Valenciana Ilonggo

Valenciana has always been part of our Noche Buena feast back home. This year, because I am away from my family, I decided to prepare it as part of our Christmas Day lunch with some Myanmar  co-teachers. It is one way of introducing Philippine cuisine to them, aside from what we have ordered from SweetD's Mandalay. 

This time, it's Valenciana Ilonggo that I have prepared. No need to use Tomato Sauce and Tomato paste because the recipe only calls for Coconut Milk. This recipe is more tasking than the one I am used to. To prepare, we need to separately prepare the toppings, the sticky rice and some of the ingredients needs to be fried beforehand.

To start, cook Sticky Rice in a pot. You will need to wash thoroughly 1 kg white Sticky rice, add 1 big can coconut milk and 3 cups chicken stock, salt and turmeric powder. Cook similar to cooking rice.

Prepare the toppings:

1. Boil 10 eggs and shell them, slice in half.

2. Slice Green and Red Capsicum in long strips

3. Fry the different parts of chicken that was marinated overnight in fish sauce, pepper and lemon juice.

These will be arranged nicely on top of the mixture.

For the mix, sauté onions, garlic, leeks in butter. Add pork strips, half cooked pork and chicken liver strips, diagonally sliced Chinese sausages, Tiger prawns without the head, diced Crab sticks, Green Peas, diced Carrots, Raisins and shredded Chicken from the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover until cooked.

When cooked, mix with cooked sticky rice. 

Use two wooden spoon to mix properly.

Then arrange nicely in serving dish. Place the toppings to make the Valenciana look more festive and vibrant.

There you have it, Valenciana Ilonggo. Iloilo's take on Paella with Western Visayas twist.

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Grilled then Baked Duck for Christmas

While my family back home enjoyed a huge Lechon from Uncle Bador, I opted to celebrate with Grilled Duck. 

It was perhaps the easiest and the less tasking food I prepared. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper, marinated for a few hours before being grilled in slow heat. 

Because we had so much food during our Noche Buena, it was not served anymore, so I baked it to make the skin crispy again before serving during our Christmas Day lunch.

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