Island Cook

Prawns with Squash & Coconut Cream Soup

2010-04-23T12:31:00.008+08:00

This soup has all my favorite things... coconut, prawns, lemongrass, a hint of chili and the color orange. Serve it in a blue and white bowl, sprinkle with green scallions and you have a wonderfully sunny dish. The original recipe called for canned coconut cream and frozen prawns. Canned coconut cream is good, but freshly made is much better. I bought freshly grated coconut (called niyog) and fresh prawns in the market. I used the grated coconut to make the coconut cream called for in the recipe and saved the prawn shells for the soup. Much of the prawn flavor is in those shells, especially the heads, so I highly recommend using fresh prawns if they are available in your area.

Prawns with Squash & Coconut Cream Soup

1-2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 scallions, chopped (white part only, reserve green for garnish)
2 small red chilis
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3-inch pieces (discard tough upper green part)
1/2 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste
2 vegetable stock cubes
2 cups boiling water
500 grams squash, cubed
3/4 cup coconut cream
250 grams prawns, shelled, deveined and butterflied (reserve shells and head)

Heat oil in pan, add garlic, scallions, chilis, lemongrass and shrimp paste. cook, stirring frequently, until scallions are soft.
Add squash and stir thoroughly. Add stock cubes and water, bring to a boil, simmer covered for 10 minutes. Discard lemongrass and chilis, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Pour back into pan and stir in coconut cream and prawn shells. Simmer for 5 minutes, pressing on the heads and shells.
Strain soup, pressing on the shells to extract all the juices. Pour back into pan and discard prawn shells. Add prawns to the soup and heat gently until prawns are cooked. Serve sprinkled with chopped green scallions. Serves 4 as a first course.

Earth Day at Kusina Salud

2008-03-18T23:55:00.003+08:00

I applaud the efforts of Nina and her family in promoting and living a sustainable lifestyle. And the food is delicious too!

Here is the email I got from Nina which explains all...

HELLO EVERYONE!

Kusina Salud is a family run restaurant which serves modern Filipino cuisine set in the native weekend retreat of Filipiniana textile artist Patis Tesoro. Opened in October 2004, Kusina Salud aims to be a social and cultural safety net which aids in balancing the impact of industrialization on our natural environment. Our modern world is currently experiencing this technology driven phenomenon called globalization, which has both positive and negative long term effects on the present and future habitat of our children and their children.

Kusina Salud's sustainable development efforts include:

1. the housing and care of over 100 birds, some endangered and currently procreating, all DENR registered.

2. the operation of a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), an in-house facility which recycles kitchen waste water into gardening water

3. the practice of trash segregation which not only gives our kitchen stewards extra income from the sale of recyclable waste materials, but also ensures the health of our organic garden and nursery, through the nutrients pumped in by our compost pits

4. the staging of art events which promote the appreciation of culture and heritage, while instilling a sense of community, in our target markets

This year, we invite you to experience our first major Earth Day Celebration. Earth Day was started on April 22, 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson to create awareness for the need to preserve our natural environment. On Saturday, April 19, 2008 Kusina Salud presents, "Bird-Man: An Earth Day Celebration".

Bird-Man begins at 3 pm with a talk/open forum by Wild Bird Photographer Romy Ocon, entitled "For the Birds". He will also give a slide-show presentation of the numerous birds he has passionately documented in their natural habitat. This will be followed by the ribbon-cutting of Romy's exhibit in our small gallery. Please visit http://romyocon.blogspot.com for more information.

The second half of our celebration is yet untitled because it is a 15-minute performance art collaborative by multi-awarded poetess Nerisa Guevara, seasoned thespians Nonie and Shamaine Buencamino, inimitable sound designer Malek Lopez, and educator-visual designer Blums Borres. As we speak, we are setting Nerisa's poetry to Malek's music, which will be followed by Nonie and Shamaine's interpretation of the "songs" into movement. Technical Director Mark Lakay and Production Managers Perky Parong & Weng Lopez will provide the necessary support system to ensure the seamlessness of this once in a lifetime performance.

