Coconut and Spiny Lobsters of Marinduque

Coconut crab or lobster cooked in coconut milk is one of the most delicious dish that I have tasted in Marinduque. So what what is a coconut crab? Here's what Wikipedia says:

The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the upper size limit for terrestrial animals with exoskeletons in recent Earth atmosphere, with a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9.0 lb). It can grow to up to 1 metre (3 ft) in length from leg to leg. It is found on islands across the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific Ocean as far east as the Gambier Islands, mirroring the distribution of the coconut palm; it has been extirpated from most areas with a significant human population, including mainland Australia and Madagascar.


In the Cook Islands, the coconut crab is known as unga or kaveu, and in the Mariana Islands it is called ayuyu, and is sometimes associated with taotaomo'na because of the traditional belief that ancestral spirits can return in the form of animals such as the coconut crab


Slipper lobsters are a family of decapod crustaceans found in all warm oceans and seas. Despite their name, they are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lobsters. Slipper lobsters are instantly recognizable by their enlarged antennae, which project forward from the head as wide plates. All the species are edible, and some, such as the Moreton Bay bug and the "Balmain bug" (Ibacus peronii) are of commercial importance.

My Own Recipe-Ampalaya with Smoked Salmon

One of the most healthy Filipino dish if you are a diabetic is the Ampalaya or bitter melon with shrimps. In the Philippines a variation of the dish is to use pork instead of the shrimps. In some recipes both shrimps and pork are used in equal proportions. This recipe is almost a weekly fare in our menu when we are in the Philippines because of the abundance of the bitter melon.

As a personal variation to the recipe, I have created my own recipe using smoked salmon instead of prawns, shrimps and/or pork. The recipe was inspired by a left-over smoked salmon from a Christmas gift last year that I found in our refrigerator. I shredded the smoked salmon prior to adding it to the sauteed ampalaya dish mixture.

Ingredients

4 medium ampalaya or bitter melon (cut lengthwise)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 lb smoked salmon, shredded
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup water
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
soy sauce or fish sauce(patis)optional) to taste. I do not like patis since I am not a true-blooded Tagalog but an Ilonggo.

Procedure

1. Cut ampalaya lengthwise and scrape off seeds and white pith. Slice thinly and place in a bowl, covered in cold water with a little salt* until needed.

2. In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until tender. Add in tomatoes and cook until softened, regularly mashing with back of spoon.

3.* Add the squeezed and debittered ampalaya* to pan and gently mix it into the dish. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until tender yet crisp.

4. Add the smoked salmon and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until salmon is thoroughly incorporated in the dish.(The soy sauce or patis could be added at this point(optional in my recipe).

5. In a thin stream, add the beaten eggs and gently stir to distribute. Continue to cook for about 1 minute or until eggs have set. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

* Ampalaya is very bitter. To remove most of its bitterness, the slice melon is soak in cold salted water for at least 30 minutes and then drained prior to cooking. This soaking and draining process may be repeated if you want to remove most of the bitterness in the ampalaya. I personally drained my ampalaya 3 times before I used it in my recipe above.

Have You Tasted a Mangosteen?

Mangosteen is known as the queen of tropical fruits in contrast to the Durian known as the King of tropical friuts. It is not related at all to the popular mangoes, known all over the world. In the Philippines It is not as popular as mangoes except probably in Davao, Mindanao. Sad to say, I have lived in the Philippines until I was 25 years old, but have never tasted a mangosteen, although I have heard about its delicious taste.

The Purple Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), colloquially known simply as "the mangosteen", is a tropical evergreen tree believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia. The tree grows from 7 to 25 m (20–80 ft) tall. The rind (exocarp) of the edible fruit is deep reddish purple when ripe. Botanically an aril, the fragrant edible flesh can be described as sweet and tangy, citrusy with peach flavor and texture.

