Chicken Sate the halal way
Making peanut sauce from scratch is no easy task. The procedure is simple enough: 1) combine peanut, garlic, chilies and kencur (a type of ginger) in a bowl and fry until golden brown; 2) Finely grind the end product in a stone mortar; 3) In a pan, mix with coconut milk, sweet soy sauce, palm sugar and lime. Bring to a boil. Let simmer while stirring for 10 minutes. What’s tough is pounding the peanuts the old school way. Why didn’t we just use a blender? Because we –– a friend and I –– were in a Balinese cooking class in Ubud with 10 other tourists and it was important that we did everything the traditional way.
The last time I touched a mortar and pestle was in 3rd grade, to extract chlorophyll from hibiscus leaves, but being out of our element was part of the fun of it. Our German classmates weren’t much of nut grinders either, but we had a lot of help from our Mediterranean classmate and her Finnish husband, who collectively had an encyclopedic knowledge of Asian cuisine. It was like Linggo ng Wika on steroids. Stories, costumes, graded recitation, Bintang beer… enjoying the meals we prepared was just icing on the cake.
About two hours away via land transfer from our hotel in Legian Beach, Bali, the Lobong Culinary Experience was worth waking up so early for. Our host, Sang Made, and his family welcomed us into their compound –– a lot that holds several houses, a small farm, spice garden, and little huts just for holding rice –– and guided us as we prepared not one, not two, but eight traditional Balinese dishes.
Between riding the famed Bali waves and chopping tacky fried soybean, I choose the latter. First, because surfing makes me look like a praying mantis lost at sea, and second, because the class made me appreciate Balinese culture and fall in love with the place even more. To me, it didn’t seem so overrated as it is made out to be. Abort your mission to find Ketut and you may just enjoy your eat-pray-love adventures even more.
P.S., TRY THIS AT HOME
Fast forward six months: I sit at home, a box of Wan Chicken Sate with Peanut Gravy on the kitchen counter in front of me. That I was about to recreate one of the meals I slaved over in Ubud straight from a box from the grocery was blowing my mind. The chicken cubes were already skewered into sticks; the peanut sauce came in a pack that just needs to be reheated for five minutes. I used an oven toaster to cook the chicken and just-boiled water from an electric kettle to reheat the gravy. Wham bam peanut jam. That’s city cooking for you.
I look back at our cooking class and feel a tad nostalgic for the slow cooking experience. But sweating for your meals and being part of the entire process –– from shopping for ingredients at the wet market to grinding and chopping without any assistance from technology –– is a luxury we can’t afford to have everyday. The fact that the Wan Chicken Sate and Peanut Gravy tastes exactly like what we made more than makes up for this. It was Bali-in-a-box. I tasted turmeric. I tasted coriander. I tasted peanuts deep-fried with love. I didn’t tell my family that the chicken sate came from the supermarket. And I never will.
DISCOVERING HALAL FOOD
An added bonus: Wan Chicken Sate with Peanut Gravy is Halal certified by MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation). Halal is an Arabic word that means “permissible”, and usually used in reference to laws of the Islamic diet. However, the extra careful and sanitary processes involved in preparing these products have begun to appeal to a wider audience as well.
Halal is a full-blown industry in Malaysia, where Islam is the largest practiced religion. (As a side note: Indonesia is also predominantly Islam, though Bali itself is over 90 percent Hindu). The food we prepared in Ubud is non-halal, because Hindus are forbidden from consuming halal food. Fascinating, right? In the Philippines though, we have a growing population of Muslim brothers who are accustomed to halal food, which has not been widely available until today.
HALAL-IN-A-BOX
My box of Wan Chicken Sate with Peanut Gravy is from Robinsons Supermarket, which has recently partnered with MATRADE to cater to the Muslim community’s demand for halal products, as well as introduce halal to non-muslim consumers. Robinsons Supermarket also partnered with Chef See Cheong Yan, who was chosen by MATRADE, to prepare recipes that meet halal standards. He came up with three easy, healthy and delicious ones.
In an interview, he shares how halal products are growing on the Filipino palate: “Halal food bespeaks of a product safety standard whereby food must be prepared in a hygienic, clean and safe manner that guarantees consumers quality, nutritious food.” Chef adds, “The most common misconception on halal food is that it is only exclusive to people of the Muslim faith. It is patronized by consumers at large, being a healthy food source.”
Division merchandise manager for processed food of Robinsons Supermarket, Sonny Samson, shares that halal has been getting good response from both local and global markets because of its nutritional content and premium sanitation standards. Not to mention being delicious and palatable. “Filipinos love to eat, and we are hoping to bring these products and introduce them to every household,” says Samson.
Since halal is a method of preparation and not of flavoring, it can be as tasty as non-halal dishes. I was surprised at how pronounced the flavors were in the peanut gravy, even in the chicken. Technically, it’s a frozen food product, but taste and textures were very fresh. The products also come in convenient packaging that makes them easy to take to wherever you’re going this long vacation. Mortar and pestle not included.
For more information about halal, log on to www.matrade.gov.my or drop by any Robinsons Supermarket branch to try halal products. To know more about Lobong Cooking, email lobongcooking@gmail.com.