Sunday, November 21, 2010

Relleno@Kulinarya

This month Kulinarya Cooking Club celebrates its First Anniversary with a glimpse into one of the festive Filipino Christmas specialties called Relleno, which simply means a stuffing of any variety of meats, seafood, fish or vegetables.

It is time-consuming to make a good Christmas relleno. I remember how my grandmother would start making Galantina, or stuffed Capon, 48 hours before our family Christmas Lunch. The kitchen would be a beehive of activity, from deboning the chickens to dicing the chorizo, olives, pimientos, chestnuts and whatever else went into the minced pork stuffing. After the chickens were stuffed, the cavities were sewn up neatly and wrapped tightly in muslin. These were then left to marinate in the fridge overnight, then steamed slowly the next morning, and left to cool before serving. It was so delicious!

I haven't had a good Galantina since my grandmother passed on years ago, so to this month's challenge, I bravely said Yes, I can do it! But my nostalgia for the Galantina of my childhood stopped at my attempt to debone the chicken. Granny made it look so easy, but after slicing my thumb and nicking my knuckes, and piercing through the all important chicken skin, I gave up.

So instead I made Camaron Rellenado, or Stuffed King Prawns.



Shell and devein 10 King Prawns, leaving the tail end. Butterfly the prawns and marinate in a teaspoon each of soy sauce and lime, plus 2 minced garlic cloves.



While that's marinating, prepare the stuffing by mixing 250 grams minced pork with garlic (1 or 2 cloves), 4 water chestnuts, 2 spring onions, half a carrot, all finely minced. Add one egg and half a teaspoon of salt, and mix thoroughly.



Take the butterflied prawns and spoon some stuffing on.



Wrap a rasher of bacon around the stuffed prawn and secure bacon end with a toothpick. Repeat with the rest of the prawns.



Heat a pan with enough oil to deep fry the prawns. Before frying, dip the bacon-wrapped prawns in a thin batter of one beaten egg and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Deep fry until golden brown.



Serve with sweet and sour sauce (to which I added some diced pineapple and onion).

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14 comments:

  1. i love love love your version of camaron... and wow love the way you coined rellenado? that's your original right? haha correct me if im wrong... nakakahiya!

    i have a camaron story.. my husband (my bf then) had dinner at one time at our house and thought i made the camaron rebusado... he was floored that a girl like me could whip up something that good. he later found out i didn't make them, but that's when we were married na hahaha. but now i will redeem myself and make this camaron instead!

    thank you!
    malou

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  2. Oh my, they look wonderful!

    Wish I were sitting down to a plate full right now!

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  3. hi malou! i've seen recipes with the word "rellenado", so i can't claim it's mine! btw, welcome back. we missed you!
    hi b-girl! as my son says, anything with bacon is gooood!

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  4. OMG, Annie, these prawns look incredible. The stuffing itself is wonderful, but wrapped in bacon as well just takes it into over the top wonderful. I have to try these :-)
    Sue

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  5. WOW, a must-try recipe, esp with the bacon! This is a great party food, just in time for the holidays. Thanks Annie for the great theme this month.

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  6. WHOAAA king prawns wrapped in BACON!! This looks sooo amazing I really must try this too!

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  7. This is one of the most amazing versions of camaron that I've ever seen! It seems so fancy and yet... so simple and easy! Definitely one for bookmarking!

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  8. I must say this is something I should try!!! I love it so much just even by looking at it and thank you for sharing it!

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  9. Yum Yum...I love prawns!! And I love your Rellenado, I am sure the bacon elevated the taste to the next level...excellent job Annie, thanks for co-hosting with me!

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  10. Love..Love this Rellenado, if I could just reach in to that picture of yours....YES! I do agree with your son..anything with bacon is pure heaven=P

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  11. Oh my word!!!! I'm speechless..if you could only see my jaw dropped and drooled=;) I'm so jealous!! Prawns+Bacon=Perfect Combination!!! Good job!!!

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  12. That looks heavenly. I actually never heard of this tpe of relleno. I can't wait to try this.

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  13. WOW! Okay,now I'm scratching the chicken relleno/galantina off of my Christmas dinner menu, this is what I'm going to make, it's easier and definitely something new for us..plus it'll save me from hurting myself deboning the chicken. Thanks so much for sharing Annie!! :D

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  14. Annie, I love your camaron rellenado! Love the bacon wrap-around (of course). Mmmmm!

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