There is a legend about Queen Victoria offering a reward of 100 pounds sterling to anyone who could deliver to her the fresh fruit. Although this legend can be traced to a 1930 publication by fruit explorer, David Fairchild, it is not substantiated by any known historical document yet is probably responsible for the uncommon designation of mangosteen as the "Queen of Fruit".

In his publication, "Hortus Veitchii", James Herbert Veitch says that he visited Java in 1892, "to eat the Mangosteen. It is necessary to eat the Mangosteen grown within three or four degrees of latitude of the equator to realize at all the attractive and curious properties of this fruit."

Due to ongoing restrictions on imports, mangosteen is not readily available in certain countries. Although available in Australia, for example, they are still rare in the produce sections of grocery stores in North America and Europe. Following export from its natural growing regions in Southeast Asia, the fresh fruit may be available seasonally in some local markets like those of Chinatowns. Mangosteen and its related products, such as juices and nutritional supplements, are legally imported into the United States, which had an import ban until 2007.

Mangosteens are readily available canned and frozen in Western countries. Without fumigation or irradiation as fresh fruit, mangosteens have historically been illegal for importation in commercial volumes into the United States due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly, which would endanger U.S. crops. This situation, however, officially changed on July 23, 2007 when irradiated imports from Thailand were allowed upon USDA approval of irradiation, packing and shipping techniques.

Since 2006, private small volume orders for fruits grown on Puerto Rico were sold to American gourmet restaurants who serve the aril pieces as a delicacy dessert. Beginning in 2007 for the first time, fresh mangosteens were sold from specialty produce stores in New York City for as high as $45 per pound, but, during 2009-10, wider availability and lower prices have become common in the United States and Canada.

Before ripening, the mangosteen shell is fibrous and firm, but becomes soft and easy to pry open when the fruit ripens. To open a mangosteen, the shell is usually scored first with a knife; one holds the fruit in both hands, prying gently along the score with the thumbs until the rind cracks. It is then easy to pull the halves apart along the crack and remove the fruit. Rarely in ripe fruits, the purple exocarp juice may stain skin or fabric.

Ludong-The Most Expensive Fish in the Philippines

Ludong or Pacific Salmon-the most expensive fish in the Philippines

The Ludong or Lobed river mullet is a freshwater mullet. While it is claimed to be endemic to Cagayan River and tributaries extending through the watersheds of Cagayan Valley and the Santa-Abra River Systems of Ilocos Sur and Abra in the Philippines, verifiable and reliable sources have listed Celebes, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and Fiji as areas where the lobed river mullet may be also found. It is sometimes called the Pacific Salmon or the President's fish, since only the President and the rich will be able to afford it.

Ludong is herbivorous, eating only the filamentous algae that live on rocks and boulders in and near river rapids.

A mature fish weighs from 0.25 kg to 2 kg and costs P4,000- P5,000 a kilo, making it the most expensive fish in the country. At today's exchange rate that is about $100 to $200 a kilo or around $40 to $80 per lb. It commands a very high price in the market because it is seasonal and difficult to catch and an has an excellent aroma and taste when cooked. Its unique taste makes it one of the most sought-after ingredients in making delicious dishes.

This elusive fish is catadromous in nature; it migrates to the ocean to breed. It swims to salt water to spawn from October to December and returns to upstream ponds after. It undergoes upstream migration during December, January, and February, and this coincides with the “ipon-run phenomenon’ wherein different species of fish fry also undergo upstream migration. After the ludong had undergone downstream migration, it can be caught in Cagayan River and tributaries.

Ludong is close to being an endangered species, considering its threatened state in the Northern Luzon waters. In fact, information gathered from fish vendors in Cagayan showed that the volume of ludong catch has been tremendously decreasing annually. Thus this week the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) issued a 3-month moratorium in the fishing of this river mullet.

In 2006, BFAR launched Sagip Ludong, a wide fish-hunt in Aparri for 60 pieces of live ludong. The hunt was conducted during the first half of October because it provides the best opportunity to catch live ludong, which seasonally appears two to six times only in a year from October to November.

