XO Sauce Fried Rice by Chef Justin PE Yenko of BadBoy Tikboy

The name is something of a fake — XO sauce. The Asian condiment contains no cognac, which is what the XO ("extra old") term famously applies to. Nor is it a sauce in the traditional, smooth sense but more of a chunky relish.

Leave any quibbles at the kitchen door, though, for XO's savory, sea-salty, spicy flavor will set your head spinning, especially given the jaw-dropping prices of its main ingredients.

"It has such a fabulous flavor,'' says Grace Young, a New York City-based cookbook author. "It's salty and spicy. It has heat and sweetness. It's a balance of wonderful flavors coming at you at one time."

The sauce is expensive because it calls for, among other things, dried scallops, which can cost hundreds of dollars per pound. That's what makes XO sauce seem so right for celebrations, like the Lunar New Year, which occurs on Feb. 19.

New Year menus always call for foods symbolic of good fortune. There's shrimp, which sounds in Cantonese like the word for laughter, according to Young; a whole duck, a symbol of fidelity; eggs for fertility; even pot sticker dumplings, whose shape resembles gold ingots of old. It's also a time for luxurious fare.

"If a food is not symbolic, we would eat it because we're treating ourselves to something really nice,'' Young adds.

XO sauce is just that sort of treat, with a flavor that enlivens even the simplest of dishes, from fried rice to stir-fried Chinese broccoli to roasted oysters.

"I love that it has this seafood funk I just adore,'' says Nancy Leson of Seattle, a food writer, KPLU-FM radio food commentator and XO sauce fan. "I love that it takes a plate of boring noodles and turns it into something exotic to my taste buds. I hate to use the word 'umami,' it's so overused, but XO brings up the flavor of simple vegetable preparations, like green beans. It's just a delicious, sexy flavor."

"It's not really a sauce but a topping I guess. It's not like a beurre blanc,'' says Ming Tsai, the TV cooking show host and cookbook author, when asked about XO sauce. His version makes a relatively dry and very textured paste.

XO sauce is also a relatively new creation. It was invented in the 1980s, according to "The New Food Lover's Companion," which traces its origins to Hong Kong. The name was borrowed from Cognac to lend the sauce status.

"I think in the 1980s there was a lot of optimism,'' Tsai says. "Chefs wanted to create something. … They thought, 'What can we create and charge a lot of money for?'"

Most chefs at upscale restaurants will create their own versions of XO sauce, says Martin Yan, the San Mateo, Calif.-based restaurateur, but nearly everyone will charge you if you request some.

"It will be $5 or $8 for a dish, a little plate,'' adds Yan. "You only need a spoonful. It will add flavor and give you a kick and also lots of texture, being made from diced this and diced that."

At home you can use commercially produced XO sauce. (A 7.8-ounce jar of Lee Kum Kee's XO sauce is $32.95 on Amazon.com.) Or hunt down the ingredients to make your own. The hallmarks of XO sauce are dried scallops and dried shrimp, but secondary ingredients vary by recipe. Tsai's version, for example, calls for diced Chinese sausage, while others use various types of ham.

"I'm totally into ham in my XO,'' Leson says. "I've used prosciutto. I've used country ham."

When shopping for the dried scallops and shrimp, buy the best quality you can afford. Take a good sniff of whatever you plan to buy, Young says, because fragrance is an indicator of flavor.

"I normally go for the more expensive,'' Young says. "Scallops are not sold by type but by quality. No one says they want this kind or that kind but how much they're willing to spend."

XO shrimp

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 5 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

"This is one of the many ways in which Hong Kong chefs use XO sauce as the dominant flavoring ingredient in a recipe," writes Eileen Yin-Fei Lo in 2009's "Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking." The shrimp are first blanched in stock to seal them, then stir-fried. Cornstarch may be used in place of mung bean starch; 1 1/2 tablespoons of dry sherry can substitute for 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, says Lo.

