Thursday, January 10, 2013

Fiesta Filipino Cooking Class Recap

It was a huge success.  The Fiesta Filipino cooking class that I conducted at the Kitchen Conservatory in Clayton was both well attended and, more importantly, well received. This was a dream come true for me, as I am very passionate about sharing Filipino food recipes to a wider audience.



It was a dellight to have 12 people attend my class.  Yep it was a fun hands-on cooking class; they discovered the culinary process of making latik (coconut sprinkles formed from the reduction of coconut milk; the class gave the a first hand experience of using banana leaves for steaming fish and baking sweet rice cake.  And they had fun learning how Filipinos celebrate fiestas. Oh and special thanks goes to Anita, who assisted me throughout the night.

True to its title Fiesta Filipino, we prepared dishes normally served during Fiestas.  We started off with a sweet and savory braised pork leg called Patatim. And what's not to love with braising pork, especially during these cold winter months? 



Then we went on with Fresh Lumpia: a vegetable dish sautéed with meat, shrimp, garlic and onions all rolled in a delicate crepe.  The lumpia is topped with a sweet soy sauce-based sauce and sprinkled with fresh garlic and crushed peanuts



Then we preceded to steaming our big red snapper. I will share you the recipe for this Fiesta iconic dish we call  Fiesta Holiday Fish below.

We made two desserts.  The first one was Majah Blanca,  This is a popular Filipino dessert made by simmering together coconut cream, milk and sugar. and letting it cool and set.  The creamy coconut cream pudding is punctuated with toasted coconut milk crumbs on top


And the fiesta is not complete without the dessert called biko (Sweet Sticky Rice with Caramelized Coconut Cream).  Women gather together to make this special dessert cooked in banana lined pans. 


You may want to see the photos posted on Kitchen Conservatory's Facebook page.  I'm sure you will agree with me as the photos reveal that they had a wonderful time.  And don't we look like we are one big happy family preparing a spread for a real Fiesta?  Yes indeed we all warmed up to each other and were soon gathered around the kitchen.  It felt like a fiesta. 

Fiesta Holiday Fish
(We prepared a whole red snapper during the class but for the purpose of this post, I recreated the dish using a slice of mahi mahi. But traditionally, a whole fish is used). 


1 large grouper/ pampano or red snapper
2 pcs lemon
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushesd
3 pcs. ginger, peeled and crushed 
2 cups mayo
4 tbsp cream cheese
3 pcs. shallots
1 pc. red bell pepper
3 pcs. carrots, peeled and blanched
1 cup pickle relish
3 boiled eggs, mashed.

Clean the fish.  Score both sides of the fish. Squeeze the lemons over the fish and sprinkle salt and pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes.

Lay the fish flat on a banana leaf. Add onions, ginger, cilantro and garlic.


Wrap the fish with the banana leaf.


Steam the fish for about 20-30 minutes.  Remove from steamer and pat the fish dry.

In a bowl, mix mayo and milk together.  Add shallots and pickle relish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayo mixture on both sides of the fish.  Arrange the sliced pepper, boiled eggs and carrots on top of the fish. Enjoy!


 If you want to join me next week, I will be teaching at Whole Foods Town and Country.  Check out my cooking class schedule here... And btw, one of the dishes that I will be teaching is Seafood Sinigang.  Sinigang was one of the winning dishes on the most recent episode of Top Chef (Seattle Bites) prepared by fellow Filipino Sheldon from Hawaii.  

Until next time - See you STL!

23 comments:

  1. Dear Malou,
    Happy New Year. Gurrl, you never
    fail to amaze me. Congratulations. You are doing our home country proud.

    Mabuhay!
    Raquel Santos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Raquel,
      your words inspire me to work harder. thank you!
      malou

      Delete
  2. How wonderful for you! I'm so happy that you have this experience. Wish I lived closer so I could attend your cooking class, I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you. May the rest of the year bring you many more golden opportunities, Malou! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are such a sweet blogger friend. Through the years you are there. I wish we could continue to be friends as the years to come.

      Malou

      Delete
  3. I'm so glad that the class went well. Your food looks fantastic. Why am I not surprised :-). Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings...Mary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and boy was I so relieved that it went very well.
      Have a great week!
      Malou

      Delete
  4. Congratulations on the class going so well...how fun! Everything looks amazing!
    Happy New Year Malou!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and it's great to see you again... it's been awhile Alisha! Happy New year!

      Malou

      Delete
  5. Seems delicious, it looks like some kind of Sushi!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha it looks like a big sushi yes!

      great seeing you,
      Malou

      Delete
  6. Congrats on the teaching success! Your recipes are so well written that I am sure you're great at presenting them in a class setting. Great fish recipe - thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THank you so much. I hope our paths will cross someday. I'm sure it will, STL is not that big.. . right?

      Have a wonderful day,
      Malou

      Delete
  7. Congratulations on your success in teaching the class! I wish I could attend. Not only you had a great time, but I am sure your students had a blast learning and eating Filipino food... so jealous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it was so much fun. Teaching something new to the students gives you a certain high. I am so grateful that my students have open minds to welcome new flavors and spices from the Philippines.

      Thanks Nami,
      Malou

      Delete
  8. Oh I'm so excited for you! I'm so glad it went well - keep doing what you're doing and spreading the word about the awesomeness of Filipino dishes :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am humbled; being able to share the joys of cooking Filipino food has always been what I wanted to do.
      Thank you for the wonderful words,
      Malou

      Delete
  9. Congratulations on teaching this class! I would have loved to have learned how to cook filipino food from you. The steamed fish sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Christine. We will have a trade off of cooking classes. You are one of the blogger friends that I have all throughout my blogging life that I want to meet...
      Take care,
      Malou

      Delete
  10. Congratulations! What an accomplishment. The students are honored to have you teaching authentic Filipino recipes! All of them look divine.. I wish I have a chance to learn from you in person too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope I will be able to do cooking classes across the country haha. Big dream huh?

      Thanks for dropping by,
      Malou

      Delete
  11. Wow, Malou! The students certainly got their money's worth. What a wonderful array of dishes! Congratulations on this huge accomplishment. (I am now dreaming of the braised pork.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the kind words and for the vote of confidence. I hope my students feel that way :)
      Have a wonderful day,
      Malou

      Delete
  12. Yay for Filipino food! I wish you would come to Boston and dot he class here :) I'm still trying to learn how to cook more Pinoy dishes and would love to attend an actual class!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by and oh I would be thrilled even more if you could leave a comment... :) Cheers!

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