Another expensive and rare fish in Marinduque is the Bingao. It is a big ocean fish belonging to the red snapper family. It is very tasty and has no fishy smell when cooked. It taste like pork or eel. Last year I paid 400 pesos per kilo from a fisherman neighbor here in Amoingon, Boac. A lottery is held by the fish vendors if one fish is available for sale to avoid fist fights in the market place. At least this 400 pesos/kilo price is affordable, since I will never pay 4000 pesos a kilo for a fish, unless I won the lottery or I become President or someone treats me with a ludong feast.

Reference: Wikipedia

A Trip to Seafood City Cured My Longing for Fresh Fish

Last week after one year of not grocery and seafood shopping at Sea Food City, my wife and I decided to drive about one hour to Sea Food City Filipino Store near Elk Grove, and south of Sacramento, California. We invited our Italian neighbor, since she had indicated she wants to buy fresh fish and vegetables to get ready for her Valentine Day Party. My next door neighbor had been to this oriental grocery store about a year ago and she knows there is always fresh fish in that store. In our case we go to the Filipino store near us ( only 20 minutes) every other week for our Filipino Food needs called Peenoy Grocery and Video Store near the former McClelland Air Force Base. We buy filipino dishes, desserts, seafood products and can goods at the Peenoy Grocery store. My favorite dishes are the blood pudding ( dinuguan), pancit (noddles), barbecued pork and filipino sweets( bibingka and puto).

Our trip to Seafood City felt like I was just in the Philippines. The store has a big fish market section as well as a fruit and vegetable section carrying all kinds of Philippines and oriental vegetables. The fish market has more that a dozen fresh fish and also a frozen section. In the fresh fish section, there were red snappers, ocean white fish, squids, live blue crabs, prawns, shrimps, golden pompano, and several other species of fish that I am not familiar with. In the frozen section, there were salmon, tuna, Dungeness crabs and several other kinds of frozen sea foods popular to the oriental and Pinoy taste buds.

The store was not too crowded, but there was a 30 minute wait if you want your fresh fish cleaned and degutted. My wife and I purchased a 3 lb red snapper with the head intact which cost us only $10. We purchased prawns and live female blue crabs also. Besides the seafood products, we purchased a duckling, beef bones for soup, egg rolls, and pork knuckles and feet ( for the Kari). The store clients were about 99% oriental and/or with Filipino Faces.

Besides our white Italian neighbor, I meet a few Caucasian men tagging along with their filipino wives. One white guy was next in line to me, when I was purchasing cooked Filipino dishes in the Filipino restaurant( Grill City) inside the store. He was asking the sales lady if they have chicken or pork adobo. The sales lady answered negative and I saw disappointment in the white guy face. The guy said that he and his wife drove about an hour to the store to have adobo for lunch. I felt sorry for the guy so I told him that the dish I am buying "humba” is almost like adobo but has a sweet sauce. I told the sales lady to give the guy a sample to taste. The guy tasted it and like it. He ordered the dish and I was happy to see him enjoying his lunch. That was my good deed for the day.

In this shopping compound besides the grocery and fish market, there is Filipino Bakery Store( Red Ribbon), Chowking and Jollibee ( fast food restaurants), a travel agency, a bank, Max Fried Chicken and several other stores catering to the Filipino and other Asian-American residents of Sacramento and Elk Grove, California. Again, if you feel nostalgic about the Philippines all you have to do is visit Sea Food City and enjoy its ambiance, and purchased Filipino Food and groceries. Our grocery shopping to Sea Food City felt like a one hour mini tour of the Philippines. Here's a short description of Seafood City from Wikipedia.