Sauce:

1 tablespoon each: oyster sauce; Shaoxing wine

1 1/2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon each: sesame oil, white rice vinegar, sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Shrimp:

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 piece fresh ginger (about 1/2 inch thick), peeled, lightly smashed, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons peeled, minced ginger

1 pound large shrimp (40 count per pound), peeled, deveined, cleaned

1 tablespoon peanut oil

3 tablespoons diced shallots, about 1/4-inch pieces

3 tablespoons XO sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons mung bean starch mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons water

1 For the sauce, mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl; reserve.

2 Place the stock and ginger slice in a wok; heat to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp; blanch just until they begin to turn pink, 30-40 seconds. Turn off the heat, remove the shrimp with a strainer and drain well over a bowl. Reserve. (Save the stock for another use, discarding the ginger.)

3. Dry the wok with paper towels. Heat it over high heat, 30 seconds. Add the peanut oil, using a spatula to coat the wok with the oil. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the minced ginger; stir briefly. Add the shallots; stir-fry until they soften, about 1 minute. Add the XO sauce; stir-fry until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp; stir-fry until they are well coated with the XO sauce, about 1 minute. Stir the reserved sauce; drizzle it over the shrimp. Stir to mix until the shrimp are well-coated. Stir the starch-water mixture, pour it into the wok and stir just until any liquid thickens. The shrimp should be well-coated and there should be no moisture in the wok. Transfer the shrimp to a heated dish and serve.

Use it

Young, Yan and Tsai share ideas on cooking with XO sauce:

Dumplings and dim sum: Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon on top of each piece as desired.

Stir-fried vegetables: Add to Chinese broccoli, bok choy or green beans.

Steamed fish: Try it over salmon or sablefish.

Noodle soup: Stir some into the broth before serving.

Roasted oysters: Place oysters on hot grill. When the shells pop open, garnish with XO sauce and a squeeze of lime.

Pasta: Stir a little toasted sesame oil into the XO sauce to make for a looser consistency, then toss it with noodles or pasta. Or stir some into a scallion and ginger lo mein dish.

Fried rice: Try with crab fried rice or on risotto topped with seared scallops.

Longanisa Sisig by Riceype

“Sisig is perfectly positioned to win the hearts and minds of the world,” Anthony Bourdain boldly stated in an interview with CNN Philippines on Monday.

He went on to say, “I think it’s the most likely to convince people abroad who have had no exposure to Filipino food to maybe look further and investigate further beyond sisig. I think that’s the one that’s gonna hook them.”

But, what on earth is sisig? Well, it’s this:

It’s an umami bomb of a dish made up of pork, rice and egg, and it’s a beloved type of bar food in the Philippines.

“Sisig is a pork hash made with pork face, ears, cheeks and snout,” Philippe Garcesto, manager of the Filipino restaurant Maharlika in NYC, told HuffPost. “You dice it up, boil it, grill it, fry it and serve it sizzling hot with raw egg on top. It’s traditionally served with a side of garlic rice, and is a bar snack you eat while you’re drinking.” 

Since fighting the astronomical amount of food waste in this country has become a big part of mainstream consciousness, we think Bourdain might be right in proclaiming sisig as the next big food trend ― or at least it’s one that we need. On average, Americans throw out nearly half of all of our perfectly edible food. Sisig dish was created with that very reason in mind, using a whole hog approach to cooking.

“Historically it first started in the Philippines when American GIs came in and were throwing out the cuts of pork they didn’t want. Filipinos would not let that go to waste, so they used every part of the pig,” explains Garcesto. That includes the face ― and of course, the snout. 

Sisig also happens to be very Instagrammable, Garcesto points out, which only makes us more certain that it can reach unicorn food status.

Kanto Nacho

In addition to the immense bounty that nature has offered up since the dawn of time, there have been countless food products created over the centuries and, though we rarely stop to think about it, every single one of them was invented by someone. 

Some of those edibles were happy accidents, others took years of trial and error. The exact origins of the vast majority of foods have been lost, but we’ve tracked down some pretty cool stories about a few.

