Fiesta Filipino Cooking Class Recap

It was a huge success.  The Fiesta Filipino cooking class that I conducted at the Kitchen Conservatory in Clayton was both well attended and, more importantly, well received. This was a dream come true for me, as I am very passionate about sharing Filipino food recipes to a wider audience.

It was a dellight to have 12 people attend my class.  Yep it was a fun hands-on cooking class; they discovered the culinary process of making latik (coconut sprinkles formed from the reduction of coconut milk; the class gave the a first hand experience of using banana leaves for steaming fish and baking sweet rice cake.  And they had fun learning how Filipinos celebrate fiestas. Oh and special thanks goes to Anita, who assisted me throughout the night.

True to its title Fiesta Filipino, we prepared dishes normally served during Fiestas.  We started off with a sweet and savory braised pork leg called Patatim. And what's not to love with braising pork, especially during these cold winter months? 

Then we went on with Fresh Lumpia: a vegetable dish sautéed with meat, shrimp, garlic and onions all rolled in a delicate crepe.  The lumpia is topped with a sweet soy sauce-based sauce and sprinkled with fresh garlic and crushed peanuts

Then we preceded to steaming our big red snapper. I will share you the recipe for this Fiesta iconic dish we call  Fiesta Holiday Fish below.

We made two desserts.  The first one was Majah Blanca,  This is a popular Filipino dessert made by simmering together coconut cream, milk and sugar. and letting it cool and set.  The creamy coconut cream pudding is punctuated with toasted coconut milk crumbs on top

And the fiesta is not complete without the dessert called biko (Sweet Sticky Rice with Caramelized Coconut Cream).  Women gather together to make this special dessert cooked in banana lined pans. 

You may want to see the photos posted on Kitchen Conservatory's Facebook page.  I'm sure you will agree with me as the photos reveal that they had a wonderful time.  And don't we look like we are one big happy family preparing a spread for a real Fiesta?  Yes indeed we all warmed up to each other and were soon gathered around the kitchen.  It felt like a fiesta. 

Fiesta Holiday Fish

(We prepared a whole red snapper during the class but for the purpose of this post, I recreated the dish using a slice of mahi mahi. But traditionally, a whole fish is used). 

1 large grouper/ pampano or red snapper

2 pcs lemon

5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushesd

3 pcs. ginger, peeled and crushed 

2 cups mayo

4 tbsp cream cheese

3 pcs. shallots

1 pc. red bell pepper

3 pcs. carrots, peeled and blanched

1 cup pickle relish

3 boiled eggs, mashed.

Clean the fish.  Score both sides of the fish. Squeeze the lemons over the fish and sprinkle salt and pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes.

Lay the fish flat on a banana leaf. Add onions, ginger, cilantro and garlic.

Wrap the fish with the banana leaf.

Steam the fish for about 20-30 minutes.  Remove from steamer and pat the fish dry.

In a bowl, mix mayo and milk together.  Add shallots and pickle relish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayo mixture on both sides of the fish.  Arrange the sliced pepper, boiled eggs and carrots on top of the fish. Enjoy!

 If you want to join me next week, I will be teaching at Whole Foods Town and Country.  Check out my cooking class schedule here... And btw, one of the dishes that I will be teaching is Seafood Sinigang.  Sinigang was one of the winning dishes on the most recent episode of Top Chef (Seattle Bites) prepared by fellow Filipino Sheldon from Hawaii.  

Until next time - See you STL!