My 37 Christmases would've been incomplete if not for my my mom's Arroz a la Valenciana. Best eaten right after it's cooked, this rice dish can easily warm the tummy and personally, my heart. I have tried various versions but I always go back to my mom's cooking. She has this unique ability to come up with tasty dishes with flavors just right. Her ingredients are not elaborate but she is able to bring out the best in every single one. I think her secret is she tries to get all of the flavor from the ingredients themselves and does not just depend on artificial seasoning like those available at the local grocery store.
Ingredients that are often seen on Mommy's dish would be chorizo bilbao which brings the smokey sweet flavor, raisins which is her natural sweetener, chicken liver that adds more texture, chicken gizzard to demand robust chewing by the way, chicken and pork meat (how I love this combination), garbanzos, red bell pepper and potatoes so veggies are well represented and shrimp to provide the twist.
Just last night, my bestfriend Minnie enjoyed the valenciana as we commonly call it, batch by batch. Diet slipped through the window without the guilt. I guess my mom's cooking has greatly influenced my taste on what good food is all about.
Fun Facts:
* Arroz a la Valenciana is often mistaken as a Filipino dish but the truth is, it is Portuguese.
* Paella and Ba Chang could be considered cousins of valenciana.
* Paella is tomato-based and usually showcases food from the sea, from squid, shrimp to crabs and asian green mussels, more commonly known by Filipinos as "tahong."
* Ba Chang is with a chinese descent but also uses glutinuous rice, deboned chicken, monkey's ears (hey, it's just mushroom!) and dried chestnuts and are usually served during mid-June in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival.
* In Bacolod, the best ba Chang is served by the undisputed chinese establishment in the Shopping Area called City Lunch Restaurant. It's just so yummy that a single batch can't stay long enough on the steamer as customers rush to get one. Better call and reserve to make sure you're counted amongst the lucky ones to enjoy 'em.
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