Chili Crab a la Regina - For February Kulinarya Challenge

This month’s Kulinarya Club challenge lovingly conceived by the tandem of Abigail of My Nappytales and Marni of Kensington Kitchen is about …… well …… first LOVE and the dish associated with it. I maybe blushing but don’t giggle just yet. :-) Everything I want to do at the time I first experienced that “tender feeling of affection” (I vividly remember I used to write down this definition in slam books), sometime in high school or probably early college, ha ha ha (it’s funny I’m not quite sure), is nothing but basketball. Perhaps basketball is to blame for clouding my memory and not clearly remembering.

Yes, I believe I eat a lot that time, because we played a lot and needed a good amount of food to supply the energy requirements, but nothing in particular really registered in my mind when it comes to food. With just a 5-peso daily allowance (sometimes none) and with body strength 95% powered by rice (some “bahaw” or “kanin lamig”), that’s probably not unusual, lol.

But of course I would not want to disappoint Abigail and Marni. That’s a nay. I can’t reason out I’m on a holiday/vacation just like last month (sorry Pearl of My Sassy Chef and Thea of Words and Nosh) and they have an awesome theme with rich topics to share. In lieu, I would like to prepare a roughly similar in taste (okay not quite comparable but also good) with the dish so close to my heart that my first experience of it is like falling in love for the first time. The dish is called “Crab Juanita”. Now you can chuckle. :)

Okay, I admit I messed that up a little bit. The dish I fell in love with is actually “Crab Maritess” of the popular Red Crab restaurant in Manila (Philippines). The name Juanita that came into the scene is actually my wife whom I am deeply in love with. Love can be so confusing sometimes. Really!

Chili Chicken, Deliciously Hot

I once read a fellow food blogger’s account about an amazing chili chicken dish being served in one of the restaurants of the world renowned resort island Boracay of the beautiful southern Philippines. The story appeared to have come from a truly satisfied and in fact a repeat customer therefore I assumed the descriptions supplied were quite accurate, balanced and truthful. Since I am fond of innovative, adventurous and exotic, not to mention really spicy foods, the idea of personally re-creating an extremely hot but still palatable and tasty (falling within the not-so-high heat tolerance of common Filipinos) “chili chicken” lingers in my mind.

While the idea is strong it remains incomplete and waiting for some forms of stimuli or crucial information that would finally compel me to trying the unusual but exciting chicken dish. The right moment came just mid of last month while our group was doing our regular shopping for a week’s food supply. There in the fresh meat section of our favorite supermarket (we actually have very few choices), some crews were enthusiastically offering patrons with a free taste of their new marinated meat selection called “miris kukula” or chili chicken which they fried right there inside the supermarket.

Sri Lanka is one country who really loves chilies in their cuisine and we have always known (and tested) Sri Lankan food as very spicy (a.k.a. heavily spiked with chilies) on top of its being usually rich and seriously curried. It turned out, the fried chicken pieces, which they are marketing as both a viand and a bites (“pulutan”), were quite tasty but living up to its name …… it’s really hot.

At that point, I thought all I have to do is gather a little information from the crews who are actually preparing the special marinade and my long planned chili chicken could have a major breakthrough. Quite luckily, the crews, who have always been kind and friendly to us (perhaps because we are light-hearted and always smiling …… okay make that, because we are regularly buying 3-5 carts full of food and grocery items providing them with regular sales), are most willing to share us their secret ingredients. :-)

Watalappan - Sri Lankan Egg Custard

In spite having been in Sri Lanka for almost 6 years and constantly enjoying its exceptional cuisine for such a long period of time, in our accommodation courtesy of our Sri Lankan cook, in our office during company affairs or during an employee’s birthday, in between restaurants, hotels and resorts during our occasional dine outs and holidays and in houses or reception halls of local colleagues and friends when attending their special occasions like weddings, we are yet to try cooking any of their highly varied native cookery and delicacies by ourselves.

Whilst I have featured here some of their foods such as the widely available baked, grilled and fried everyday snack which includes “roti”, hopper, fish bun and egg roll (our group’s favorite) amongst other things and interesting food products or ingredients such as the healthy “kithul” jaggery and treacle, this is my first attempt to actually prepare one of their popular sweet dishes called “watalappan”. Interestingly, “watalappan” is Sri Lanka’s version of the common custard pie. It is a dessert and snack dish very similar to the Filipino steamed egg custard called “leche” flan.

