CAN you turn the Pinoy comfort food Chicken Tinola into a paella? Oh, yes, you can!
The idea came from the late Chef Ed Quimson. About two years ago, we both joined the San Miguel Pure Foods Culinary Group’s two-day Laguna-Quezon food tour, where the entire group stayed overnight at Graceland Estate and Resort in Tayabas, Quezon. After a sumptuous dinner that evening, Chef Ed and I teamed up to do an impromptu cooking demo of his Chicken Tinola Paella. He was supposed to do the demo by himself, but he plucked me from the group of media people who were with him that evening to execute for him. I obliged, and so we did the demo, after which we ate the paella.
Having recently cooked Paella Valenciana with F&B World editor and good friend Marilen Fontanilla as partner for the Knorr Kitchenhood Clinic held at The Cookery in Bonifacio Global City, I remembered the Chicken Tinola Paella of Chef Ed. Since this past weekend was a long weekend and today (October 28, 2013) being Barangay Election Day and therefore afforded me an extra day at home, I decided to make Chicken Tinola Paella for lunch today. I combined the recipe of Chef Ed and the rice-to-liquid proportion of Knorr’s Paella Valenciana recipe and added my own twist (making chicken stock or broth separately from the paella) and successfully turned out a delicious paellera of Chicken Tinola Paella.
This recipe is my tribute to the late great Chef Ed Quimson, one of the most talented creative-minded chefs I’ve ever met.
THE CHICKEN STOCK:
4 cups water
2 pcs. chicken cubes
10-12 slices ginger
freshly ground black pepper
1. Combine water, chicken cubes and ginger in a stock pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Season with freshly ground black pepper and simmer for a few more minutes.
3. Strain to remove ginger slices. Set aside.
THE PAELLA:
2-3 Tbsps. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 pc. raw papaya, peeled and cubed
1 pc. deboned and skinless chicken breast, cubed
1-1/4 cups Japanese rice
2-3/4 cups chicken-ginger stock
1/4 cup sili or saluyot leaves, picked and washed
a few sprigs of malunggay leaves (moringa), picked and washed
1. Heat olive oil in paellera or sauté pan. Add minced onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
2. Add raw papaya then the chicken breast. As soon as chicken turns opaque in color, add rice and sauté for 2 minutes. Make sure all the grains are covered with olive oil.
3. Pour in the chicken-ginger stock. Bring mixture to a boil, then cover with aluminum foil.
4. When rice is half-cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes, remove chicken pieces temporarily. Mix the paella mixture, adding sili or saluyot leaves and malunggay leaves into the mixture as you do. Top with the chicken pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, cover with foil again, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes or until rice is done.
5. When rice is done, turn off heat and serve immediately.
Pasta Croquettes by Center for Culinary Arts-Oceana Branch
HAD a long and tiring but very fulfilling day last Wednesday, October 23, 2013, when FLAVORS Magazine, which I’m a part of, staged the 10th edition of its annual culinary competition, FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013, at the Event Center of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
Yes, it was our 10th year, but this year’s competition was a first of sorts for us, mainly because we had a full production this time, complete with LED screen in place of a still tarpaulin backdrop and with a live camera feed showing on screen all throughout the production. Beautiful. The moment I stepped into the Event Center area on the Lower Ground Floor of SM Megamall on Wednesday morning, when I arrived to make final setup changes, I had this feeling of awe. I had goosebumps at the sight of the huge LED screen playing our spool of sponsors’ TVCs (TV commercials) as soon as the mall opened. To think that the show hadn’t even started yet. It was slated at 2:00 p.m. yet.
FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013 gets underway at the Event Center of SM Megamall
Part of the audience
Just imagine how I felt when the show finally began at around 3:00 p.m! (*There were delays due to technical reasons, and we had to make sure everything was running smoothly, especially the electrical provisions, before we could start.) Then the show got underway.
Just like in previous years, we had six teams representing culinary arts and HRM schools in Metro Manila battling it out for culinary supremacy. They were given a lumpsum time of two hours to produce three dishes – one creative pasta dish, one main course (with chicken as featured ingredient this year) and one dessert – that conformed to this year’s theme, which was Noche Buena with a Creative Twist. Making up the roster of participants were Center for Culinary Arts-Oceana Branch (CCA), University of Sto. Tomas (UST), De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (CSB), Professional Academy for Culinary Education (PACE), MOST Institute and Far Eastern University (FEU).
