Ube adds flavor to Boholano savory dish
MANILA, Philippines — Seven varieties of ube grow in Bohol: Kinampay, Binanag, Baligunhon, Iniling, Kabus, Tamisan, and Binato.
Of all these, Chef Rhea Castro SyCip’s favorite is Kinampay, because it is fragrant, sticky, and has a natural purple color. She uses a lot of it in her cakes and pastries. She discovered it during the time when she and husband Chef JayJay SyCip lived in Bohol.
Now that they are back in Manila and Tagaytay, they heavily use Kinampay on their food businesses, which includes Flour Pot, a café and patisserie, and The Fatted Calf, a full-service destination dining restaurant.
As a former Bohol resident, the couple does not have trouble for their ube supply, specifically Kinampay. This high-value, premium ube variety, which is revered in Bohol, has a very fragrant, almost perfume-like, nature. The smell of the Kinampay when it is being steamed gives off an earthy, fragrant smell. Its chewiness is likewise incomparable and is perfect for cakes. It only grows in Dauis, Bohol.
It is also while the couple stayed in Bohol that Chef Rhea discovered that Ube Kinampay can be used in savory dishes, too. So she shares this recipe of Nilubihang Kagang at Kinampay, which she and Chef JayJay learned in Loboc and enjoyed eating during their days in Bohol.
Dry land crabs and rare premium ube go together so well that Chef Rhea could still almost taste it in her memory.
Nilubihang Kagang at Kinampay
Ingredients:
1 kg. Kagang (dry land crabs)*
3 tbsps. oil
1 pc. onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 pc. tanglad (lemongrass), tied into a knot
Juice from 2 pcs. buko (coconuts)
Shredded coconut meat from the 2 pcs. buko
1 pc. ube, preferably kinampay variety, cut into shoestring fries shapes
A handful of humutan or basil leaves
Procedure:
1. Clean and scrub crabs well.
2. Sauté onions and garlic in oil. Add tanglad, coconut meat, ube, and half of basil leaves.
3. Add crabs (*if Kagang is unavailable, it may be replaced with mud crabs). Sauté until crabs lightly change in color. Pour in coconut juice.
4. Simmer then season with salt and pepper and add remaining basil leaves.
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