Tickets are PHP 500 each which also includes an all-day vegetarian buffet and a raffle of 13 prizes from artists and entrepreneurs: Master Potters John Pettyjohn and Ugu Bigyan, Brass Sculptor Carlito Ortega, Manila Tourguide Carlos Celdran, Mosaic Artist Denise Celdran, Photographer Isa Lorenzo, Chef Billy King, Accessories Designer Anton Pamintuan, Casa San Pablo, Casa Rap, Earthkeepers, Pilar Antiques and Patis Tesoro.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be shared with the Philippine Bird Photography Forum and the Artists Welfare Project. Please reserve now as limited seating is available.

Kusina Salud is located in San Pablo, Laguna. Please call/text Apple or April at 0921.7726985 or 049.5736155 for ticket reservations.

Please e-mail us at kusinasalud@gmail.com or kusinasalud.yahoo.com for inquiries.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on Earthday at Kusina Salud!

Pigging Out on Filipino Food

2008-03-17T12:39:00.003+08:00

Two days ago I had lunch in a Filipino restaurant in San Bruno. It was quite good as evidenced by the amount of food we ordered and the amount we had left to take home. We ate as if it was the last time we were ever going to eat Fil food again. Our craving for Fil food led us to drive out of San Francisco and head towards Patio Filipino. The place was almost full, a few tables were left for us to choose from. If I didn't know better I would have thought I stepped into a time warp and was transported back to the Philippines. Everyone was Filipino, from the waiters to the customers and no doubt the chef. Filipino faces and chatter were all around. Feeling right at home we chose a table and proceeded to order. The food was authentic and well executed. Philippine food is influenced by it's Chinese and Spanish ancestry. In this case, the food served at the restaurant was of the Fil-Spanish variety. We ordered all the standard Fil dishes. Bulalo, a beef marrow soup with cabbage; Bangus Sisig, a local fish chopped and seasoned then served in a sizzling plate; Green Mango Salad, chopped green mangoes, onions, tomatoes and seasoned with fish sauce; lastly Binagoongang Baboy, deep fried cubes of pork tossed with fermented shrimp sauce. We ate all of this with Garlic Fried Rice. For dessert we had the Fil-Spanish (as far as I know this dessert doesn't exist in Spain) Brazo de Mercedes, similar to a a cake filled with cream or custard and rolled into log, in this case the cake is a spongy meringue filled with a thick egg custard, each slice is surrounded with a Creme Anglaise and topped with fruits. We walked out and drove home in stupor.

Patio Filipino
1770 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94006
(650)872-9888

Kusina Salud's Valentine's Menu

2008-02-14T10:35:00.002+08:00

After reading Kusina Salud's menu for Valentine's I almost wish I were home just so I could have lunch at the restaurant.

Kamayan Sunday Lunch at Kusina Salud

2007-12-15T13:43:00.002+08:00

Chef Paul is doing it again with his creative menu using local and native ingredients in all his dishes. Just reading it is making me salivate.

In deference to one of our national heroes, Andres Bonifacio, we present our KKK Kamayan Sunday Lunch Buffet on Dec 16, 2007. Experience al fresco dining at our aviary courtyard!

A Nutritious Buffet at Kusina Salud

2007-06-30T18:57:00.001+08:00

The Chef for this event is one of my favorites. Chef Paul Poblador was owner of the restaurant Salud in Baguio a few years ago. The food was creative, delicious and perfectly presented. I was very disappointed when they closed down. Good thing they opened a new establishment at Laguna.

Click on the poster for a larger view...

