Food Porn | Christmas/Pasko Ponderings: Baking Marathon or How Food=Identity

Oh the Christmas spirit--I've had this conversation topic come up with a few of my friends. All of us have been asking the same question: Where did the Christmas magic go? Ok, I went to Disneyland during its Christmas setup, but that's a different kind of magic... especially now that my friends and I discovered a very nice bar in the restaurant known as Ariel's Grotto (btw, it's in California Adventure). But what I really mean is the lack of excitement we had as kids. You know the one--awaiting for presents from Santa, staying up late to try and sneak a peek at the Big Guy, waking up early to be the first to open presents, eating so many cookies that you got a stomachache... Christmas was indeed very magical. There was so much innocent anticipation about anything and everything. The smallest things excited you, even being an angel during the school Christmas pageant was exciting despite tripping on your heavenly robes. And now... well, not so much the same level of excitement. This is not to say that Christmas isn't special. For me, Christmas means home. It means being with my family. It means seeing the friends I haven't seen in a long time. And it means I have two weeks to not stress about anything--no school, no work, no drama. Regardless of all of these wonderful things, the innocent glee I had as a kid is gone. But....!

I believe it's more bittersweet than sad. It just means the natural progression and realization that, "Whoa girl, you're living!" It means that now I'm an adult(ish), and that my appreciation of Christmas and the joy that I feel must come from something deeper than the Kirby Superstar I got for my Super Nintendo. And here is where I begin to talk about food....

Ever since I was a kid, I helped my mom bake for hours and hours, making Christmas treats we would package and give out as gifts to relatives and friends. It was something I greatly looked forward to as a kid, and I feel the same anticipation now. While it might not be the "Ooo sugar time!" thoughts I had growing up, the feeling of excitement still remains. And it goes even deeper....

It connects me to the Filipina part of my Filipina American self (for me, there must be both: Filipina and American. One isn't stronger or more important than the other. It's symbiotic, baby.). It is the realization that there is a history behind a recipe--that I am making food the way many Filipinos have done since that food was invented, that I am using the polvoron mold exactly the way my grandma, my Nanay taught me when she used to live with us--before she moved back to the Philippines when I was eleven. While some Filipinos I meet often give me a look of disapproval and disappointment not being fluent in Tagalog or Pangasinan, or for acting too "Americanized," they fail to realize that "Filipino-ness" is more internal than one's voice and appearance. It is the appreciation of one's heritage. It is an embrace of the history that lies within one's cultural identity. I embrace mine through food (and karaoke).

And I will share this embrace with you.

Enjoy.
(Recipes below... )

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Polvoron is candy made from powdered milk, sugar, and butter. With that combination, you really can't go wrong. I don't know the exact history behind it, but it came as a result of the American occupation of the Philippines after WWII when preserved goods such as Spam, Vienna Sausage, and yes--powdered milk were introduced. The recipe I use is taken from my mom's torn and worn out 20-year-old cookbook, Philippine Cookbook by Elisa P. Olandres. My family makes this every Christmas. One of my fondest childhood memories is making this with my Nanay and moving the molds around in circles on a plate to form the candy. My Kuya (older bro) and I used to go crazy doing this trying to race each other. Fun times.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup powdered milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup melted butter (after making this for a few years, it should actually be more like 2/3 cup of butter...)
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract (or lemon juice... or if you want to be even more authentic use calamansi juice)
• Optional: 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts, walnuts, or pinipig (toasted glutinous rice. Similar to Rice Krispies)

Using no oil, put flour in a pan over medium heat until lightly browned. Note: stir, stir and stir some more. Once browned, remove and put in a bowl.

Into the bowl, add powdered milk, sugar, butter, and lemon/calamansi extract/juice. Mix well. Gently fold in nuts or pinipig.

Let the mixture sit for about twenty minutes or so to let everything settle. If you were to mold the candy right away, the candy wrappers get all oily and not very tasty-looking.

Mold in candy or cookie molds. There are also molds made specifically for polvoron which you can buy in most Filipino grocery stores or online.


To use the polvoron mold, you basically just spoon the mixture into a pile onto the plate then you gently press the mold on top of it. Hold the mold and press it down onto the plate, moving it around in circles to take out the excess and to make the form settle.

Press down on the lever...


And voila! Polvoron candy pops out.


Wrap in cellophane, wax, or tissue paper.


Yum.



Puto is steamed rice cake. Although, it's more of a muffin, really. And one should not confuse it with the masculine form of puta. Yes, there are some Spanish words used in tagalog. But really, "I got a puto in my mouth" just wouldn't fly the same way in Manila as it would in say, South America (tee-hee). I can't really give much of a history lesson about puto since it's one of those foods that have just always been around. I'm sure you've seen variations of it in other Asian cuisines. It's a basic recipe that incorporates two very Filipino (and very Asian) cooking concepts: rice and steaming. There are many variations of puto, based on the ingredients you add, but this one is the basic and very simple puto puti, or putong puti. There are some recipes for this that do it the "quick" way using, of all things, Bisquick. I tried these recipes and found them weird. The puto looks like puto, but tastes way to close to pancakes. The point of puto is the taste of rice. And on the other hand, I could go all out and have rice sit in water overnight before grinding it into flour, but I don't grind wheat to make the flour I use to bake cookies, so why should I do the same for puto?

• 2 cups rice flour (you can buy this in any Asian grocery store)
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups of coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of water (I really have no idea what this does since it's such a small amount, but the recipe works, so I don't want to mess with it)
• Optional: grated coconut, anise seeds, or grated cheese for topping
  

Mix all the ingredients until smooth.


Spray molds with Pam. Since my mom's a nurse we use medicine cups since they're free. You can also use small creme brulee cups, muffin tins, etc. Fill molds 2/3 of the way full.



Put on toppings if desired. I use cheese--because it's cheese.


Arrange molds into a steamer and steam for 20-30 minutes. Note: The boiling water shouldn't be too vigorous. Just keep the heat to a nice medium to medium high. If the temperature is too high, the puto will cook too quickly and have a grainy texture, but if the temperature's to low, it will take too long to cook and all you'll have is a puddle of muddy white stuff.


You can use the toothpick test to check for doneness. And when you're done out pops the puto!




I actually like using the small medicine cups because the puto is so tiny and cute.

In addition to these yummies, my mom and I also made pecan tarts and petit fours. I don't even remember when my mom started baking these things. All I know is I've been making them with her ever since I could remember. These recipes are like little pieces of myself, so I hope you enjoyed them :)


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