MANILA, Philippines - Beating the rush hour blues, I finally make it to the cocktail debut of Dusit International’s “Eat Well, Feel Well” tour at Dusit Thani Manila, in collaboration with The Model Cook Daniel Green and Rustan’s The Beauty Source. At Dusit’s Italian resto, Tosca, that’s filled to the brim with guests, it’s easy enough to pick out Daniel Green from the crowd. The abs-olutely trim and dashing Green looks just like the guy wearing a dapper suit and a cherubic smile on the cover of the smoking hot cookbook Modern Dining for Life. Fact is, he looks even trimmer and more dashing in person, it’s little wonder why tonight, the ladies can’t resist getting up close and personal with Daniel.
Flying in just the night before from Minnesota, where he lives with his wife (sorry, ladies, you may not kiss the chef because he’s married) and daughter, Green bares it all (his cooking/eating secrets, that is) as we eagerly hop from table to table to sample the assorted little Green-inspired healthy eats and sweet treats that the Dusit Thani chefs lovingly and gingerly dished up.
Care For Green’s Kare-Kare?
“Oh, yes, I’m looking forward to trying your kare-kare,” Daniel tells me, his sleep-starved eyes lighting up and his cheeks turning ruddy.
Yes, Daniel will not only be eating our kare-kare, he will also be cooking it — in his own healthy way, of course!
But that’s getting ahead of this hearty good story. To go back to Dusit International’s “Eat Well, Feel Well” campaign, Dusit is introducing the signature dishes that Daniel Green has exclusively designed for Dusit Thani Manila. Green’s healthy (to-diet-for) menus include a selection of low-calorie recipes — from breakfast to appetizers to soups to main dishes to desserts (yes, Daniel can turn sinful to healthful) — that’s guaranteed not only to help us eat healthy and add years to our lives but also to add life to our years through tasty, healthy food. Because while this British gentleman will gently remind you to eat your greens, he will also tell you that healthy can be tasty, too. Think Green’s crab cakes, salsa verde fish, low-fat crème brule, or poached pears.
To round off the holistic approach to healthy eating and living is beauty and wellness inside out, as espoused by Rustan’s The Beauty Source. Outside Tosca, guests get a refreshing whiff of the finest organic perfumes, cosmetics, hair and bath and body care products from Rustan’s. Think L’Occitane, Rich Green, Mario Badescu, Acca Kappa, Santa Maria Novella, Phyto, Body America, Delon, Argan Oil, A’kin, Bathology, Cath Kidstone, Badger, and Iorganic. We can almost smell the fresh flowers and herbs inside those bottles and jars, ready to dazzle the senses and soothe the soul.
The Green-Ing of Pinoy Dishes
Or how about humba (braised pork belly) that’s a belly-good Pinoy comfort food? For his humba, Green uses pork steak with no fats instead of pork belly. The ingredients are: 2 kg. pork steak with no fats, 40 g. garlic, 1 g. ground black pepper, 60 ml. soy sauce, 180 ml. vinegar, 40 g. black beans, 10 g. soybean paste, 120 g. brown sugar, 2 pcs. bay leaves, 2 pcs. star anise, 1 litter water (to cover the pork), and 100 g. peanuts (with skin on). In a big bowl, combine the garlic, ground black pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, salted black beans, soybean paste, brown sugar, bay leaves, star anise, and peanuts. Mix well until the sugar has dissolved. Place the pork into the mixture and marinate overnight in the chiller. An hour before cooking, remove the bowl with the marinated pork. Place pork with the marinade in a pot. Add the reserved broth and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook for two to three hours or until pork is tender. Serves six.
For a beefy, guilt-free indulgence, Green tweaks the good old-fashioned Pinoy kare-kare recipe. For this stunning no-fuss Pinoy stew of veggies and meat shrouded in a rich, creamy veil of tongue-talizing peanut sauce, he collaborates with chef AC Agra of the Lyceum of the Philippines’ College of International Tourism and Hospitality Management. And the ingredients are: 1/2 kilo cleaned beef tripe and beef belly, taking off most of the fat and adding lean beef cubes; 1/2 kilo oxtail, cut 2-inch long; 1 cup of ground peanuts; 1/4 cup ground toasted rice; 1/2 cup cooked local anchovies; 1 pc. onion, diced; 1 head garlic, minced; 4 Tbsps. annatto oil ( hot oil + annatto seeds); 2 pcs. aubergine, sliced 1-inch thick; 200 g. bok choy, cut into chiffonade; 1 bundle of string beans cut 2-inch long; 1 banana bud, cut similar to eggplant slices, blanched in boiling water; 120 g. olive oil; 8 cups beef stock; salt to taste.
Now, here’s how to cook this tastefully healthy kare-kare: In a stockpot, simmer beef and oxtail in water for two hours or until cooked. Strain and keep the stock. In a big pan or wok, heat butter and annato oil. Sauté garlic, onion until golden brown, then add the stock, toasted rice, beef, oxtail, and ground peanuts. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Blanch the eggplant, string beans, bok choy, and banana bud. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes — do not overcook. Arrange the meat and vegetables, and drizzle sauce over. Serve with bagoong on the side and a cup of hot rice.
Indeed, this hot celebrity chef has got us talking Green, thinking Green and eating greens!