The unique aspect of “watalappan” is the use of their local palm sugar (made from inflorescence sap) called “kithul” jaggery or treacle in lieu of ordinary sugar (made from sugarcane) and coconut milk instead of cow’s milk. Apart from its obvious health benefits, the innate, unrefined and unadulterated taste of palm sugar and inherent sweetness of coconut cream make for a distinctly earthy-sweet egg custard which has hints of subtlety and purity due to the natural forms of the ingredients being used.

Enter the Dragon Fruits

I have discovered several new fruits since I worked here in Sri Lanka. Among those which I have already featured are the juicy citrus “ambul dodang” and another variety of naturally sour citrus called “jama naran”, both of which make very refreshing lemonades. Here, I was also exposed to new varieties of banana such as the rather tiny but sweet “seeni kesel” which I cooked into “minatamis na saging” and the quite rare and heavy, in both weight and nutritional contents, called “nethrampalam” or “nendran” banana.

I also found here but have not yet posted the island-wide popular wood apple or elephant apple locally known as “divul” which they make into healthful drinks. We have tried this before but not quite impressed.

In addition, occasionally visiting the fruit sections of supermarkets provided us with opportunity to see some uncommon, sometimes unfamiliar but delightfully colorful and seemingly luscious exotic fruits. Among them is the interestingly pretty dragon fruit. I remember the first time I encountered the fruit; my eyes were immediately caught by its vibrant color and beautiful appearance. Later on, I discovered that the fruit has been commonly available as well in the Philippine markets. But it is only here that I fully enjoyed its thirst quenching flesh.

Nethrampalam or Kochchi Kesel or Nendran Banana, The Big One

Banana is among the most important fruits of the world. In terms of production tonnage and trade volume, fresh banana remains in the top slot and probably will continue to lead over other fruits in many more years to come. While banana is native to tropical Southeast and South Asia, its introduction to other tropical and subtropical regions all over the world resulted to its gaining immense importance and extreme popularity worldwide. They are now extensively cultivated throughout the tropics and are successfully grown in no less than 107 countries.

Here in Sri Lanka, there are about 29 cultivar varieties and 2 wild varieties of bananas with 5 of the cultivars being green cooking types and the rest being dessert types which are yellow and fully ripe when eaten. They are grown all over the island except in higher elevation. Banana is so common here that you will find several bunches hanging in every store in the countryside. Whilst I have eaten several varieties such as the one similar in taste with “Musa Saba” locally called “Seeni Kesel” which apart from eating as dessert I also cooked into “Minatamis na Saging” (Sweetened Bananas) and “Banana Que”, a lot more varieties are yet to be tried and tasted, especially those not found and I have not yet eaten in the Philippines or elsewhere.

One variety that really caught my attention though, is the horn plantain cultivar locally called “Nethrampalam” or “Kochchi Kesel”. This unusual and considered very rare banana, also called Nendran” in India, is particularly big and I mean really BIG. Much bigger the biggest Cavendish I have seen in the Philippines, a top banana producer and exporter. The photos above will show what I mean when I say big. A comparison with the regular-sized bananas and with a papaya below will speak for itself.

“Nethrampalam” fetches a quite high price in the limited market at about 1.30 USD a piece or finger. However, it has a reputation as composing a very high nutritive value and especially good for the eyesight. So I did not think twice in buying 2 fingers to try it for myself along with our group of course as I did not think I can consume 1 whole banana this size by myself. :-) From the date of purchase, we waited for about 3 more days before the fruit has fully ripen and upon peeling, this delicate flesh has emerged:

It’s one delicious banana. I’m kidding you not. From the looks of the fruit alone, I never thought it would taste that way it tasted. It has a slight resemblance to the taste of the top Philippine banana called “lakatan” or “lacatan”. The flesh is slightly firmed, very tasty, not overly sweet and not watery. It is likely a candidate for salad ingredient which, unlike many other types of banana, will not render too much liquid which often make the salad soggy. But of course, this is still a presumption and I need to verify this in actual usage. :-)

“Nethrampalam”, the big one when it comes to banana, with its reported high nutritive values, deserves better attention as far as study and cultivation is concerned. While being rare makes it exotic, interesting and exciting, the fruit could potentially provide source of livelihood and bigger trade opportunities to many agricultural communities, if could be widely grown and produced. c“,)

Mixed Bag of Fish from Sri Lankan Waters 2

As I have posted earlier, a mixed bag of fresh fish from the rich waters of the tiny but beautiful island of Sri Lanka is what I will find every time I’ll make a short trip to the coastal road of the southwestern region where numerous roadside stalls selling newly caught fish are lining up. Just like what I said in my first post about this subject matter here, fresh catch from local fishermen is my usual focus of attention rather than those caught by commercial fishing vessels. Obviously because the fish were taken using hook and line which happen to be the same concept of Angling or Sportfishing, one of my favorite outdoor sports.

