Pastil is a popular Mindanao food found in the street of Maguindanao. It’s basically a rice covered in banana leaf with chicken or beef adobo strips as fillings, which proves that Mindanao cuisine is more on easy-to-follow recipes. Zamboanga has also their own version of the dish. Their pastil is like an empanada, but instead of pork and vegetables, pancit noodles (rice noodles) are used as fillings.

Recipe

1 kilo of Chicken

Half an onion, thinly sliced

½ cup Cooking oil

¼ cup of Soy Sauce

¾ cup Vinegar

½ tsp. Black Pepper

Salt to taste

4 Cups of White Rice

Banana Leaves for wrapping

Procedure:

1. Cook rice then set aside.
2. Slice chicken and boil until the meat is tender.
3. Let the meat cool before making it into flakes.
4. Put oil in a pan then sauté the sliced onions in low fire.  When the onions turn transparent, add the flaked chicken meat, salt, and black pepper.
5. Cook for 10 minutes before adding the vinegar and soy sauce.  Continue to cook until the oil comes out.
6. Put rice in banana leaves and top it with the chicken adobo flakes then wrap.

One Pastil usually sells for Php10 in Davao City.

Kansi is an Ilonggo beef stew which is very popular in Bacolod City. The soup has batwan as its main souring ingredient. The soup tastes like a combination of sinigang and bulalo.

• 2 pounds beef shanks
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 8 cups water
• 1 thumb-size ginger, peeled, sliced and pounded
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 tablespoon annatto powder
• 1 package (1.41 ounces) tamarind soup base
• 1 can (20 ounces) green jackfruit, drained
• 6 to 8 pieces kamias
• 2 Thai chili peppers
• salt and pepper to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash beef shanks well to remove any blood or impurities. Drain well.
2. Peel the outer layer of the lemongrass stalks until you reach the pale central core. Cut into 3 to 4-inch lengths and with the back of the knife, lightly pound each piece. Set aside.
3. In a deep pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until limp.
4. Add beef shanks and cook, turning as needed, until lightly seared. Make sure not to burn the garlic.
5. Add water and bring to a boil, skimming scum that floats on top. When the broth clears, add onion. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 1½ to 2 hours or until meat is fork-tender.
6. In a small bowl, combine annatto powder with about ½ cup of the broth. Stir until annatto powder is dissolved and return broth to pot. Add tamarind soup base. Stir to disperse.
7. Add lemon grass, green jackfruit, kamias, and chili peppers. Continue to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until jackfruit pieces are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

This particular seaweed or agar agar as others call  it, is very much common in the coastal waters of Visayas and Mindanao. The only difference is that, instead of serving it fresh garnished with onion, tomatoes and vinegar, the Tawi Tawinians blanch the seaweeds then added with little soy sauce and some spices like ginger, onions , giving it a yellowish color.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped pajo green mango
• 1 cup lato seaweed
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups guso seaweed

For the dressing

• pinch of salt
• pinch of sugar
• 2 tablespoons calamansi juice or 1/4 cup vinegar

Cooking Procedures

1. In a strainer, put the lato seaweeds and wash them under running water and drain.
2. In the strainer, pour hot water over guso seaweeds to soften.
3. In a bowl, put the seaweeds tomatoes, onion, and chopped mango then toss.
4. For the dressing – In a separated bowl, mix vinegar or calamansi, salt and sugar. Then pour onto the seaweed salad.

Serve!

A dish acquired by Maranaos in Southern Philippines from their neighboring country Indonesia. The Filipino version of the dish is a bit different in terms of preparation methods to suit their tastes and some ingredients are substituted with local components. Maranao’s rendang is prepared by crushing the spices before frying and cooking it with the beef and coconut milk. The dish can also be described as a caramelized curry.Beef rendang is an Indonesian spicy dish and no wonder the cooking is similar to our local dishes because Filipinos also have Indonesian ancestors. But this beef rendang dish has a more tedious way of preparing. You have to make a spice paste first by grinding it on the mortar and pestle and frying it before cooking the beef. Unlike most Filipino cuisines that we throw everything in the pot when cooking. There are also some ingredients that are only indigenous to Indonesia and some parts of Southeast Asia like the galangal, very similar to ginger root in texture and shape but has a more exotic taste. But is can be substituted with ginger. Now you don’t have to go to Indonesia to taste this dish, you can cook it right in your own kitchen.

• 8 dried chilies, softened in boiling water and drained
• 10 small shallots, finely chopped
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp. ginger, minced
• 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
• 5 tsp. galangal, peeled, cut into thin slices (can be substituted with ginger)
• 2 stalks lemongrass, pounded
• 1 pc tumeric leaf
• 5 kaffir lime leaves, torn

• 1 kilo beef briskets cut into cubes
• 1½ cups coconut milk
• brown sugar or muscovado sugar to taste
• salt to taste

1. With mortar and pestle, grind the softened dried chilies, shallots, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.
2. Heat the oil in a stew pot over moderate heat and fry the paste for 10 minutes and until fragrant.
3. Be careful not to burn the paste. Keep adding some oil a little at a time if the paste becomes too dry.
4. Add the galangal (or ginger), lemongrass, turmeric leaf, and kaffir lime leaves.

1. Add beef cubes to the fried spice paste. Stir in coconut milk and add salt to taste.
2. Bring to a simmer (don’t boil), cover and stir from time to time until beef is tender for about 3 to 4 hours.
3. Add the sugar, increase the heat and cook a few more minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
4. Serve hot with plain steamed rice, turmeric or java rice.