like one, and i think i did it for less than $400. of course, as any home makeover show will tell you, it's all about the accessories, so a good chunk of my budget went towards the martha stewart defense fund at kmart (the guam store is supposedly the largest in the world, although i suspect it has to do with the (sinking) parking lot). good gravy, martha, why are your candles more expensive than your mini-springform pans (4 for $16, i couldn't resist--i'll be making mini-cheesecakes with caramelised nectarines soon).

anyway, at some point i realised i hadn't eaten all day, and i was going to get a pizza for the guys working with me, so i thought i would brave the food establishment within the mart o' da k--little caesar's (or is it li'l caesar's?). i had recently read a blog (i don't remember the url, sorry) from a korean guy who had recently visited guam; he loved the lasagna he had at little caesar's so much he ate it four times in the four days he was here. i find this both seriously horrifying and seriously fascinating. having never had said lasagna, i can't tell you what the attraction is; all i know is that a joint that can and does sell masses of 3-foot long pizzas for under $5 elicits a healthy amount of culinary scepticism on my part. but, i was famished, and even though marvin likes their 'za because he says you don't have to chew it, it just sort of slides down ya, i decided to get something as well.

so no, the surprising discovery isn't that i got a slice and marveled at its slidy goodness, it's that little caesar's (on guam anyway) has a pretty cheap, pretty good udon and ramen bar. yeah, i know, slap some furikake on my head and call me lunch, but i wasn't expecting ramen! ramen! in the pizza! pizza! joint. it's very basic, but the noodles aren't added to the dashi (clear broth) until you order it, and you can get fish cake, green onions, seaweed, and bamboo shoots added to your liking. the udon was good--firm and ungloopy--as was the soup, a medium density soy and bonito broth, with not that much msg. all the condiments were fresh, the server was v. accommodating regarding my desire for green onion breath, and i spent less than a fiver for my entire meal.

i don't know if i'll ever repeat this experience, but at least i know it's there in case the need for green onion breath arises next time i'm at the k.

recipe: masas de puerco

okay, i have to tell you this is the name that i was told this dish is, and i've found validation for it on the web (snort)--it is a well known cuban dish--but um, i did pay attention in spanish class (i had some *interesting* teachers), so i'm pretty sure masas de puerco translates to "lumps of sluttishness" (or as i'd like to think: sluttish lumps)....masas de *puerca*, however, translates to "masses of pork", but i do realise it's probably a cuban-spanish thing, and really, both translations aren't far off from the truth.

as i said, it's a cuban dish: cubish pork marinated in lots of garlic, onions, herbs, citrus juice and olive oil, braised, then fried. it's traditionally served with fried plantains, rice, and black beans, but i don't remember why i didn't do with them. i just didn't.

the recipe, loosely:

make a marinade with the following ingredients:
olive oil
lemon juice
lime juice
orange juice
a head or two of garlic, peeled and roughly crushed or chopped
one onion, roughly chopped
a small bunch of thyme
a fistful of oregano
a dash of paprika or pimentón if you have it

marinate a chunk of pork (i used a 2½ lb.pork butt with the excess fat trimmed off--although from the photo above it looks like i missed a side), cut into 2-inch cubes, overnight. remove the meat from the marinade, add to a pot with a couple of cups of lightly salted water. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the water is gone (about half an hour). add a generous amount of olive oil and fry the chunks until the meat turns a lovely shade of brown, add 1 sliced onion,sautée until just wilted. drain off the excess fat, add a squeeze of lemon, and serve.

kawaii alert! vegemil bottles!

love, love, love this bottle of soy milk's graphics....

actually, i'm not entirely sure this korean product is all soy milk. it's v. sweet and nutty, it reminds me of almond milk. (although, duh, it is called vegetable milk, not nut and veggie mix milk.) does anyone know?

lunch from tokyo mart.

too lazy. sushi pretty good for a deli. octopus kelaguen a-ok.

bananaque split

inspired by a comment from reid, the bananaque split with coconut sorbet, pineapple carpaccio, and mango "flowers".

finally, finadene photo!

finadene recipe here!

