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Passport & Plate - Gnocchi à la philippin-new-yorkais

USA | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
For menudo:
2 lbs/1kg boneless pork loin, cut into 1-in/2.5cm cubes
½ cup pig (or cow) liver, cut into 1-in/2.5cm cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
½ cup cooked/canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 small red/green/yellow bell peppers (more colorful the better), cored, seeded and cut into 1-in/2.5cm cubes
½ cup green peas
½ cup pineapple
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
¼ cup raisins
½ cup red tomatoes, chopped
½ cup tomato sauce (regular or spicy)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon cooking oil (margarine or butter also work)
1 teaspoon annatto powder (for color and spice)
2-3 pieces dried bay leaves

For marinade:
½ cup regular or low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup plain, carbonated, sugary drink (i.e. Sprite, 7UP)
½ piece calamansi (or lemon), squeeze for juice, grate for zest

For gnocchi:
2-3 large russet potatoes (starchier the better; makes for lighter, fluffier gnocchi)
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting board and dough
2-3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
Fine grain sea salt or kosher

*Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

*Please bear with my use of American English terminology/spellings, and note my sincere attempt at metric conversion!

 

How to prepare this recipe
1. FOR THE BRAVE: make gnocchi dough – maybe the trickiest portion of this labor of love, but also the most gratifying! Preheat oven to 425F/218C. Get ready to get messy
2. Spread sea/kosher salt on tray, arrange potatoes, bake until a bit overcooked, 45min
3. Let sit until cool (burnt fingers, not fun), cut in half, scoop out flesh
4. User ricer/grate potatoes (NO MASHING)
5. Make a dough mound over lightly floured surface, mix in egg, salt, pepper w/ hands, gradually sprinkling flour (knead lightly w/ feathery fingers, channel inner Italian grandma here)
6. Press, fold until all holds together (test consistency, add flour, water, or egg yolk for right moisture balance)
7. Cut into quarters, then roll each until ½ inch/2.5cm in diameter and snake-like, then cut ½ inch long “pillows”, flouring en route. Use fork tines to shape ridges into pillows for catching sauce, or just get artsy!
8. Practice!
9. Lightly flour. Let sit for ½ hr. Note, this kind of party could use some advanced prep. Feel free to refrigerate dough, and add flour and egg when ready to cook
10. Marinate pork in soy sauce, sprite, calamansi (juice and zest), seasoning 1hr
11. Dissolve annatto in ¼ cup water
12. Salt large pot of boiling water, like you would for any pasta. Drop in dough pillows, watch ‘em rise! About 90 seconds after surfacing, they’re cooked, ready to be skimmed out. Shake off excess water and set aside, until ready to make it rain menudo
13. In a pan, heat oil over medium-heat, sauté garlic, onion until browned/aromatic, 2min
14. Add tomatoes; stir/sauté until soft, 3min
15. Add marinated pork, fish sauce, annatto water, tomato sauce, bay leaves; let boil then simmer until tender, add water as necessary, 30min-1hr
16. Add garbanzo beans, raisins, pineapples, carrots; simmer until tender, 4-5min
17. Add liver, bell peppers; gently stir until cooked, sauce thickened, 3-7min
18. Season w/ salt, pepper, paprika to taste
19. Plate gnocchi, top w/ menudo

Et voilà! Serves 5-6 lovers

 

The story behind this recipe
Like Italian immigrants that came before, Filipino-New Yorkers like my family have reinvented traditional dishes from the homeland using readily available ingredients to match new tastes and comforts. This includes the perennial Pinoy dish – menudo, a stew-like concoction that is itself a rehashing of a Latin favorite. It comes in various forms, as with many home-cooked, diaspora dishes (one should always feel free to play around with ingredients they love). The version described here is the one I prefer most, and the one I grew up eating – ang lutong bahay ni nanay (my mother’s cooking).

Among its typical components is the potato. But in lieu of diced fingerlings, I upped the ante by using gnocchi, which preparing myself always leads to reminiscing over adventures abroad in the tiny, post-Soviet wonderland of Estonia. There I shared a kitchen with spirited, gastronomically-inclined Italians, whose regular potlucks were among the highlights of my Baltic experiences. For locals and foreigners alike, potato was ubiquitous. It was inevitable that as I bonded with my new brethren, I would delve into my own spud-driven, culinary journey. In-home Italian chefs were fortunately present to shepherd me through initial pasta-making struggles.

Upon returning home, a gnocchi-inspired attempt of mother’s menudo felt the most appropriate plate to prepare for my folks. Its sweet smells usually meant that a special occasion or family feast was brewing. How else but through a familiar, comforting meal to show gratitude for my upbringing along with a newfound sense of independence?

Both menudo and gnocchi require substantial time, energy, and commitment. Together they create a true family affair – loud, messy, crowded, but scoops of fun, with healthy heaps of loving to go around.

With 'gnocchi à la philippin-new-yorkais', I bring together the love of my heritage and home with the freedom to explore and grow in the world, and both love and freedom cannot exist without the other.