margauxlicious dinner: Lutong Bahay for Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan

margauxlicious 

Lutong Bahay Dinner 

for Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan

Dinuguan Festival: dinuguan (Bulacan style) and tinumis

Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan were in town once again. For some of us lucky enough, that meant a reunion. This group actually was formed on Tita Amy's last trip around four months ago, when she just so happened to be looking for "lutong bahay" or a home-cooked meal and we just so happened to be the ones she asked to find her some. I had offered the cooking of the lolas from Bulacan but she would have to travel to our ancestral home in Sta. Maria, which always just sounds too far. (Actually it's just like going to Ayala Alabang.) Instead, we ended up in Mamou - after all, it's a "home kitchen" - and thus began my friendship with foodies Cyrene dela Rosa and Edi Sian. The following night, we got lucky and were treated to home made laksa by Chef See of Enderun Colleges, thanks to the network of Enderun's Tricia Tensuan. (Jayme actually introduced me to Amy back in 2004 at Cendrillon.)

L-R. United by Amy. Edi Sian, margauxlicious, Jayme Natividad, Chef See & wife Tess, Cyrene dela Rosa, Romy Dorotan, Tricia Tensuan, Amy Besa

Since Amy and Romy were pressed for time and had to politely turn down (still!) a trip to Bulacan for the lutong bahay meal I was offering, I decided to just bring Bulacan to her. And so we had our little reunion at this unit in Serendra (one bedroom unit for sale! email me if interested!) with everyone in attendance!

Amy Besa checks out the menu

I asked the lolas in Bulacan (now just Ka Tage and Ka Nene because Nana Meng has passed away) to make my favorite dish: dinuguan. Our dinuguan in Bulacan is quite thick and uses inerds. 

I was only too happy that Amy liked the dinuguan. "The dinuguan to end all dinuguans!" she exclaimed. I couldn't wait to see Ka Tage in Sta. Maria the next morning to share with how much their cooking was appreciated. 

I have yet to sit down with the lolas to document the recipe so in the meantime, here's the recipe I found in Amy's own book Memories of Philippine Kitchens: 

3 pounds pork buttm cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, cut crosswise into 4 pieces and crushed

3 garlic cloves, chopped

6 bay leaves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup pig's blood, strained

1/2 cup coconut milk (optional)

1/4 cup rice vinegar, or to taste

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

1/2 green or red chile, chopped (optional)

1. In a large pot over high heat, combine the pork, lemongrass, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper with 4 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, tehn lower the heat and simmer, skimming occasionally until the pork is tender and most of the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. 

2. Remove the lemongrass and bay leaves. Add the blood, coconut milk, vinegar, salt and chile, if using. Cook for 5 minutes or until the stew thickens. Taste and add more vinegar and salt, if needed. 

(Recipe by Romy's brother Danny Dorotan, Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan, page 115). 

In our town, though, we don't use coconut milk. Although I have heard that they do that in Bicol. 

Tinumis

But I did learn of this other version of dinuguan lately - I had only tasted it round our dining table a couple of months ago this 2011 - called tinumis. The concept is similar to dinuguan - it is also a blood stew. Tess See shared that they also have this in Nueva Ecija. But this one uses beef instead of pork, is soupier, and has sampaloc leaves. It's like dinuguan and sinampalukan (sinigang sa sampaloc) morphed into one dish. So it tastes more sour than the traditional version but because it uses sampaloc leaves it's not nakakaumay (you don't get tired of the flavors easily). And it's not the kind you enjoy with puto pandan. It's very good with white rice.

Dinuguan Smile!

The dinuguan was such a hit that this menudo was overlooked. We ate it in Bulacan the next day, hehe.

What did get our attention too was this beautiful Kinulob na Manok by Tricia Tensuan.

This dish is so authentic it's not even in Amy's book! (Tricia, it will have to be in MPK2!) When you open the pot, mukha siyang tinolang buong manok.  Actually the Kinulob na Manok that I am more familiar with - which I get as a Christmas gift from a politician from San Juan (no, not Erap but close!) - is less soupy. Instead it is dripping in chicken fat. But this one has soup and veggies.

Its secret, according to Tricia, is that it has pig stomach thrown in. (See? May silbi ang bilbil!) I thought it was simply the use of this liver sauce that has liver bits still floating in it!

We also had Grey Goose with citronella (vodka from me, citrus from Amy - as expected hah!) alongside a 2005 La Bienfaisance (80% Merlot and a St. Emilion Grand Cru) that was a replacement (thanks to Chef See) for an oxidized 2003 version that we couldn't use for a previous dinner (see Willin Low story). 

The result: a very sleepy Romy and a very flirtatious Jayme!

 Good times!