Just about every food on earth has an interesting story behind it. Even modern-day apples developed through millennia of cross-planting and engineering to make them big and sweet instead of small and bitter. The humble hamburger was imported from

Germany as a spiced patty of ground beef, and it took years for it to catch on as a sandwich. Hot dogs have their origins in centuries-old sausage recipes, pizza started as an ancient Roman flatbread, stews started as ways for peasants to tenderize cheap cuts of meat, and so on. Every dish has a story to tell.

While the exact moment when a dish came into the world is usually lost to history, sometimes we’re fortunate enough to know exactly when and how it was invented. Usually this is because something in the name of the dish gives it away, like the person or place it’s named for. 

Oftentimes we don’t even give second thought to why, for example, a Parker House roll is called a Parker House roll (they’re named after Boston’s Parker House Hotel), or who Melba was in peach Melba and Melba toast (It was popular Victorian-era singer Dame Nellie Melba). But everything was named for a reason, and it usually has something to do with its inventor.

So read on to learn about the origins of famous foods. And the next time you order nachos, you can call them by the inventor’s proper name, Ignacio.

Nachos were invented by a (now-legendary) maître d’ named Ignacio Anaya, who whipped up the first batch for a group of hungry U.S. military wives at a restaurant called the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Mexico, near Fort Duncan. He fried up some tortilla chips, topped them with some shredded Cheddar and sliced jalapeños, and served them as canapés. He named them after his nickname, Nacho, and the rest is history.

Fried Lasagna

The History Of Lasagna

It’s time for dinner, your stomach rumbles and like any good pasta-lover, you decide to treat yourself and go to dinner at Bravo! When you arrive, you are immediately overcome with the aroma of Bolognese simmering for hours and hours to perfection, the scent of fresh-baked focaccia bread and the delightful sounds of families enjoying a meal together. You peruse the menu looking at all of the amazing Italian delicacies, but that little voice inside your head keeps whispering, “Lasagna, order lasagna!” And how can you argue with that voice? You give in, order Mama’s Lasagna Bolognese, and instantly feel satisfied with your wise decision. Hungry yet? As we pay homage to this incredible dish this week, we not only wanted to talk about how amazing lasagna is, but also look into the history of this delicious dish.

You may not know this, but technically, Lasagna did not originate in Italy as you may expect. Its origin can be traced way back to Ancient Greece. The name Lasagna, or “Lasagne” is derived from the Greek word ‘Laganon’; the first known form of pasta. Laganon was not a traditional lasagna as we know it with traditional Italian ingredients, but it was composed of layers of pasta and sauce. So it basically got its name from the method in which it was made, not for its ingredients.

Fast-forward a few centuries…Many countries have debated for years who came up with the first lasagna recipe. Of course, Italy claims they were the first, but really should be credited for perfecting the layers and layers of deliciousness that is lasagna. In fact, researchers in Britain found a cookbook with a lasagna recipe that dates back to the 1390’s, staking their claim to the first lasagna.

To recap, the name can be traced back to Ancient Greece, the first recipe to Britain and generations of perfecting the dish to Italy! Regardless of who can claim the lasagna fame, we are grateful to whoever is responsible for passing this recipe on through the centuries! MANGIA!

Banana Milo Ice Cream by Riceype

                                                                  

The History of Ice Cream

The Evolution of Ice Cream

Ice cream's origins are known to reach back as far as the second century B.C., although no specific date of origin nor inventor has been undisputably credited with its discovery. We know that Alexander the Great enjoyed snow and ice flavored with honey and nectar. Biblical references also show that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) frequently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavored with fruits and juices.

Over a thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a recipe that closely resembled what is now called sherbet. Historians estimate that this recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than the Italians. "Cream Ice," as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles I during the 17th century. France was introduced to similar frozen desserts in 1553 by the Italian Catherine de Medici when she became the wife of Henry II of France. It wasn't until 1660 that ice cream was made available to the general public. The Sicilian Procopio introduced a recipe blending milk, cream, butter and eggs at Café Procope, the first café in Paris.

