Inubaran

Our Easter Feast of Inubaran

Easter remains to be the grandest and holiest feast in the entire Christian world. I have seen to it to pass on that tradition to my children. After all those meaningful Triduum liturgies had been observed and remarked upon, we cap our celebration with "exotic meal" (for those meals usually reserved during special occasions have already been secularized by the "Jollibeezation" of our eating habit). Thus for a change, I treated the kids with my special chicken inubaran.

Here is how to prepare it, just in case you are interested to experiment. You will need the following:

1 whole native chicken sliced into bits and pieces (about 600g);  banana pith* (ubad);2 glasses coconut milk (payok);  lemon grass (tang-ead);  salt to taste (asin);  vinegar or aeabihig leaves/fruit (eangaw o aeabihig); onion, sliced (sibuyas);  garlic, a clove or two, pounded (bawang);  black pepper (recado);  ginger, small piece, pounded (euy-a);  cooking oil (mantika, panggisa);dried basil or laurel leaf (dahon it recado); red and green pepper

On a cauldron:

1. Saute onion and garlic in cooking oil. 2. Add chicken pieces and saute until the meat is nearly-cooked. 3. Add the thinner coconut milk. Boil. Add ginger and the mashed banana pith. 4. Add lemon grass, salt and pepper. Add vinegar or the leaf or fruit of aeabihig (if you want this a little bit sour) or not, depends on you. 5. Add the thinker coconut milk. Bring to boil. Simmer until the chicken is tender.

 *Banana pith is the core layer of a banana trunk. Edible pith are those taken out of Saba or Pakoe variety. Chose one mature banana, but which that has not yet bore fruit. Peel through each sheath until you find the white parts. It is very tender and sweet. Grate it and pound on a pestle. After which take out the hairy elements with a clean rod. Mashed and drained it of its liquid.

My kids heard of Easter egg hunt the kids in the poblacion are excited about, but never appreciate it. It is an alien activity to them. They are grateful however to God that their Kuya Jesus is now risen from the dead. Mama Mary will be happy to know about the news while they will anticipate each year to feast on some delicacy their father will dare experimenting for their curious taste to try on.