Green Jackfruit In Coconut Milk Sauce

A few weeks ago, I went to check out the new Filipino restaurant Bistro 1521* in Arlington, VA. The bistro is run by the same people at the permanently closed Filipino Bistro 7107. The menu has been expanded but one of my favorites at 7107, Green Jackfruit In Coconut Milk is missing.

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Coconut Milk And Sweet Corn Ice Cream

Guinatan mais, sweet corn stewed in coconut milk, is a favorite Filipino dessert or snack. It's usually served warm but this time I made it into ice cream. It's sooo yummy. Really yummy.

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Red Rice

crispy pork hock with steamed red rice and roasted vegetables 

There are various Philippine heirloom rice available to buy online but I find the prices of the rice too steep. I had to settle for the cheaper, at $10.00 for a 5-pound bag, Thai red rice which are sold in nearby Asian grocery stores. Thai red rice is a long grain non-glutinous rice similar to brown rice but the color of the bran is red. According to Wiki, only the husks of the rice grains are removed during the milling process, retaining all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals intact in the bran layer and in the germ. Red rice is a good source of thiamine, riboflavin, fiber, iron, and calcium.

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Maja Blanca

Maja Blanca is the Philippine version of white pudding made of cornstarch, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. Maybe I am biased but IMHO our white pudding tastes way better because it has coconut milk and sweet corn kernels. I'm loving the recipe from KULINARYA guidebook which uses buco (young coconut) water and powdered milk and served with strips of buco meat on top. Really delicious!

Maja Blanca
adapted from KULINARYA guidebook
1 cup thick coconut cream
350 ml buco water
2 ears of sweet corn
2 tablespoons water
2 cups coconut milk
½ cup powdered milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup cornstarch mixed with ½ cup water
buco meat, cut into strips

• In a small skillet, heat the thick coconut cream over medium heat. When it starts to boil, lower the heat and continue cooking, uncovered, for 30 minutes. The milk should separate into oil and solid curd (latik). Remove the latik and set aside.
  
• Cut the corn and scrape the cob on a large glass bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1½ minutes.
  
• In a medium non-stick saucepan, mix together the buco water, coconut milk, powdered milk, sugar, cornstarch mixture, and corn. Bring to a boil then lower heat. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off heat when mixture thickens.
  
• Transfer into individual bowls or a serving dish. Allow to cool and set. Top each serving with buco strips and latik.

coconut overload maja blanca

Guinomis

Guinomis, also spelled with a U, guinumis is a Filipino dessert or snack similar to Halo-Halo. It has diced sweet gelatin, tapioca pearls, puffed pinipig (pounded young glutinous rice), sweetened with raw sugar and pandan syrup, and topped with shaved ice and coconut milk. You will love the different textures of chewy sago and gelatin, crunchy pinipig, creamy coconut milk, and cool mouth feel of the shaved ice. Perfect for summer and sooo yummy.

Guinomis (adapted from KULINARYA guidebook)
diced cooked red agar or gelatin, flavored with lemon extract
cooked sago (large tapioca pearls)
puffed pinipig
2 cups water
3 pandan leaves
2 pieces panocha (or 1½ cups muscovado or raw sugar)
thin coconut milk
shaved ice

• Prepare the syrup: Boil the pandan leaves, water, and panocha or sugar. Simmer, uncovered, and stir until sugar has dissolved completely. Reduce until syrupy. Let cool. Discard pandan and transfer syrup into a serving container or bottle.
• Assemble the guinomis: Layer 3 tablespoons each: sago pearls, gulaman, pinipig. Drizzle syrup to taste, top with shaved ice, pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of coconut milk. Enjoy!

panocha and gur

Philippine panocha is available at Filipino and Asian groceries. Gur, the Pakistani and Indian raw sugar lumps are available in the international food section of most groceries (at least in my area). Dark muscovado sugar and raw sugar are also available in many groceries usually at the baking/flour/sugar aisle. You can use regular dark brown sugar but the flavor won't be as good as the panocha.