Ice Cream for America

The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first advertisement for ice cream in this country appeared in the New York Gazette on May 12, 1777, when confectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available "almost every day." Records kept by a Chatham Street, New York, merchant show that President George Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Inventory records of Mount Vernon taken after Washington's death revealed "two pewter ice cream pots." President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska. Check out President Jefferson's vanilla ice cream recipe here. In 1813, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House.

Until 1800, ice cream remained a rare and exotic dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite. Around 1800, insulated ice houses were invented. Manufacturing ice cream soon became an industry in America, pioneered in 1851 by a Baltimore milk dealer named Jacob Fussell. Like other American industries, ice cream production increased because of technological innovations, including steam power, mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and motors, packing machines, and new freezing processes and equipment. In addition, motorized delivery vehicles dramatically changed the industry. Due to ongoing technological advances, today's total frozen dairy annual production in the United States is more than 1.6 billion gallons.

Wide availability of ice cream in the late 19th century led to new creations. In 1874, the American soda fountain shop and the profession of the "soda jerk" emerged with the invention of the ice cream soda. In response to religious criticism for eating "sinfully" rich ice cream sodas on Sundays, ice cream merchants left out the carbonated water and invented the ice cream "Sunday" in the late 1890's. The name was eventually changed to "sundae" to remove any connection with the Sabbath.

Ice cream became an edible morale symbol during World War II. Each branch of the military tried to outdo the others in serving ice cream to its troops. In 1945, the first "floating ice cream parlor" was built for sailors in the western Pacific. When the war ended, and dairy product rationing was lifted, America celebrated its victory with ice cream. Americans consumed over 20 quarts of ice cream per person in 1946.

In the 1940s through the ‘70s, ice cream production was relatively constant in the United States. As more prepackaged ice cream was sold through supermarkets, traditional ice cream parlors and soda fountains started to disappear. Now, specialty ice cream stores and unique restaurants that feature ice cream dishes have surged in popularity. These stores and restaurants are popular with those who remember the ice cream shops and soda fountains of days past, as well as with new generations of ice cream fans.

Top 4 Kanin Hacks

History of rice cultivation

Oryza sativa was domesticated from the wild grass Oryza rufipogon roughly 10,000–14,000 years ago. The two main subspecies of rice – indica (prevalent in tropical regions) and japonica (prevalent in the subtropical and temperate regions of East Asia) – are not believed to have been derived from independent domestication events. Another cultivated species, O. glaberrima, was domesticated much later in West Africa.

Recent genetic evidence show that all forms of Asian rice, both indica and japonica, come from a single domestication event that occurred 8,200–13,500 years ago in the Pearl River valley region of China.

In China, extensive archeological evidence points to the middle Yangtze and upper Huai rivers as the two earliest places of O. sativa cultivation in the country. Rice and farming implements dating back at least 8,000 years have been found. Cultivation spread down these rivers over the following 2,000 years. 

Puddling the soil – turning it to mud to break it down and prevent too much water percolating away – and transplanting seedlings were likely refined in China. Both operations became integral parts of rice farming and remain widely practiced to this day. With the development of puddling and transplanting, rice became truly domesticated. 

Movement to western India and south to Sri Lanka was also accomplished very early. Rice was a major crop in Sri Lanka as early as 1000 B.C. The crop may well have been introduced to Greece and the neighboring areas of the Mediterranean by returning members of Alexander the Great’s expedition to India around 344-324 B.C. From a center in Greece and Sicily, rice spread gradually throughout southern Europe and to a few locations in northern Africa. 

As a result of Europe’s great Age of Exploration, new lands to the west became available for exploitation. Rice cultivation was introduced to the New World by early European settlers. The Portuguese carried it to Brazil and the Spanish introduced its cultivation to several locations in Central and South America. The first record for North America dates from 1685, when the crop was produced on the coastal lowlands and islands of what is now South Carolina. It is thought that slaves from West Africa who were transported to the Carolinas in the mid-18th century introduced the complex agricultural technology needed to grow rice. Their labor then insured a flourishing rice industry. By the 20th century, rice was produced in California’s Sacramento Valley. The introduction into California corresponded almost exactly with the timing of the first successful crop in Australia’s New South Wales. 