This time, my find includes a gorgeous grouper locally known as “garupa” and popularly called “lapu-lapu” in the Philippines, a striking pink king soldier bream locally known as “thiraliya” and known as “bitilya” or “malakapas” in Filipino and a silvery shining bullet tuna locally called “eli-choorai” and called “aloy” and sometimes “tulingan” (though there is a really different "tulingan" variety) in the Philippines. These fish all taste great and can be made into sumptuous dishes.

Bullet tuna is a comparatively small and slender tuna that belongs to the subspecies of tuna in the family “Scombridae”. It is found globally in open surface waters of tropical oceans to depths of about 50 meters. It can grow to a maximum length of about 50 cm and colored blue-black on the back with a pattern of zig-zag dark markings on the upper hind body and silver below. They feed on small fish, squid, mantis shrimp larvae and planktonic crustaceans.

King soldier bream or picnic sea bream are fish belonging to Sparidae family. I had featured this fish before in my pot about “Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce”. Sea breams generally live in shallow temperate waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. They like coastal sandy or muddy areas and usually feeds on benthic invertebrates. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth and they can grow up to 75 cm.

Grouper is an important fish in many Southeast Asian countries and China. In the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia, several varieties of grouper are now being cultivated for commercial distribution. It is considered a first class fish in Hong Kong and Macau and is usually kept in aerated aquarium and solve alive.

The word "grouper" is widely believed to have come from the Portuguese name “garoupa”. In Australia, the name "groper" is used instead of "grouper" for several species, such as the Queensland groper. In the Middle East, the fish is known as “hammour” and is widely eaten, especially in the Persian Gulf region. In the United States, grouper are often found in waters off Florida.

Since I will be posting an important and quite valued dish in Southeast Asia and China called “Steamed Grouper in Soy Sauce” very soon, with an intension to provide details and important information about the fish, I will not provide further details here. Let me just mention that this fish though not quite popular in many countries, including Sri Lanka where it is cheaper than other ordinary fish is among the most delicious fish for me.

You can cook it sweet and sour style, fillet and fried, stewed with vegetable like in “pesa” or cooked in tamarind like in “sinigang” and of course, steamed, in many variations, all delicious but my favorite of which is in soy sauce. c",)

Fruits In Season

One Sunday morning on our way to Galle City, we passed by a make-shift street market selling fresh harvests from backyard gardens and farms of the local residents. The produce includes several types of fruits and a lot of vegetables. We pulled over to check around to see what would stir our interest and hopefully the appetite. We were fascinated by the available fruits that are in season and end up with a basket full of several kinds which are all very reasonably priced (a.k.a. cheap).

Our fruit basket included about 2 dozens of fantastic mangosteen. A big slice of jackfruit, some avocado, a medium sized of “guyabano” (soursop), some “santol” (wild mangosteen) and several pieces of “dayap” (lime). I mentioned above that the price is cheap. That is so true, the mangosteen for example was purchased at, hold your breath, roughly 4 pesos (Philippine) or about 8.3 cents (US$) each. Do you think it’s a good deal? Wait till I tell you that the slice of jackfruit is only 8 pesos (Philippine) or about 16.6 cents (US$). And the one shown on the photo below is only half of the slice. :-)

Everyone should eat a lot of fruits to stay healthy. Fruit is a good source of natural fibres which helps against corpulence, high blood pressure, and other factors that increase the chance for a heart disease. Unlike animal products, fruit does not contain much cholesterol which is not good for our bodies. Fruit is the ultimate brain fuel. Eating fruits has a positive effect on our brains and makes you recall information easier and faster.

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Many true fruits, in a botanical sense, are treated as vegetables in cooking and food preparation because they are not sweet. These culinary vegetables include cucurbits (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber), tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and sweet pepper. Some spices, such as allspice and chillies, are botanical fruits. In the culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant product associated with seed(s) while a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product.

While we are about to indulge into the sweetness of these wonderful harvest, our security guard knocked and gave us another interesting addition to our basket. Some pretty little wild guavas which he picked from a hidden tree somewhere in our own backyard.