IMBB 6: kelaguen mannok

this wednesday, july 21st, is the 60th anniversary of guam's liberation by us forces from japanese occupation in world war 2. although the core of the many events is solemn, it *is* a celebration of and by the local people, known as chamorros. for my first "is my blog burning?" entry, i wanted to submit a chamorro dish in honour of the unique culture of the island.

i decided on kelaguen mannok, chicken kelaguen, which is a standard local dish. it is basically a chopped chicken ceviche-type dish with freshly grated coconut, hot red chilis, and onions. however simple it is, it comes with a complex history reflecting guam's native culture, the influence from hispanic, latino, and filipino cultures during its time in the 16th century spanish empire, and the far east asian influence during the japanese occupation in the 1940s.

this is what you'll need:

1 3-4 lb. broiler-fryer chicken, cut into pieces or 2½-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken parts, seasoned with salt and pepper, then grilled (preferrably over charcoal); after cooking, discard bones and skin, coarsely mince the meat
2-3 c. freshly grated coconut (frozen fresh coconut can be substituted--if you can't find either, omit it, do not substitute with bagged coconut)
1 c. chopped green onions
½-1 c. of fresh lemon, lime, calamansi, or dayap juice
thai bird chili peppers or scotch bonnet chili peppers, finely chopped (i start with 6 and work my way up!)

this is what you'll do:

put all the ingredients in a bowl. mix them up. adjust the acid--is it not lemony enough for you? add more. adjust the heat--is it not spicy enough? you know what to do. salt and pepper to taste.

it is not necessary to grill the chicken over charcoal or wood, but i do recommend it as the smoky flavour adds a depth to this spicy, lemony dish that pan or gas grilled chicken doesn't. you can omit the spicy chilis altogether, but the sweet milkiness of the fresh coconut will temper the fire in every bite.



kelaguen is served either cold or at room temperature. you can eat it as is, or wrapped in a warm corn or flour tortilla, or the local version, titiyas, with a little finadene on the side.



i hope you enjoy it!

IMBB entry, take 1: going down in flames

when i read that the next "is my blog burning?" subject would be barbecuing and grilling, i started thinking about food that i might like to enter. would it be filipino? chamorro? american? i know my way around a grill, but barbecue is another matter; the only thing i know how to do well is pizza, which really sounds stupid, but is quite delish. still, it couldn't hurt to try something, i could always use the experience.

i trawled through the web, looking to see if there was anything anyone was craving, and i was rather surprised to see that bananaque (banana-q, bananacue) came up frequently.

bananaque (apparently the preferred spelling--personally i think that looks like it should be pronounced "bana-ná-keh" like parañaque, but then it'd be a city in the philippines) is a street or market food in the philippines, two burnt caramel coated bananas threaded on a bamboo skewer. the bananas used are saba bananas, which are a little tart and starchy, meant for cooking, not to be eaten raw. bananaque is quite delicious--the banana cooks in the intense heat, the flesh slightly condenses so the apple-y banana taste is more pronounced, the brown sugar caramelizes and infuses the banana slightly but also forms brulée-like shards of burnt sugar that melt on your tongue before you bite into the firm but creamy flesh. really, there is a reason why people miss it. perfect, i thought. i'll do bananaque.

of course, none of the web pages i found listed a recipe (which apparently is another reason people miss it), so i texted a cousin in the philippines. hey, i wrote. can you tell me how to make bananaque? do i have to cook the bananas before i throw them on the barbecue? (in reality it was more like "cn u gv me bnaQ rcp pls-bl b4 bbq?")

this is the reply i got:

TNGE!TLPN NG SGNG DIP ZGR DIP FRY!NGT!

which roughly translates to:

you dork, you *fry* it.

!!

phffffft(the sound of me deflating). at this point you would never think i'd been to a state fair because i thought, "wha? but it's on a stick!" and if there's anything i've learned from a state fair it's that *any* food can be a stick, of course it doesn't have to be barbecued. i can't even being to describe how let down (read:annoyed) i felt in finding out that there was no 'que in bananaque (i have no life).

there goes my imbb entry.

after all that, i decided to make them anyway. i had to get maricel (pictured above) to help me, as i turned the first batch into carbon. the complete recipe, of course, is TLPN NG SGNG DIP ZGR DIP FRY, which translates to this:

find a nice, ripe bunch of saba bananas.



peel bananas.



place bananas in hot oil on a medium to high flame (a lot of bananas works better than a few).



sprinkle brown or palm sugar sparingly (too much and you're asking for a gooey mess) on the bananas while they fry. if your bananas are ripe, they'll have some sweetness in them when cooked.



fry until the sugar has melted and the bananas turn a golden brown colour. you'll only need a couple of minutes.



take out bananas and drain, but obviously not on paper or paper towels as the sugar will stick to it. thread on a sturdy bamboo skewer or chopstick if you want to perpetuate the lie.

