Chicharon Balat ng Manok or Tsitsarong Manok (Crackling Chicken Skin)

Filipinos love “chicharon” (“chicharron” in Spain) or deep fried pork skin so much. Sometimes called crackling in English, the versatile dish is eaten in so many ways: as a snack, morsel, viand, bites or tapas, appetizer, or simply an all-around food which easily beats small hunger while watching movies, TV shows, sports events and games, concerts or while on trips. The common people’s fascination with the dish even paved way into creating equally interesting but quite unique variations some of which I have already featured here such as the “chicharon bituka” or crackling intestines and “chicharon bulaklak” or deep fried pork mesentery.

To further explore the realm of “chicharon”, I decided to move on from just using pork cuts to chicken where there are currently two popular versions in the Philippine cuisine: the “chicharon balat ng manok” or “tsitsarong manok” (deep fried chicken skin) and “chicharong butse” (deep fried chicken crop). If the latter sort of causes your hair to rise as it will surely does to my wife, let’s forget it for a while and concentrate on the crackling chicken skin. :-) Some would probably still say yakkks! …… but not so fast, let’s keep it easy with chicken skin, okay? :)

While advocates of low fat diet and probably your mother and mine will loudly say chicken skin contains too much fat, recent studies reveal that it is actually fine to eat from time to time. It was reported that in-depth nutritional studies shows that the skin part of say a 12-once chicken breast only adds up about 2.5 grams saturated fat and 50 calories to the meat. It seems it is not really too much after all, more so if we will consider the flavors and taste benefits that it will bring into an otherwise most-boring lean meat called chicken breast.

The truth is, a bit of chicken skin now and then won’t really hurt your health and can even supply some healthful fat …… for about 55 percent of the fat in chicken skin is actually monounsaturated. If you don’t have an idea, that’s the heart-healthy kind of fat dieticians alike would want us to have. In addition, majority of the fat in chicken is found under the skin and not in the skin itself. Furthermore, by boiling the chicken skin, which is one of the steps in the preparation, the bulk of the worrisome fat would be released and would end up in the boiled water leaving very little measurable fat contents in the skin, not enough to even worry about.

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. :-)

Sinigang na Lapu-lapu (Grouper Stewed in Tamarind) - Kulinarya Challenge for July

It’s rainy season in the Philippines. Although this would mean bad news to many Filipinos and tourists alike, due to the flooding, thunderstorm and typhoon (name of cyclone in the pacific) that it brings, it is also a season for some good things. The sky will be cloudy, shielding everyone from the burning heat of the sun and the surrounding temperature will be cool and comfortable with a fine soft breeze. The rains will drench the drying lands and farms and will trigger the start of the rice (the Philippines’ staple food) planting season. An abundance of healthy and freshly harvested native vegetables, freshwater fish and other exotic catches will soon be seen lined-up at the local market. It is such an awesome scene for me.

Most importantly wild mushrooms like our family’s favorite “mamarang” will start sprouting in the farms, forest, woods and sometimes even on gardens, backyards and lawns in the rural areas and countryside. And this too will soon end up in the market or better yet directly in front of our gate courtesy of our friendly farmer neighbors who have particular knowledge of our huge …… okay make that very enormous and incessant ……… appetite for the truly delicious but extremely rare vegetables. :-)

In line with the cool weather that is now prevailing in the country (with occasional “uncool” typhoons of course) the even cooler group called Kulinarya ruled its theme dish for the wet month of July to be soupy, soothing and goodie ……… and what Filipino dish could better represent those than the mighty “sinigang”. Aside from “adobo”, “sinigang” is probably (just probably) the most featured Filipino dish by any Kulinarya member or any Filipino food blogger for that matter. I for one have already four (4) different posts of the sourly dish and yet I am not even a fan.

Among my “sinigang na tuna”, “sinigang na baboy”, “sinigang na baka” and not so long ago “sinigang sa buko”, I am deeply biased with the latter. Not only because it was fun, excitingly unique and adventurous but because it had a sweetish hint that really delighted my taste buds. If only I made the dish last year, I would re-do it for this month’s Kulinarya challenge. :-)

Ginataang Palaka o Gatang Palaka A La Lalaine (Froglegs Cooked in Coconut Milk)

Frog tastes like chicken. You heard that before, right? Of course when I state that phrase (or sentence), it is more of a personal account rather than a generally accepted fact or knowledge. Many would of course offer disagreements in various forms. We are bound to respect that. But for me and the many people that I knew or talked to and who have tasted and enjoyed the rather exotic meat, this will remain the case. The tender white flesh with fine texture of the uncommon meat called frog and sometimes marketed as “froglegs” have taste and flavors very similar to that of the chicken.

This is the main reason why most Filipino techniques of cooking chicken like, “prito” (fried), “tinola” (stewed with ginger and papaya), simple “adobo” (braised/stewed in vinegar and soy sauce) or “adobo sa dilaw” (braised in vinegar and turmeric) and “ginataan” (cooked in coconut milk), to name a few, all works well with frog meat. In fact, I have already featured here a “tinola” version of frogs called “tinolang palaka”. As a follow-up to that post, I would like to feature another chicken-like cooking preparation that is called “ginataang palaka” (froglegs cooked in coconut milk). Since this is a variant of the popular “ginataang manok” earlier shared by our friend Lalaine, there is no better person to do the dish other than Lalaine herself. Clap … clap … clap!

As mentioned before, the tasty and nutritious edible frogs, even though not generally considered or accepted as major food item worldwide, are consumed in thousands of tons annually in several countries like France in Europe and China, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and of course my beloved Philippines in Asia. Although not really popular as table fare throughout the Philippines, it is widely caught during its season and especially served as viand in Central Luzon areas and “pulutan” or bites or appetizer over a bottle of favorite beer, wine or hard liquor elsewhere in other provinces.

