it seems utterly silly that i would have an entry dedicated to spam - the only canned meat product that can spark so much familiarity, disgust, and comfort in one thought.  it's true - i once participated, competed, and won an actual spam competition where i presented both a salad and chocolate-infused version of the staple.  

today I'll share my favorite way of preparing spam that might be shockingly simple and alarming at the same time.  It requires one ingredient - sugar. 

Method:

1. Prior to frying, roll both sides of a 1/16" slice of spam over sugar.

2. Fry over medium heat and serve over hot rice with sliced scallions.

This is the way a friend's "Lola" prepared it when I was growing up. I was not fortunate enough to have either of my grandmothers raise me for a long enough period.  I ended up leeching off the hospitality of my bff's grandmas and this is the way she prepared it.  I never realized how different it was until I realized how uncommon it was. 

I know, it's April. But this version of tinola is so comforting and rich, it can be served all year long.  

my wintery version is truly an "influence" recipe.  tinola is traditionally chicken and papaya simmered in a broth of pepper leaves and ginger.  in Guam, i often would hear the word kadu often thrown around and when someone assured me that i would not be able to resist chicken kadu, i had to indulge although i never heard of it.  i immediately thought it was a watered down version of tinola.  then others continued to educate me on the many nuances of kadu in chamorro cuisine.  while many versions exist, there is not just one way to make kadu. it seems to be the quintessential comfort food of choice for chamorros: that memory of their nana simmering a heaping bowl of meat and veggies in a clear broth.  i ultimately deduced that filipinos' familiar nilaga, pesa, and tinola were equivalent to the spectrum of kadu that could be prepared. 

and most especially on a "cold" rainy day back home, kadu was was the cowbell to get everyone to the table.  

so there you have it - this version has kernels of sweet corn and coconut milk added to the broth to give it a very earthy richness.

ingredrients:

minced garlic, onion, ginger

Fish sauce

bone-in chicken of your choice 

chayote

Spinach

Corn

Coconut milk

1. Sautée garlic, onion, ginger in fish sauce until transparent.

2. Add chicken until browned.

3. Pour enough water to cover the meat.

4. Add chayote and cook while covered until the chicken is cooked through.

5.skim the fat from the broth and add 1 can of coconut milk and the spinach and corn (it's ok to use frozen spinach and corn)

6. Bring to boil uncovered until aeromatic.

Absolutely enjoyable with tons of rice!

pronounced ti-tee-zas. what can i say chamorro month has put me on a nostalgic chamorro-foodkick.  i went to a friend's house for a birthday party and then impulsively bought corn flour at the grocery store.  this led me to this week's adventures in tityas.

there are droves of versions out there and this week i took the liberty of experimenting with titiyas, the guam version of tortillas.  they are not quite a tortilla but more of thin flat bread.  the plain version is traditionally made with all purpose flour and coconut mlik.  there is also a sweeter variation traditionally made with fresh shreds of young coconut.  a friend had tipped me into using actual tortilla flour (specifically, the white flour version called harina preparada) but this week i also explored a gluten-free option by using corn flour, or masa harina, found in the hispanic food aisle. both are available at walmart.  a tortilla press would make the job easier but i found that forming balls of dough and then flattening with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment paper to be just as effective.  this could also create a larger size, rather than the size of an 8" tortilla press.  titiyas are delectable lathered with butter but are most often served with the ever-popular chicken kelaguen, a recipe fit for it's own entry.

recipe:
2 1/2 cups flour of your choice
1 cup cream of coconut (trader joe's has an excellent canned product)

for manha titiyas, add
2 tablespoons coconut strings (macapuno, from a can)

1. Combine ingredients to form a firm dough
2. Press to preferred size until as thick as pancake
3. Heat generous amount of butter on a flat pan or gridle pan over medium high heat
4. When the flattened dough is ready, dust with flour before putting on the heated pan
5. Glide the titiya around the pan until it absorbs the butter
6. Leave unturned until browning bubbles form
7. Turnover to cook the other side

i really did not feel a need to add sugar or milk as many other recipes have suggested.  the gluten-free option was my preferred choice because it provided the best balanced flavor.  when i was working a summer job at 16, my chamorro coworkers would bring spam kelaguen and corned beef simmered in onions as a comfort-food snack.  this always reminds me of that.

there is not flat bread equivalent in filipino food that i can think of.  we were instead raised on pan de sal as our poor man's bread.  titiyas are the easiest staple to make and the added ingredient of cream of coconut gives it the perfect richness.

march is chamorro month.  it is the month we commemorate guam's discovery day on the first monday in march, among other notable dates in honoring our native people.  growing up it used to be a week-long celebration that culminated into the university of guam's charter day celebration... but now it has evolved into a month's long array of festivities.