enjoy!

in my shopping basket: harina de maís

here on guam (in guam? i'll never get it right), the traditional bread is titiyas(tih-tí-jhahs), which as the name suggests, is not unlike the mexican flatbread, tortilla. we have both a corn and wheat flour variety.

the corn titiya is simply made from ground dried corn, or more commonly, masa harina, a flour made from hominy (corn soaked in lye) and water. it is simply pressed out into a large circle and grilled, then cut into wedges. the flour titiya is a little more complicated and significantly different from the mexican one: it involves baking powder, milk, and sugar. it is fatter disc, both sweeter and fluffier, and also made as a large circle and cut into wedges.

i like both the mexican and chamorro corn tortillas, but sometimes i find they are a little dry and tough, and the smell of lye is a little off-putting. when i make corn tortillas and titiyas at home, they tend to be hard and brittle. now i use harina de maís, a pre-cooked corn flour that is used in arepas (ah-ré-pahs), the venezuelan version of a griddle cake, often stuffed with cheese, or sometimes it's also like a tortilla, flat and grilled.

the difference between harina de maís and masa harina is that the harina de maís is made with dried corn that hasn't been turned into hominy. i'm not sure what the difference between harina de maís and a finely ground white cornmeal, though. when using harina de maís in making tortillas, the difference is noticeable; you get a crispy crusted flatbread, with a soft feather-like interior. it's more delicate in texture and in flavour, and worth the effort to make.

harina de maís is also known as harina pan, for the popular brand name. some people swear by it, won't buy any other brand. if you can find it (the company i bought this bag from went out of business!), try using it sometime. it runs about $2.50 for a 1kg bag.

recipe: titiyas

most chamorros do not make their own titiyas, they can be bought at many supermarkets and village markets, made fresh daily in small batches by various local individuals.

if you have harina de maís, however, you might be tempted to try making your own, as it is very simple and they are very tasty.

dissolve ½ teaspoon of salt into one cup of lukewarm water in a bowl. slowly add a cup of harina de maís until a soft dough is formed. let dough sit for 10 minutes.

pull off a piece of dough and roll into a ball slightly larger than a golf ball, then place it between two sheets of wax paper or some clingfilm (to prevent it from sticking):



flatten with a rolling pin to form a thin pancake. (i just use a shallow bowl and press downwards):



peel off top layer of wax paper or clingfilm, use bottom layer to transfer dough to your hand (exposed side towards palm). peel off second layer.



slap that sucker down on a lightly greased hot griddle or charcoal grill, cook until lightly browned. turn over, brown other side.



serve warm with lots of butter, or top with a white cheese and broil, or fill with kelaguen. these do not keep long, so only make as many as you can consume in one meal (often more than you think!).

shopping for coconut

oh, my husky friend, you have every reason to be afraid....

i needed coconut for my IMBB entry; last weekend i tried doing it myself by scrounging around the yard for one (i guess storm/pink party wiped us out), then grating it without the benefit of a coconut grater--something i wouldn't recommend. all i got was a measly cup and a nasty scar. i usually get mine by begging an uncle to do it for me, eh, there's a bunch of roadside vegetable stands that are nearby, one of them's bound to have a coconut for me.

most of the vegetable stands on island are run by vietnamese; many of them arrived on island in 1975, when guam became a refugee camp for the many airlifted out during the war.

i went to mai's, across the street from seaside mart. i don't normally go here, but it was the first one i came across.



almost all her produce is local; because of the recent tropical storm, the stand was relatively understocked. i was looking for an older coconut--niug in tagalog, niyyok in chamorro, niu in hawaiian (and nazi in swahili!). the coconut we used for the coconut sorbete is known as buko and too young for what i need.

she did have a few coconuts, but they were all just a little old. still, they were passable, so i bought one. the nice thing about the stands is that almost all of them have electric coconut graters (just a small motor with a giant burr attached, really) so you can spare yourself the grief. mai took her machete and cut the coconut cleanly in half (holding it in one hand, i might add. i'm surprised she still has two). when she cracked it open, this is what we found:



i think it's called a coconut flower. in our particular dialect in the philippines (pampangan, if anyone's interested), it's known as a tumbong--a spongey, cellulose mass saturated in coconut milk. you know your coconut's a little old if you come across one of these (it's the beginning stage of sprouting to become a tree). it is completely edible, and quite delicious (i don't think you can cook with it--does anyone know?).


mai gets to work, gratin' that coconut.


the final product!