Simply fried and “adobo-style” are probably the most preferred method of cooking frog when it is intended (as it usually is) to be served with alcoholic beverages among “barkada” or male friends. It is even tastier when using personally caught frogs by the group, usually the night before. But with the Internet taking much of our night time, this is now difficult to do except probably in the far-flung provinces. :-))

Daing na Flying Fish o Bolador (Fried Vinegar & Garlic-Marinated Flying Fish)

This is good. If you like “daing na bangus” (fried vinegar & garlic-cured milkfish), this is a fine alternative. If you have not yet eaten a flying fish your entire life but keenly considering tasting one, I believe this is the proper dish to sample the sleek fish ……… to somehow ensure a memorable dining experience and establish a deep connection with the fish ……… and probably ……… just probably …… it will transform you into a permanent flying fish eater or consumer, like me and my friends here in our project. :-)

Flying fish or “bolador” (which literally means kite) as referred to in the Philippines or “piyamassa” as called here in Sri Lanka is a shiny, elongated, silver-blue marine fish that lives in all of the tropical and warm subtropical oceans. Their most remarkable feature is their strangely large pectoral fins that resemble dragonfly wings which during gliding it spreads and tilts slightly upward to provide lift and folds clear to reenter the sea surface smoothly at the end of a glide.

The astonishing fins, with the aid of its strong lopsided tail fin, enable the fish to leap out of the water and take short gliding flights through air just above the water's surface for the purpose of hiding and escaping pursuing predators which include some of my favorite (in my dreams) game fishes such as tuna, swordfish, sailfish and marlin. For anglers like me, the sight of leaping flying fish is not only scenic but also indicative that our target fish is roaming around. :-)

While we in the Tarlac Anglers, only use the glossy flying fish as bait to catch bigger and more exciting pelagic fishes via trolling, it is now among my target species. :) If landing it with hook, line and rod proved difficult, I may either try gillnetting as it is commonly harvested in Japan or dipnetting as it is usually catch in Indonesia. Either way, some adult ones (not juvenile please) should end up in my skillet, sizzling away in hot oil. :)

Pata Hamonado (Pork Knuckle Cooked in Pineapple Juice, Sugar and Soy Sauce)

Here I go again playing with “pata”. As I have mentioned many times in this blog, I really like the versatile “pata”. The popular Philippine cut of pork that consists of the whole hand or arm in the front and the lower part of the leg below the round (“pigi”) in the rear of the swine. Collectively, it includes the ham hock or knuckle as well as the trotter. While I also like trotter, especially in “crispy pata” where it is very tasty and crunchy, for some reasons it is not sold (and probably discarded as waste) here in Sri Lanka so the cut that I will use for this special dish is basically the meaty knuckle or ham hock section only.

But it’s a good thing because the intended dish is “pork hamonado” (also called “pork pina hamonado” or just “pina hamonado”) where the trotter, composed mainly of rind, bones and tendons, will not particularly work well, unlike the hock or knuckle which is so damn good for the dish. Pardon the use of word please. :-)

“Hamonado” is a Filipino dish prepared by slow cooking a thick slab of pork (can be belly/“liempo” or shoulder/”kasim” or like in this case, hock/“pata”) in pineapple juice, sugar and soy sauce. The ending dish is a somewhat cured and sweetened meat that is so rich, flavorful and succulent. It is of course oily with fat and rind covering the lean meat but that’s actually the best part of it ……… seriously, it’s so wonderful ……… could be a little unhealthy but really awesome ……… at least for me ……… and to many people I know. :-)

I have one problem though doing this dish here in southern Sri Lanka. I have no or very little access to good quality canned pineapple juice (like Del Monte or Dole brands from the Philippines). So, like when I prepared the “estopado” (braised in pineapple juice), I will also use fresh pineapple instead.

Alimango Con Sotanghon (Mud Crab with Glass Noodles)

It has been a while since I last chanced upon mud crabs or “alimango” in the Philippine language, from the roadside kiosks we are regularly visiting along the coastal towns of southern Sri Lanka to obtain our group’s weekly supply of fish and other seafood. It seems the nearby vast mangrove forest that has always been lush and green (how I wish this could happen in the Philippines) was quite generous that day that it provided the local fisherman with a truly fine catch; a mixed bag composed of the tasty decapods crustaceans along with some pretty large prawns, pan-sized mangrove snapper, delectable eels and other exciting brackish water fishes.

Being a passionate outdoorsman and a perennial angler, the sight of the catch was simply awesome to me. It represents an abundance of nature and existence of a very healthy mangrove environment. From the looks of the catch, I could assume that it was harvested from a sustainable level of stock in a well flourishing ecosystem where marine water and freshwater collide. While I am also excited about the other fishes, the mud crabs instantaneously transported me into the realm of dish concoction moments. :-)

Mud crab or mangrove crab and sometimes called black crab is an economically important crab species found in the estuaries and mangroves of Asia, Australia and Africa. In the key cities of the Philippines, most Southeast Asian countries, and Northern states of Australia, it is generally priced above other seafood within the general public. Lucky for us Filipinos living here in southern Sri Lanka for it is reasonably priced around here although not widely available.

Commonly, the shell colour of mud crabs varies from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown to almost black. They are generally cooked with their hard shells on, usually steamed, stewed, fried and in soups. However, when they moult their shells, they can be served as soft shell crab seafood delicacy. Many Asian people, including myself, consider them to be among the tastiest of all crab species. The Philippines and other South Asian countries have a huge appetite and thus a very high demand of the said crab species.