it was a yearly ritual throughout all my years in school - we dressed up in island attire, hosted visiting artisans and woven crafts, and binged on coconut candy and bunelos aga (banana fritters)!  the best part was singing along to live performances by jesse bias. one quick sidebar: i also learned all my catholic schoolgirl prayers in chamorro and to this very day...i can still recite most of the our father and hail mary.

my parents worked for the government of guam where we were easily integrated into all the local splendor!...especially the food.  it was the one true commonality that was obvious to me: that filipino food and chamorro dishes were frequently one in the same. a distinct difference for me is that i could actually speak tagalog fluently and foolishly made the assumption that I could one day speak the local language. having been born and raised in guam, i do identify myself as a guamanian moreso than filipino.  beyond the food, the brown skin, the spanish colonial influence there is that deep-rooted pride of where i am from rather than who i am. 

i hope to have a followup entry attempting to make coconut candy.  i very clearly remember the curly-haired and burly custodian lady, slaving under the unforgiving sun with beads of sweat threatening to drip into that batter she worked with just her hands. before winchell's donuts were the staple, these were the donuts i craved.  it meant frequent and laborious a trips to the neighborhood mobil gas station by bike and me barely making it home before that grease-infested, slimy little sandwich bag was emptied. i'm also including the recipe for maruya, the filipino version of banana fritters.  they are more pancake-like but the result is just as satisfying. the donut tree at the julalale shopping center in hagatna would be the place to get hot and fresh maruya.

bunuelos aga recipe:

2 bananas

2 eggs

2 c flour

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1. Mash all the ingredients together into a sticky dough

2. Deep fry over medium-high heat.

3. Drop equal portions into the batter until the dollops turn into quasi-ball shapes.

4. Very important!: remove from fryer as soon as they turn dark brown and fluffy. 

The longer you keep them in they become like sponges holding in the oil.

Traditionally these are dipped in maple syrup but I prefer them dusted with powdered sugar.

maruya recipe:

2 bananas

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Mash ingredients together and pour batter into a shallow frying pan (not deep fried!) of medium heat, similar to that of an omelette.  

2. Roll over fine baker's sugar and serve.

as you can see maruya is so much simpler but both are great ways to make use of those ripening bananas !

i've also been meaning to try either with rice flour and coconut milk as a gluten-free option.  

the spread: bbq, red rice, fiinadene!

it is a very warm winter in northern california. while the midwest and east coast are in a frozen tundra, we are walking around in open-toe shoes much too early! so i immediately think of barbecue season when warm weather hits.

when locals speak of "barbecue" , this confuses many white people.  unlike "american" bbq that is smoked, smothered, and grilled with barbecue sauce - filipino and chamorro barbecue is actually just marinated and grilled.  it is a very low maintenance approach to enjoying meat.  the ritual is usually to marinate meat for hours, then unwind and grill until it's time to eat and beyond. when calling people over for barbecue, it is implied that you are going to hang out around that grill.  the nice part about this marinade is that you can use any meat and marinate it for as long as you want. barbecue is most especially "special" when served with red rice and finadene.  it is the staple of every party. there are no measurements to this recipe because you can add or reduce to your liking!

RECIPE

Soy sauce

Sliced onions

Lemons

Vinegar

Beer

and now the kicker: if you want to make "filipino" barbecue, simply add banana ketchup (or brown sugar and ketchup) and maggi seasoning (found at the filipino grocery - a small bottle of "maggic seasoning" is like some proprietary soy sauce with a filipino twist (probably garlic and calamansi).  us filipinos like our barbecue on the sweet side. i think we are just "white-washed" in that sense. a lot of popular filipino dishes you'll find incorporate western ingredients such as ketchup, hot dogs, and peanut butter! Filipinos also perfected the quintessential meat-on-a-stick (chicken-on-a-stick) method. use marinated cubed chicken or pork and skewer onto a stick for grilling (no veggies, just meat!) . for any filipino variation, reserve the marinade for basting while grilling.

and just because i used to obsess over the barbecue variations back home, i loved eating at proa or jamaican grill when i was living in guam. as blasphemous as it sounds, for knock-off versions: i add cumin and red wine for a proa version and cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice for that jamaican grill twist!

pronounced: kah-reh, kah-reh.

the spread: best served over rice and shrimp paste sautéed in lemon and garlic.

i don't know of any other filipino dish as divisive as kare kare - when people love it, they are falling over for it and when people hate it, they immediately gag at the thought of peanut butter and beef.  it really is a foodie's filipino dish.  combining the robust flavor profiles of beef and peanuts are for a unique, and dare i say, sophisticated pallette.  it also gets a reputation for being laborious and often times is only prepared for special occasions.  i'm guessing it's because peanut butter was once a luxury item in the Philippines.  the part of this dish that requires the most patience will be tenderizing the meat.  traditionally, ox tail is cooked in the pressure cooker. but on a lazy day, i've even used chicken, pork, and different cuts of stewing meat such as shank or short rib.

the added step of steaming vegetables separately will add color and depth to this dish. when stewed or served altogether, the veggies can get lost in the dish.  i'm a big fan of veggies and really prefer to highlight them in this dish, right alongside the unique peanut-butter-based broth.