The Board of Judges at work, from left: Chef Ernest Reynoso Gala, Chef Michelle Adrillana, Chef Rafael Jardeleza II, Chef Gene Gonzalez, Chef Heny Sison and Dr. Efren Vazquez
Making up the Board of Judges for this year’s competition were Chef Gene Gonzalez, founder and president of Café Ysabel and the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS); Chef Heny Sison, a cake decorating genius and owner of the Heny Sison Culinary School; Chef Rafael Jardeleza II, Tabu-an Ilonggo Heritage Cooking Competition organizer and caterer who flew in to Manila from his homebase Iloilo; Dr. Efren Vazquez, owner of the critically acclaimed Café Juanita and Haru Sushi Bar & Restaurant; Chef Ernest Reynoso Gala, top honcho of GalaStars Culinary; and Chef Michelle Adrillana, owner and chef of Flavors on Fire Catering Services.
Professional DJ and host Vince Golangco hosted the show this year, and his wit and candor kept the audience glued to their seats as he put together an exciting show while the competition was going on.
Conducting cooking demos were Chef Michelle Adrillana (left) for Flavors on Fire, Chef Carla Leopoldo Valencia (center) for Kitchen Aid, and Alvin Armando Velasco (right) for New Zealand Creamery
Event host Vince Golangco facilitating the White King Singalong Pulang Ngiti Music Video Game
Another game by New Zealand Creamery
Mother’s Best Q&A Game
Hiren Mirchandani of Masflex KitchenPro presenting the new Gene Gonzalez knife collection before conducting a game
The Masflex KitchenPro Knife Anatomy Contest
Short talk on skin care by Dermclinic-Megamall
There were cooking demonstrations – one by Flavors on Fire and conducted by Chef Michelle Adrillana, who made Lemon Rosemary Chicken, Onion Orange Marmalade and Truffled Pea Risoni; another courtesy of Kitchen Aid, which featured Chef Carla Leopoldo Valencia and showed her making delicious Cranberry Cookies, and a third one by New Zealand Creamery, which had Alvin Armando Velasco whipping up OK! Easy Spring Rolls, Cookie Butter Polvoron and Roasted Chicken Casserole.
Sandwiched between cooking demos were games, such as White King’s Singalong Pulang Ngiti Music Video Game, which made contestants sing the Pulang Ngiti commercial jingle and awarded their efforts with gift packs. Mother’s Best and New Zealand Creamery also had their own games, while Masflex put together a really interesting and educational Knife Anatomy Knowledge Contest in line with the recent launch of the Masflex KitchenPro’s Gene Gonzalez signature line of knives.
Grand prize winning team Center for Culinary Arts-Oceana Branch with members of the Board of Judges
CCA-Oceana Branch’s Chicken Roulade in Tomato Brown Sauce with Annatto Rice and Mango Salsa
CCA-Oceana Branch’s Coconut Custard Cake with Ube Cream Cheese “Delight”
At the end of the show, when it was time to finally announce the winners after careful tabulation of the judges’ scores on each of the competing teams’ recipe entries, it was the Center for Culinary Arts-Oceana Branch which screamed the loudest as the school took the grand championship of FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013. Members of the team – Jo Christian Cruz, Marlon Villanueva and Edgar Alabado, with April Martinez-Aluning as coach – whooped it up as they went on stage to receive their trophy, individual medals, cash prize as well as gift certificates and prizes in kind.
De La Salle-College of St. Benilde takes second place
DLS-CSB’s Pork and Prawn Stuffed Squid Ink Ravioli Served with Hickory Smoked Chinese Ham Consommé and Tarragon Butter Poached Prawn
DLS-CSB’s Chocolate Tablea Mousse with Chestnut “Brookie”
Placing second was De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (Noel Ryan Reyes, Jermie Bernas and Abbygale Ang as members and Chef Enrique Moreno as coach).
University of Sto. Tomas is in third place
UST’s award-winning Banana Delight
In third place was University of Sto. Tomas (Christopher Asiddao, Rian Wilfred Cajiles and Jasmin Kimberly Roxas as members, and Chef Nathaniel Siao as coach). They, too, got their own prize packages that we at FLAVORS painstakingly put together to make sure our winners end up really happy.
DLS-CSB is the Masflex KitchenPro Awardee, here accepting their prizes from Chef Gene Gonzalez and Masflex’s Hiren Mirchandani
Far Eastern University receives RFM’s Most Sulit I-share Recipe Award/Best Pasta Dish Award from RFM’s Cora Aenlle
Taking home Special Awards were De La Salle-College of St. Benilde as the Masflex KitchenPro Awardee and Far Eastern University as RFM’s Most Sulit I-share Awardee or the Best Pasta Dish Awardee for the team’s White King Baked Spaghetti with Seafood Tomato Coconut Meat Sauce.
