Friday, May 20, 2011

Making Coconut Milk


Coconut milk is the basis for many tropical cuisines throughout the world, particularly in the Asian and Island communities. It can be used for soups, curries, pastries such as pies, cakes and cookies. Coconut milk can also be used for  many health and beauty aides.

But I use it for cooking plain and simple. And one of my favorite dishes is BBQ'd fresh reef fish such as parrot fish. Then I sautee onions and garlic in a large pan, add coconut milk and the BBQ'd fish and cook this until everything is warmed up. Serve this over white rice and garnish with lemon finadene. This is a meal you won't soon forget. The flavor of the BBQ and enhanced with the coconut milk soup plus accented with the lemon finadene.....ouch. This is killer.

Parrot fish from the reefs of Guam. This is about a 4 pounder.

So let's make coconut milk.

First you need a coconut tree. I have a few on my property that I planted years ago.

Here is one that I harvested a few coconuts on this fine morning. This tree still has many green coconuts not yet ready for this use. Green coconuts, depending on their age, have various uses.

For coconut milk you want a coconut that has turned brown and has already fallen from the tree. And when you shake it, it should still have liquid inside it which is coconut water.

Now we need to "husk" the coconut. This means we are going to peel off the outside of the thick skin, husk, and expose the inside nut or coconut. The tool that we use is called a "heggao or hehgao" in the local native language of Guam, "Chamorro". This is traditionally a thick pointed stick or branch but here is my heggao made of rebar. This is used to pierce the thick coconut husk and pry it away from the nut.

Here I have pierced the coconut on the tip of the rebar "heggao".

I am prying the thick coconut husk away from the coconut which is now exposed.

Here is the exposed coconut.

I have husked the coconut and here is the nut.

Now I have to crack the nut. I do this with my Chamorro Machete. I tap it around the centerline of the coconut as I turn the nut one complete rotation until it cracks in half as shown here. When I did this, all the coconut water was released. I caught this in a bowl and I drank this somewhat sweet water. It is quite refreshing.

This is my "Chamorro" machete custom made for me by Guam's master blacksmith Joaquin Lujan. I use this for just about everything from cutting small trees, cutting large pieces of meat to digging holes for planting in the yard. It's 17 inches long with an 11.5 inch blade. Very thick and sturdy. This machete is 24 years old. It's a serious piece.

Once the coconut is halved, it is now ready for grating out the coconut meat from the nut. We use another tool for this called a "Kamyo" or coconut grater. Here is one made out of stainless steel mounted on an Ifit wood stool. Ifit wood is native to Guam and is highly resistant to rot and termites. It lasts a long time.

Close up of my stainless steel "kamyo". The "y" is pronounced like a "j".

I am sitting on the kamyo, rotating the inside of the coconut scraping the meat against the teeth of the kamyo, thus grating the coconut meat. The meat then falls into the bowl.

Close up of the grated coconut on the kamyo.

This is the grated coconut that has fallen into the bowl.

View of the inside of the coconut once it has been grated. My mother-in-law would not want to see any coconut meat left inside the shell like this one. Nothing should be wasted.

The grated coconut meat from just one coconut. We would husk many coconuts for the cooking of dishes for a fiesta. This task is usually relegated to the youth.

Now we add a little water so the we can mix it with the grated coconut meat.

Here I am now squeezing the water with the grated coconut milk. This slowly extracts the oils and juices from the meat. I use two hands for this operation but at the moment the other hand is taking the picture. You would squeeze this over another bowl and set aside the squeezed coconut pulp for another squeezing that we refer to as the 2nd squeeze.

After you work over the squeezing of the coconut meat, you then strain the liquid, milk, and you have the finished product, coconut milk. I was able to get about one quart of milk from the one coconut.

I would like to mention that there are two steps to the squeezing of the coconut milk. The first squeeze is the thickest and it is set aside for use at the last part of the cooking. The second squeeze of the same coconut meat or pulp, is when you use the pulp left over from the first squeezing, add more water to it and then re-squeeze the pulp. This liquid, milk, is thinner then the 1st squeeze and is used as the liquid that you would cook your dish in. When everything is cooked, you then add in the 1st squeeze milk for the finishing.

The reason for the two different squeezes is that the first squeeze milk has a lot of the coconut oil in the liquid and if you use this during the entire cooking time, the coconut oil will separate from the milk and ruin your dish.

Here is the leftover grated coconut after all the squeezing. You can use this to make coconut candy.

And that is the method that my wife's family uses to obtain coconut milk from fresh coconuts. I have found, having lived on Guam for 26 years, that this is the most common method used. I have seen a few other methods used, to include using electric graders, food processors, blenders, etc. but the method I have shown is fairly traditional.

I hope you found this interesting. And one thing is for certain, you cannot beat the flavor of fresh coconut milk in any dish. Nothing beats fresh.

Until next time....

