‘Lugaw’ challenge goes ‘international’
The recent talk of the town was the viral “lugaw is essential” mishap. The glutinous rice porridge has since undergone a modern transformation through the Lugaw Challenge by the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Culinary Cluster, which fielded 10 culinary experts to give their own twist on the favorite Filipino comfort food.
It started when Benilde Culinary Program chair Margarita Marty posted a photo of her enjoying lugaw on social media.
“Several faculty members commented that I only eat sosyal na lugaw, but this is not true. I often have it for meals,” she recalled. “This continued on until we decided to have a challenge.”
In two days, the friendly banter ended with an array of mouthwatering classic recipes seamlessly blended with a variety of international flavors.
As a nod to Japanese cuisine, chef Erica Aquino’s Miso Shiitake Lugaw comes with miso-glazed chicken, spicy pickled wood ear mushrooms, nori flakes, ramen egg and sesame chili oil, while chef Veronica Reyes presents her Laksa Lugaw made of creamy and fragrant seafood broth topped with poached prawns, fried tofu and soft-boiled egg.
India comes closer to home with chef Kannan Jayaprakash Sreedevi’s Indian-style lugaw with monggo and coconut. Chef Joel Espiritu Erfe’s Xiao Loo Gaw is a saffron mushroom congee in a pouch with a side of bean sprout salad, crispy pork ears, tofu, poached egg and a mildly spicy calamansi soy dressing.
Chef Jade Christopher Marquez Lee merges sous vide egg, crispy pancetta, toasted walnuts and rosemary oil in his Adlai and Wild Mushroom Lugaw.
Meanwhile, chef Mike Silbor brings a dash of France in his Prawn Bisque Lugaw of prawn reduction, pan-seared river prawns, beurre noisette and crispy fried leeks.
Check out chef Roselle Sison-Pangalilingan’s delectable Warm Vanilla Cinnamon Spiced Tres Leches Lugaw with Raspberry and Goji Berry Compote. Let’s not forget chef Zemir Herrera-Rollan’s Oatmeal Curry Lugaw with hard-boiled egg, fried tofu, shredded chicken, toasted garlic and leeks.
In his Lugaw Tayo Kai-Vegan, chef Jester Arellano uses brown rice, vegetable broth, saffron and calamansi vinaigrette topped with shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, carrots, kangkong, malunggay and chia seeds.
Completing the set is Marty’s Lugaw ni Señora, headlined by chorizo and crispy jamon served with quail eggs, leeks and crunchy garlic.