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Sardine Kelaguen

Posted on December 23, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 2 comments

Yes…kelaguen…with sardines. Don’t knock it ’till you try it. 🙂

This is one of my favorite foods. If you know what kelaguen is and you’ve never tried sardine kelaguen, you’ve got to try it now. If kelaguen is new to you, the basic recipe for this island favorite is quite simple. Chop up your favorite meat or seafood, then season ti with lemon or lime juice, salt, onions, and hot chili peppers. Optional ingredients are freshly grated (or store-bought unsweetened) coconut. All ingredients (except for the meat and/or seafood) is added to taste, meaning if you like your kelaguen more on the tangy side, add more lemon or lime juice. Like it salty? Add more salt. Like it mouth-on-fire-hot? Add lots of hot chili peppers. See, it’s simple.

Click here to view my recipes for different types of kelaguen.

As for sardine kelaguen, you use canned sardines. The photo below show “fish steaks” — this is fine too; the “steaks” are small, bite-sized herring that works just fine in this recipe. While you most certainly can use sardines packed in water, I really prefer sardines packed in soybean oil, and it’s what I recommend for this recipe.

I have a family of four, but only three of us like this (my extremely picky daughter won’t get near this with a 10-foot pole). That’s okay, though — that just leaves more for the rest of us. 😉

Remove the sardines from the can, pouring off the excess oil. Split the sardines in half, lengthwise, then remove and discard the bones (I also remove the stomach but leave it in if you like that kind of stuff). Place the cleaned sardines into a bowl.

I like lots of onions — sliced green onions or diced white or yellow onions — it doesn’t matter; add your favorite kind. I added both. 🙂

Add lemon juice, salt, and hot pepper, to taste.

Mix well, serve and enjoy!

I love this with hot, steamed white rice, or served as a dip with tortilla chips. You can also make tortilla wraps (I recommend soft corn tortillas) or one of my favorites, stuffed in taco shells with lettuce leaves or mix salad greens.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Sardine Kelaguen

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Sardines with lemon juice, salt, onions, and hot chili peppers. Serve as an appetizer with tortilla chips. These make incredible fish tacos!

Author: Annie @ Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Cuisine: Chamorro

Ingredients

6 cans sardines packed in oil
The juice of 2 lemons (more or less, to taste)
Salt, to taste
1 small onion, finely diced
*You can also use sliced green onions; add as much as you like

Optional:

Crushed or sliced hot chili peppers, to taste
Grated coconut, as much as you like

Instructions

Remove the sardines from the cans; remove and discard the bones. Place in a bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

Serve and ENJOY!

Posted in APPETIZERS, CHAMORRO DISHES, Kelaguen, SEAFOOD

Chicken Soup (Kådun Månuk)

Posted on October 20, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 17 comments

Kådu is the Chamorro term for soup or broth. Think of it as Chamorro Comfort Food. It could be 90 degrees outside on Guam, but serve some kådu for lunch or dinner and chances are, you’ll forget your worries–and the hot weather–as you enjoy a steaming bowl of delicious soup.

There isn’t a particular occasion that kådu is served. If made at home, kådu is usually served as the main course — chicken, beef or other kådu is the starring attraction, served over steamed rice with fina’denne’ on the side. Whereas if you see kadu at parties, it’s usually something more along the lines of a drinkable soup, like Chamorro Corn Soup or Beef Soup with Noodles and Vegetables.

Growing up, kådu was made using whatever we had on hand. Most often my mom would make chicken kådu, using the chickens raised in our yard, of course. She’d also add whatever vegetables my dad happened to be growing at our ranch, or vegetables growing in the back yard. My favorite vegetables to add to kådu were squash and pumpkin tips, and if we had some potatoes and onions, into the pot they went as well. Freshly squeezed coconut milk was a must; that was usually my job when I was younger — grating the coconut then pressing out the thick and creamy milk.

Give my recipe a try. It’s great for those bleary days when warm chicken soup seems to be the only thing to chase the cold away. Find my complete recipe at the bottom of this post. My recipe makes enough to serve 6-8 people, plus enough left over to pack lunch the next day.

You can also try my recipe for Beef Shank Kådu with Vermicelli Noodles and Vegetables. I think you’ll like that one too. 🙂

Here’s how to make my Chicken Kådu.

Prepare your vegetables. Peel and cut your vegetables in to large chunks. I used zucchini, potatoes and baby bok choy in this version; you can use your favorite vegetables.

