Life
Chicken wings caramelized with shrimp paste and coated with roasted sesame seeds
SIP & SAVOR
Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016
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For the love of pho THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES
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n 1979, seven-year-old Nam Quoc Nguyen and his family fled Saigon after the communists took over and established what eventually became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It was in Scandinavia where Nam began his culinary journey – from traditional Vietnamese food on the dinner table to fine dining cuisine at the Copenhagen Culinary Institute. It was also during the 1970s when around 2,700 Vietnamese boat people sought refuge in the Philippines after the fall of Saigon. Heartbreaking tales aside, they also brought with them pho, Vietnam’s most famous noodle soup. Had his family gone to the Philippines instead of Denmark, Nam could easily have been one of those refugees who have set up the earliest Vietnamese food joints in the country. Instead, he spent 20 years serving Western cuisine at premier restaurants and hotels in New York, London, Bali and Thailand before taking a leap of faith and starting his own NamNam Noo-
Annam offers set meals, such as wagyu beef noodles paired with fresh spring rolls and authentic Vietnamese coffee.
Chef Nam pays homage to his Saigon roots with every bowl of pho he serves.
dle Bar in Singapore in 2012. It would take him another four years before finally bringing Vietnamese street food to the Philippines, with the first Annam branch satisfying the appetite of Eastwood’s cosmopolitan crowd. “I told myself that if I will open my own restaurant, it has to be Vietnamese.
It is the least I can do to promote the culture of my people,” said the 44-yearold Chef Nam. Nam’s chic noodle bar proved to be such a hit in Singapore and Jakarta where his seven branches serve 700 bowls a day to snake-like queues. “It is a good problem to have,” he said.
CHEF ANNA OLSON
whips up locally inspired dishes By Nickie Wang On the premiere episode of Inspired with Chef Anna Olson, the Canadian celebrity chef puts the spotlight on Filipino cuisines as she kicks off her culinary journey across Southeast Asia. In the show, Chef Anna works with local celebrity chef, Rob Pengson. She allows Rob to demonstrate three local recipes from his restaurant – Squab Inasal (grilled pigeon served alongside seasonal vegetables), Kinilaw (tuna ceviche) and Tocino del Cielo (bite-sized custards). Drawing inspiration from Rob’s Squab Inasal, Anna prepares Maple BBQ Chicken Wings with an affordable and popular cut of meat. Salmon Tartare on Cassava Cakes showcases the ceviche method of preparation used in Kinilaw. In a meet and greet with her fans and the local press, Chef Anna staged a cooking demo on July 15 at Sage Bespoke Grill in Makati Shangri-La where she recreated the recipes featured on her new 10-episode cooking show. We were treated to a five-course meal starting off with Vietnamese-inspired Chilled Chicken Pho Salad, and then followed an Atlantic Lobster Chowder, which was served on a hot deep dish before pouring the soup that almost smelled like pure lobster extract. The main entrée was Rosemary Roasted Venison Rack with Blueberry Balsamic Sauce. It was paired with steamed asparagus, wild Canadian rice pilaf and whipped mashed potato. Before they landed on our table, Chef Anna together with her husband, Chef Michael, allowed the guests to have a peak on how the beef was roasted to perfection. Next to the main course was Chef Anna’s version of Tocino del Cielo. In a nutshell, it’s leche flan, wherein she used egg yolks and condensed milk as base and infused it with lemon zest and lime, which lends a citrus fragrance and a tangy taste. The dessert was garnished with blueberry, raspberry and edible gold with whipped cream for accent.
Chef Anna Olson visits the Philippines to promote her cooking show Inspired with Chef Anna Olson
And finally, coconut donuts, dark chocolate macaroons and flower shaped youtiaos called Rosette Cookies were served. Red wine and ice wine were served in between entrees. And also, in between courses, the amiable culinary icon sat on each table and entertained questions from the invited diners. She was more than willing to share with us the secrets to her recipes and what we could do to improve the taste of the dishes served during the cooking demo. Anna’s emphasis is always on respecting the techniques, the ingredients, and the people she learned from, while finding new ways to use them. Anna is recognized internationally for many culinary television programs such as Bake with Anna Olson and Sugar and Fresh with Anna Olson, all previously aired on AFC. In line with the program premiere on July 29 at 9 p.m., AFC will also stream ‘live’ the pilot episode of Inspired with Anna Olson on its website www.asianfoodchannel.com/inspiredwithannaolson.
For Annam Noodle Bar, the brand’s first franchised outlet, Chef Nam had to make the noodle broth more tangy, intense and f lavorful to satisfy the Filipino palate. The broth— either chicken or beef—is boiled for at least 24
hours. Served without MSG, it is light yet flavorful, and guests have the option to add condiments such as fish sauce, hoisin sauce and chili sauce. Aside from the traditional chicken or beef pho, Annam also has noodle soup with wagyu beef slices or oxtail and beef balls, all garnished with fresh herbs and spring onions and topped with chili slices for an added kick. Its Saigon Fisherman’s Noodle Soup uses mouse-tail noodles instead of the usual flat ones, and if you can get past the oddsounding name, you would enjoy a hearty bowl of chewy rice noodles topped with shrimps and slices of fish and squid. The casual dining restaurant also serves French-inspired baguette called banh mi which are stuffed with chicken pâté, mayonnaise, hot chili peppers, pickled carrots, cucumber, fresh cilantro, and of course, savory meats such as sautéed lemongrass pork with cream cheese, caramelized five-spice pork belly, fried catfish, and chili sambal braised beef. It has several small plate choices for starters, including fresh spring rolls with prawns and pork served with peanut sauce, green papaya salad with beef jerky and fresh herbs, chicken wings caramelized with shrimp paste, and crispy squid with sriracha mayonnaise. To complete the experience, Annam offers Vietnamese coffee from full-bodied Robusta beans as well as lotus tea, which would go well with traditional dessert choices of chilled dried longan with lotus seeds, water chestnut and seaweed strips; crispy fried banana with coconut sauce; and vanilla pudding with palm sugar caramel, among others. Chef Nam, who won the Rising Chef award at the World Gourmet Summit in 2002, has expressed hope that Vietnamese cuisine will soon become a staple in the Philippines. In fact, he is confident of his Eastwood branch reaching the 700-bowl-a-day mark sooner than later that a second outlet in Resorts World Manila is already in the pipeline. “As an Asian who grew up in the Western world, I really wanted to go back to my roots,” he said. “I’ve been away for so long, yet Saigon still feels like home, just as a bowl of pho feels like home.” For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com
Chef Anna’s version of Chef Rob Pengson’s Tocino del Cielo