While talking to her on the set of her latest movie, Mano Po 2, I discovered that she has indeed gone meatless. It all started when she read this book about vegetarianism and decided she wanted to try it out. She has been a vegetarian for three months now. Aside from that, she attributes her improved figure to a regimen of Pilates, boxing and muang thai.
During a break in the shooting, Jane her assistant brought out the veggie viands we were going to have that night. However, I couldn’t help it. I had a serving of chicken adobo. Juday, on the other hand, did not touch the meat and proceeded to have veggie pizza, garlic sautéed asparagus and broccoli in oyster sauce.
"Wow," I thought. She really did not have chicken.
Does she have a difficult time eating only veggies?
"Well, you do get hungry always. But I am not as hotheaded as before. Vegetarianism is supposed to make you calmer, decisive, and feel at peace. And it is true. It does work."
She is a semi-vegetarian and, on some occasions, eats servings of tofu, pasta and seafood. She says that since some of her cast mates are also vegetarians, she does not have much difficulty. Zsa Zsa Padilla, Carmina Villarroel, Boots Plata and Lorna Tolentino all have a liking for green leafy vegetables.
Of course, she understands that not all people favor a meatless diet. That’s why if she could, she wants to cook a dream dinner for her family who she rarely sees because of her busy schedule. She would cook pinangat na sapsap for Mom, steak for her dad, prawns thermidore for her brother and older sister, and spaghetti, hamburger and fried chicken for her niece and nephew.
Aside from her family, her friends in show business get to try her cooking once in a while. There was a time when she cooked for her colleagues for the show Basta’t Kasama Kita. Since most of the cast were Muslims, she had to skip pork dishes and served them her version of beef mechado, beef kare kare and bulalo lugaw. She got inspired when they were all praises and clearly appreciated her effort; all their plates were squeaky clean.
"Simot talaga," she remembers with a smile.
But what if she can cook dishes for her co-stars, both past and present? What would she serve theme?
For Piolo Pascual, Juday will probably cook pasta negra and some Pinoy dishes.
"Piolo is hindi pihikan. He can actually eat almost anything," she says.
How about ex-love team Wowie de Guzman?
" Pesto pasta is one of his favorites, and also pasta carbonara."
Robin Padilla?
"He is a meat lover, so probably beef bulalo, and he especially likes the litid. He also likes champorado with a lot of condensed milk. He can eat champorado every day!" she declares.
And of the late Rico Yan, she says, "He loved bagnet. And also pasta."
Two of her greatest critics are her mom, Tita Carol, and her manager Alfie Lorenzo. "They tell me the truth about how a dish tastes like. So, they try it out first before I serve it to customers at the restaurant."
Of course, she is referring to Café Carabana, a restaurant she put up with her family in Quezon City.
Thanks to Ate Binay, their kasama sa bahay, she started working in the kitchen and learned how to cook pancit canton. That was almost 10 years ago, and she has not stopped since.
Cooking is her therapy. If she wants to keep her mind off work, she will be in the kitchen. When she cooks, she gets to concentrate on the measurements of the ingredients, the temperature of the burner, and other details about running a kitchen.
Since she attests to the merits of vegetarianism, she shares with the Philippine STAR some vegetarian dishes.
" You will be surprised because they are actually good," she says.
To taste is to believe.
2 medium sized pearl onions, thinly sliced
1/2 kilo tofu, mashed
1/2 kilo tomatoes, cubed
50 g. dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 kilo fresh button mushrooms
1/2 cup non-GMO organic soy sauce
1/4 cup pure honey
1/2 cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
10 leaves fresh oregano, chopped
1.5 kilos spaghetti (semolina or wheat)
For dried shiitake mushrooms, wash thoroughly and soak in warm water for 30 minutes. Chop. Set aside.
Preheat stainless pan or nonstick wok for 2 minutes. Toast garlic until slightly brown.
Mix and scrape the bottom of the pan. Add onions. Stir continuously until golden brown. Add dried mushrooms and mix well. Add tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, salt, basil, marjoram, soy sauce and honey. Mix well.
Boil over medium fire. When it boils, add tofu. Mix and simmer for 10 minutes over low fire.
Turn off flame. Let the sauce warm first before mixing in the olive oil and oregano. Mix well with the pasta. Serves 20 people
10 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium sized pearl onions, thinly sliced
1 kilo tomatoes, cubed
300 g. fresh mushroom (any kind), sliced
1 tsp. rock or sea salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 cup non-GMO soy sauce
1/4 cup raw pure honey
8 leaves fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup roasted cashew nuts or peanuts, grounded
Preheat the stainless pan for 1 minute over a low fire. Toast the garlic until slightly brown. Add onions and stir continuously for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt, basil marjoram, soy sauce, fresh mushrooms and honey. Mix well and cover for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Turn off flame and let the sauce warm. Add oregano, olive oil and cashew nuts. Mix well with pasta. Serves 20 people.
Serve the pasta with a siding of two slices of diet whole wheat bread, cucumber and sliced round tomatoes. Garnish with 10 pieces of raw nuts and fresh basil.
10 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium-sized pearl onions, thinly sliced
100 g. dried shiitake mushrooms, washed, soaked and chopped
500 g. fresh mushroom, shredded
2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried marjoram
2 kilo sweet potato (camote), cubed
40 bananas (saba), cut into 2-inch pieces
1 kilo boiled white kidney beans or 1 kilo gluten, cubed
500 grams baguio beans-sliced into two
1 kilo Chinese pechay, whole
200 g. spring onions, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
Toast garlic. Add pearl onions. Mix well and add dried mushrooms. Mix and add fresh mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt, basil and marjoram. Mix well. Add camote and cook for 10 minutes. Separate camote and set aside. Add bananas and cook for 15 minutes. Set aside. Add beans or gluten and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off flame. Gradually add pechay and spring onions. Serve.