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Favorite Noche Buena Feast

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By: Aeron Lancero

 

Magandang araw sa inyong lahat, and hope you are all ready for this wonderful Holiday Season upon us. Many FilAms enjoy and love the Christmas Holiday and feast mostly on the Christmas Eve after going to Midnight Mass, we call Nocha Buena in the Philippines.

Noche buena is a tradition that families all around the world enjoy and look forward to during the Yuletide season. It is a special time we all prepare and save for as we dine together to enjoy a specially-prepared feast laid out on the table while we wait for midnight to welcome and celebrate Christmas, a truly very special day because it is the birth of a very special family member — Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Back then, the staples in a typical Filipino Noche Buena feast were quezo de bola, Christmas ham, pasta, fruit salad and hot chocolate. Obviously, times have changed and more items that we grew up with in the Philippines are now available today in mainstream American stores. So below, are a few items that I want to share and in some cases, places you can go and pick up.

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1. Lechon – or a whole roasted pig. This used to be taboo on mainstream and even difficult to get, but now there are many places that make them as long as you give advance notice. My favorite Pinoy-owned place to go is Adeline’s in Skokie. I actually buy from them sometimes for my restaurants and they always receive rave reviews. Although now you can also go to places in Argyle were there are Asian stores that sell whole pig as well.

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2. Baked Ham – In the Philippines, this is the popular dish that also shows stature on dining tables, although here in the states it’s easy to get but not many have it on their tables these days. Most often, our hams are baked sweet with honey and garnished with pineapple.

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3. Pancit or Pinoy Spaghetti – More often than not, it is usually bihon, although these days as long as there are noodles it’s important in our tradition to represent long healthy life.

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4. Lumpia Shanghai – our eggrolls that are mean with thin wrappers and stuffed with ground protein, typically pork and vegetables, and then deep fried. Served with sweet chili sauce or garlic vinegar.

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5. Embutido – is our version of meatloaf but with no gravy. We take ground meat and have it centered with hard-boiled eggs, carrots, hotdog and sometimes raisins, then covered with aluminum foil, then baked in the oven.

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6. Next are the many desserts that I am grateful you can buy at many places…..Sapin-Sapin – a sticky dessert with an array of colors, sticky glutinous rice flour cake, cooked in 3 layers. a multi-colored native Filipino rice cake or kakanin; Bibingka – is a type of rice cake native to the Philippines. This is traditionally made from galapong, coconut milk, margarine, sugar and salted duck egg; Leche flan – (also known as crème caramel and caramel custard) is a dessert made of eggs and milk with a soft caramel on top; Buko Salad – Sweet young coconut salad is a rich dessert that makes use of shredded young coconut as the main ingredients together with some choices of fruits.

7. Another big one is Queso de Bolla – a big ball of cheese. In the Philippines, a definite staple. Many of these items can be purchased and there are many restaurants and grocery stores that can provide for you. As for websites to help with your cooking needs…www.panlasangpinoy.com ; www.kawalingpinoy.com; www.filipinokitchen.com; www.boracaysun.com; I hope this helps you with your plans this Nocha Buena and I wish you all a joyous Christmas / Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year. God Bless you all. Maraming salamat! Till next year…###

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