Peel the zucchini and thickly slice them. I sliced these about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

Separate the baby bok choy leaves. Rinse each leaf thoroughly to remove all dirt trapped in between the leaves.

Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks. I used small red potatoes and cut them half. Place the cut potatoes in cold water to keep them from oxidizing and turning brown.

Set all the vegetables aside for now while you cook the chicken.

Place the chicken into a large pot along with sliced onions, chopped garlic, chicken seasoning and black pepper.

Cook the chicken over medium-high heat until done.

Add the potatoes to the pot along with enough water to cover the potatoes. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Cook the potatoes for about 8-10 minutes or until they are almost done (the potatoes should still be a bit difficult to pierce easily with a fork). The potatoes will continue cooking when you add the rest of the vegetables.

Add the zucchini to the pot once the potatoes are just about done. It doesn’t take long for squash to cook, so be sure to add them to the pot at the end. Replace the lid on the pot; cook the squash for just a few minutes.

Baby bok choy also cooks very quickly. In fact, the steam from the pot will cook the tender leaves sufficiently. Add the bok choy leaves to the pot once the squash is done then turn the heat to low; replace the lid on the pot.

It takes just a couple of minutes for the bok choy to wilt. Turn off the heat once it does.

All that’s left to do is stir in the coconut milk. You don’t want to boil coconut milk or it will separate after prolonged cooking. The soup is quite hot at this point, hot enough to warm the coconut milk, which is all you need to do. Give it a stir, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add more salt (or chicken seasoning) and pepper, to taste.

Serve with steamed white rice and fina’denne’ and ENJOY! 🙂

Chicken Soup (Kådun Månuk)

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

This is not your ordinary chicken soup -- it's chicken soup with a Chamorro flare, made with potatoes, squash, baby bok choy, and thick coconut milk.

Author: Annie @ Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Chamorro

Serves: Serves 6-8

Ingredients

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
6 drumsticks
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons chicken seasoning (or powdered chicken bouillon)
10 small red potatoes, peeled and cut in half
4 cups water
8 bunches baby bok choy, leaves separated
6 medium zucchini squash, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 cans coconut milk

Instructions

Place the chicken, onions, garlic, black pepper and chicken seasoning in a large pot. Cook over medium-high heat until the chicken is done.
Add the potatoes and water to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil; cook for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are almost done.
Add the squash to the pot; cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the baby bok choy leaves to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook just until the leaves wilt.
Turn the heat off then stir in the coconut milk.

Serve with steamed white rice, fina'denne' and ENJOY!

Posted in CHAMORRO DISHES, Chicken, Dinner, Kådu, Lunch, MEALS, MEAT, SOUPS & STEWS tagged with Coconut Milk

Pancit Bihon

Posted on October 13, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 14 comments

Pancit Bihon is a Filipino dish that Chamorros adopted as their own, fusing ingredients from several cultures as well as using home-grown vegetables.

There are many pancit variations. As the name implies, this pancit uses Bihon noodles, also called rice noodles or rice sticks. Bihon noodles are usually sold dried (that’s where the name “rice sticks” comes from) but some Asian markets sell them fresh. I used the dried noodles to make my pancit. It’s quick and easy — it only takes minutes to soften the dried noodles in a bowl of hot water, and even less time to cook them.

I add a variety of vegetables to my pancit. It all depends on whatever is fresh and in season at the time I make it. I like cabbage, carrots, onions, celery, snow peas, bell peppers, and fresh green beans.

In addition to vegetables, Pancit Bihon includes some sort of meat. I prefer using chicken in this recipe, but you most certainly can use pork and beef as well. Pancit Bihon also usually has Chinese sausage, which you can find in almost any Asian market. Look for sausage called “lap xuong mai que lo”. This is a cured pork sausage that resembles skinny pepperoni sticks.

This is a great recipe that is simplified by doing a lot of the prep work ahead of time. If you’ve got a busy life that involves work, kids and school, then your time, like mine, is quite precious. Cut your vegetables the night before you plan to make the pancit. You can also cut the meat ahead of time. Refrigerate the vegetables and meat until you’re ready to cook the pancit. When you’re ready to cook, all you need to do is soak the noodles, cook the meat and vegetables, then mix in the noodles. Easy peasy.

My complete recipe is located at the bottom of this post. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it. It’s delicious served as part of your Chamorro fiesta plate. 🙂

Here’s how to make it.

