Pinipig are flattened and toasted glutinous rice grains, the Southeast Asian equivalent of Kellogg’s corn flakes. Its name probably derives from the root word piga, which is Tagalog for squeeze.

The rice grains for pinipig are harvested while still young and green. Admittedly, I have never seen fresh green pinipig, not even in the Philippines, because it quickly loses color once pounded.

To capture that fresh look, some exporters add a weird hue of neon green coloring. Go for the au naturale variety, even if it is a tad less eye-catching. Wouldn’t you rather keep the food equivalent of silicone implants out of anything you eat?

Toasting reawakens its raw rice fragrance, if only for a short time, so add the pinipig to the cookie dough as soon as they cool down. The shards of sweet rice retain crispness well.

recipe adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s Memories of Philippine Kitchens
Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cook Almost Anything

Pinipig (Young Glutinous Rice Flake) Cookies

makes about 2 dozen cookies

Notes:

• Pinipig is also sold as cốm, its Vietnamese name. Try your luck at groceries that focus on Southeast Asian products.

Directions:

Toast the pinipig. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the pinipig and toast while stirring often for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Spread out the pinipig over a plate and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF / 175ºC with racks on the upper third and lower third of the oven. Prepare 2 parchment-lined or lightly greased half-sheet pans or cookie sheets.

Mix the dry ingredients. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a container with a tight lid. Cover and shake until thoroughly mixed.

Mix (Creaming Method). Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating to incorporation. Beat in the lemon zest.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and continue mixing just until smooth and thoroughly incorporated. Gently fold in the cooled pinipig.

Drop. The cookie dough will be very sticky, so use two teaspoons or a small disher. Drop 12 evenly spaced portions for each sheet pan or cookie sheet. Each cookie dough portion is roughly equivalent to 1 heaping teaspoon, about the size of a cherry.

Bake the cookies at 350ºF / 175ºC for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Let the baked cookies rest on the sheets for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The scent of rice paddy fields in cookies.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Pinipig Cookies

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1. Pasencia – Filipino Meringue Cookies
2. Indonesian Nutmeg Tea Cookies – Kue Kering
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6. Sables à la Poche Cookies

Stock up on cilantro, mint, and shallots and you’re well on your way to enjoying the aromatic salads of Thailand. Lightness and the emphasis on balancing hot, sour, and salty elements seem to be the hallmark of Thai greens. Instead of oils and vinegars, try whipping out the chiles, limes, and fish sauce for a change.

Culantro sounds and tastes like that other love-it-or-hate-it herb found on Indian and Mexican dishes. Also known as long-leaf, spiny, serrated, or sawtooth coriander, culantro looks completely different. It has a stronger scent and weaker taste compared to cilantro, but maybe it’s just me.

You’ll also need ground toasted rice, a seemingly insignificant ingredient that is easy to overlook. If you ever see it listed in any Thai recipe, just remember that it is never optional.

recipe adapted from David Thompson’s Thai Food
Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cook Almost Anything

Thai Wild Mushroom Salad
Yam Het Bpa

makes 4 servings as a side dish

King Oyster Mushrooms.

Ingredients:

a few handfuls of wild mushrooms, about 1/3 pound, sliced
2 tablespoons stock
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
a large pinch of chile powder
4 shallots, thinly sliced
a handful of mint and cilantro, leaves only
2 tablespoons culantro (pak chii farang)
1 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ground toasted rice (khao kua)
a few sprigs of Thai basil
sliced cabbage and cucumber

Pak chii farang, aka foreign coriander. ‘Tis originally from the West (Central America).

Directions:

1. Place the mushrooms, stock, salt, and sugar in a small pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the mushrooms are done (the cooking time varies depending on the type of mushrooms you use). Adjust the amount of water you add so that the water is almost completely evaporated when the mushrooms are done.
2. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and season with the lime juice, fish sauce, and chile powder. Place in a bowl and toss with the shallots, herbs, and scallions.
3. To serve, sprinkle with the ground toasted rice. Serve with Thai basil leaves and slices of cabbage and cucumber.

Mushrooms seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice, and chile powder.

Cooked king oyster mushrooms have a pleasing meaty texture.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Thai Wild Mushroom Salad

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Any mention of oxtails in Filipino food probably involves kare-kare, a rich peanut-based vegetable stew. Beef shanks, tripe, pork hocks, and other tough parts tenderized through long simmering may also be added, but it has to have the oxtails. Leaving the bony segments out is unacceptable. Hindi maaari (no frickin’ way).