Indonesian Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce

2007-02-03T10:24:00.000+08:00

This recipe is from a new cookbook I purchased several days ago. I served it last night as part of a dinner menu consisting of two other dishes. Too bad my camera is still on the blink (charger is not working) because the dish looked very good with the turmeric almond sauce dotted with cherry tomatoes and scallions. This is one dish you simply can't eat alone but, is perfect with steamed rice. I served two kinds of rice - a white and a purple rice from the mountains of Banaue. Purple rice happens to be my favorite and is quite rare. There's only one place I know that sells it in Baguio and even they have a limited supply. The purple rice is grown, harvested and packaged by a cooperative of indigenous Batad women farmers in Banaue's rice terraces. They also grow several other varieties of rice like red, brown and sticky white rice.

Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce
from Cooking Around the World: Indonesia, by Sallie Morris

I doubled the spice paste and sauce ingredients called for in the book and used 2 cups of water instead of 1.5 cups to make the sauce.
serves 4

2 fillets of red snapper (about 1 kilo)
cornstarch for coating
oil for frying
salt & pepper

for the spice paste:
6 garlic cloves
4 lemongrass stems
2-inch fresh langkawas (galangal)
2-inch fresh ginger
1 1/2-inch fresh turmeric or 1 teaspoon ground
1/4 cup ground almonds

for the sauce:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons Arenga or cider vinegar
2 cups water
4 lime leaves (optional)
1 bunch Tagalog onions, peeled and left whole or 8 shallots, quartered
2 cups cherry tomatoes or 6 tomatoes, quartered
6 scallions, sliced thinly at a diagonal
2 red chilies (optional)

Grind all the ingredients for the spice paste in food processor.

Season the fish fillets with salt & pepper. Lightly coat in cornstarch and fry in hot oil, about 8-9 minutes each side. Drain on paper towels. Place on serving platter.

Leave a little oil from frying in the pan, add the brown sugar, vinegar and water and bring to a boil. Add the lime leaves, Tagalog onions and spice paste, simmer for 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and simmer for 3-4 minutes until sauce has thickened. Add scallions and pour sauce over fried fish.

KKK Cafe & Restaurant

2007-02-02T08:32:00.000+08:00

You would be hard pressed to find a good Filipino restaurant in Manila. Most Filipino restos are simple ihaw-ihaw (grilled food) or mediocre fare served in a large family-style setting. Well, my sister and I discovered an exceptionally good one in the Mall of Asia, called KKK (named after a secret society founded in the late 1800's called Katipunan). Everything we ordered except one dish (the Garlic Squid) was superbly cooked and presented. My favorite is the Buro at Talong (buro is a process of preserving food by fermentation with vinegar, lemon or salt, in this case, the dish was made of shrimp buro). Although the dish is meant to be a salad and is made with fermented rice and shrimp I still ate it with additional steamed rice. The buro went perfectly with grilled slices of eggplant and topped with a chiffonade of greens. Others we tried - Vegetarian Sisig, Binagoongan Baboy (pork stewed in shrimp paste) and the disappointing Garlic Squid. Can't wait to go back and try the rest of the menu!

2 recipes for buro:
Balo-Balo
Tagilo

2007-01-01T07:59:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year and a Wonderful 2007!

Lamb and Squash Curry

2006-12-16T11:43:00.001+08:00

This recipe is from the cookbook Southeast Asian Cooking by Amtul Hafeez. It is not a thick book with a comprehensive collection of Southeast Asian food but instead is a personal collection of recipes by an Asian grandmother who wanted to pass on treasured recipes she cooked for her family. Amtul has lived in different countries throughout her life but has managed to cook these recipes for her family and friends wherever she was in the world.

I cut the amount of oil used in the recipe by half because I used a non-stick pan to cook the curry, and added more sea salt. The squash can be replaced by turnips, okra or potatoes in the same amounts.