Place the dried rice noodles in a large bowl filled with hot water. Let the noodles soak while you cook the meat and vegetables. After the noodles become pliable, drain out the water. Use a pair of clean kitchen shears to cut the noodles in half. Set the noodles aside.

Saute the chicken in a large wok or pan along with garlic and black pepper.

Once the chicken is no longer pink, add the soy sauce and Chinese sausage to the wok. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Remove the chicken and sausage from the wok, leaving all of the liquid in the pot (you’ll use the liquid to steam the vegetables and finish cooking the noodles). Set the meat aside. Add sliced onions, carrots, bell pepper and celery to the wok. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir fry the vegetables for a couple of minutes; do not cook too long — you want the vegetables to still be somewhat firm, not limp.

Add the cabbage to the wok. Cook for another couple of minutes, just until the cabbage begins to wilt.

The liquid left behind in the wok steams the vegetables nicely.

Remove half of the vegetable mixture (again, leave any liquid in the wok). Add half of the meat mixture back into the wok.

Add half of the drained noodles to the meat and vegetable mixture. Stir to combine.

Add the remaining vegetables, meat and noodles back into the wok. Stir once more.

Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking, adding more soy sauce or salt, to taste.

Garnish with lime or lemon wedges. Serve with your favorite meal or as a main dish. ENJOY!

Pancit Bihon

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

Rice noodles cooked with fresh vegetables, savory chicken and Chinese sausage.

Author: Annie @ Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Recipe type: Side

Cuisine: Chamorro

Ingredients

1 bag (16-oz) dried Bihon rice noodles (or rice sticks)
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced into 2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 Chinese sausages (the kind that's cured), thinly sliced
¾ cup soy sauce
½ large onion, sliced
1½ cups carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 cup thinly sliced celery
½ small head cabbage, cut into 2 inch pieces
Lime wedges

Instructions

Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes. Drain the water once the noodles become pliable. Cut the noodles in half with a pair of kitchen shears.
Saute the chicken, garlic and black pepper in large pot or wok; cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
Add the soy sauce and Chinese sausage to the wok. Cook for a couple of minutes then remove the meat from the wok, leaving the liquid in the wok.
Add the onions, carrots, bell pepper and celery to the wok. Cook the vegetables for a couple of minutes.
Add the cabbage; cook until the cabbage wilts slightly.
Remove half of the vegetable mixture from the pot. Add half of the meat mixture back to the wok, along with half of the noodles. Stir to combine.
Add the remaining vegetables, meat and noodles to the work. Stir once more to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes then remove from the heat.
Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking, adding more soy sauce or salt if required.

Garnish with lime wedges, serve and ENJOY!

Posted in CHAMORRO DISHES, Chamorro Sides, ETHNIC, Filipino, NOODLES

Chamorro Potato Salad

Posted on October 13, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 15 comments

Chamorro Potato Salad is a must-have at any Chamorro gathering. Your fiesta menu would not be complete without it.

There are several variations to this classic side dish, but Chamorros pretty much make it the same basic way. We use potatoes (of course) — any kind good for baking, but russets are most common — eggs, black olives, pimentos, sweet pickle relish and mayo (more on this later).

Some people add other vegetables such as celery, carrots, or freshly diced pickles, but I like mine with just the ingredients I listed above.

I like a lot of eggs in my salad. I usually add anywhere between 8 and 12 eggs for 5 pounds of potatoes. When I was little, before I knew what I was missing, I would get my mom and sisters to pick out all of the eggs from their potato salad and give it to me — that was all I’d eat out of it, just the eggs. Now I know better and eat it ALL. It’s so good.

My complete recipe is at the bottom of this post. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Start by squeezing out as much liquid from the relish, pimentos and olives.

If you don’t squeeze out as much liquid as possible, your salad will be wet and runny, not to mention died the color of the olives, pimentos and relish.

Who wants to eat a mushy blackish-reddish-greenish concoction? If that description had you grimacing in disgust, then it served its purpose. Squeeze out the liquid. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. 😉

You can dump out all of the contents into a fine-mesh strainer, and using the back of a large spoon, press out as much liquid as possible. I managed to press out about 3/4 cup of liquid from the relish, and that was BEFORE I used a cloth to really get the liquid out (see more about this technique below).