I didn’t have the other dozen ingredients for kare-kare so I made adobo for dinner instead. Adobo is an indigenous Filipino method of simmering in vinegar, akin to pickling. Food spoils rather quickly in oppressive tropical heat so this is our way of dealing with that little dilemma. We take the vinegared stuff seriously regardless of the weather forecast, though.

The sourness also supposedly stimulates your appetite during hot and humid weather, not that I’ve had any such craving-related problems lately.

The following recipe makes a light broth meant to be served like a soup, in contrast to versions enriched with coconut milk. Before serving, grill or broil the oxtails to crisp up the fatty bits. Silky and tender is great, but that additional hint of smoke can only make it better.

Oxtail Adobo Recipe
Adobong Buntot ng Baka

makes 4 servings

Meet datu, my spear-wielding ancestor. He likes loincloths and long walks on the beach.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 pounds oxtail, segmented
1/2 cup vinegar, preferably cane or cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
8 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
2 to 3 bay leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot, place the oxtails, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Pour in enough water to cover the oxtails.
2. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for about 2 hours, replenishing the water as necessary to keep the oxtails fully immersed.
3. Tilt the pot and skim the rendered fat, if desired.
4. Prepare a grill or preheat a broiler. Remove the oxtails from the broth. Grill or broil the oxtails until well-browned and slightly crisped. Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with warm rice and a small bowl of the adobo broth.

Oxtail adobo, pre-incineration. You go eww, I go ooh.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Oxtail Adobo

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6. Chicken in Red Sesame Seed Sauce

Edam cheese is essential for making ensaimada. Filipinos know it best as queso de bola, bowling balls of cheesiness covered in a protective shell of red wax. These big-as-your-head cheese balls always made our dinner table during christmastime. We have this tradition of rounding up thirteen different types of spherical fruits to symbolize prosperity for the new year, so queso de bola fits in quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

No one ever told me that the waxy coating on queso de bola was, in fact, actual wax. Other kids voluntarily ate glue; I unknowingly ate paraffin. Copious amounts of it. Needless to say, I hated queso de bola with a passion, but continued to eat it anyway because everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Now that I know better, I always keep a wedge on hand. I find Edam plain and inoffensive as far as cheese goes, but finely grated and baked with sweet brioche dough, we end up with a well-loved Filipino bread along the ranks of pan de sal and pan de leche. There are many other ways to enjoy queso de bola, of course.

Storebought versions are more like sponge cakes heavily topped with sugar, cheese, and butter. This breadier version has a fluffy interior, deeply browned flaky crust, and a nice buttery finish. I prefer to keep ensaimada plain because there’s enough cheese, butter, and sweetness in the bread itself, but there’s nothing wrong with a light dusting after baking. I listed a number of optional glazes and toppings.

This recipe for ensaimada benefits from an overnight rest in the fridge mainly to maximize flavor development. It really makes a huge difference in taste and texture. The dough is filled with cheese and coiled into snail-shaped rounds, so chilling also makes shaping easier, fun even.

Bread Baking Day #16: Bread with Cheese hosted by High on the Hog

Ensaimada (Snail-Shaped Brioche)
Filipino-Style with Edam Cheese

makes 4 ensaimadas (about 6 inches in diameter)

Dutch Edam cheese. Red wax is not good eats.

Ensaimada Dough Ingredients:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
bread flour                   2 2/3 cups         12            340
whole milk                        2 tbsp          1             28
large eggs                        5               8.8          250
instant yeast                 1 1/4 tsp
salt                            1/3 tsp
granulated sugar                1/4 cup           2             56
unsalted butter, softened       1/2 cup           4            113
grated Edam cheese          about 1 cup

Optional Glaze (before baking):

egg wash (1 egg + 1 teaspoon water)

Optional Toppings (after cooling and baking):

softened butter
granulated sugar
grated Edam cheese

Directions:

Mix             Stir the flour, milk, eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar.
                Mix until evenly hydrated and a shaggy ball of dough
                is formed.

Rest            15 minutes

Knead           Add the butter about a tablespoon at a time, kneading
                to incorporation with each addition. Continue kneading
                until all of the butter is incorporated and a smooth
                ball of dough is formed.

Refrigerate     12 to 24 hours

Prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment or silicone.

Divide          Remove from the refrigerator and immediately divide
                into 4 pieces. The dough will be stiff and may have
                risen slightly.

Rest            15 to 30 minutes. The dough should be slightly softer
                but still cool to the touch.

Shape           Pat the balls of dough into a rectangular shape, about
                4 inches by 12 inches. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of grated
                Edam cheese over the dough. Roll tightly into logs and
                pinch the seams to seal.