Regional development of rice cultivation

Asia

Based on archeological evidence, rice was believed to have first been domesticated in the region of the Yangtze River valley in China. Morphological studies of rice phytoliths from the Diaotonghuan archaeological site clearly show the transition from the collection of wild rice to the cultivation of domesticated rice. The large number of wild rice phytoliths at the Diaotonghuan level dating from 12,000–11,000 BP indicates that wild rice collection was part of the local means of subsistence. Changes in the morphology of Diaotonghuan phytoliths dating from 10,000–8,000 BP show that rice had by this time been domesticated.[28] Soon afterwards the two major varieties of indica and japonica rice were being grown in Central China. In the late 3rd millennium BC, there was a rapid expansion of rice cultivation into mainland Southeast Asia and westwards across India and Nepal.

In 2003, Korean archaeologists claimed to have discovered the world's oldest domesticated rice. Their 15,000 year old age challenges the accepted view that rice cultivation originated in China about 12,000 years ago. These findings were received by academia with strong skepticism, and the results and their publicizing has been cited as being driven by a combination of nationalist and regional interests.In 2011, a combined effort by the Stanford University, New York University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Purdue University has provided the strongest evidence yet that there is only one single origin of domesticated rice, in the Yangtze Valley of China.

The earliest remains of the grain in the Indian subcontinent have been found in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and date from 7000–6000 BC though the earliest widely accepted date for cultivated rice is placed at around 3000–2500 BC with findings in regions belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. Perennial wild rices still grow in Assam and Nepal. It seems to have appeared around 1400 BC in southern India after its domestication in the northern plains. It then spread to all the fertile alluvial plains watered by rivers. Cultivation and cooking methods are thought to have spread to the west rapidly and by medieval times, southern Europe saw the introduction of rice as a hearty grain.

O. sativa was recovered from a grave at Susa in Iran (dated to the 1st century AD) at one end of the ancient world, another domestication of rice in South Asia.

Today, the majority of all rice produced comes from China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, and Japan. Asian farmers still account for 92% of the world's total rice production.

Africa

African rice has been cultivated for 3500 years. Between 1500 and 800 BC, Oryza glaberrima propagated from its original centre, the Niger River delta, and extended to Senegal. However, it never developed far from its original region. Its cultivation even declined in favour of the Asian species, which was introduced to East Africa early in the common era and spread westward. African rice helped Africa conquer its famine of 1203.

Rest of the world

Middle East

Rice was grown in some areas of southern Iraq. With the rise of Islam it moved north to Nisibin, the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and then beyond the Muslim world into the valley of Volga. In Egypt, rice is mainly grown in the Nile Delta. In Palestine, rice came to be grown in the Jordan Valley. Rice is also grown in Yemen.

Europe

The Moors brought Asiatic rice to the Iberian Peninsula in the 10th century. Records indicate it was grown in Valencia and Majorca. In Majorca, rice cultivation seems to have stopped after the Christian conquest, although historians are not certain.

Muslims also brought rice to Sicily, where it was an important crop long before it is noted in the plain of Pisa (1468) or in the Lombard plain (1475), where its cultivation was promoted by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and demonstrated in his model farms.

After the 15th century, rice spread throughout Italy and then France, later propagating to all the continents during the age of European exploration.The Ottomans introduced rice to the Balkans.

Caribbean and Latin America

Rice is not native to the Americas but was introduced to Latin America and the Caribbean by European colonizers at an early date with Spanish colonizers introducing Asian rice to Mexico in the 1520s at Veracruz and the Portuguese and their African slaves introducing it at about the same time to Colonial Brazil. Recent scholarship suggests that enslaved Africans played an active role in the establishment of rice in the New World and that African rice was an important crop from an early period. Varieties of rice and bean dishes that were a staple dish along the peoples of West Africa remained a staple among their descendants subjected to slavery in the Spanish New World colonies, Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas.