Another option — which is my preferred method — is to place all of the wet ingredients into the center of a clean cheesecloth or kitchen rag (don’t use towel-like cloths or you’re likely to get strings of fabric into your salad). Gather the edges of the cloth together, twisting at the top to compress the ingredients. Squeeze the balled up portion to get out as much liquid as you can. Keep squeezing until no more (or very little) liquid extrudes through the cloth.

Set the relish, pimentos and olives aside.

Meanwhile, rinse the potatoes and place them into a large pot of hot water. Add the eggs to the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Cook the eggs (in the boiling water) for 10-12 minutes then remove them from the pot. Keep cooking the potatoes until they are done (insert a butter knife or metal skewer into the center of a potato — if it slides in smoothly and easily, the potatoes are done).

Remove the potatoes from the boiling water. If you let cooked potatoes sit in water for too long, they soak up too much water, becoming mushy.

Allow the potatoes and eggs to cool before peeling the skin and shell off. If you want to decorate the top of your salad, set aside one egg yolk.

Cut the potatoes and eggs into small cubes. You can make them as big or as small as you like. Don’t cut them too small, however, or you’ll end up with a mashed potato salad.

Add the seasonings to the dry mixture — I like adding onion powder, black pepper and salt. The seasonings get distributed easier with the dry potatoes. If you add the seasonings after adding the mayo and wet condiments (relish, olives and pimentos), you might get clumps of seasonings that don’t get mixed well.

Stir gently to mix the seasonings with the potato-egg mixture. Taste it at this point and add more seasonings to your liking. Don’t add more salt, however. Mayonnaise has salt; wait until you mix the mayo into the salad before adding more salt.

Add the relish, olives and pimentos to the bowl. Stir gently to combine.

Doesn’t it look so festive already? If you like more olives, relish, and/or pimentos in your salad, by all means, add more. Just be sure to squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Fold in the mayo. Chamorros will tell you that you MUST use Best Foods or Hellmann’s brand mayonnaise in Chamorro Potato Salad. I must admit that I hold true to that sentiment as well. Our classic Chamorro potato salad just doesn’t taste the same if you use “Dressing” (aka Miracle Whip).

I like my potato salad a little heavy on the mayo. Use less if you like your salad a bit more on the dry side.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Ta daaa! ♬ ♫ ♪ ♩

It’s almost done.

My mom ALWAYS decorated the top of her potato salad, even if we were just eating it at home and not serving it at a party or family gathering.

Remember that egg yolk I told you to set aside? Well, it’s time to for it to make its debut. Place the yolk in a small fine-mesh strainer.

Oh…wait…before you do anything with the yolk, spread a very thin layer of mayo (a couple of tablespoons should do it) over the top of the salad. This serves as the “canvas” for your egg yolk decoration.

Use a spoon or fork to gently push the yolk through the strainer, creating a “snowfall” of egg yolk over the top of the potato salad. Mom always saved some pimento and olives to make pretty flowers as well, and she’d make flower stems using celery leaves. Be as creative as you like.

See, isn’t this pretty (even without pimento and olive “flowers”)? 🙂

Serve and ENJOY!

My potato salad goes perfectly with Red Rice, BBQ Chicken, Pancit and Diago’ Kimchi. 🙂

Potato Salad

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A classic Chamorro side dish that is a must-have on your Fiesta table.

Author: Annie @ Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Recipe type: Side

Cuisine: Chamorro

Ingredients

5 pounds potatoes
8 hard boiled eggs (set aside one yolk), diced
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 can (4.25 oz) chopped black olives, squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
2 jars (4 oz) diced pimentos, squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
1 jar (10 oz) sweet pickle relish, squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
3 cups mayonnaise

Instructions

Rinse the potatoes then place in a large pot filled with hot water. Bring the water to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are done (it's done when a knife or fork easily pushes through the potato when pierced). Remove the cooked potatoes from the water; allow to cool completely then peel and discard the potato skin. Cut into small cubes.
Place the cubed potatoes and diced eggs into a large mixing bowl.
Add the onion powder, salt and black pepper. Stir gently to combine.
Add the drained and squeezed olives, pimentos and relish to the bowl. Stir to combine.
Fold in the mayonnaise. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Serve and ENJOY!

Posted in CHAMORRO DISHES, Chamorro Sides, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, HOLIDAY MENU, Thanksgiving

Åhu

Posted on October 9, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 27 comments

Åhu is a sweet and warm soup of sorts, and is a very popular dessert drink on Guam. It’s one of the first things I make when I go home for visits.