Coconut Leche Flan With Caramelized Macapuno Strings Topping

I was browsing the Filipino cookbook Memories of Philippine Kitchens and the leche flan with caramelized macapuno preserves caught my eye. I didn't follow the recipe because there's too much sugar in it. I used my own recipe and used both coconut milk and low fat milk. I also baked the leche flan with the macapuno already at the bottom of the molds. I think Romy Dorotan's idea of adding the macapuno topping after the leche flan has been unmolded is the better method, mainly for presentation.

Coconut Leche Flan
flan
1 can coconut milk
1½ cups milk
½ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (more if you like the flan sweeter)
4 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

caramel
1 cup sugar for the caramel
Kayumanggi brand macapuno string preserves

• In a large bowl with a handle, heat the coconut milk in the microwave until lukewarm, about 40 seconds . Add the rest of ingredients except the 1 cup sugar for caramel and macapuno. Whisk until thoroughly combined, set aside.
• Prepare the pans.

• I used 4 ramekins and 1 oval leche flan mold. Spoon a layer of macapuno evenly on the bottom of the mold and ramekins.
• In a small skillet, heat ½ cup sugar until it caramelizes and color is golden brown. Pour into the four ramekins covering the macapuno completely. Wash the skillet and caramelize the other ½ cup of sugar and pour into the oval mold.
• Pour the egg mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the four ramekins, pour the rest in the oval mold. Arrange the ramekins in a square baking pan and the mold in another square baking pan. Pour hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins and mold. Bake in a 325°F oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cool completely in the refrigerator before unmolding.

Guinatan Halo-halo

warm anise flavored coconut milk sweet 'soup' with jackfruit, assorted root vegetables, glutinous rice balls and bananas; weird ingredients to non-Filipinos but so delicious, and uniquely ours

I was cleaning my overstuffed freezer and found frozen ube, saba bananas and jackfruit. I went out and bought 2 small taro and a small sweet potato, made a few bilo-bilo and voila! Guinatan halo-halo.

Guinatan Halo-halo
1 can coconut milk
4 - 5 pieces ripe jackfruit, cut into strips
1 small sweet potato, diced
2 small taro, diced
1 small ube (purple yam), boiled whole and diced (optional)
5 small ripe saba, sliced
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon anise, optional
pinch of salt
½ cup glutinous rice powder
water

• Prepare the glutinous rice balls by mixing water, 1 tablespoon at a time, with the rice flour to make a very stiff dough (galapong); form into ½-inch balls, set aside.
• In a saucepan, heat the coconut milk and a canful of water, add the taro and sweet potato, cook for 2 minutes. Add the rice balls, saba bananas, jackfruit, anise, sugar and salt. Simmer until cooked. I add the pre-cooked ube in individual soup bowls just before eating because it colors the guinatan a purplish hue. Serve with a drizzle of thick coconut milk, if desired.

Rice Pudding

We love rice and we eat it at least twice a day, if not 4 times, including breakfast and for snacks. This rice pudding recipe appealed to me instantly when I read it because of the combination of flavors that I really love. It is similar to our guinatang mais (glutinous rice and sweet corn cooked in coconut milk) with a hint of cardamom, cloves, and lemon. One spoonful and I was in rice pudding heaven, yuuummmy. Wow!

Adapted from Food Section The Washington Post 2/28/2007 by Bonny Wolf

'International' Rice Pudding
2½ cups milk
1 ¾ cups coconut milk
5 cardamom pods, crushed
5 whole cloves
finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups cooked arborio rice (I used Japanese short grain rice)
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup pistachios, for garnish (optional)

• Combine the milks, cardamon, cloves, and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil, then transfer the mixture to a container, let cool for 40 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
• Strain the milk mixture into a medium saucepan,discarding the solids. Add the sugar, salt and rice, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn to low and cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often, until thick. Add the raisins after 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with pistachios, if desired.