Purefoods Corned Beef main ingredient of chef Gala recipe

TOP CHEF Sylvia Reynoso Gala brought her culinary expertise to teach carinderia owners simple baking tips with an unusual ingredient that wrapped up her cooking demo segment in the recently-concluded Carinderia Fiesta 2012 at the World Trade Center.

“Mainam na gamiting panggisa at i-halo sa gulay ang Purefoods Star Corned Beef. Ulam na swak na swak sa ating mga carinderias,” said Gala as she segued to introduce the segment’s recipe, Magnolia All Purpose Flour Puto with Purefoods Star Corned Beef. The event highlighted a favorite Filipino delicacy which both children and adults love to munch on during recess or merienda. Eating puto even as a stand-alone rice cake is still as sumptuous as pairing it with dinuguan or palabok.

Ingredients were easily available to budget conscious carinderia owners. In no time, they can double the money they invested and are assured that the quality of their puto is just what they expect it to be, fluffy and yummy. With a can of Purefoods Star Corned Beef, six pieces of egg white, 1 ¾ cup of granulated sugar, half a teaspoon of tartaric acid/cream of tartar, 1 ½ cup of water, six pieces of egg yolk, half a teaspoon of salt, and 2 ¾ cup of Magnolia All Purpose Flour.

One by one, Gala with the gracious dexterity of her hands showed the audience all materials needed for her delicacy: thirty-two paper lined plastic muffin pans in 2 ½ inch size; steamer with 2-inch-deep boiling water; muslin cloth ( cacha) to put on top of puto before putting the cover of steamer.

Then she went on with the no-sweat procedure in baking the special star corned beef puto delight while revealing a few facts about herself and her very own culinary art studio with its state of the art cooking laboratories and equipment. Firstly, she put in six egg whites in the kitchen mixer’s stainless steel bowl, the eggs were then beaten at a high speed until bubbles were fine. She gradually added ¾ cup granulated sugar mixed with half a teaspoon of cream of tartar. Kiddingly she turned the bowl upside down to show the audience that the mixture already thickened and was stiff enough not to spill.

In a separate bowl was a refined amalgam of 1 ½ cups of water, a cup of granulated sugar, six pieces of egg yolk, one tablespoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, 2 ¾ cups of Magnolia All Purpose Flour.

Having achieved the texture Gala was aiming for, she folded the yolks into whites, combining the two. She put an emphasis on keeping the mixture with only one blended color lest the egg yolk when not mixed properly will most likely settle at the bottom of the cake. Smiling while baking was a tip she jovially shared as she poured or piped out on the prepared muffin pans. “Half-full lang ang paglalagay,” Gala reiterated after revealing to the audience that she’s been a partner of San Miguel Corp. since 1986.

And finally, after steaming the muffin pans for about 15 to 18 minutes over high heat, the touch that made all the difference, she put a teaspoonful of Purefoods Star Corned Beef on top of each puto.

An add-on advice she hurriedly gave the audience, “When cooked, press the puto. If it sprung back, then it’s all good.”