lorwill!

"if you see a faded sign at the side of the road...."

and it's in dededo? then it's probably not the love shack. if someone tells you it is, i'd stay well clear. however, if you see a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road, around a shack with smoke coming out of it, it might be a fire (call 9-11 already) or it might be lorwill bbq stand. 

i haven't been there in the past six months because every time i've driven by, there hasn't been any sort of parking available; unless things have radically changed in those months, i'm pretty sure the place has remained mostly the same: nothing to look at on the outside,  popular for filipino-style barbecue sticks, lots of brown food--medium chunks of various meats in various gravies--in the catering trays.

the most popular items on the menu are the barbecue sticks, which come in pork or chicken, and are marinated, filipino style, in a thin, sweet-salty-soy marinade. lorwill is mostly consistent with their sticks--a generous amount of lean but tender meat, well-seasoned, not too sweet, not too salty, not too knorr/maggi season-y/worcester-y, with possibly just a hint of citrus (:cough: lemon-lime soda :cough:). they do a good job--the meat is very well cooked, slightly charred on the outside, but still moist on the inside, with the marinade penetrating the meat, but not overpowering it. they sell them by the stick (the last time i checked, $1.75/chicken, $1.50/pork), or get a plate with two sticks along with either a scoop of white rice, pancit fried noodles, or filipino-style spaghetti. i think there must be some sort of antibacterial/antifungal/antibiotic property in filipino barbecue marinades*, because i tend to buy the cooked sticks in bulk (yeah, that's me cleaning out the supply), and they last forrrrrrever in the fridge, with little deterioration in reheating. well, maybe not forever. but still. 

even though times are tough, the selection from the turo-turo line is seems to get bigger every time i go. generally everything i've gotten from there has been well-cooked, with good quality ingredients, and generous portions. turo-turo literally means "point-point", which is pretty much what you do: point at a dish (or two or three), and you'll get a heap of it served with either two scoops of steamed white rice or a mess of pancit fried noodles. i don't know if there's rhyme or reason behind what comes out every day--i'm guessing what's popular is what they cook, hence, as i mentioned before, lots of meaty and brown. however, there's some good stuff in there--adobo with lots of garlic and gravy, oxtail, bistec with lots of tender onions, a chunky, tomatoey beef stew called caldereta. however, i tend to look for anything with seafood, and if you are lucky you can pick from grilled or fried bangus (milkfish) or tilapia, or fat steaks of bangus in a sour sinigang soup, or maybe some of my favourites: a chinese stir-fry inspired dish of veggies, squid and mussels in a spicy sauce, tilapia halves cooked with lots of vinegar, garlic and onions--called paksiw, similar to escabeche in flavour, squid stewed in its own ink, or mongo (green mung beans) cooked down into a stew with dried shrimp, pork, and bitter melon (all pictured above).

even though i think lorwill does a surprisingly good job with their veggies (a chop suey of sorts is usually available, as is the pinoy version using native vegetables called pinakbet) some of my favourite things on the menu are dishes i rarely get because they are just so, so, sooooo freaking good whilst being so freaking bad for you: lechon kawali and sisig. these are people who know their way around a pig. lechon kawali is the pig of the people, something that appeals to almost everyone: tender pork belly with bits of skin and just enough fat to be sinful included with each chunk, deep-fried so there is shards of skin and a crackly crust that gives way to sweet, moist meat buried within, and served with a homemade lechon sauce that is sweet, slightly tangy and rich with liver, but you'd be hard pressed to ID it as such if i didn't just tell you (eh. no biggie. you need the iron.). sisig might be more of a challenge, if you haven't tried it, but dang, people! try it! sisig is a dish that, depending on how you look at these things, incorporates pig parts that you would rather not think about, or, is an ideal representation of the "nose-to-tail" eating philosophy. the lorwill version uses ears and snouts, which are meticulously cleaned and chopped enough to be indiscernibly anything squeamish (you will not be sniffing at a sniffer, or so you think), and then cooked--several times over, actually--laboriously with vinegar or lemon, ginger, garlic, onions and chili peppers until it all amalgamates into a melting, soft and fatty, cartilage-squeaky, pungent, vibrant, son-of-a-gun sexy pork dish. nibble on some ears, why dontcha.
 

i like the food here. i don't particularly hang around once i order, but the fact that it is pretty much just a corrugated tin and wood shack with a couple of funky ordering windows obvs doesn't put me off. you are definitely going to hate the parking as much as i do, and please be careful when parking there because there are some very stupid drivers doing some very stupid things at very stupid times right around there. they are open early enough for breakfast (try the tortang talong) and open quite late at night, so you have plenty of time to mosey on over.

lorwill bbq stand
28 (really??) n. marine corps drive, in front of guam home center, next to dededo retail store (whoo, guam! we don't mess around with the names of our businesses, do we?)
dededo.

