Recently, I went to Bohol for the very first time. I was able to see some of the sights with fellow SoMom Jen CC Tan from Attached at the Hip because we were attending a yoga retreat together at the Momo Beach House. I can’t possibly put all the events of the entire weekend in one post, and I want to share all of the beautiful parts with you, so I will break it up into a few different posts that I will share over time.
There is something about leaving your bubble to connect to your center again. I can take a yoga class at home with this same teacher….but being in a different place-near the sun and sand just changes everything.
As part of our scheduled activities on Saturday afternoon, we took a cooking lesson with Chef Raphael “Paeng” Ongchiong, executive chef of Momo’s sister resort Amorita. One thing I can say about the entire weekend is that I really enjoyed the food. Chef put together dishes that were healthy for all of the beginner yogis and yoginis. We didn’t need to fast for the retreat, (that was a plus for me) but I felt as though everything was well planned from the light meals we ate after practice, to the heavier meals that we would eat at different times of the day.
Chopped ingredients ready to go, red onion, red bell pepper, ginger, lemongrass, sili labuyo, bagoong, and coconut cream. The cream is the first squeeze from the grated coconut. (also known as the head) The second squeeze is the milk. (also known as the tail)
The flavors were always clean, fresh, and simple. Keep in mind that simple is all you need when your ingredients are fresh. Every meal left me satisfied (on Saturday night I even went back for seconds because the seafood kabobs were that good) but not feeling too heavy or over full.
Chef Paeng explains the importance of a hot pan when you start cooking…I like that he infused basic reminders for cooking well. I’m not a chef, and usually, I’m cooking with Gelli on my hip, so I can appreciate the little reminders he was sharing with us while we were learning these easy Boholano dishes.
Chef Paeng with resort owner Nikki Cauton, myself, and Jen Tan.
I’ll write about both dishes that we learned but keep in mind that I won’t be exact with measurements. Many times, if you are used to cooking already, you don’t need exact measurements…but I’ll try and estimate based on what I learned from that day.
Beautiful sunsets were my most favorite time of day.
I will totally make this dish again here in my home because I think that the kids (and Nino ) will really enjoy them, but, truth is; I like anything that looks relatively easy to make.
Chicken Halang Halang is a traditional Boholano dish that gets spicier as the days progress in the month. So if it’s the first of the month, you would only put one bird’s eye chili (siling labuyo) but if it’s the 15th of the month you would put 15 chilis in this dish. I’m glad that when we attended the retreat, we learned this dish on May 3rd, because I’m not too fond of very spicy cooking…I like it HOT….but NOT that HOT!!!
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Chicken Halang Halang on the left and Fish Sinanglay. I will share the fish recipe later on the blog.