The Professional Academy for Culinary Education (PACE) accepting Certificates of Participation
MOST Institute also receives Certificates of Participation
Two other schools, the Professional Academy for Culinary Education (PACE) and MOST Institute, also competed in this year’s culinary challenge.
Running around all afternoon attending to a thousand and one things, it was only at the end of the show that I got to really sit back and relax and really savor the LED setup that we had for this year’s competition. It had been 10 years since we began this ambitious little project in 2004 and we have kept on, despite setbacks and glitches that, at the end of the day, were negated by the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment after another successful staging. I personally invested a lot of time and effort in the project, particularly in its birthing year, so I always felt a sense of self-fulfillment and pride after each staging.
This year was no exception. But, overall, last Wednesday’s staging of FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013, permit me to say, was particularly smooth and beautiful. There were technical challenges, of course, but the event turned out to be more than what I had expected. God sent me some angels in human form to make sure everything falls beautifully into place – and everything did fall into place. Thank you, Lord!
(FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013 was made possible by FLAVORS Magazine in partnership with SM Megamall and SM Supermarket, with co-presentors White King Fiesta, White King, Mother’s Best, Masflex KitchenPro, Kitchen Aid and Elba Cookers from Italy; in cooperation with Good Life, Jolly, Bimoli, Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park, The French Baker, New Zealand Creamery, Flavors on Fire, RizGolf Sports Marketing and ADB Avenue Tower. Other sponsors included Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Traders Hotel Manila, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, Marriott Hotel Manila, Super Bowl of China, Melawares, Urban Kitchen, Soda Stream, TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Fish & Co., Krazy Garlik, Village Tavern, Pig Out!, Flapjacks, Tonkatsu by Terazawa, Watami, Modern Shanghai, Bulgogi Brothers, Outback Steakhouse, Diamond Hotel Philippines,Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Happy Living Fine Wine, AzuThai, John Robert Powers, Dermclinic, Haier and Markes, with media partner Radio high 105.9FM.)
My moment with the judges
The red-clad staff behind FLAVORS Culinary Challenge 2013
I LIKE Chicken Inasal. Unfortunately, the restaurant chain that my husband Raff and I used to go to whenever we craved for Chicken Inasal has become quite disappointing of late. The quality of its food, including its chicken, has deteriorated, Raff’s favorite Bangus Sinigang to go with his Chicken Inasal is no longer available, and the rice, which it offers in “unlimited” manner, has turned really inferior in quality.
It’s a good thing that last week, we ‘discovered’ a new place to go for good Bacolod-style Chicken Inasal. It’s called Chicken Deli, and one of its 11 stores in Metro Manila can be found at the Third Floor, Annex Bldg., of SM City North EDSA.
Chicken Deli on the Third Floor of SM City North EDSA’s Annex
Chicken Deli, which just recently relaunched its brand, has actually been in Metro Manila since 2011, but in Bacolod, where it started and runs five stores, it has been around for the past 30 years. It was founded by ‘Mamang’ Lourdes Ciocon, who opened her first store in Bacolod in 1983. Orphaned at a young age, widowed at 29 and with three children (Delia, Rosalier and Teopisto) to raise on her own, Mamang Lourdes turned to her cooking skills and concocted a secret marinade for her Chicken Inasal then opened Chicken Deli. She named it after her only daughter, Delia, but the Deli in Chicken Deli also means ‘delicious.’
Pechopak (breast and wing) with unlimited rice
Paa (leg and thigh) with unlimited rice
Chicken Deli’s Chicken Inasal, which comes in Pechopak (breast and wing) at Php105 and Paa (leg and thigh) at Php99, served with soup and unlimited rice, stays true to the authentic Bacolod-style Chicken Inasal, which is a bit more vinegar-y and salty than the Chicken Inasal that we’ve come to know. Char-grilled, the chicken is juicy and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. It’s enjoyed with a dip made with a combination of soy sauce and sinamak (Bacolod’s local vinegar) with calamansi and siling labuyo (bird’s eye chili), and eaten with hot, steamed rice that has been mixed with achuete-colored chicken oil.
Aside from the Original formulation, the Chicken Inasal now also offers two other variants, which are Sweet and Hot & Spicy.