Composite Masala:
1-inch piece of peeled ginger
4-5 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground hot red pepper (I used a mild hot Spanish Paprika)
4 tablespoons yogurt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 kilo boneless meat (I used 1 kilo lamb shoulder, with bone, cut in cubes)
1/2 kilo squash, peeled and cut in cubes
1/2 cup oil (I used olive oil)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Make composite masala: blend all ingredients in food processor. Set aside.

Saute onion in oil until golden brown. Pour in 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in composite masala and another 1/2 cup water, simmer until masala becomes lumpy. Add lamb cubes and stir to coat meat in the gravy. Cover and let simmer until almost dry and oil starts to separate, occasionally stirring. Add 1 1/2 cups water, cover, and cook until meat is tender (about 30 minutes to an hour). Add squash and 2 1/2 cups water, bring to boil and cook on high heat for about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-6 minutes more, checking to see if squash is cooked. Add cilantro leaves and turn heat off. Let the stew stand for a few minutes before serving.

Pork with Fermented Shrimp

2006-11-01T17:03:00.000+08:00

The words "tropical islands" does conjure images of the beach and sunny weather which is exactly what was on my mind when I thought of this blog. The reason I so often think of these images nowadays is probably because it is monsoon season and I'm daydreaming of the sand and surf. I don't dislike the rainy season, mind you, but when it rains for two weeks straight your mind begins to wander. Yesterday the skies were clear and the sun was out. The weather was perfect. The skies were a symphony of blue and white, the trees were gleaming from the rains and in the noisiest city I've ever been to, no one was honking their car. Ah, it was bliss driving down the road to do my errands.

Anyhow, one of my favorite tropical condiments is fermented shrimp. And one of my favorite dishes is Binagoongang Baboy (pork with fermented shrimp). I know of two kinds of fermented shrimp, one is Philippine and the other Thai. Philippine bagoong alamang is either dark or pink and one can see the tiny shrimp, while the Thai kapi is a smooth pink paste. Both are delicious but vary in the degree of saltiness and pungency. Binagoongnang Baboy is what I consider comfort food. When the storm outside is raging, I love to cozy up with a steaming bowl of rice topped with Binagoongang Baboy. The type of fermented shrimp used to flavor this dish is what makes the difference between a mediocre and a sublime Binagoongnang Baboy. The best would be to make your own bagoong but that would take a couple of months to ferment. So the next best thing is to find a good commercially made bagoong. Bagoong comes in regular and sweet, the choice is up to you. Bagoong is salty, so the sweet bagoong is a salty sweet flavor. I personally prefer the regular.

Binagoongang Baboy
adapted from the Maya Kitchen cookbook series "The Filipino Cookbook"

1 kilo pork shoulder, cubed
water, enough to barely cover the pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup bagoong alamang
5 teaspoons sugar (optional)
1/4 cup vinegar or calamansi juice

In a skillet, simmer the pork cubes in water until liquid evaporates and whats left is an oily film. Add the garlic, onion and tomatoes, cook for 1 minute. Add the bagoong and stir-fry until color changes. Add the sugar, if using, and the vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, until pork is tender. Serve with steaming hot rice. Steamed or stir-fried Japanese eggplant or kang kong (water spinach) go very well as a side dish.

Tropical Regions

2006-10-30T06:51:00.000+08:00

The tropical regions of the world are found in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Oceana Islands, Central Africa, Central America, South America, Mexico, Bermuda, the Carribean, the US (Florida, the Gulf coast, Lousiana, Hawaii), and the Bahamas. The tropical climate is hot and wet, allowing the growth of rainforests. Southeast Asia has the largest, oldest and most diverse rainforests in the world.

I am from the Philippines which is a part of Southeast Asia. The food I eat is either Asian or European/American. The food I most often cook is European, which is wierd in a way, but I would like to change that and experiment on new cuisines from tropical regions around the world and from my own country. I love Asian food and would like to be a more accomplished cook in that area. I started my adventures in cooking when I earned a diploma in French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I had the best time eating and sleeping French food! So here I go on another cooking adventure, I hope all goes well...