*i don't really believe this. i think my fridge is just really freezer cold.

bistek

although the philippines and guam are generally considered asian or pacific/asian countries, you could definitely argue that with the acapulco-manila galleon trade of the 16th-19th centuries and early spanish rule, much of our respective cultures are more in keeping with latin america than most of southeast asia.

bistek--which means "beef steak"--is the filipino/chamoru equivalent of a beef dish called bistec commonly found throughout hispanic and latino countries. it is, in fact, the pacific cousin to bistec encebollado, or steak with onions. it is quite literally just that: grilled or pan-fried beef fillets marinated in a soy sauce and citrus marinade with just a hint of garlic, with rings of sautéed onions.

i'm not sure what the actual difference between the filipino and chamoru versions is, if there is one at all. the recipe i grew up with uses calamansi (or kalamansi if you like) juice as the souring agent. it also acts as a meat tenderizer, so it is not necessary to use the best cuts of beef for this--although i have generally seen sirloin and tenderloin (eye steak) used, this is a good way to use tougher cuts like flank and round. however, should you find yourself with a dozen defrosted rib eyes and new york strips because someone inadvertently unplugged the fridge overnight, don't hesitate to use them. in fact, don't hesitate to use them.

this is a fairly easy recipe, but it does require that you generally know how to cook a piece of meat. i can cook a tender cut of steak, but i'm flummoxed with a flank. my mother, however, can make the leanest cuts as soft as butter, so adapt this recipe accordingly. ideally you should end up with tender meat and meltingly soft onions in not-too-salty-not-too-sour meaty gravy. but you know what? if you eff it up, it's still going to be pretty good, so don't worry about it and try it again another time.



bistek

2-lbs of beef steaks of your choice, whatever you're comfortable with using
1 cup of soy sauce (important note: if all you have is kikkoman original brand or something as strong, use less--anywhere from 1/4th to 1/2 cup less because it is a little harsh for this recipe. i use aloha shoyu, which i find is sweeter and milder, but try a lower sodium brand or even tamari if you can't find an equivalent)
1/2-3/4th cup of calamansi juice, or any sour citrus juice--use more or less to your taste
2 large onions, cut into rings
2 cloves of garlic, minced finely
olive oil

marinate the meat in the soy sauce and calamansi juice for a minimum of four hours--overnight is better. depending on your cut of beef, two nights might be best, but that's sort of pushing it. fry or grill in a large, smokin' hot pan or skillet on high heat until medium rare to medium (it will continue to cook for a few minutes after taken from heat). remove from pan, set aside. lower the heat to medium high, add a couple tablespoonfuls of olive oil to the pan, then the garlic and onions. sautée until at least translucent--my family prefers them to be caramelized, which takes much longer but has a sweeter result. add beef and any meat juices back into pan; if it's relatively dry, add some of the marinade and/or water, turn heat down, simmer for a few minutes. serve with a bucket of rice or potatoes.

icy treats.

it is no wonder that ice-based treats are popular in the philippines--the average yearly temperature is 26.5°C (79.7°F), and 85% humidity is not uncommon. whether you are in the city or in the provinces, for the most part (unless you're lucky to live high in the mountains), you take a shower in the morning and step out immediately feeling like you need to take another shower. you are pretty well aware that you live in the tropics.

