Pinoy Foodie

I was born and raised in the Philippines. Recently, I realized that many of my good memories of life in the country are about food or are food-related. I created this blog to share with you my pleasant memories as well as my random thoughts on food, cooking and eating. Hope you enjoy reading my posts. I welcome your comments.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Lasang Pinoy 15: Recycled, Reloaded! (Recycling Leftovers)


A whole chicken can create plenty of leftovers in a two-person household especially if the members have vowed to cut down on meat for health reasons.

But I still buy a whole roasted chicken because it’s cheaper than buying the parts. There is a Portuguese churrasqueira in the neighbourhood so I buy it from there. I request that the piri-piri hot sauce be on the side and for take-outs it is separately packaged and not slathered on the chicken. That’s because I want to be able to use the leftovers to make new dishes.

The first to be eaten are the extremeties: the wings and the leg and thigh. Obviously we are dark meat eaters. I love the back or any meat attached closely to the bones (I gnaw on them --- when I was younger I used to crack open the bones with my teeth so I can get to the marrows, que horror!) so I save that for another meal together with the other leg or thigh. When that get reheated they can morph into adobo or, when shredded, become the sahog for pancit , fried rice or chopsuey.

That leaves basically the breast for the pangat (pangatlo as Mike explained the lingo).

I find the breast to be the most versatile: it can be turned into chicken salad or chicken divan when diced, or chicken schnitzel or chicken roulades when pounded. Unfortunately I can’t think of any Filipino dish that uses chicken breast only. Native chickens were probably small-breasted so that part was not enough for a single dish. Besides, when Filipinos cook, they cook in large quantities since households were big. An entire chicken was needed and it has to be cut into small pieces to feed everybody.

When we make adobo with an entire chicken in our household in Toronto, it lasts for several meals. Adobo tastes better after the flavours have settled so we don’t mind eating it again the next day. We heat only what we can eat, usually in the microwave, because the meat can get tough and dry and malangsa with every reheating. (Tip: If you want to heat on the stovetop, remove the chicken pieces from the pot, simmer the sauce and then put back the chicken pieces just to heat.)

Adobo does not have to be frozen, it can keep for weeks in the ref. Adobo that is packed in lard (we remove the fat nowadays) can keep for weeks unrefrigerated. My mom told me that when she was an interna (someone who lived in an all-girls dormitory) in high school, parents would send adobo in those big biscuit cans to the dorm so that their daughters would not get hungry when they studied late at night or if decided to boycott the dorm food. These cans were kept under the beds and the girls would sometimes just dig in to have a snack. There were no microwaves yet during my parents’ high school days so they ate it straight from the can. If they were lucky they could find a helper in the kitchen to heat it for them (these cooperative contacts were developed with pasalubongs). Some of the girls dangerously had small stoves hidden somewhere it could escape inspection but I wondered how the mouthwatering smell didn’t give them away.

My mom sometimes made adobo like these, without soy sauce. She called it adobong Bisaya or Ilongo since she was from Negros Occidental. I sometimes make it too. My father’s family’s version has mashed liver in the sauce. He called it adobong Tagalog. Our helper was from Bicol so her version had coconut milk in it. Leftovers from these two versions do not convert into new dishes easily.

Leftover chicken and pork adobo, with or without soy sauce make the best sahog so I don’t mind making a big batch when I cook. Then I can be blessed with plenty of leftovers.

ADOBO PULLED PORK SANDWICH

















Traditional pulled pork is pork shoulder or butt rubbed with a spice mix then roasted and smoked. Modern cooks simply put it in a crock pot to slow cook. When cool enough to handle, the pork is shredded, mixed with a vinegar-based barbecue sauce then made into sandwiches. It is usually served with cole slaw as a side dish or on top of it.

When using leftover adobo, don’t add any barbecue sauce since it will overpower the adobo taste. Since I want to keep this adobo taste, I don’t top my sandwiches with pickles and peppers too. Simply plain, with cole slaw on the side.

Instructions:

Use leftover lean pork adobo. Use your fingers to pull apart the meat.

Return the shredded pork to the pot, be sure there is enough sauce, add chopped onions and sugar. Simmer slowly until the sauce has mixed in with the meat and the onions are soft.

Serve on large, crusty buns with cole slaw on the pulled pork sandwiches or on the side.


Lasang Pinoy 15