Although Chicken Deli specializes in Chicken Inasal, the restaurant boasts of a wide selection of Chicken Delicious Meals, including Pork BBQ (Php99), Liempo (Php99), Bangusito (Php99), Pork Sisig (Php99), Squid Sisig (Php99), Chicken Sisig (Php99), Lechon Kawali (Php119), Pork Binagoongan (Php119) and Angus Beef Tapa with Egg (Php119), all served with Kanin All You Can (unlimited rice) and free soup.
Also on the menu are other Pinoy favorites, such as Binagoongang Kangkong, Kangkong with Garlic, Talong KBS, Bacolod Express , Kare-Kare, Sinigang na Bangus and Sizzling Bangus, among others. Bacolod Express is particularly interesting because it’s like Bicol Express but uses sigarilyas (wingbeans). It’s really good with rice.
Liempo with unlimited rice
Sizzling Bangus
Bacolod Express
Soon, a new dish, Sizzling Bulalo, will be launched and is expected to become one of the restaurant’s best-sellers as well.
For in-between meals, Chicken Deli has a separate menu for affordable merienda fares, which includes Chicken Burger (Php39), Spaghetti (php45), Ginataang Halo-Halo (Php49), Batchoy with Grilled Pandesal with Sabaw All You Can or refillable soup (Php59), Goto (Php49) and Pancit Canton (Php49).
Aside from these menu items, Chicken Deli also offers Fiesta Salo-Salo Party Packages for groups of diners as well as for special occasions. A Salo-Salo deal for 4 priced at Php499, for instance, already includes one Pechopak, Talong KBS, Squid Sisig, Lechon Kawali, Kangkong with Garlic, four sticks of Pork BBQ, four soups, a bottle of Pepsi, and unlimited rice.
Third-generation Ciocons now managing Chicken Deli, from left: Marides Ciocon-Mapa, commissary head; JB Mapa, marketing and franchising head; Maridel Ciocon-Dilag, operations head; and Malou Ciocon, finance head. Not in photo: Mondi Dilag, legal and HR in-charge.
Relaunched in conjunction with its 30th anniversary celebration, Chicken Deli is now owned and managed by the third generation Ciocons. With only five stores in Bacolod and 11 stores in Metro Manila (six company-owned and five franchise stores), Chicken Deli is expanding at a good pace so, hopefully, it will be able to maintain the quality and consistency of its food and service.
I’m happy with my new Chicken Inasal ‘discovery.’
(Chicken Deli’s Bacolod stores can be found at Gaisano City Bacolod, SM City Bacolod, Lopue’s East Bacolod, 8th Lacson St. Bacolod, and Ayala District Mall Talisay City. Its other branches are located at SM City North Annex, SM City North Foodcourt, Market Market’s Fiesta Market, Alabang Town Center, San Beda Alabang, Tutuban Center Mall, SM Sta. Rosa, Petron NLEX Bulacan, Petron Naga Road Las Pinas City, Mille Luce Village Center in Antipolo, MacArthur Highway, Valenzuela City.)
MarQuee Mall in Angeles, Pampanga, plays host to the biggest Northern food festival that’s taking place in the country this weekend.
ALL roads lead to MarQuee Mall in Angeles City, Pampanga, this weekend (October 18, 2013), as the the biggest Northern food festival, dubbed Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival, gets underway tomorrow (Friday, October 18, 2013) and lasts until Sunday (October 20, 2013).
Aileen Pescador, deputy GM, MarQuee Mall; Sandy Espinosa, marketing manager, Ayala Malls; Mitch Suarez, marketing associate manager; Grace Ayento of the Manila North Tollway Corp.; Director Ronnie Tiotuico, regional director, Region 3, Department of Tourism; Atching Lillian Borromeo; Rowena Tomeldan, VP/COO and head of operations and support services, Commercial Business Group, Ayala Land; Javi Hernandez, AVP, Ayala Land; Mark Sablan, GM, MarQuee Mall; and Maricris Bernardino, head of marketing, Ayala Malls
A glorious Filipino food celebration that’s bigger in magnitude and wider in scope than most food festivals, Big Bite! is the largest Northern food festival ever. It brings together over 100 food stalls offering regional specialties and food products – from fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables, to cooked food and baked treats – from the Northern provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Ilocos, Baguio, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Cagayan and La Union.