While you can make this dish using frozen månha (the meat from young coconuts) and the juice from the månha, there is nothing like using the real thing.

This delicious and sweet drink is thickened by the månha dumplings, made by mixing pureed månha, sugar and tapioca starch. The dumplings — I call them lumps — cook in boiling hot månha juice until they float to the surface indicating they are done.

It doesn’t take long to cook up a huge pot of åhu. What DOES take long, however, is cutting down a bunch of månha, cutting them open and collecting the juice, then scraping the meat.

Here’s an entertaining (at least I think so) video of the guys working hard at harvesting the månha for us. 🙂

I’ll bet many of you didn’t know there are some species of coconut that are orange when young, not just the common green ones.

My sister and I recruited the men to do the gathering with the promise we’ll do the cooking. They eventually enjoyed the fruits of our labor and relaxed with a huge cupful of delicious åhu. 🙂

After draining out the juice, cut open the månha and scrape out the meat. Be careful not to scrape out any of the husk if you can help it. The månha meat is very tender; it doesn’t take much effort to scrape it out of the shell.

After you’ve collected the juice and meat, it’s time to get cooking. Place the månha juice into a large pot. You don’t need much juice to get great tasting åhu. You can use all juice or a mixture of juice and water. My dad likes to drink the månha juice so when my sister and I made this, we diluted it by mixing 8 cups of månha juice with 8 cups of water, saving the rest of the juice for dad.

If the juice is sweet, you don’t need much sugar. We added about 3 cups of sugar to all that liquid. Add a cup at a time and taste as you go, adding as much sugar as you like.

Bring the liquid to a slow boil while you make the månha dumpling mixture.

Place the månha in a food processor. Use more månha if you like lots of “lumps” — we used 4 cups of månha (my family likes lots of lumps) for a large pot of åhu.

Process the månha until it’s smooth and creamy.

Add the entire bag of tapioca starch to the pureed månha. Save the rest of the tapioca starch in case you need to thicken the åhu liquid later or to add more to the månha-starch mixture (more on this later).

Add sugar to the månha-starch mixture. You don’t need much since you’ve already sweetened the liquid. The amount of sugar also depends on how sweet the månha meat is. This batch of månha was very sweet so we added just one cup of sugar. The mixture will be very thick, thicker than cake batter.

Drop small dollops of the batter into the boiling liquid. Do a test batch first to taste if it’s sweet enough. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter.

The lumps will float to the top of the pot when done. If the lumps break apart during the cooking, that means you need to add more starch. Add a few spoonfuls at a time, then cook a test batch to make sure they stay intact.

This recipe makes a LOT of lumps — just the way my brother likes it. The starch in the lumps also serves to thicken the åhu. Let the mixture cook over low heat for a few minutes after all of the lumps are done. If, after a few minutes, the liquid is not thickening, mix any reserved tapioca starch with a cup of water; stir the mixture into the åhu and cook for a few more minutes until thickened.

Serve while still hot and ENJOY! 🙂

Åhu

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A warm, sweet dessert drink made from the juice and meat of young green coconuts.

Author: Mary & Annie

Cuisine: Chamorro

Ingredients

Liquid

8 cups Månha juice
8 cups water
3 cups sugar, more or less, to taste

Dumplings

4 cups månha meat, pureed
1½ (15 oz) bags tapioca starch
1 cup sugar

Instructions

Place the månha, juice, and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil over low heat.
Mix together the pureed månha, one bag of starch (reserve the remaining half bag), and sugar to form the batter for the dumplings.
Drop the batter into the boiling liquid by the teaspoonful. The dumplings will float to the top when done. If the dumplings break apart during cooking, add a couple of tablespoons more starch to the dumpling mixture. "Test cook" a few dumplings to ensure they don't break apart and is sweet enough. If the dumplings still break apart during cooking, add a couple more tablespoons of starch.
After all of the dumplings are done, check to see if the åhu is thick enough for your liking. It should be the consistency of not-too-thick gravy. If you'd like it thicker, mix any remaining starch with 1 cup water; stir the mixture into the hot åhu. Cook for a few more minutes until the åhu thickens.

Serve while still hot and ENJOY! 🙂

Posted in CHAMORRO DISHES, DESSERTS, FAMILY RECIPES, Fina' Mames (Chamorro Desserts), Mary's Recipes

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