What is "Palayok at Sandok"?

"PALAYOK"- is an earthen cooking pot and "SANDOK" is a ladle made of coconut shell tied with with rattan strips into a wooden handle. The "PALAYOK" generally have the same shape and size, but at times could varies. With a rounded bottom, this just fits well on the earthen "KALAN" a version of a stove that uses woods chips for fire...and this is a true Filipino necessity in the rural country side of the Philippines years ago.There is a similarity of the "olla" that the native Americans of the southwest make. I don't think most of the Filipinos in the rural areas uses them anymore. Most of them would rather use imported cooking pots.The people believe that the clay pot enhance the taste of the rice. Sometimes they will incorporate a blade of
pandan" leaf for added aroma of the end product.

Through the years, I had accumulated recipes thinking that one of this days I can make a book out of it. I started mostly Filipino recipes but as I got myself involved, I had included recipes that through the years I had collected while working as a chef in the Navy. This will be the mainstay of of this blog

Like all other ethnic cuisine, traditional Philippine cuisine and the recipes of many dishes eaten in modern times dated back in the remote period. Their cooking is, on the whole, plain and simple. and grilling and frying and boiling are among the favorite methods. If you can prepare American dishes, you can prepare the food of the Philippines. Baked dishes are rare, only the well to do households can afford an oven. Kitchen are simple and usually equipped with three burner portable stove, fueled by propane gas. The rural folks still relies on wood burning three pronged clay stove or "kalan." In the rural ares, sometimes the cooking area is detached separately from the main house to avoid fire hazards. Houses in the rural areas are at times made of bamboo and thacthed with nipa or coconut palm fronds.

Although the Philippine cuisine is highly distinctive and national, regional from one island to another, it has been greatly influenced and molded by that of other nations with which she has come in contact in the course of her varied and checkered existence throughout the centuries.The Filipino taste is accustomed to contrast and distinct flavors. Bitter, sour, salty, fishy, meaty flavors are very much part of the cuisine. Filipinos appreciate the subtle flavors that are produced when number of ingredients are slowly sauteed or gently simmered together. The Filipino taste buds understand the use of fresh herbs like garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric to mention a few. The subtle difference of rock salts versus the fine-grained salts. White pepper versus black pepper, the merits of "onsoy" (cilantro)
"kinchay" (Chinese celery), "tanlad" (lemon grass), bay leaves, oregano,and other native herbs. The imporatnt of Saffron, palm sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and all other flavors acquired from various cultures that touch them has been part of Filipino kitchen.

You will find traces of the almost four hundred years of Spanish domination, and number of Filipino dishes are undoubtedly Spanish origin, although in the course of time their interpretation has become so different that the Filipino chefs may as well claim them as part and parcel of their gastronomic heritage. The difference is as great as the same dishes interpreted by a Spanish chef and a Filipino chef---the basic ingredients are more or less identical. Why is it different? There is a presence of sparkled nuance of vitality and exuberance in execution of the latter in preparation of the dishes. It requires but a slight touch, an additional amount of flavoring, some subtlety in preparation or cooking the dish to make it cross a frontier and to label it as belonging to one nation or another. If Spain influenced Philippine cuisine, it has been even more so by China and its history developed by other countries as well.

"ADOBO" a rich, well-marinated stew of chicken and pork, with suggestive hint of vinegar, soy sauce, the characteristic essence of garlic and bay leaves in the marinade.

"PANCIT" steaming mounds of sauteed noodles with fresh bok choy, snow peas, carrots and green onions, laced with thinly sliced pork. Chinese sausages and shelled shrimps.

