HAVING been colonized by Spain, the Philippines and Latin America have a lot more in common than we think. While corruption in the government and informal settlers in our big cities are some of the things we wish we could give back to our colonizers, there are positives from the cultural exchanges during those hundreds of years that still benefit us up to this day. Of course, I am talking about food. While the flavor spectrums of Filipino and Latin cooking are not exactly alike, we did get influenced a lot by Spanish and Mexican cuisine.
For this reason, my recipe for this month although Latin in origin, tastes very familiar. The use of coconut, spice, tomatoes and citrus with seafood is something we’d also do locally. A dish that comes to mind, although uncooked, would be kilawin, which they also have in Latin American countries. Imagine a kilawin with gata and citrus, garnished with peppers and tomatoes and then cooked. While gata and tomato sauce isn’t a usual combination in our local cooking, the flavors are still very familiar.
This recipe is a perfect summer dish. Mildly spicy, creamy and fresh, this is a shrimp dish that can be at home in any Filipino table.
Latin shrimp in coconut sauce
INGREDIENTS:
1 kgshrimp (medium size) (16 to 20 pcs. per pound)
3 clovesgarlic, mashed
1/2 tsp.salt
juice of 1 pc. lime
SAUCE:
2 tbsp.olive oil
1 pc.white onion (medium), thinly sliced
6 pcs.scallions, finely chopped
1/2 pc.red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 pc.green bell pepper, thinly sliced
6 pcs.ripe tomatoes (medium), thinly sliced
1/4 cuptomato sauce
1/2 cupcoconut cream
1 tsp.salt
1 tbsp.atsuete oil
cayenne powder (optional)
chopped cilantro
PROCEDURE:
1. Toss shrimp, garlic, lime juice and salt in bowl. Set aside (do not let sit for more than 30 minutes).
2. Over medium heat, sauté onion, scallions and bell peppers in olive oil. Add tomatoes and cook until soft. Lower heat and add cayenne (optional), tomato sauce and coconut cream. Reduce until sauce is thick.
3. Toss in shrimps and cook for another two minutes. Adjust seasoning.
4. Pour over freshly steamed rice, drizzle achuete oil over everything and garnish with cilantro.