I never really celebrate Christmas. For one, my father and his family come from a religious sect that does not observe this particular tradition. And two, I have been away from home as an expatriate for the past two decades and was never home at all for this particular holiday.

However, I can remember, because of my mother, being a Roman Catholic through and through, we would still have some kind of a “minimal” Pinoy feast on the table for Noche Buena like pancit guisado, puto, lechon manok, hamon, queso de bola, leche flan and suman, which would last until the following day for unexpected visitors. On occasion, we would all troop to my mother’s town in the neighbouring province of Nueva Vizcaya [an hour’s drive from Isabela] to celebrate with our Ilocano lolos and lolas and other relatives of my mother. And as kids we would always go home with full tummies and aguinaldo-filled pockets! That was it! The real celebrations happen on New Year’s eve and day — the ones my father would always celebrate and prepare for.

Looking back, my Christmases away from home have all been spent outside my own place, or while travelling overseas for work, and in the company of colleagues and friends I have met and made throughout the years. The past five Christmases or so with my inaanak Joji [guest-blogging once again in this event] and her hubby Tune, their visiting parents, some close friends and colleagues, in their home.

Apart from this, Christmas comes and goes just like an ordinary day. And now being in the hospitality industry, I would also be at work on this very particular day more often than not.

CHRISTMAS EVE

At 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve, I had nothing except for some mince pies, a Christmas pudding, Panettone from an Italian visitor, queso de bola and hamon [flown-in to Brunei before Christmas by Vernon Prieto of El Camino Travel, Manila], and a gingerbread house from a friend.

Faced with the challenge :-) of hosting the Christmas Edition of Lasang Pinoy Food Blogging Event, I decided to celebrate quite differently and do something in my own home here in Brunei — for the first time in twenty years!

At 6:30 pm, an hour after contemplating and staring at the stuff on my table, I rang my fave Pinoy resto, Renyi’s, and ordered some food! Pinoy food of course! And food we normally would have back home in Isabela for Noche Buena. I also started to dig up some Christmas decorations kept in storage and slowly decorated the small living and dining room of my one-bedroom flat. By the time the food arrived, my place and the table looked quite festive enough!

Lafang’s Noche Buena Table: Baccarat-meets-Ikea with an East-meets-West fare!

Mince Pies and Panettone [partially hidden behind Baccarat vase and glasses], Sotanghon Guisado, Christmas Pudding, Pinoy Fried Chicken, Suman, Ensaimadas, Relyenong Pusit, Beef Caldereta, Steamed Rice, Lechon Kawali, Adelina’s Hamon and Marca Pina Queso de Bola - both courtesy of El Camino Travel’s Vernon Prieto . . . muchas gracias, Vernon and Merry Christmas! :-)

I didn’t have fresh Poinsettias to put on my table so out came the long cinnamon sticks from an Indian vase in my bedroom, into the Baccarat vase and mixed with a bunch of red, matt and glossy Christmas balls from Rustan’s I have been keeping and recycling for the past ten years! Voila! An instant table centrepiece! Well, it ain’t exactly a centrepiece as it was positioned on one end of the table!

With friends already settled in some celebrations of their own somewhere, the second challenge that night was: where to find Noche Buena guests!

A few calls and text messages resulted with some colleagues [with nowhere else to go], working the Christmas Eve dinners in the hotel, dropping by after midnight to partake in the small Noche Buena feast on my table. Otherwise, my table and I would have looked “kawawa” after all the last-minute preparations!

CHRISTMAS DAY LUNCH

I woke up to my mobile phone’s non-stop beeping with missed calls and text greetings coming through. This year I decided not to work . . .

Later that morning, Joji and hubby Tune, Lakay Junfon and I, decided to meet for lunch at Sanur, a newly-opened Indonesian restaurant at The Mall in town. The arrival experience at the restaurant’s entrance was quite interesting. It is gone however, as soon as you step inside.

Now, so much for criticizing the decor! Here are some Indonesian specialties we tried from their very limited and uninteresting menu . . .

A favourite Malay dish, Tauhu Telor. Egg and beancurd mixed and fried into a “bird’s nest” that is crunchy then melts in your mouth! Served with spicy peanut sauce [hidden beneath the cucumber garnish].

Soto Ayam Madura. Chicken Ginger Soup with glass noodles, quail’s eggs, potato cubes, and garnished with fried garlic. Beef Rendang. Spicy beef stew cooked in coconut milk and spices.

An instant favourite, Crispy Baby Squid. Deep fried crispy baby squids in sweet soya sauce. They were so good I had to order some more as take-away for my merienda that afternoon!

CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER

“Kay sigla ng gabi, ang lahat ay kay saya!
Nagluto ang Ate ng manok na tinola,
Sa bahay ng Kuya ay mayroong litsonan pa!
Ang bawat tahanan may handang ibat-iba!”

Waking up from a restful siesta that afternoon, I was humming this tradional Pinoy Christmas song on my way to the kitchen to make some coffee. And that gave me an idea what to cook for my dinner! It wasn’t Noche Buena anymore, but I guess it was just a perfect dish to end the day, apart from being simple and easy to prepare.

CHICKEN TINOLA

Ingredients

1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces. [Here, I used 5 pieces of chicken thighs chopped into serving pieces.]
3 thumb-sized ginger, sliced thinly
2 big white onions, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 siling labuyo
1 green papaya, sliced diagonally and to match chicken
1 bunch Hong Kong Pak Choy
1 cup rice wash [from the last rinse of rice washing]
2 litres water
Patis [fish sauce] to taste

Method

In a large pot, saute garlic, onions in corn oil. Add chilies and ginger and saute until their aroma comes out. Add chicken and saute further. Add rice wash and simmer for a few minutes. Add the remaining water and continue to simmer on low heat until chicken is tender.

Add papaya and cook until al-dente [not mushy] and place Pak Choy on top of the soup. Adust taste with patis. Simmer for another minute and immediately remove from heat. The remaining heat will cook the Pak Choy just right and not soggy.

SUMAN FOR CHRISTMAS

Now, where did the suman on my Noche Buena table come from? Folks, I cooked it myself! It is one of the few I originally planned to cook for this edition of Lasang Pinoy, and the only one I ended up doing a few days before Christmas!

Suman [suman - s’uman. n. native rice cake wrapped in banana or palm leaves] has been at the center of Pinoy Christmas cooking and Pinoys have accepted into their Christmas tradition the celebrative powers of this native kakanin. Though Filipinos accept influences from other cultures, the fundamentals of suman remain the same. Pinoy Christmas, fiestas and other celebrations all over the Philippine archipelago have always been accompanied by suman.

Ingredients

3 cups malagkit rice [sticky or glutinous rice]
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups thick coconut milk
Banana leaves
Some string to tie the sumans together

Method

Soak malagkit in water for an hour [or until grains are swollen]. Drain. Add salt and coconut milk. Mix well.

Prepare the banana leaf wrappers.

For this part, I will refer you to Celia Kusinera’s photographic suman wrapping instructions in her Suman Sa Lihiya entry to Lasang Pinoy 4. This is one of the most detailed and neatest suman-wrapping instructions I have ever seen!

After wrapping the rice mixture, arrange the suman in a big pot and cover with water. Cover the pot and boil on low heat for 1 to 1-1/2 or until cooked.

Serve with sugar [my fave!], freshly grated coconut, or ripe mangoes.

By Mike Mina

Lasang Pinoy 5