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tri-Tip Rub

I live on Guam and have done so for the past 26 years. But I am originally from Santa Maria, California. You may or may not know about Santa Maria, but it is home to the world famous Santa Maria Style BBQ.

Web site: http://santamariavalleybbq.com/

In Santa Maria we BBQ a lot of chicken, tri-tip and top block (Top Sirloin). Of course you need to have a rub for this style of BBQ. Here is the recipe for the rub.

Basic Tri-Tip Rub:

1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic salt

Rueben's Tri-Tip Rub:

2 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp garlic powder (granulated)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp MSG (Accent)
1/2 tsp dried parsley


I like to be a little light on the salt because this leaves a little room for error. Once there is too much salt on a piece of meat, it's hard to adjust.

In Santa Maria, we "roll" the meat in a pan of rub to get a thorough and uniform rub coating. You should adjust the spice levels to meet your individual tastes. But these rubs are a good starting point.

I hope they work out for you.

Until next time....

Churrasco Steak Marinade

I just recently bought the new issue of Grilling, Spring 2011, by Better Homes and Gardens. On page 71, they have an article on Churrasco-Style Ribeyes. Within this recipe there is a great marinade. I just used this marinade on some beef steak I BBQ'd yesterday and it is great!! I christened this marinade, Churrasco Marinade. I know what you are thinking, no imagination. Oh well, I use the KISS method and that works for me.

Here is the marinade recipe:

1 cup of white wine vinegar
1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1/3 cup bottled minced garlic (I used fresh garlic)
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp snipped fresh oregano (I have some in our garden)
1 tbsp snipped fresh thyme (I had to used the dried version)
1 tbsp ground black pepper

I placed the marinade in a plastic zip loc bag and added the steak in. I chilled this for about 3 hours, but the longer the better.

I grilled one-inch sirloin steaks using lump charcoal with hickory chucks. I also layed on a light sprinkle of my tri-tip rub. WoW!!! What a surprise!!!

The rainbow of flavors here was fantastic. It was like an adventure of flavor. My wife even commented about all the different flavors she experienced in her steak. She normally doesn't comment. She doesn't have time when she is eating, if you know what I mean.

My wife likes her steak well done and pre-cut.

You have got to try this marinade, if you haven't already. It is a pleasant change. I am going to do this again!!


Until next time....

Monday, May 16, 2011

Chicken and Pork Shish Kabobs


Everyone loves shish kabobs. Here is one recipe that we use on Guam for chicken and pork strips. There are many variations, but this basic one is good for me.



And they taste great.

Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients:

1 cup Soy Sauce (Kikkoman)
1 cup Table Sugar
1 One-inch piece Fresh Ginger, minced

Directions:
Combine soy sauce and sugar in sauce pan and heat on stove until sugar melts.
Allow to cool.
Mince up fresh ginger root and place in blender with the soy/sugar mix.
Liquefy this mix in the blender.
Skewer your meat strips.
Soak overnight in refer or soak overnight without the skewers and skewer before you BBQ. But make sure you soak the skewers in water so that they don't burn.

This marinade is especially good with chicken thighs or pork strips (pork butt works great).

Enjoy!!

Until next time....

Rueben's Slaw

I love Cole Slaw. This recipe is one that I developed over time. It just evolved, so to speak, until I was satisfied. Rueben's Slaw, as I named it, is great with pork…. especially with pulled pork sandwiches. Give it a try. I don’t think you will regret it.



Rueben's Slaw recipe


Ingredients:

1 Head Green Cabbage
½ Head Red (purple) Cabbage
1 White Onion
1 Red (purple) Onion
3 Fuji Apples
¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1-2 tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
1-2 tbsp Tri-Tip Rub:
            2 tbsp Sea Salt
            2 tbsp Granulated Garlic Powder
            2 tbsp Granulated Onion Powder
            ½ tsp dried Parsley Flakes
            ¼ tsp Black Pepper, medium grind
            ¼ tsp MSG (Accent)
Fresh Ground Black Pepper and Salt to taste.

Directions:

Cut cabbage into about 1/8 in. thick by 3 in. long pieces.
Cut onions thinner than cabbage and about the same length.
Julienne Fuji Apples very thin about same as onions.
Mix all the ingredients together.
Make any adjustments to your taste.
Chill before serving.

Until next time....

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Chicken Kelaguen Recipe

If you are not from Guam, chances are you have never tried Chicken Kelaguen. Chicken Kelaguen is bascially BBQ'd chicken served "ceviche" style with Guam's special island twist.


You have just gotta try out this recipe. You will love it. And the more hot pepper you put in it, the more you'll go back for seconds.

I recently posted the "how to do" recipe on my BBQGuam blog at http://bbqguam.blogspot.com/2011/05/bbq-steak-chicken-kelaguen-and-potato.html.

If you do dicide to try the recipe out and have questions about it, you can contact me by email. It's listed in my profile.

Good luck and let me warn you, you have got to have plenty of ice cold beer on hand for this dish.

Until next time.