Here, food lovers would get to enjoy Sweet Heavens’ Leche Flan from Nueva Ecija; Bella’s Puto Calasiao from Calasiao, Pangasinan; Christy’s Special Chicharon from Bulacan; and Kabigting’s Halo-Halo (with its three main ingredients – cream style corn, sweetened beans and caramel – and made with carabao’s milk and egg yolks); Kuliat Empanada; Toll House’s Clubhouse Sandwich and Baked Mac; Susie’s Cuisine’s Tibok-Tibok; Nathaniel’s Buko-Pandan Salad; Pampanga’s Best Tocino and Ham; and Apag Marangle’s Sisig Wrap from Pampanga. And since the food festival is being held in Pampanga, which is considered as the culinary capital of the Philippines, food lovers also get to taste exotic native dishes such as Chili Garlic Betute and Stuffed Betute (frog) and Camaru (crisp-fried crickets).
Sweet Heavens’ Leche Flan from Nueva Ecija
Bella’s Puto Calasiao from Calasiao, Pangasinan
Christy’s Special Chicharon from Bulacan
Kuliat Empanada
Toll House’s Clubhouse Sandwich and Baked Mac
Susie’s Cuisine’s Tibok-Tibok from Angeles City, Pampanga
Nathaniel’s Buko-Pandan Salad from San Fernando, Pampanga
Pampanga’s Best Tocino
Pampanga’s Best Ham
Apag Marangle’s Sisig Wrap
Chili Garlic Betute (Frog’s Legs)
Pampanga’s famous Stuffed Betute (Stuffed Frogs)
Exotic Camaru (crisp fried mole crickets) from Pampanga
Whatever Northern food craving you have, be it a savory or sweet treat, you get to give in and satisfy it at Big Bite!, which is being aptly held at MarQuee Mall in Pampanga, where the local culinary scene is vibrant and pulsating. A special treat even awaits visitors with a Php500 receipt from MarQuee Mall over the next three days, as they are treated to some delectable free bites in a wide selection of stalls across the festival every day from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Held in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, Manila North Tollways Corporation, Asian Food Channel, Cignal Digital TV and Mercato Centrale Group, Big Bite! also features a host of entertaining and educational cooking demonstrations conducted by some of the country’s top chefs. These include Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition’s chef judge Rolando Laudico, Pampanga’s very own Chef Sau Del Rosario, former beauty queen and star of Asian Food Channel’s Sabrina’s Kitchen Sabrina Artadi, and Mexico, Pampanga’s food historian and legend Atching Lillian Borromeo of the famous Kusina ni Atching Lillian.
Celebrity chefs conducting cooking demos during the foodfest, from left: Chef Roland Laudico, Sabrina Artadi and Chef Sau Del Rosario
Food historian Atching Lillian Borromeo and her Chicken Adobo Pastel
Atching Lillian, for one, will surely dazzle her audience by making her famous Pandecillo de San Nicolas, which is more popularly known as San Nicolas Cookies. This, she did when she conducted a short cooking demonstration during the media launch of Big Bite! held at MarQuee Mall in Angeles, Pampanga, Wednesday last week (October 9, 2013). She also prepared Chicken Adobo Pastel the old-fashioned way.
Another big thing to look forward to at Big Bite! is the battle royale among culinary schools in the first Big Bite! Culinary Cook Off. Competing for the culinary championship are Philippine Women’s University, System’s Plus College, Angeles University Foundation, NorthPoint Culinary Academy and Bulacan State University, who will go head to head in a heated cooking competition every day from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Aside from this big culinary spectacle, there will be food eating contests scattered here and there. So how would you like to try to finish a bilao of kakanin or, say, glasses of halo-halo without getting brain freeze? You can certainly try, and, who knows, you might even win a prize for successfully doing so.
What’s more: If you’ve got a family heirloom recipe that you can share, you can join Big Bite!’s Family Heirloom Recipe Contest, which has a cool Php20,000 at stake for the best recipe. This contest is open to legal residents of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (C.A.R.), Region 1, 2 and 3; and entries will be accepted tomorrow (October 18, 2013), from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. at the MarQuee Park.
It certainly is the biggest culinary spectacle showcasing the best of Northern Philippines!
Seared Tuna with Mixed Green Salad, Sesame-Onion Dressing, Apple and Pear Relish prepared with the use of Wusthof knives
WUSTHOF, the world-renowned brand of knives from Germany, launched four new knives at the Global Academy, Makati, Tuesday last week (October 8, 2013) via a special lunch cum cooking demo organized by Gourdo’s, which is the distributor of Wusthof knives in the Philippines.