The Native Americans of what is now the Eastern United States may have practiced extensive agriculture with forms of wild rice. (References to wild rice in the Americas are to the unrelated Zizania palustris.)

United States

In the United States, colonial South Carolina and Georgia grew and amassed great wealth from the Slavery labor obtained from the Senegambia area of West Africa and from coastal Sierra Leone. At the port of Charleston, through which 40% of all American slave imports passed, slaves from this region of Africa brought the highest prices, in recognition of their prior knowledge of rice culture, which was put to use on the many rice plantations around Georgetown, Charleston, and Savannah. From the enslaved Africans, plantation owners learned how to dyke the marshes and periodically flood the fields. At first the rice was milled by hand with wooden paddles, then winnowed in sweetgrass baskets (the making of which was another skill brought by slaves from Africa). The invention of the rice mill increased profitability of the crop, and the addition of water power for the mills in 1787 by millwright Jonathan Lucas was another step forward. Rice culture in the southeastern U.S. became less profitable with the loss of slave labor after the American Civil War, and it finally died out just after the turn of the 20th century. Today, people can visit the only remaining rice plantation in South Carolina that still has the original winnowing barn and rice mill from the mid-19th century at the historic Mansfield Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina. The predominant strain of rice in the Carolinas was from Africa and was known as "Carolina Gold." The cultivar has been preserved and there are current attempts to reintroduce it as a commercially grown crop.

In the southern United States, rice has been grown in southern Arkansas, Louisiana, and east Texas since the mid-19th century. Many Cajun farmers grew rice in wet marshes and low lying prairies where they could also farm crayfish when the fields were flooded. In recent years rice production has risen in North America, especially in the Mississippi River Delta areas in the states of Arkansas and Mississippi.

Rice cultivation began in California during the California Gold Rush, when an estimated 40,000 Chinese laborers immigrated to the state and grew small amounts of the grain for their own consumption. However, commercial production began only in 1912 in the town of Richvale in Butte County. By 2006, California produced the second largest rice crop in the United States, after Arkansas, with production concentrated in six counties north of Sacramento. Unlike the Mississippi Delta region, California's production is dominated by short- and medium-grain japonica varieties, including cultivars developed for the local climate such as Calrose, which makes up as much as 85% of the state's crop.

More than 100 varieties of rice are commercially produced primarily in six states (Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and California) in the U.S. According to estimates for the 2006 crop year, rice production in the U.S. is valued at $1.88 billion, approximately half of which is expected to be exported. The U.S. provides about 12% of world rice trade. The majority of domestic utilization of U.S. rice is direct food use (58%), while 16% is used in each of processed foods and beer. The remaining 10% is found in pet food.

Australia

Rice was one of the earliest crops planted in Australia by British settlers, who had experience with rice plantations in the Americas and the subcontinent.

Although attempts to grow rice in the well-watered north of Australia have been made for many years, they have consistently failed because of inherent iron and manganese toxicities in the soils and destruction by pests.

In the 1920s it was seen as a possible irrigation crop on soils within the Murray-Darling Basin that were too heavy for the cultivation of fruit and too infertile for wheat.

Because irrigation water, despite the extremely low runoff of temperate Australia, was (and remains) very cheap, the growing of rice was taken up by agricultural groups over the following decades. Californian varieties of rice were found suitable for the climate in the Riverina, and the first mill opened at Leeton in 1951.

Even before this Australia's rice production greatly exceeded local needs, and rice exports to Japan have become a major source of foreign currency. Above-average rainfall from the 1950s to the middle 1990s encouraged the expansion of the Riverina rice industry, but its prodigious water use in a practically waterless region began to attract the attention of environmental scientists. These became severely concerned with declining flow in the Snowy River and the lower Murray River.

Although rice growing in Australia is highly profitable due to the cheapness of land, several recent years of severe drought have led many to call for its elimination because of its effects on extremely fragile aquatic ecosystems. The Australian rice industry is somewhat opportunistic, with the area planted varying significantly from season to season depending on water allocations in the Murray and Murrumbidgee irrigation regions.