                Coil the rolled dough into a tight spiral and tuck the
                outer end underneath the dough. Proofing the shaped
                dough in appropriately sized brioche or tart pans is
                nice but not necessary.

                Place the shaped ensaimada on the lined sheet pan.

Final Proof     About 2 hours at room temperature

Preheat Oven    350ºF / 175ºC

Glaze           Glaze with egg wash (optional)

Bake            Bake for 20 to 24 minutes at 350ºF / 175ºC, rotating
                the pan halfway through baking. The center of the loaf
                will register 185ºF / 85ºC to 190ºF / 88ºC when done. 

Cool            At least 30 minutes

Toppings        Top with any combination of softened butter, granulated
                sugar, or grated Edam cheese (optional)

The fourth one didn’t make it for the shoot.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Ensaimada – Filipino Cheese Brioche

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Creamy coconut milk is tinged a shade of yellow in this easy Filipino recipe for squash and shrimp simmered in coconut milk. This is my “macaroni and cheese,” with rice and tender kabocha squash assuming the roles of pasta and cheddar.

As with most comfort foods, ginataang kalabasa has countless variations. Other ginataan recipes call for fermented shrimp paste (bagoong) and fish sauce (patis), but for squash and shrimp, my preference lies with milder seasonings.

recipe adapted from Gerry G. Gelle’s Filipino Cuisine: Recipes from the Islands
Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn’s Kitchen

Ginataang Kalabasa at Hipon
Kabocha Squash and Shrimp Simmered in Coconut Milk

makes 3 to 4 servings

The butt end of kabocha squash.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 small onion, diced

1 cup chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1 small kabocha squash or any winter squash varietal, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
1/2 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 1/2 cups coconut milk (12 to 14 ounce can)

Instructions:

1. Peel and seed the squash. Slice into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Saute the garlic and onions until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth or water, salt, pepper, and squash pieces. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender but still firm.
4. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes while stirring. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Ginataang kalabasa at hipon (squash and shrimp simmered in coconut milk)

To Serve:

Serve immediately with rice.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Ginataang Kalabasa – Kabocha Squash in Coconut Milk

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Pan de leche is a Filipino sweet bread that has many regional variations. As far as I know, any yeasted bread baked with milk and sugar can be labeled pan de leche, but I have a very specific idea of what it is supposed to be like. It will be dense and feel heavy for its size. The crumb will be dry but fluffy. The glazed soft crust will have the slightest hint of chewiness. Throwing it against a wall or forehead will cause a resounding thump.

With those attributes in mind, I tried several divergent recipes before coming up with my own. I found that making pan de leche requires the most basic bread baking techniques — pre-ferments, wild yeast starters, and soakers are unnecessary and the dough should be firm and easy to handle. It should take only a few hours of fermentation, some pantry staples, a sheet pan, and a hot oven.

The simplicity of my pan de leche recipe means that it is average bread at best. To put it bluntly, most of the other breads I’ve baked, where slow fermentation spread over a few days fully develops the flavor of the resulting loaf, will taste better.

But this is exactly how I remember it, a close approximation of a childhood favorite. After several attempts, I think I finally nailed it.

World Bread Day hosted by Zorra of 1x Umruhren Bite

Pan de Leche
Filipino Sweet Milk Bread Rolls

makes 9 pan de leche rolls

Final Dough Formula:

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
all-purpose flour                 3 cups         13.5          383
whole milk                      1/2 cup           4            113
butter, melted                  1/2 cup           4            113
granulated sugar                1/4 cup           1.75          50
kosher salt                       2 tsp
instant yeast                     1 tbsp
large eggs                        2

For the Egg Wash:

1 egg
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

Equipment:

1 half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper

Final Dough Instructions:

Mix             Mix all of the ingredients until evenly incorporated.

Knead           10 to 12 minutes

Bulk Ferment    2 hours at room temperature in a lightly oiled bowl

Divide          9 pieces, about 85 grams / 3 ounces each

Rest            15 minutes

Shape           oval dinner rolls

Final Proof     60 to 90 minutes at room temperature while uncovered,
                until almost doubled in size. Let a skin form on the
                rolls.

Proofed Filipino pan de leche rolls.

Preheat Oven    375ºF/190ºC

Glaze           glaze with the egg wash

Score           2 slashes (optional) 

Glazed and scored Filipino pan de leche rolls.

Bake            Bake at 375ºF/190ºC for about 18 to 22 minutes, rotating
                the pan halfway through baking if necessary

Cool            At least 15 minutes

Say cheese.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Pan de Leche – Filipino Sweet Bread Rolls

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My attempt at the Indonesian spice cake called spekkoek was a complete disaster, so weaseling my way into the this month’s edition of WTSIM means that I have to go with Plan B.

