MANILA, Philippines - As an island country, the Philippines is rich in the bounties of its seas, rivers and fishponds. That is why many of us are able to enjoy a diverse variety of seafood – from deep sea fishes like blue marlin from the south, to Bonoan bangus from Pangasinan to delicacies like maliputo and abu and to wonderful crustaceans and shellfish — shrimps, crabs, squid, scallops and oysters.
As the premium destination mall in the Philippines, the SM Mall of Asia celebrates the joys of eating seafood with its seafood festival “Let’s Toast to the Sea and Celebrate Its Bounty” at the SM Mall of Asia from Aug. 1 to 31. The mall’s unique location by the bay has given rise to paluto concepts in its San Miguel By the Bay area as well as some of the best seafood offerings this side of town in its more than a hundred restaurants.
Enjoy the catch of the day cooked to perfection with the freshest and finest ingredients. It’s a moveable seafood feast that will allow one to sample some of the best- loved recipes from all over the world including fried pla- pla and bangus primecuts from the Philippines, steamed lapu-lapu in ginger sauce from China; sushi, gindara and tempura from Japan, chili crabs from Singapore, seafood jambalaya from New Orleans, and seafood paella and bacalao from Spain. The list goes on.
In line with this, SM Mall of Asia and the Philippine STAR launch the Share Your Best Seafood Recipe Contest, giving Philippine STAR readers a chance to win P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates. To join, simply send your favorite seafood recipe and a snap shot of the cooked dish to philstar_moaseafood@yahoo.com, or mail to the Philippine STAR at R. Oca Jr. and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Manila, or to the SM Publicity Office at Building C, SM Corporate Center at JW Diokno Avenue, Pasay City.
The Share Your Best Seafood Contest will have four categories: big fish, small fish, crabs and crustacean and shrimps and lobsters. Recipes must include Knorr Real Sarap products.
Deadline for the submission of entries will be on Aug. 19. Ten recipes will be selected for the cook-off on Aug 22. Students from CCA will cook the chosen food recipe, which will be judged by a panel on the following criteria: taste and flavor, 50%; creativity and uniqueness, 30%; completeness of ingredients used, 20%.
The four recipes in the abovementioned categories will each win P5,000 worth of SM gift certificates, and the best of the cook-off recipes will be featured in the Philippine STAR on Aug. 30.