Wusthof’s area sales manager Alexander Hunn
For the event, Alexander Hunn, Wusthof area sales manager, flew in from Germany to grace the launch, and in his short speech, he explained Wusthof’s long history of knife-making, which dates back to 1814. The official supplier of the German and Japanese national teams of chefs, Wusthof knives are manufactured by a skilled team of 300 dedicated workers in two state-of-the-art facilities in Solingen, Germany, and are forged from a single blank of high carbon stainless steel (chromiummolybdenum-vanadium). This special alloy ensures that each Wusthof knife is razor sharp and has high stain resistance, long-lasting cutting edge and easily restorable edge. Each knife goes through 40 major manufacturing steps – from forging to tempering, grinding and polishing. Aside from a whole range of forged knives, the brand also offers other related products, such as cutting boards, knife blocks, kitchen tools and scissors. A family business, it is now managed by the Wusthof family’s seventh generation led by Harald Wusthof.
Boasting of a new Wusthof technology that ensures superior sharpness in its knives, among others, Wusthof continues to develop knives to add to its Classic Line to make it the most comprehensive assortment of precision-forged knives with aesthetically appealing handles sculpted in a classic design made of high quality synthetic material and triple-riveted to fit comfortably in the hand and ensure a safe hold during use. The four newest additions to this Classic Line are the Chinese Chef’s Knife, Chai Dao Chinese Cook’s Knife, Yanagiba Knife, and Classic Superglider Cook’s Knife.
Chinese Chef’s Knife
The Chinese Chef’s Knife (priced at Php8,500) has a wide edge that gives the appearance of a cleaver, yet its handling and usage are quite different. Not the usual cleaver used for cutting through bones or cartilage, the knife is suitable for slicing, dicing and chopping vegetables, herbs, meat, poultry and other food finely, peeling fruit and crushing garlic cloves or peppercorns. The wide blade is ideal for cutting food and then scooping it up and transferring it straight to the wok or pan.
Chai Dao Chinese Cook’s Knife
The Chai Dao Chinese Cook’s Knife (Php5,470) is a new kind of knife that combines Chinese tradition and European quality. It has a slight curve that is best suited for cutting, slicing, dicing or chopping vegetables and herbs as well as crushing peppercorns and garlic cloves.
Yanagiba Knife
The Yanagiba Knife (Php6,250), which is made according to ancient traditions, is designed for slicing sushi and sashimi into wafer-thin portions. A standard feature in the kitchen of professional Japanese chefs, it is primarily used with a pulling motion in one direction only so that the blade produces a completely clean cut. It comes with a bamboo sheath in which the blade can be safely stored, and this sheath has magnets fitted inside to keep the blade in place so it doesn’t accidentally slip out.
Wusthof Classic Superglider Cook’s Knife
The Classic Superglider Cook’s Knife (Php7,100) is inspired by the Japanese Santoku Knife and has a gently curved, strong and sharp blade with a new deflecting ridge and holes positioned along the blade. The holes prevent food from sticking to the blade while the deflecting ridge just above the holes actively push food away from the surface of the blade.
Global Academy’s culinary program director Chef Michael Yap cuting his Seared Tuna with the new Wusthof Yanagiba Knife
To demonstrate just how each of these four new Wusthof knives work, Global Academy’s culinary programs director Chef Michael Yap conducted a cooking demonstration during the launch. He started with a short lecture and demo on basic knife skills to educate everyone on the proper way to hold and handle a knife, sharpen it and store it. He oriented his audience on the different cuts that can be made with fruits and vegetables as well as fish and meat, even how to fabricate or cut a whole chicken.
Then he went to his cooking demo proper, where he made Seared Tuna with Mixed Green Salad, Sesame-Onion Dressing, Apple and Pear Relish. Wusthof’s four new knives came in handy during his cooking demo. Chef Michael used Wusthof’s Chinese Chef’s Knife to fabricate his whole chicken, the Classic Superglider Cook’s Knife helped him dice apples for his Apple and Pear Relish evenly, he opted for the Chai Dao Chinese Cook’s Knife in slicing mushrooms for his Mixed Green Salad, and then he chose none other than the Yanagiba Knife to slice the sesame-crusted seared tuna with so he successfully cut them thinly and made clean cuts with each.
Wusthof products are exclusively available at Gourdo’s TriNoma, Gateway Mall, Alabang Town Center, The Fort, Glorietta 4, The Promenade-Greenhills, Greenbelt 5, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Magnolia and Living Well at the The Podium, SM Mall of Asia and SM Aura.
