Hot merienda when it rains
Classic snacks for the wet season
By Sol Vanzi
Published Jun 8, 2023 02:52 am
Super typhoon Mawar signaled the coming of rains and a relief from sweltering summer heat that reached 40 degrees in some areas. The cool nights and rainy days were perfect for homemade Filipino snacks that warm the body and the heart.
The first merienda that comes to mind, perhaps the most popular, is arroz caldo. This chicken-and-rice porridge is served in homes from Batanes to Simunul and at restaurants, airport lounges, sidewalk stalls, public markets, and five-star hotels.
It takes only a few ingredients and a thick pot to make arroz caldo for breakfast, midnight snack, or a light midday meal.
In thick pot over medium heat, sauté two tablespoons sliced ginger and ½ kilo chicken (cut into bite-size pieces) in vegetable oil or chicken fat until meat turns white and opaque. At this point some cooks stir in a pinch of saffron or native kasubha, which gives the soup a light yellow sheen. Add a little salt and ½ kilo pre-washed sticky rice (malagkit) with two liters of water and one chicken cube.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent clumping and browning. Add more water as it thickens while cooking. Taste often to adjust saltiness. Serve topped with hardboiled egg, green onions, and toasted garlic. I often break a raw egg into a steaming bowl of arroz caldo for more protein and other nutrients.
Anything cooked in coconut milk is called ginata-an almost everywhere in the Philippines, except perhaps in Cavite, Las Piñas, and Parañaque, where old folks continue to reserve the word ginata-an for viands. The shorter ginatan, in their vocabulary, refers only to sweet stews of fruit, beans, root crops, and grains flavored and enriched with coconut milk. Fresh corn kernels scraped from the cob flavor a sweet sticky rice and coconut milk porridge in the popular ginatangmais. Simple and fast, it requires cooking the malagkit in water and coconut milk until thick, then adding the fresh corn kernels and sugar. Simmer until done. Pandan leaves could be added to infuse the dish with a special aroma.
Ginatangtotong, once every family’s rainy day staple snack, now mostly lives in stories of generations soon to pass. It takes longer to cook, involves more steps, and requires stamina to carry out unusual procedures.
But first, its name, which derives from totong, an old word for mongo or mung bean. Mongo is the Pinoy family’s traditional Friday dish in compliance with the Catholic meatless Friday rule. Mongo sweets such as ice cream, ice drop, bread, and pies were introduced by Japanese settlers before World War II, adopted and improved by Filipinos. To make ginatangtotong, begin by toasting one cup dry mongo in a thick pot or kawali. When mongo turns brown, remove from fire. Crack the mongo by using a rolling pin or mortar-and-pestle and transfer to a covered thick pot with one liter water. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add another one liter water, ½ kilo malagkit (sticky rice) and cook over medium heat until rice is done. Pour in coconut milk (second squeeze) and stir constantly to prevent scorching. Stir in enough sugar to taste. Serve topped with pure coconut milk (first squeeze).
When fruits and root crops are cooked with sugar and coconut milk, the result is a delicious concoction brightened by the natural colors of freshly harvested ingredients.
This dish is based on breakfast, so they should use coconut milk and sugar, stirred with sliced ripe langka (jackfruit) and two pandan leaves. Slice the following into uniform sizes for even cooking: ripe saba bananas, orange or yellow sweet potato (camote), and ube (purple yam), Bananas cook fast, so they should be added last. If using bilo-bilo (rice dough balls), add them last and turn off heat once they float.
One of my favorite childhood treats was kalamay made from leftover ginatan.
My lola used to make big pots of ginatan, which she served free to churchgoers. At the end of the day, she would order her grandchildren to stir the ginatan in a big heavy kawali until all the liquid disappeared. The result was kalamay unlike any other.
Nothing beats arroz caldo
The first merienda that comes to mind, perhaps the most popular, is arroz caldo. This chicken-and-rice porridge is served in homes from Batanes to Simunul and at restaurants, airport lounges, sidewalk stalls, public markets, and five-star hotels.
It takes only a few ingredients and a thick pot to make arroz caldo for breakfast, midnight snack, or a light midday meal.
In thick pot over medium heat, sauté two tablespoons sliced ginger and ½ kilo chicken (cut into bite-size pieces) in vegetable oil or chicken fat until meat turns white and opaque. At this point some cooks stir in a pinch of saffron or native kasubha, which gives the soup a light yellow sheen. Add a little salt and ½ kilo pre-washed sticky rice (malagkit) with two liters of water and one chicken cube.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent clumping and browning. Add more water as it thickens while cooking. Taste often to adjust saltiness. Serve topped with hardboiled egg, green onions, and toasted garlic. I often break a raw egg into a steaming bowl of arroz caldo for more protein and other nutrients.
Ginatan, not Ginata-an
Anything cooked in coconut milk is called ginata-an almost everywhere in the Philippines, except perhaps in Cavite, Las Piñas, and Parañaque, where old folks continue to reserve the word ginata-an for viands. The shorter ginatan, in their vocabulary, refers only to sweet stews of fruit, beans, root crops, and grains flavored and enriched with coconut milk. Fresh corn kernels scraped from the cob flavor a sweet sticky rice and coconut milk porridge in the popular ginatangmais. Simple and fast, it requires cooking the malagkit in water and coconut milk until thick, then adding the fresh corn kernels and sugar. Simmer until done. Pandan leaves could be added to infuse the dish with a special aroma.
Totong
Ginatangtotong, once every family’s rainy day staple snack, now mostly lives in stories of generations soon to pass. It takes longer to cook, involves more steps, and requires stamina to carry out unusual procedures.
But first, its name, which derives from totong, an old word for mongo or mung bean. Mongo is the Pinoy family’s traditional Friday dish in compliance with the Catholic meatless Friday rule. Mongo sweets such as ice cream, ice drop, bread, and pies were introduced by Japanese settlers before World War II, adopted and improved by Filipinos. To make ginatangtotong, begin by toasting one cup dry mongo in a thick pot or kawali. When mongo turns brown, remove from fire. Crack the mongo by using a rolling pin or mortar-and-pestle and transfer to a covered thick pot with one liter water. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add another one liter water, ½ kilo malagkit (sticky rice) and cook over medium heat until rice is done. Pour in coconut milk (second squeeze) and stir constantly to prevent scorching. Stir in enough sugar to taste. Serve topped with pure coconut milk (first squeeze).
Alpahol – ginatang halo-halo
When fruits and root crops are cooked with sugar and coconut milk, the result is a delicious concoction brightened by the natural colors of freshly harvested ingredients.
This dish is based on breakfast, so they should use coconut milk and sugar, stirred with sliced ripe langka (jackfruit) and two pandan leaves. Slice the following into uniform sizes for even cooking: ripe saba bananas, orange or yellow sweet potato (camote), and ube (purple yam), Bananas cook fast, so they should be added last. If using bilo-bilo (rice dough balls), add them last and turn off heat once they float.
Kalamay from leftover ginatan
One of my favorite childhood treats was kalamay made from leftover ginatan.
My lola used to make big pots of ginatan, which she served free to churchgoers. At the end of the day, she would order her grandchildren to stir the ginatan in a big heavy kawali until all the liquid disappeared. The result was kalamay unlike any other.