History of Nilagang Baka

Boiled beef is a food form that has firm ties with the peasant class. Not having the means to buy the more expensive cuts, poor folk from Europe, Asia, or the Americas had to settle for the tougher cuts of meat for sustenance.

But these bony, sinewy parts proved to be the best for creating a deep-flavored broth, and by long simmering, the beef cartilage and collagen are broken down and become soft and gelatinous.

Among the international boiled beef dishes that still exist today, though not as popular as before, are the French pot-au-feu, the English boiled beef and carrots, and the Jewish (and Irish-American) boiled corned beef brisket.

In the Philippines, we have the Nilagang Baka and Bulalo, a specialty of the cattle-grazing provinces of Batangas and Cavite.

Throughout much of human history, cattle and most of its bovine kin were regarded as capital. (Indeed, the very word capital comes from the Latin caput, or head, of cattle.)

They were draught animals, much valued for their assistance in plowing the land, moving cartloads of goods, and of course, as a source of milk.

“An animal was not slaughtered until it was fit for nothing else,” said Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat in A History of Food.

A “gastronomic wealth of recipes” was thus born using precisely this kind of tough meat, including the classic French dish pot-au-feu.
Julia Child sings the praises of this food in Mastering the Art of French Cooking: “The potée, like all boiled dinners, is easy on the cook because it can simmer quietly by itself for four to five hours, and if it is done before serving time it can remain in its kettle where it will keep warm for a good hour.”

Her recipe for pot-au-feu is a bit grand though since it includes, not just beef, but also pork, chicken and sausage, all cooked together in an earthenware pot. (Pot-au-feu is French for cooking in a pot over fire.)
The earlier versions of   are simpler: a nod to the egalitarian ethos of the French. It would have cheap cuts of beef and vegetables that are in season including carrots, onions, turnips, celery, parsnips, and leeks.
Indeed, because boiled beef is a countryman’s dish. In England, boiled beef and carrots is known “Cockney” food, referring to the working class district  of London’s east end.

In ancient times to the Middle Ages, and indeed, up until the invention of refrigeration, beef when obtained was almost always salted and brined in order to prolong its use.

This was an essential item especially for soldiers and sailors who toiled for years in their various war campaigns and expeditions. Meat that was salted usually found a second life once it was boiled in water, and vegetables were thrown in for added flavor and nutrition.

This brings us to the story of Irish boiled bacon and cabbage. This is a traditional dish in Ireland, featuring cured and unsliced bacon,
potatoes, and cabbage.

When the Irish immigrants arrived in America they found that bacon was hard to come by, but corned beef brisket was plentiful.

A quick substitution ensued, and so now in America, especially during St. Patrick’s Day, you can partake of the Irish or Jewish versions of the boiled corned beef, or another version up the east coast called the New England Boiled Dinner (the recipe is almost the same as the Irish one, although they sometimes use pork shoulder ham).

In the Philippines, our version of the boiled beef dinner is of course Nilagang Baka. Ours, however, is a one-pot dish where we savor the soup as much as we enjoy the supple beef.

Our variations are Bulalo, wherein the fatty bone marrow is the sought after morsel; Puchero, which combines chorizo and saba (plantains) to the boiled beef shanks; and Kansi, a hybrid dish from Negros province that also uses beef marrow and shanks (like Bulalo) but also adds the local batuan fruit to bring a tartness to the soup (much like sinigang).

The European version of the boiled dinner has evolved into one wherein they scoop out the beef or other meats, slice it against the grain into serving pieces, and serve it in a plate together with the cooked vegetables. Another progression is the addition of a piquant sauce such as mustard or horseradish, or a creamier alternative like white sauce.

In contrast, we like to eat our boiled beef dishes in a plate together with steamed white rice, with a seasoning of either patis (fish sauce) or soy sauce, drizzled with the local lime calamansi. We also love to have a separate bowl of the beef soup on the side, to slurp down in between mouthfuls of the tender beef.