"RELLENO" a whole chicken de-boned and stuffed with mixture of ground chicken breast, ground pork tenderloin, and ham plus "chorizos," and whole hard boiled quail eggs, when sliced and served, make this dish looks as appetizing , also savory. How would like to envision savory sausages, hard boiled eggs, gherkins, red pepper, mushrooms rolled in a flayed flank steak?...that is a "MORCON"

These mouth watering dishes are just a mere sampling of Filipino dishes that awaits the culinary and gastronomic explorer. The culinary adventurers will be on familiar territory because influences from different cultures are extant everywhere.
There will be no strenuous and nerve-wrecking combat with pots and pans, the stove and ovens. Filipino cooking is easy to prepare and palatable too.

There is a prevailing blends of the foreign influences in the Filipino kitchens. and to better understand this culinary style, requires some knowledge of the country's make-up. Just as the Filipino people are predominantly part Malay, Chinese and Spanish. traces of American and other countries of the world, so is the cuisine of this nation of over seven thousand islands.

HISTORY

Over twenty thousand years ago, the Malays were among the first inhabitant of the Philippine archipelago. Land bridges that are now under the sea made the migration possible. Chinese had sailed their trading junks across the Yellow Sea as early as 300 AD. Certainly by the year 1000, trading was taking place on a regular basis with the coastal colonies the Chinese were establishing. By 1400, they had moved inland and were finally established as part of the Philippine culture.

In 1521, Fernando Magellan discovered the Philippines for the Western world. a period of Spanish influence began that lasted three hundred-fifty years. Those periods had a lasting and monumental effect on the Philippines and its people.

After the end of the Spanish colonial rule in 1898, the Philippines came under the influences of the United States. The American brought with the a new language, new influences and new ideas to cuisine of the islands which later was assimilated into a rich and varied Philippine culture.<

GATA (COCONUT MILK) LINK'S THE MALAY INFLUENCES

The Malay effects on the island's cuisine are harder to trace, but can be found in regional indigenous recipes. This is true in dishes, when coconut meat and coconut milk are the primary ingredients. The Filipinos have the "kare-kare", oxtail or tripe stew in grounded peanut sauce, complimented with an array of vegetables) This recipe is more of the Thai dishes you will find popular today among the restaurant hoppers, sans the curry flavor. Pig's maw and liver or even the intestines and pig's blood flavored with vinegar, garlic oregano and hot or sweet pepper also a forerunner of the Malay influence. Whole roast pig, commonly known by the Spanish name "lechon". may have found its way to the table via the sacrificial altar of the ancient people who inhabited the islands. Chickens, too, where offered early in Malay rituals, and these may have led to many chicken dishes of today.

CHINESE INFLUENCE: NOODLE CONNECTIONS

The Chinese influence is very pervasive in the Philippine cuisine with noodle dishes heading the list. In Tagalog, noodle dishes are called "pancit," Pancit, however comes in many forms, shapes and color. These noodle variations have little in common with each other than the fact they have the same kind of ingredients. These are rice and wheat flour. Dumplings such as "pancit molo" and "lumpia,"egg rolls are more popular forms of food that originated from China. Also very Chinese are the arrays of sauces that often accompany Filipino dishes. Served in tiny saucers, these sauces enhance these dishes. These sauces are often served with varying combinations to fit one's individual taste.

HISPANIC INFLUENCE: PAELLA/ESTOFADO CONNECTIONS

Spanish additions to the Filipino cuisine are very evident. It is said that majority of the dishes prepared in the Filipino kitchen then and now can be traced back to Spain. Most of the Filipino dishes have Spanish names; oddly enough some of them are not even Spanish dishes! Most important though, the Spaniard introduced tomatoes and garlic as well as the gentle art of sauteing them with onions and olive oil.