There is no Plan B, so let’s see what’s in the fridge:

• Sriracha – Not much use in Indonesian cookery as far as I know.
• Sourdough starters – Can’t remember the last time I fed these. Must feed self first.
• Curdled white goo – A closer look reveals that it’s just yogurt.
• Tempeh – Quintessentially Indonesian, but I don’t feel like frying anything at the moment.
• Lemongrass – We may be on to something here…

Since being Filipino means that I hoard coconut milk cans like squirrels do acorns, I humbly serve a side dish of fragrant nasi uduk, rice steamed with lemongrass and coconut milk. This barebones version suggests an optional parboiling step before steaming, if you ever feel like trying it with brown rice.

Waiter There’s Something In My… Indonesian
hosted by Andrew of Spittoon Extra

recipe adapted from James Oseland’s Cradle of Flavor

Nasi Uduk
Indonesian Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice

makes 4 to 6 servings

Lemongrass and Coconut Milk

2 cups white or brown rice (14 ounces/400 grams), thoroughly rinsed
3 lemongrass stalks
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Notes:

• If using brown rice, parboil for about 10 to 15 minutes in a large pot of boiling water, as if cooking pasta, before continuing with the recipe. The brown rice grains should be slightly softened but still uncooked in the center.

Instructions:

Chop off and discard the bottom inch and bristly tops of the lemongrass. Remove the outer 2-3 layers of the lemongrass stalk. Using a heavy blunt object, bruise the lemongrass stalks lightly, just until flexible enough to tie into knots.

In a lidded saucepan, stir together the rice, lemongrass knots, water, coconut milk, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat while continuously stirring to prevent the bottom from scorching. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, ensuring that the lemongrass knots are completely immersed in the rice and liquid.

Cover tightly with the lid and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Remove from the heat and let steam for an additional 10 minutes by keeping the saucepan covered. Taste and adjust the salt if necessary.

Remove and discard the lemongrass knots. Fluff the rice with a fork or spoon and let cool slightly before serving.

The richness of nasi uduk pairs well with the acidity of vinegared Filipino adobos, be it pork, chicken, or beef.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Nasi Uduk – Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice

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The pork adobo of choice in our quaint little household in Quezon City was made with liempo, the cut also known as pork belly, source of wonderful things such as bacon and high blood pressure. Unabashedly lardy from slowly simmering pork in soy sauce and vinegar, pork adobo requires ungodly amounts of steamed rice, lest my menacing older brothers pilfer my share and make me wait for the next batch.

Adobo is always served with rice and it’s unimaginable to have it any other way. We get nervous when our rice supply dwindles so we always kept several 50-kilogram sacks in the kitchen. Having all of those rice sacks on hand seemed to serve a dual purpose — sustenance, first and foremost, and breakwater for typhoons, in case of emergency.

Countless meals of thick-cut pork belly with a meat-to-fat ratio of 1:1 defined my childhood but it doesn’t sound as good an idea now as it was back then. Baby-back ribs adobo is not diet food by any means, but this recipe improves the ratio to, oh I don’t know, 3:1. Braising collagen-rich ribs produces a lip-smacking sauce like no other cut and it goes great with, you guessed it, steamed white rice.

World Food Day hosted by More than Burnt Toast

recipe adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s Memories of Philippine Kitchens

Pork Baby-Back Ribs Adobo
Adobong Tadyang ng Baboy

makes 4 to 6 servings

For the Marinade:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons rock or kosher salt
3 bay leaves
12 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
whole fresh chiles, to taste (optional)

1 side baby-back ribs, about 2 pounds

Notes:

• Keep the baby-back ribs whole and let it cool completely in the braising liquid, preferably refrigerated overnight, before grilling or broiling to serve. It may seem unnecessary but it does make a big difference in improving the taste and texture of this adobo.

Instructions:

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add the baby-back ribs and turn in the marinade to coat. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF / 121ºC. Pour enough boiling water in the baking dish such that the ribs are halfway immersed in liquid. Cover the baking dish tightly with the aluminum foil. Braise the baby-back ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.

If serving the next day, let cool to room temperature in the braising liquid while uncovered before storing in the refrigerator.

Braised baby-back ribs adobo.

To Serve:

Prepare a grill or preheat a broiler. Slice the baby-back ribs into 1 or 2-rib portions. Grill or broil until browned on both sides and thoroughly heated through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Strain the braising liquid to remove the whole peppercorns and bay leaves. Heat the sauce over high heat and reduce until slightly thickened. Pour over the grilled or broiled baby-back ribs and serve with rice.