Seafood City is a Filipino supermarket chain in the United States with branches in California, Nevada, and Washington. Seafood City Supermarket specializes in Filipino food and products while offering a growing selection of imported Asian goods as well as popular American staples. As its name suggests, Seafood City also provides shoppers with fresh seafood, as well as quality meat and produce. In some of its locations, it acts as a marketplace and serves as an anchor to many known Filipino businesses such as Chow King and Red Ribbon. In other locations, Seafood City also features locally-owned Filipino video rental stores, immigration offices, travel agencies, and restaurants. Here's a short video of Sharon Cuneta, Philippine actress singing a commercial for Seafood City.

Again, may I reiterate that our trip to Seafood City cured my longing for Filipino foods and nostalgia about the Philippines. Except for its location, Seafood city in Mack Road and Highway 99 is clean and well stocked with Filipino food and delicacies, fresh fish and vegetables at reasonable prices.

Bizarre and Exotic Foods of the Philippines

I would never call the balut bizarre or exotic, since I am a Filipino-American. But if you are not a Filipino, I will not blame you. I have eaten the balut more than a hundred times when I was growing up in the Philippines, numerous coconut-rice cakes, fried crickets, stuffed frogs, cow internal organs, blood pudding but not the coconut and mangrove worms and the chicken intestines.

Balut is very delicious and nutritious and consider a brain food. When I was a student at the University of the Philippines, I will buy 4 baluts and gorged on it before my final examination in Chemistry. I dare you to try one, if perchance you have the chance to visit the Philippines in the future. The segment in the video about the underground river in Palawan is informative. This is an excellent video series by Andrew Zimmern.

Do You Have a Favorite Filipino Dish?

Kare-tripe and ox tail in peanut butter Sauce ( photo from lakbay.com)


Lumpia Shanghai (photo from photobucket.com)


Halo-Halo for Merienda( photo from freeweb.com)

My wife and I have resided here in the US since 1960. We have adapted to hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, cottage cheese, yogurt and typical US cuisine, fast foods, as well as filipino dishes that we craved once in a while. Cooking filipino food here is no longer a problem, since you can purchase ingredients in the Filipino-American store or an Oriental store(Chinese, Korean or Japanese). In the 1960's there was only one Filipino store near our residence in Chicago. We oftentimes have to shop in China Town downtown. Today, there are Filipino grocery stores in most medium-sized and big cities in US to cater to the expanding population of Filipino Americans who had immigrated to US in the 1980's.

We have resided in several cities here in US ( Sacramento, Pinole, Modesto, CA, Chicago, Kansas City and Maryland). Every time we moved, my first job was to look at the telephone directory for the nearest oriental or filipino store to our house.

The above two main dishes and one dessert or merienda are some of the dishes that my wife loves to cook every now and then to satiate our longing for filipino dishes. Not pictured are pancit( a noodle dish), Chicken or pork adobo( cooked in water-vinegar mixture), chicken afritada,(a chicken dish cooked in tomato sauce with potatoes and green peppers) and deboned and stuffed chicken called relleno. The above dishes are also the favorites of our children who grew up here in US and does not really know the cuisine of the Philippines.

Our children are brown and looked very Filipino, but they are as American as apple pie. In their college years, some of their friends called them “coconuts”. Their friends would comment, “ you guys are brown outside but very white inside”. That indeed is the truth!

My wife is an excellent cook. The saying " the way to a man's heart is through his stomach", applies to our life. When we were student at the University of the Philippines our romance was on and off, since I was not really ready to get married. One day before my 21st birthday (we have not talked or seen each other for almost a year), I was surprise to receive a birthday gift from her. Her gift was a chiffon orange cake that she baked from scratch. It was the most delicious cake I have ever eaten. It reignited our romance and we started dating again. The next year we got married. I was only 22 years old at that time. The next year, we had our oldest son and I was already in US doing graduate work at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Do you have a favorite filipino dish or an some other native dish of your country of origin? I will appreciate if you share it with me and my readers.

Here's a video about Filipino food-an opinion of one person. I do not agree with some of his assessments.

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