Master chefs dish out tasty twists to your favorite Filipino meals
Filipino dishes may sometimes seem overly familiar and can be taken for granted. But the chefs featured in the Maya Kitchen Culinary Elite Series have proved again and again that even the most common meals can be transformed from ordinary to outstanding with their inventive recipes. Try your hand at these easy-to-follow meals from the culinary masters.
It’s a Filipino food staple, but adobo can be cooked various ways, with different regions adding their own flair and flavor to the dish. Chef Gene Gonzalez, the powerhouse behind the iconic Café Ysabel, Buenisimo, Asian Culinary Studies school, and numerous cookbooks, prepared it the Kapampangan way during his Culinary Elite Series: “Culinary Gems from Old Pampanga.”
Adobo is often prepared by simply adding soy sauce to flavor and darken the broth, but this is considered a culinary crime in many Kapampangan households, where a cook who puts soy sauce in their adobo would be gossiped about. Instead, Adobo Diablo is prepared by the constant simmering of various meats and deglazing of the pan with stock to come up with a tasty caramelized liquid that gives the meat a deep reddish-brown hue. Once the dish is done, the meats are served with the sauce on the side.
Filipinos love seafood, and these often take center stage at special occasions. Award-winning culinary master chef Jessie Sincioco served up a dish during her Culinary Elite Series: “Chef Jessie’s Christmas Menu” that you’ll want to take to your next family gathering: Tiger Prawns with Laing.
The meal is based on the traditional Bicolano vegetable dish made with dried taro leaves, coconut milk, shrimp paste, pork belly fat, and chili peppers. The prawns are cut through the back and grilled until half-cooked before being stuffed with laing. The stuffed prawns are then baked and finished off with parsley and sili.
Another Pinoy favorite is pancit, but the Caviteños prepare it by bathing rice noodles in rich squid ink sauce, topped with vegetables, crushed chich-
aron, squid rings and slices of kamias. At his Culinary Elite Series: “Chef Tatung Revisits Pinoy Classics,” culinary heritage advocate chef Michael Giovan Sarthou III (also known as chef Tatung) cooked up a tasty serving of Pansit Pusit to stress the importance of using native ingredients.
The squid is sautéed over a high fire before adding vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and squid ink to the pan. Once it boils, a cup of water is added and the noodles are mixed in until they absorb the stock. Crushed chicharon and garlic are sprinkled on as garnish, and the Pansit Pusit is ready to serve.
For those looking for healthier options, chef Claude Tayag, renowned artist and author, put a spin on lumpiang sariwa during his Culinary Elite Series: “From a Kapampangan Palate to an Artist’s Palette: An Update on Four Pampango Dishes.”
Made with green papaya as the base, the lumpia mix also includes sautéed tokwa strips, carrots, beans, garbanzos, and shrimps in achuete oil. Topped with bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, cilantro, and a sauce made from sugar, soy sauce, water, and cornstarch, the filling can be served over lettuce (sariwa) or fried like traditional lumpia.
Check out the full recipes at themayakitchen.com/ culinary-elite-series/ so you can get started on expanding your culinary repertoire. Of course, there’s nothing like learning from the masters firsthand, so sign up for The Maya Kitchen’s Culinary Elite Series to see the chefs in action, sample their signature dishes, and become more confident and creative in the kitchen.
For information on the Maya Kitchen Culinary Elite Series and other course offerings, visit www. themayakitchen.com, email contactus@themayakitchen.com, or visit The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center every Tuesday to Saturday at 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City. You may also call 892-1185 or 892-5011 local 108 or +63929-679-6102.
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