Tagalog 101: Nasaan ang kanin? (Where is the rice?)

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Baby-Back Pork Ribs Adobo

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Ginataan is a Filipino cooking technique where ingredients such as vegetables, seafood, or fruits are simmered in coconut milk. It can be sweet or savory depending on the ingredients — the term ginataan by itself refers to a warm dessert soup traditionally served in the Philippines as merienda, mid-afternoon snacks that help make the long wait between lunch and dinner more tolerable.

Eggplants and green beans make up the gulay or vegetable portion of this recipe. It can also include squash (kalabasa), bitter melon (ampalaya), and okra, but this recipe calls for the vegetables that cook quickest. This version is done in about 15 minutes after all the prepping is done.

This green and purple ginataan dish is exactly how I remember it prepared in our household. Incidentally, that same juxtapose of colors is the reason I wouldn’t eat it as a child. It reminded me of none other than Batman’s arch-nemesis, The Joker. I found his wide maniacal grin disturbing, but even worse, he also reminded me of clowns.

Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Küchenlatein

recipe adapted from Gerry G. Gelle’s Filipino Cuisine: Recipes from the Islands

Ginataang Talong at Sitaw
Eggplants and Green Beans Simmered in Coconut Milk

makes 4 servings

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, julienned
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 Japanese eggplants (or any varietal, about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
2 tablespoons fermented shrimp paste (bagoong alamang)
12 ounces canned or freshly squeezed coconut milk
hot chiles, to taste (optional)

Notes:

• Afraid of using stinky fermented shrimp paste? Once heated, it gets mellower and combines with the coconut milk to create a classic Filipino flavor profile. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, but substitute minced anchovies or plain salt to replace bagoong alamang.

Instructions:

In a heavy saucepan, saute the garlic, ginger, and onions in the vegetable oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and green beans and cook for 2 minutes while stirring frequently.

Stir in the shrimp paste, coconut milk, and hot chiles (if using). Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with either more shrimp paste or salt if necessary.

To Serve:

Serve as a side dish or main course with a bowl of steaming hot rice.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Ginataang Gulay – Vegetables Simmered in Coconut Milk

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Kinilaw (pronounced ki-ni-lao) involves fresh ingredients doused with an acidic component such as vinegar or citrus juice. Also known as kilawin, it is the Filipino version of ceviche, most commonly used to prepare freshly caught seafood. Kinilaw can also feature fruits, vegetables, and half-cooked meats. Additional ingredients include aromatics such as ginger, onions, and chiles. Coconut milk may also be used to soften the acidity and bring all of the flavors together.

A bit of prep work is required to reduce the banana heart acerbity, a weird feeling in the mouth that Filipinos refer to as pakla. The chopped banana hearts are washed in several changes of lightly salted water to draw out the bitterness and make it more palatable.

This preparation balances the banana heart bitterness, lime juice acidity, and coconut milk richness. Crisp and slightly squeaky, the texture of fresh banana hearts is highlighted.

Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Palachinka

recipe adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s Memories of Philippine Kitchens

Banana Hearts Kinilaw
Kilawing Puso ng Saging

makes 4 servings as a side dish

4 fresh banana hearts
4 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1 hot red chile, thinly sliced on the diagonal
salt, to taste
1 tomato, thinly sliced

Notes:

• The banana hearts will oxidize and darken quickly after chopping.

To Prepare the Banana Hearts:

In a large bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 6 cups of water. Peel off the maroon outer layers of the banana hearts to reveal the pale core. Trim off the stem and discard with the outer layers. Also discard the rows of flowers resembling matchsticks. These are found under each maroon outer layer.

To Wash the Banana Hearts:

Gently knead the chopped banana hearts for a few minutes while immersed in the salted water.

Discard the cloudy water and taste a small piece. It may take several changes, but repeat as necessary with fresh tap water until the bitterness is to your liking.

To Blanche and Shock the Banana Hearts:

Fill a large bowl with iced water. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Blanche the chopped banana hearts briefly for about 10 seconds. Strain the banana hearts and shock in the iced water until thoroughly chilled to stop the cooking process.

Drain the banana hearts and pat dry with paper towels.

To Serve:

Place the banana hearts in a serving bowl and add the shallots, coconut milk, lime juice, and red chiles. Stir to combine and season with salt. Taste and adjust the amounts of lime juice and salt to taste.

Garnish with the tomato slices and serve.

This is a post from Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate
Banana Hearts Kinilaw

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