There are only two key things to remember in making a good Nilagang Baka.

One is to make sure to include some beef bones (marrow, or kneecaps) together with the stewing meat (shank or otherwise), and second, to maintain a gentle simmer over the soup for several hours, or until the meat is tender.

Avoid though a rolling boil that will only make the meat tough and stringy.

Ingredients:
2 kilos combination of beef bones (marrow, kneecaps, or brisket bone-in) and stewing beef or shanks
1 yellow onion, sliced
1-inch ginger, sliced
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
250 grams Baguio beans, trimmed and sliced diagonally
1 small cabbage, quartered
1-2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Method:
Place the meat and bones in a deep pot, add the onions, ginger, whole peppercorns, and enough water to cover meat. As it comes to a boil, skim off the scum. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender, about three hours. (If using bulalo, remove it when cooked so that the marrow doesn’t spill out of the bone.)

Add the potatoes and salt. When the potatoes are done, place the cabbage on top of the soup and cook for a further five minutes.

Return the cooked bone marrow to the soup. Add the Baguio beans and cook for two minutes. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with rice and fish or soy sauce on the side.

20 INTERESTING LECHÓN FACTS

1. Lechón is a pork dish and is a national dish of Philippines and Puerto Rico.

2. This dish is extremely popular in various countries like Dominican Republic, Canada, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Philippines, Spain and various other Spanish-speaking Latin American nations.

3. Lechón is actually a Spanish word which means roasted suckling pig.

4. This dish is prepared by roasting a whole suckling pig over charcoal.

5. Cebu in Philippines is source for best quality suckling pigs in entire world. Cebu is an island province located in Philippines. It is one of the most developed provinces in Philippines.

6. In many Latin American countries, the immense popularity of the dish has use of medium-sized adult pigs instead of suckling pigs.

7. Lechón preparation takes nearly 8 hours.

8. Lechón has a unique preparation process. The suckling pig is first killed and then its belly is slit lengthwise from hind legs to front legs. Ears, tail and feet are all left intact.

9. Hair from the pig’s body is carefully shaved off. It is usually done by the butcher but some hair may still stay on the body. It is essential to carefully inspect the pig and remove any remaining hair before seasoning it.

10. Once the raw pig is thoroughly cleaned and washed, it is seasoned with crushed garlic, dried oregano, black pepper, salt and achiote oil. The amount of seasoning to be used usually depends on the size of the pig and it should be seasoned both inside and outside. For a 100 lb. pig, the seasoning should be used in following ratio:

• Achiote oil – 7 cups.
• Salt – ¾ cup.
• Black pepper – 1 cup.
• Dried oregano – 1 cup.
• Crushed garlic – 2 cups.

11. After thorough seasoning, the pig is refrigerated in a large tub with ice.

12. The pig is then skewered and attached to a metal rod and is placed in a large pit full of charcoal. It is very essential to use charcoal that does not have lighter fluid added to it.

13. The rod to which the pig is attached is then turned over the burning charcoal in rotisserie action. This allows even roasting.

14. This particular cooking method makes the skin of the pig very crisp which is known for its distinctive taste.

15. Charcoal roasting gives Lechón a distinctive smoky flavor.

16. The pig is roasted for around 8 hours. Once roasting is completed, the pig is allowed to sit for 20-30 minutes before cutting it. This allows the juices to sink inside, making the meat moist and soft. This is known as basting.

17. As far as nutrition is concerned, 100 grams of Lechón consists of 6 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat, 5 g saturated fat and the total cholesterol content in 100 grams of Lechón is 95 mg.

18. 100 g of the dish contains a total of 62 mg sodium, 423 mg potassium and 27 g protein.

19. Vitamin C content is 1%, iron content is 7% and calcium content is 2% in every 100 g of Lechón.

20. The total number of calories present in 100 g or 1 serving of Lechón is 242.

Sounds yummy right? If you ever get a chance to taste this amazing dish, don’t let it go. Your taste buds will carry the taste of Lechón for a long long time!