RECIPE

1 lb of tenderized meat of choice

2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 onion

6 cups beef stock or the water reserved from tenderizing

1-1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 packet of achote powder

baby bok choy

Sliced eggplant

green beans 

1. Sautée garlic and onions

2. Add meat and broth. If you didn't use a pressure cocker-cooked beef, you can Sautée the meat before adding water or broth. cover over high heat.

3. Once boiling, add the peanut butter and mix until dissolved.

4. Reduce the heat and add achote.

5. Toss in your veggies and summer over medium hear until they are cooked.

6. If industrious like me, place some veggies in a steamer and serve on top of the prepared soup when ready to serve.

i never heard of the actual use of the word estufao until adulthood. it was rare that i ate home-cooked Chamorro food growing up, unless we were at a fiesta.  i grew up in Yigo and this should explain my fiesta know-how.

the one and only chammoro dish my dad would cook religiously is kadun pika (pika is the Chamorro word for spicy - the donne-infused version of adobo) because he was so damn good at it.  it wasn't until i dated a Chamorro family that I finally ate estufao. and when auntie-someone served me estufao for the first time the first words i quietly uttered under my breath were "this is adobo". actually it was "trying to be adobo" were my exact words. i am finding that my chamorro brethren would get offended.  there is really no arguing that adobo is the signature filipino dish.  from what i understand, both are chicken stew and many variants can be applied - for instance some add ginger, achote, curry powder, or coconut milk for different iterations.  in almost every recipe of estufao i've read and witnessed, it is definitely more soy sauce centric than adobo, which should have more vinegar than soy sauce.  the genesis of this dish is having the vinegar act as a pickling agent, preserving the chicken and all that flavor. the soy sauce might have been added much later for color. in fact, i've seen versions of a "blonde" adobo, using no soy sauce at all! there may also be the added step of sauteeing the garlic or browning of the chicken beforehand.  these steps can be skipped if you are looking for something with work.  some people prefer to just throw all the ingredients into a pot and let it stew to perfection. my mom taught me the critical step of uncovering the pot at the end to let the sauce reduce and thicken. this also carmelizes the sauce over the chicken so you get a nice glistened piece of chicken when eating it with freshly-cooked white rice (a must!) when the adobo tempers, you get a gelatinous sauce that retains all the flavor in time for repeat reheating!

the recipe below is classic adobo.  and just like every native recipe, there are going to be thousands of versions with slight deviations. the recipe is that sequence that i've ritualized. i prefer to use apple cider vinegar because it's earthiness.  white vinegar is definitely acceptable and the common choice. i think adobo was originally concocted as a way to prepare a stew less prone to spoil and can be eaten for days.  refrigeration was an early luxury that works well for adobo. as it cools, the sauce turns into a gelatinous glaze that almost serves as a preservant.  the vinegar and garlic will continue to marinate the meats even after cooking and some argue eating adobo days after first being cooked is much more richer. 

stewing beef, spare ribs, short ribs, pork shoulder, or pork belly are all acceptable substitutes or additives for adobo. however, i could write separate blog entries for so many variations. for instance: i like to add bell peppers to beef adobo, tomato paste to pork adobo, and sometimes chicken liver or potatoes to any version. see, how versatile adobo is - it is filipino ingenuity in the kitchen at it's finest.

adobo is paired perfectly with atchara - a popular flipino side dish of carrots, ginger, and papaya pickled with vinegar and sugar.

RECIPE

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

3-4 garlic cloves

1/4 onion

whole chicken, cut into parts

4-5 Peppercorns

2-3 Bay leaves

1/3 cup soy sauce

1. Sautée garlic and onions over medium heat until translucent.

2. Add chicken parts and brown the chicken over medium-high heat.

3. Add vinegar, water, soy sauce, peppercorns, and bay leaves and reduce heat back to medium.

4. Keep covered until the chicken is cooked through 

5. Uncover and simmer until the sauce is thickened and glazes over the chicken. if you like "soupy" adobo you can add more water after reducing.  the reduction helps with getting a nice carmelization over the chicken.

if preferred “dry” , pan-fry the cooked meat after reduction and pour the reserved marinade when browned.