We were amazed by the colour and size of the guavas. The red shade on the skin makes the fruits very appealing. Though they are so small that some are barely bigger than marbles, they tasted good and as we all know they are full of Vitamin C. c“,)

Kithul Treacle and Jaggery, Sweet & Healthy

The beauty of having the opportunity to live in another country is that it widens your perspective and increases your knowledge. As you adapt to a different environment, lifestyle and culture you will tend to discover a lot of surprising things. Some are new and peculiar and some are similar or at least have resemblance to what you already knew, learned or experienced back home.

Aside from the distinct type of banana (“Seeni Kesel”) and citrus fruit (“Ambul Dodang”) I recently featured, another interesting find here in Sri Lanka are their “Kithul Treacle and Jaggery”.

“Kithul” is a Sri Lankan name to a variety of palm scientifically known as Caryota urens that grows in the Asian tropics. It is a species of indigenous flowering plant in the palm family from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India. They naturally grow in the wild, in forest covers, in fields, in rain-forest clearings and even in home gardens. This palm has been used as an ornamental tree in the Philippines. In fact, our family has one tree growing right in front of our garden which my sister Ines got from a local garden supplier. They are commonly called solitary fishtail palm, toddy palm, wine palm or jaggery palm.

“Kithul” treacle and jaggery are products made from the sugary sweet sap obtained by tapping the young “Kithul” inflorescence according to a traditional methods. This traditional knowledge was a highly guarded and much valued secret, kept within families and handed down from generation to generation with the techniques being unmatched and not practiced in any other country in the region.

“Kithul” treacle, also called “Kithul honey” is similar to maple syrup and made from pure sap for a unique taste and aroma. Since it is an all-natural, chemical-free products with no additives or preservatives, it is a healthy alternative to granular sugar. In Sri Lanka, treacle is a “must-have” accompaniment to curd and a common ingredient in baking. For me, I have used this in “minatamis na saging” or sweetened banana, pancakes syrup and other sweets.

“Kithul” jaggery is produced by concentrated treacle heated to 200°C until it reaches a consistency similar to that of a thick syrup. It is then poured into moulds and cooled. It is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal sugar ready to use as a natural sweetener with tea, herbal tea, sweet and savoury dishes, or simply enjoyed on its own. It is also used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes across Sri Lanka. For me, I have used this in cooking "humba", "estopado" and other dishes requiring brown sugar.

In the Philippines, there is also a jaggery locally known as “panocha” or “panutsa”. This block of sweetness is made from concentrated sugarcane juice without the separation of the molasses and crystals. “Kithul” jaggery however is more similar to Philippine’s “pakaskas” which is also a palm sugar. It is produced from Buri palm tree which can be found in the Philippines.

The unique taste is also the same as well as the health benefit. I used to eat it as sweets when I was a kid. It is pack with natural goodness amidst its rather small packaging. Owing to the success of using "Kithul" jaggery in cooking Philippine dishes, I think I have to try "pakaskas" in "estopado" and "humba" on my next vacation. c“,)

Sri Lankan Egg Roll & Fish Bun

Among the local foods most Filipinos in our company here in Sri Lanka really enjoy eating are their egg roll and fish bun. They are somehow similar to our empanada and chicken or adobo buns in the Philippines except that they have more vegetables and really spicy. Egg roll is fried like most empanada while fish bun (“malu pan” in their language) is baked like our adobo bun.

The filling of course has a lot of bird’s eye chili (its Sri Lankan) and composes mainly of vegetables (onion, garlic, potato, leeks, curry leaves, ginger, etc.), hard boiled egg and small amount of fish (tuna flakes) but has slight resemblance in taste to some of our empanadas. They usually use fish rather than meat in their filling; in fact the only meat they use as far as I know is chicken. I have yet to see pork or beef inside their rolls and buns.

Although there really are not many options, we take pleasure in having these very popular foods for our snack or “merienda” especially the egg roll.

The Sri Lankan way of eating them is by dipping it first in tomato sauce (Sri Lankan tomato sauce is a little sweet like Filipino banana catsup) before having each bite. We eat them by slathering the sauce on top before biting (like hamburger) and found it quite good and satisfying.

Eating these are even more heavenly if done while viewing these natural beauty as we do every Saturday.

For some of our Filipino colleagues who cannot handle the spiciness of these snacks (though locals say they are not spicy enough), they usually settle for sausage buns, cupcakes and chiffon cakes and sometimes donuts which are also deliciously prepared.

In the absence of burger house, pizza parlor, shawarma kiosk, “siopao” stand and the likes in the place where we reside, we have to content ourselves with egg roll, fish bun and other local baked goods. For all I know, once we leave this beautiful country, we will be missing them. :-)