the most popular of the ice-based treats is probably halo-halo (literally "mix-mix"), a non-specific but fairly colourful mix of preserved fruits and beans, milk , and ice served in a tall glass. the name comes not only from the array of ingredients, but also from the idea that you mix everything together so you get a milky, sludgy, icy drink. (a note about the milk in halo-halo: evaporated milk is typically used because it is rich without being too creamy, and can be used sparingly; also, when it is mixed with the ice it dilutes to a regular milk consistency and flavour.) it is often served as merienda, but equally as popular as a dessert. or, a dessert at merienda :)

i've just come to learn about guinomis, another icy confection, which i'm told is a popular lenten repast, probably because it has less ingredients than halo-halo, and is also dairy-free. why, why, whyyyyy hadn't i known this before?! the creamy white expanse you see is from coconut milk, which covers a combination of nata de coco (a fermented but non-alcoholic coconut water gel), sago or tapioca pearls, pinipig (toasted rice flakes--the older sibling of duman), and a palm sugar syrup. the whole thing is served in a tall glass as well, covered by a tiny mountain of shaved ice. i absolutely love the non-dairyness of this; the coconut milk is creamy, but not über-thick with actual cream. it is not overloaded with too many flavours so you can really taste the caramel of the palm sugar syrup and the toasty rice flavour of the pinipig, which permeates the liquid. the nata de coco and sago/tapioca provide a nice, chewy texture against the flurry of quick melting ice flakes.

in fact, the ice that is used in these desserts is quite important--the finer the better. it is much finer than crushed ice, or even snow cone ice; japanese kakigori, malaysian/singaporean ice kachang, the southeast asian cendol and hawaiian shave ice have the same consistency. there are machines that can produce this fine ice, but for my money, i usually turn to a hand-held ice shaver. it works like a wood plane--the bottom has a long blade that is run across the surface of a block of ice; the resulting ice shavings are collected within, like a tiny bank of snow.

it usually takes about two of these little caches for one serving of halo-halo or guinomis, which really takes no time at all, once you get a rhythm going. it also seems to be more satisfying than just pressing a button or swirling around a handle on a machine; perhaps it's that little extra effort that makes it all the more sweeter. this particular type of shaver is still quite popular in the philippines, and is still made there; we've had ours for thirty years now, and it hasn't failed yet. if you are stateside and looking for one, this mainland company sells a similar one.

also quite fashionable these days is a specialty of our family province of pampanga: white halo-halo. it is basically the same as regular halo-halo , only it contains monochromatic ingredients. the most famous example of this is from a restaurant in the town of guagua called razón's; they use only leche flan (a baked milky custard), and saba bananas boiled in a palm sugar syrup. another popular variation has little milky candies in it--pastillas de leche or yemas--and not much else. i prefer the razón's version, which i make at home, with the addition of (colour-free) nata de coco or kaong (sugared date palm nuts) for a little texture.

winter wonderland in a glass.



technorati tagged! philippines filipino dessert merienda

duman and tsokolate.

the holidays are mostly over, but i've still got a healthy cache of duman in my freezer. duman is a seasonal rice product that is a specialty of the province of pampanga, where my family is from. the harvesting season coincides with the beginning of the christmas holiday season, which is why these rice "flakes" are often considered a special holiday food; it is also quite laborious to produce, and therefore expensive, which adds to its specialness. cousin karen has the most extensive posts on duman (some of which are also the best food blog posts ever written, imo), so i leave it to her, and leave it to you to check them out.

there are several ways to enjoy duman, but probably the most popular is to sprinkle some into a cup of thick hot chocolate, tsokolate, made with the local filipino chocolate, tablea--a mix of crushed native cacao beans and peanuts which form a thick paste, and are sold in solidified tablet or ball form. the chocolate drink is made with milk--if you are lucky, carabao milk (evaporated milk is a popular substitute)--brought to a boil and the tablea is melted and whisked into the hot liquid until thick and frothy (i will save that for another post).



the past few weeks i have indulged all too frequently in a version of this duman with tsokolate, made with tablea, but with a half-milk, half-water mix, and an decadent square or two of valrhona carre jivara thrown in. the carre jivara is their milk chocolate blend, which works well with the cruder, bitter local chocolate, and lends just enough milkiness for me, and a little vanilla note. i like it very thick, so a little goes a long way; also, when you sprinkle the duman over the chocolate, it takes quite awhile to sink to the bottom, where they swell up like turgid torpedoes, creating an earthy, velvet sludge of slightly nutty, slightly chewy rice enrobed in deep, dark chocolate. like an insanely luxurious chocolate rice pudding, or champorado. ah, but what is holiday food about besides indulgence anyway?

tagged! hot+chocolate philippines filipino culture cocoa rice sweet+indulgence