Jam Melchor takes his food seriously. It’s something that courses through his veins, as a Kapampangan and with a grandmother who loves to cook. “We always see to it that whenever we cook something, hindi puwedeng ‘puwede na.’ Dapat, puwedeng puwede.” The young chef applies the same dedication to whatever he gets his hands on, including his own diet delivery service business called Healthy Eats Manila.
In a series of food festivals aptly named Linamnam, Jam got the chance to showcase not just his affinity for cooking, but also his adulation for Filipino cuisine. He was chosen to promote and prepare Filipino dishes in the highly anticipated event hosted by the Philippine Department of Agriculture, The Embassy of the Philippines, and the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in ASEAN countries.
The tour started in Jakarta, Indonesia, last September where food items like morcon, pocherong manok, lechon paksiw, pork and chicken adobo, banana langka turon and halo-halo were served for a whole week at Shangri-La Hotel’s SATOO Restaurant.
“It wasn’t really hard coming up with the dishes because most of them came from my personal stash of Kapampangan heirloom recipes and also because I have been working as an advocate of Filipino cuisine for quite sometime now,” Jam says. “The more challenging part is the sourcing of ingredients since there are some that need to be shipped straight out of Manila.” Even so, he managed to do his best, and was proud of what he came up with.
Consequently, so were the guests. The response was so positive that Shangri-La decided to make the Filipino buffet a permanent in their food stations. “The best compliment that I got was from the OFWs who collectively said, ‘Ang sarap ng luto mo chef. Parang umuwi na din kami sa Pilipinas.’ ” That surely would have made his grandmother proud.
For the next leg of the festival, Jam will be heading to Shangri-La Sule in Yangon, Myanmar, to cook up a Filipino feast from Nov 23 to Dec 2, 2014. Here’s one of the dishes he will be preparing.
Jam Melchor’s Sukiyaki Angus Bistek
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup calamansi juice
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 kilo Angus beef, sliced into cubes or strips
corn oil, for frying
1 potato, peeled and cut into strips
2 tablespoons butter, more if needed
2 medium onions, sliced into rings
1 cup mushroom pieces and stems
¼ cup liquid seasoning
1/4 cup water
Make:
1. In a bowl, combine calamansi juice, soy sauce, and black pepper.
2. Add the beef and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. In a sauté pan, heat oil. Fry the potatoes until golden. Drain on paper towel. Season. Set aside.
4. Drain beef, reserving the marinade.
5. In another pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Sear the drained beef slices on high heat in batches. Add butter as needed.
6. Once the beef is cooked, add onion rings and mushroom pieces and stems. Pour the marinade, liquid seasoning and water. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Serve.
More recipes:
– Chef Miko Aspiras’ White choco and strawberry fondue cheesecake
– Instakitchen Manila E10: Vongole Blanco from Rafaelle Pizzaria at the Bayleaf Intramuros
– Instakitchen Manila E8: Chef Tatung’s Sinaglay na Bangus Belly
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