Lola Virginia’s Chicken Relleno (roasted chicken stuffed with ground pork, raisins, chorizo and peas), Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare (oxtail and tripe stew in a peanut-based sauce served with steamed vegetables and Romulo Café’s house bagoong) and the list went on and on.
Alessandra Romulo Squillantini, granddaughter of the late statesman Carlos P. Romulo and her husband Enzo Squillantini graciously shared family recipes that date back several generations at a cooking demonstration at The Maya Kitchen recently.
Put on your apron and try and re-create the family’s heirloom recipes along with Ginataang Sigarilyas with Tinapa (winged beans cooked in coconut milk and topped with smoked tinapa); Adobong Manok sa Gata (boneless chicken cooked adobo style with coconut milk); and Tropical Turon (pineapple filled and served with calamansi sherbet with lemon sauce).
Lola Virginia’s Chicken Relleno
(roasted chicken stuffed with ground pork, raisins, chorizo, and peas)
1 piece whole chicken (1 kilo)
160 grams onions
1 can Vienna sausage
100 grams chorizo bilbao
25 grams processed cheese, grated
500 grams ground pork
50 grams raisins
50 grams frozen peas
100 grams pickle relish
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pieces eggs
2 teaspoons butter
Preheat oven to 250°F. Debone the chicken. Chop the onions, Vienna sausage and chorizo. Mix all the ingredients well. Put stuffing in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken on a baking pan or dish. Brush the skin with butter. Cook the chicken for 1 hour or until skin of the chicken is golden brown.
Tropical Turon
(pineapple filled and served with calamansi sherbet with lemon sauce)
1 kilo fresh pineapple, chopped
250 grams brown sugar
50 grams cinnamon powder
10 pieces lumpia wrapper
75 grams butter
250 grams lemon juice
125 grams honey
125 grams MAYA All-Purpose Flour
250 ml oil, for frying
In a sauce pan, combine pineapple and brown sugar and simmer until the pineapple is cooked. Add cinnamon powder to this and let the mixture cool down. Cut each lumpia wrapper into 2 equal pieces. Put 1 tablespoon of pineapple mixture at the center of one wrapper and fold to form a triangle.
Heat oil in a saucepan. Fry the turon until golden brown.
In another saucepan, combine butter, lemon juice, honey and flour to make lemon sauce. Serve with turon.
Ginataang Sigarillas with Tinapa
(winged beans cooked in coconut milk and topped with smoked tinapa)
250 ml oil
9 grams garlic
15 grams white onion
90 grams smoked tinapa
450 grams sigarillas
3 teaspoons bagoong
9 grams chicken broth cubes
250 ml water
300 ml fresh gata
Sauté garlic, onions and smoked tinapa. Add sigarillas, bagoong, chicken broth and water. Wait until the sigarillas are cooked before adding the fresh gata; simmer for a few minutes. Put on a serving plate and serve.
Servings: Good for 3
Tito Greg’s Kare-Kare
(oxtail and tripe stew in a peanut-based sauce,
served with steamed vegetables and Romulo Café’s house bagoong)
750 grams ox tail
80 grams white onions
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
30 grams glutinous rice
100 grams dry, roasted peanuts
150 grams eggplant
150 grams string beans
30 grams annatto oil
10 grams garlic
50 grams shrimp paste
salt, to taste
150 grams banana blossom
Wash ox tail very well. Place in a pot with enough water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes and discard the water. Refill the pot with water. Peel and cut the white onions into quarters. Add to the pot along with salt and peppercorns. Bring everything to a boil and immediately reduce heat to simmering temperature (82°C/180°F). Cover and cook for 90 minutes or until the ox tail is tender. Cool in the cooking liquid, cover and refrigerate to bring the fat to the surface. Bring out the ox tail from the cooking liquid and reserve the broth.
Toast the glutinous rice in a skillet until golden brown. Once cooled, pulse the glutinous rice in a food processor. Do the same with the roasted peanuts until the peanuts become creamy. Slice the eggplants lengthwise, leaving the stems intact. Cut the string beans into 5-cm long pieces.
In another pot, heat the annatto oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic together with the shrimp paste. Add the ox tail and sauté for a few minutes before adding 4 cups of reserved broth. Lower the flame and simmer until the broth has been reduced by half. Add the toasted ground rice and stir continuously until thick and creamy. Add the peanut paste and keep stirring. Turn off heat but keep the pot covered.
In a separate pot, boil the remaining water and add salt. Add the string beans and cook but should still be firm and green. Add the banana blossom and eggplant and boil until cooked.
Servings: Good for 3
Adobong Manok sa Gata
(boneless chicken cooked adobo style with coconut milk)
450 grams chicken fillet
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 pieces egg whites
250 grams breading
500 ml oil, for deep frying
15 grams garlic
30 grams white onion
30 grams ginger
375 ml fresh gata
30 grams chicken broth cubes
6 tablespoons pinakurat
15 grams malunggay leaves
60 grams green chilli
In a bowl, season chicken fillet with salt and pepper. Dip fillet pieces in beaten egg whites and roll in breading. Deep-fry until golden brown. Set aside.
Sauté onion, garlic and ginger. Add fresh gata, chicken broth cubes, pinakurat, malunggay leaves and cooked chicken. Garnish with chopped green chili.
Servings: Good for 3
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