• Monk fish "binalot" - flavoured with banana leaves.
  • Jess with her monk fish "binalot" dish.

The beauty of Filipino cuisine

Jess Granada has considered New Zealand her second home since coming from the Philippines almost 10 years ago. She feels “in love with New Zealand's amazing diversity, natural landscape and people”. Remembering living in the Philippines surrounded with tropical trees and farmlands, and using fresh New Zealand ingredients have been an inspiration for her as a chef. 

Queenstown was her first home in New Zealand for seven years, one of the main reasons being that she loves hiking, the mountains and foraging for wild edibles. She moved to Auckland three years ago, and now incorporates her love of foraging in some the dishes at Nanam, the restaurant she runs with partner Andrew Soriano. We chatted to Jess about one of her favourite recipes.

Channel Magazine:  Where/when did you first make this recipe and why is it a favourite for you? Please tell us anything special about it.

Jess Granada: This fish dish wrapped in banana leaf is one of many dishes that shows how beautiful Filipino cuisine is. The inspiration started when we supported Kelmarna Gardens in Ponsonby where they grow lots of bananas, but no one knewhow to use the banana blossom or banana heart which was mostly going to the waste for last 10 years in their garden. We made a dish wrapping the fish in banana leaves and grilling it, which gives a unique fragrance, and we process the banana blossom into a salad. Alternatively, in this recipe I put the candied nuts and spinach salad as the side dish.

 

CM: What is the secret to making this recipe work?

JA: The secret is making sure you have a fresh piece of fish, and making sure that the banana leaf is tightly skewered like an en papeloitte. This way it will keep the moisture and steam, that makes it more flavourful, inside.

 

CM: What do you love (or hate!) about cooking?

JA: Cooking is a craft that can never be appreciated without sharing with others and Nanam is a place to feel at home and that for me is the real meaning of going to the restaurant, that you feel like you are a part of the place itself like visiting a friend’s house. What I hate about is that every day my appetite grows bigger and I can’t stop tasting cooking and exploring, part of the obsession to know more flavours, I guess. 

 

CM: Are you a self-taught cook, or did you have a cooking mentor?

JA: I and my partner Andrew worked in some fine dining restaurants learning from chefs with great passion for cooking. When it comes to doing Filipino cuisine we are self-taught. In fact, when we started the business it was one of the risks we took as chefs, cooking and introducing a cuisine that people do not have any idea about, which turned out to be a journey we can never forget. Amazing.

 

CM: What’s the biggest disaster you’ve had in the kitchen? Biggest success?

JA: My biggest disaster is probably mistakenly addingsugar instead of salt to my most awaited staff meal 30 minutes before service time and my staff ended up eating salad!  My biggest success is to be given a space where we can express ourselves as chefs. Cooking what we love and serving people who come in to join us, that is the biggest prize.

 

CM: What’s your favourite cuisine and do you cook this at home?

JA: except for classic Pinoy (Filipino) dishes I'd say Vietnamese food is my other favourite cuisine, simple yet comforting.

 

CM: What foodie spots do you enjoy visiting locally – and why?

JA: My secret spot to to go to if I want a cheat day is  Burger Burger as they have great simple tasty burgers and staff are cool and welcoming.

 

Recipe:

Monk Fish “binalot" (en papillote)

Ingredients:

250g of monk fish

salt and pepper to taste

2tbsp Olive oil

Marinade:

100g chopped shallots

200g chopped gherkins

2tbsp fermented soy bean

2tbsp fermented black bean

50g chopped spring onion

4 thin slices of lemon

dash of fish sauce to taste: Vietnamese fish sauce

Salad:

60g roasted walnuts

30g white sugar

pinch of salt

quarter of a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

mixed rocket and baby spinach greens

Wrapping:

Banana leaf

Baking paper

Method:

  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in one bowl.
  2. Season the fish with salt, pepper and olive oil and sear on the outside in a very hot pan then set aside to rest for 5 mins.
  3. Lay down the baking paper with a piece of banana leaf inside ( banana leaf adds fragrance to the dish and helps keep more moisture too).
  4. Put half of the marinade on the leaf then put the fish on top and then add the rest of the marinade on top of the fish.
  5. Close the baking paper using a bamboo skewer, bringing all the corners to the middle.
  6. Bake in the oven at 180o Celsius, cooking the fish for 15 mins or till the temperature inside of the parcel is about 45o to 50o Celsius.
  7. While doing this, begin the salad by making a dry caramel by heating sugar in a pan over medium heat then add your walnuts and finish it with a pinch of salt, turning it to very low heat until all sugar is melted and caramelised (around 2- 4mins cooking time).
  8. Cool it down in a baking paper, lying flat, for 10 mins then chop it up and mix it with your greens.
  9. To plate up open your fish dish and put salad on top or on the side, ready to go and enjoy.