Thursday, May 26, 2011

Kulinarya Cooking Club May Theme--Flores de Mayo

I've always associated May with flowers not only because of Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) but also because it is my birthday month and I was named after a flower--there's a little trivia for you :)


This month's hosts decided that for this month's challenge it was going to be flower or fiesta themed. I really wanted to make a flower salad but I didn't have any idea where I could get edible flowers and thanks to the warning of Ray about allergens, I chose to just go with the fiesta theme. But I had the opportunity to go to Bohol Bee Farm for my birthday and I made sure I ate their Spicy Flower Salad which not only looks gorgeous but tastes delicious too!


According to the tourguide, one way of knowing if a flower is edible is that if bees flock to it for it's nectar,then it must be safe for human consumption, the salad had bougainvillea, hibiscus and other gorgeously colored ones that I couldn't remember. See what I mean?


So back to my post...I still wanted to stick to the flower theme even if I wasn't going to make the flower salad so I remembered a childhood favorite of mine, Paksiw na Pata which had dried banana blossoms or bulaklak ng saging--perfect! Dried banana blossoms are plentiful in the supermarket so it was no problem sourcing them.



PAKSIW NA PATA
Pata Chops 500 grams
Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 5 pieces
Dried Bay leaves 2 pieces
Black Peppercorn 1 teaspoon
Water, enough to cover meat
Soy Sauce 1/4 cup
* I used Japanese Shoyu
Vinegar 2 tablespoons
*I used 4 spices vinegar
Brown Sugar 2 tablespoons
Oyster Sauce 1 tablespoon
Banana Blossoms, handful (soften in water for 5 minutes)
Patis (Fish Sauce) to taste


Place Pata Chops, crushed garlic, bayleaves, peppercorns and water in a deep pot. Boil and simmer until pork is tender, around 1 hour (the pata chops were thinly sliced so it took less than an hour). Add the soy sauce, simmer for 10 minutes, add the vinegar, cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the patis and oyster sauce, adjust taste and add the banana blossoms. Cook for 5-10 minutes more. Serve hot.
*I took out the meat after this but thickened the sauce by cooking it down and then pouring it over the meat on the plate.


Thank you to our hosts Connie and Sefie for this month's theme. I really enjoyed cooking and eating it :)

Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine.


Each month we will showcase a new dish with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.


If you are interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our food blogs and leave a comment. We would love to hear from you!


For more of Flores de Mayo themed food. click here




6 comments:

Wok with Ray said...

Your paksiw na pata looks soooo succulent Dahlia. And the blossoms are my favorite ingredients because for some reason I love the texture. Thank you for remembering my warning about the allergens. 

Unknown said...

That looks wonderful. Good job!

Joyti said...

There is a farmer at the farmer's market I go that sells salad mixes that include flowers. Its almost too pretty to eat.
Your dish looks delicious!

adorasbox said...

Great and clever choice for the theme, Dahlia. Your pata dish looks so delicious. I can imagine that its so wibbly wobbly:) The best!

Cooking Gallery said...

Love the lovely vibrant colour...! You've done a great job!

Anonymous said...

Yum! I've never had this before, but will have to try. Hopefully I can find banana blossoms in New York City!