VIVA MEXICO: TAMALE CONNECTION

Whether or not Mexican cooking influenced Philippine cuisine, is debatable. The Philippines came under the Spanish control due to two factors: the discovery of the islands by Magellan and the division of the world into two hemispheres by Pope Alexander VI to appease Spain and Portugal, two feuding Catholic world powers. In the 16Th century, all that lay east of this dividing line drawn down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was given the to Portugal, and that lay west of the line was given to Spain. The dividing line placed the Philippines, exactly halfway around the globe, under the Spanish control. Since the Spanish had to sail west to reach the pacific territories, the Philippine islands were administered through Mexico for more than two hundred years. Galleons regularly plied between Acapulco and Manila, bringing necessities and modified Spanish influence. Mexican sailors intermarried with the natives and established residency in the islands,

Today in Mexico there is a paste of vinegar, oil, chili, spices, and herbs that is used in pork dishes such as "puerco en adobo" and "chuletas de puerco adobadas". In the Philippines, "adobo" is the closest thing the Filipinos can claimed as their national dish, It consist of chicken and pork that has been marinated and simmered until the mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ground peppercorns and bay leaves are reduced. The meat later browns in the skillet from the rendered fats of the pork.

"Tamales," as the Filipinos calls them (notice the "s") has a Mexican flair. The big difference is that the "tamales" are wrapped in banana leaves with two paste mixture of separate ingredients complementing each other, a seasoned rice flour paste mixture and a seasoned corn flour mixture cooked with coconut milk, the latter with the flavor of chili powder and ground roasted peanuts. They are delicately bundled with pieces of Chinese ham, sausages, hard boiled eggs. Is it a coincidence that...Mexicans influence also contributed to the cuisine of the Philippines? Yes!

AMERICAN INFLUENCE: HAMBURGER CONNECTIONS

In the period following World War II, surplus canned goods became widely available to Filipinos. The Filipino embraced these "new food" and turned them into dishes that taste nothing like canned foods, By sauteing canned corned beef with onions and garlic (canned peas or raisins added) they created a dish uniquely their own. Before the Japanese invasion, American food influences came from institutional style salads and pies. American companies and the military installations in the Philippines employed Filipinos who brought home with them the wonders of potatoes, pasta salads and apple pies. The Filipino versions of salad used a lot of boiled chicken meat and vegetables not common in the United States. Even pineapple was added to the concoction and termed as "Hawaiian Chicken Salad" or add red beets, the salad became "Russian Potato Salad." Nevertheless, these salads are as "American as apple pies" in shape, size and texture.

INTRODUCTION

to choose representative dishes in the vast repertory of Filipino cuisine is more task than finding a needle in bundle of hay. I have to ignore more or less innumerable delicious regional dishes, and to all succulent dishes on which, for centuries, the ethnic-regional Filipinos had feasted. In selecting the following recipes, I have chosen recipes I think are best adapted to average taste, but also added that may tickle the taste buds of an adventurous diner which are economical and easily made.

Most of the recipes here are adapted from what I had learned to love in my youth and at times crave once in a while. After living abroad for almost fifty years (by October 17Th this year it will be fifty years), I learned to improvise, substitute and tried ti improve old recipes my mother, my grandmother and other relatives served on the dinning table. The recipes are developed after my fashion and in characteristic Filipino manner, the result is satisfying, adaptable and economical and ingredients are easily available from local markets. With the advent of the Southeastern Asian markets, especially in California, anything is possible for me to create dishes that are Filipino; yet, it might have a twist on it.

The primary focus of this blog is for the first generation Filipinos, who grew up munching French fries with Big Mac. In spite of this, they grew up in a household that serves steamed rice and "adobo", "lumpia", and "pancit," and at times will not eat other dishes their immigrant parents dishes out. The presence of Filipino cuisine in the American mainstream are shadowed by the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and lately by Thai and Korean. The young Big Mac eating Filipino-American have these choices and adventurous enough to switch allegiance according to preference in satisfying his internal clock.

The very thought of preparing Filipino dishes like "pancit" and "lumpia" from scratch stop most non-Filipino home cooks before they start. The thought of painstaking chopping, wrapping and in some cases steaming and frying to produce a substantial repertoire of dishes, even t a Filipino households that intend to have a Gathering of friends and relatives, it usually leads to on thing; opting to let a restaurant cater these party treats, Like anything in life, it needs planning!