Umami Culinary Challenge-Iloilo champs Hercor College shines in Ajinomoto Visayas Showdown

COMING off its fresh victory in the inaugural Iloilo leg of the Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge, Hercor College brushed aside the jitters accompanying a visiting team and grabbed a bit of the spotlight in the Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge – Visayas 2013 (UCC-V 2013) last Sept. 21 at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall.

Hercor College lived up to its stature as Iloilo champion and turned up the heat on hometown-favorite International School for Hotel and Restaurant Management (ISHRM) as it proved to be more creative in maximizing the full potential and usage of the umami taste to win the Visayas Showdown for the Best Filipino Umami Dish.

Ma-Umaming Haligi ng KalusuganHERCOR College's Winning Entry during UCC-Iloilo Finals

The triumph landed Hercor College a berth in the national finals for the Best Filipino Umami Dish, which will be held in February next year during the 5th Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge in Manila.

Expenses of the four-man Hercor College team to the national finals will be shouldered by Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation. Hercor College advanced to the Visayas Showdown after topping the Best Filipino Umami Dish category in the UCC-Iloilo last August.

Students of Benedicto College from Mandaue City, meanwhile, brought home the most-coveted Umami Bowl Award as it came out on top of the 20-team inter-school cooking competition after making the Top 3 in two of the three categories contested.

Benedicto College finished only second to ISHRM in the Best Filipino Umami Dish category but fashioned out the best “My Own Umami Creation” dish that propelled them to this year’s overall championship.

UCC-V 2012 overall champion University of Cebu – Marine Education Training Center came up short in its bid to defend the throne as it made the Top 3 only once, a third-place finish in the Best Filipino Umami Dish category.

Finishing second to Benedicto College in the My Own Umami Creation category was Cebu Institute of Technology – University, while Lapu-Lapu College settled for third.

In the Healthy Asian Umami Dish category, Cebu Technological University – Danao emerged No. 1, with Mandaue City College and Lapu-Lapu City College taking the second and third places, respectively.

The Ajinomoto Umami Culinary Challenge is an inter-school cooking competition focusing on umami as the fifth basic taste.

Competing students in each category were given an hour to prepare and cook their dishes before presenting them to the panel of judges made up of chefs Dietmar Dietrich, Raki Urbina, Erling Rune, Sau del Rosario, and Ma. Lourdes Caudal, food and wine connoisseur Joel del Prado, writers Aissa dela Cruz and Edith Singian, and restaurateur Dr. Alfredo Malasomma.

Carenderia owners, food lovers, guests and the general public feasted on the snacks and drinks offered by the sponsors and learned new cooking and marketing skills from the informative seminars conducted by experts during the whole-day UCC-V 2013 affair.

Resident chef Russel R. Bautista, Food and Nutrition Manager of Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC), is the UCC-V Project Head, while Competition Director is culinary expert and cookbook author Nancy Reyes-Lumen.

The UCC-V is organized by APC, an affiliate of Ajinomoto Co. Inc. of Tokyo, Japan. The Ajinomoto Group is committed to safety and reliability and places importance on promoting “Food and Health” around the world through its innovative technologies derived from amino acids.

Established in 1958, APC lives by its promise to provide consumer products that will always make healthy and nutritious meals deliciously tasteful as embodied in the corporation’s new slogan: “Eat Well, Live Well.”

Products of APC include AJI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning, Aji-Ginisa™ Flavor Seasoning Mix, Crispy Fry™ Breading Mix, Crispy Fry™ Seasoned Crumbs, Tasty Boy™ All Purpose Breading Mix, Aji Sinigang™, Aji-Shio Seasoning Mix, So-Quick Marinade Mix, Ajinomoto® Brand Chicken Powder, and Fres-C® Powdered Juice Drink.

/press release

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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