Before anything else, kudos to my dad for showing me how to make fire out of a pile of wood! If that job was left to me, I would have toiled for hours with no avail! Well... I am just being honest ;) But anyway, I am very excited to show you what we cooked earlier, using an earthenware popular in the provinces, but unfortunately (and as far as I know), not here in Manila- especially now that electric stoves/ovens and induction cookers are the trend. Please do contradict me on this if you find my statement quite untrue.
But what's amazing is that clay pots have been used for decades all over the globe- from Europe, Africa, Southeast and East Asia. It has been called different names and made into different shapes and sizes, but all of which have one basic purpose- to cook a tender and flavorful dish that would hopefully delight ones taste buds.
The Philippine version of the clay pot is called "palayok" in Tagalog or "kulon" in some parts of Visayas. We used to boil mais (corn) inside these pots when I was young and still living with my grandparents in Nueva Ecija. Stews are popularly cooked using this earthenware, and they say that when it is used repeatedly- the porous surface gets a "seasoning memory" that contributes to the rich, intense flavor of the dish.
Cooking with clay pots have its advantages. One, it is quite healthy. When you use it to steam, you do not need fat; and since steaming is a dry cooking method, it retains the ingredients' nutrients much better compared to using other methods of cooking like boiling (in this case, nutrients leach out to the water). To steam, soak the "Palayok" in water for around 15 to 30 minutes in order to let the porous wall absorb the moisture; when it comes into direct heat, the moisture inside the covered pot releases steam that would cook the ingredients.
Another advantage, which I have no proof as of yet, but is rather very interesting to me is that clay is said to be alkaline and thus tend to interact with the acidity of food, neutralizing its PH balance. I brushed upon this blog, mentioning that "something naturally very acidic, like a tomato sauce, will take on some natural sweetness when cooked in a clay pot" and that on an interview,clay pot maker named Felipe Ortega even mentioned that he "only drinks coffee out of a clay mug because it tastes more robust and he hardly has to add sweetener!" Fact or mere notion, I have no idea, but this might be a good focus of research and discussion for another blog.
Well, a good warning for clay pot users though! Never clean your "palayok" with soap or detergent if you do not want your next meal to taste like soap! Clean it instead with a brush or scrub and wash with warm water. You may also scrub with rock salt and then soak in water to remove stubborn stains.
Happy cooking! :)
But what's amazing is that clay pots have been used for decades all over the globe- from Europe, Africa, Southeast and East Asia. It has been called different names and made into different shapes and sizes, but all of which have one basic purpose- to cook a tender and flavorful dish that would hopefully delight ones taste buds.
The Philippine version of the clay pot is called "palayok" in Tagalog or "kulon" in some parts of Visayas. We used to boil mais (corn) inside these pots when I was young and still living with my grandparents in Nueva Ecija. Stews are popularly cooked using this earthenware, and they say that when it is used repeatedly- the porous surface gets a "seasoning memory" that contributes to the rich, intense flavor of the dish.
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| Inside the "palayok": Bangus (Milkfish) on a bed of tomatoes and onions. |
Cooking with clay pots have its advantages. One, it is quite healthy. When you use it to steam, you do not need fat; and since steaming is a dry cooking method, it retains the ingredients' nutrients much better compared to using other methods of cooking like boiling (in this case, nutrients leach out to the water). To steam, soak the "Palayok" in water for around 15 to 30 minutes in order to let the porous wall absorb the moisture; when it comes into direct heat, the moisture inside the covered pot releases steam that would cook the ingredients.
Another advantage, which I have no proof as of yet, but is rather very interesting to me is that clay is said to be alkaline and thus tend to interact with the acidity of food, neutralizing its PH balance. I brushed upon this blog, mentioning that "something naturally very acidic, like a tomato sauce, will take on some natural sweetness when cooked in a clay pot" and that on an interview,clay pot maker named Felipe Ortega even mentioned that he "only drinks coffee out of a clay mug because it tastes more robust and he hardly has to add sweetener!" Fact or mere notion, I have no idea, but this might be a good focus of research and discussion for another blog.
Well, a good warning for clay pot users though! Never clean your "palayok" with soap or detergent if you do not want your next meal to taste like soap! Clean it instead with a brush or scrub and wash with warm water. You may also scrub with rock salt and then soak in water to remove stubborn stains.
Happy cooking! :)
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| By the way, this "palayok" was purchased from our trip to Vigan, Philippines. | Check it out! |
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