Aired (September 1, 2024): Kick off our month-long ‘Celebration of Flavors’ with Chef JR Royol as he delves into the delightful world of saltiness! Join Chef JR in discovering fresh and healthy dishes that highlight the savory essence of salt.
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00:00For us Filipinos, when it comes to saltiness, it's not just the simple taste of food.
00:06As a country where islands are formed and surrounded by sea water,
00:11saltiness is an integral part of our life and culture.
00:15And all of that comes from the simplest ingredient of saltiness, salt.
00:22Salt is a very important mineral.
00:26We think of it because it's pleasurable to the mouth.
00:30But salt also is a vessel for delivering minerals to the body.
00:34That's why when you eat with natural salts,
00:37not only do you get the saltiness,
00:39but you also absorb important minerals that the body needs.
00:43Calcium, magnesium, and other stuff.
00:46One thing that salt does to food is,
00:49it brings out not just the saltiness,
00:51but that the salt brings out the natural flavor of food, right?
00:56No matter where you go in the world, salt is very important.
01:00And even, they say, the history of salt.
01:02If you combine our salary from salt,
01:06because before, in the olden times,
01:08people were paid in salt because it had so much value.
01:12Because, especially during the time of Alexander the Great,
01:15what was the value of salt?
01:17It's not just about absorbing food,
01:19but they needed warriors.
01:21Because without salt,
01:22the muscles, the body,
01:25will not be able to function properly.
01:27Maybe during my time, they say,
01:29even if I just swallow a little bit of salt,
01:31right?
01:32And we think it's very lowly for that.
01:35But you know, even if you just swallow salt,
01:37during that time,
01:39it was natural salt filled with minerals.
01:42So, even if you're just eating rice and salt,
01:46there is nourishment,
01:47and it is healthy.
01:49Salt is a big part of Filipino food.
01:52To prove this,
01:53we are going to show you how Filipinos make salt
01:56that can be found in different parts of the country.
02:00Just like what we sometimes know as
02:02Asing Sabuyo in Sambales.
02:17And if you go to Bohol Island,
02:19you will find one of the most unique salt anions,
02:23the Asintibuok that is made in the town of Albuquerque.
02:28Here, we met Ma'am Veronica and Sir Nestor
02:31of Asintan Inong,
02:32where they still use the method of making salt
02:35that they inherited from their ancestors.
02:38In the beginning, our forefathers,
02:41our father was on our mother's side.
02:44And then, he passed it on to our father.
02:48Our father passed away in the 1940s.
02:52Our forefather was in his 1800s.
02:55When our father got old,
02:57he passed away in the 1980s.
03:02By the year 2010,
03:04our younger brother passed away.
03:08Among the three male siblings,
03:10he was the one who had the passion
03:13to make the Asintibuok again.
03:16Because he knew how hard it was,
03:19the sacrifices our father made.
03:21That's why he said,
03:22even though he didn't know the Asintibuok,
03:25even though there was no money in the Asintibuok,
03:27he convinced Sir Nestor.
03:29At first, Sir Nestor didn't want to do it
03:31because it was too laborious.
03:35And then, there was no money.
03:37The Asintibuok was only used as a barter.
03:41Usually, the Asintibuok was used by farmers
03:45to sell their cattle for farming.
03:50And then, it was sold to low-class families.
03:58Making Asintibuok is a labor-intensive and long process.
04:02And because of this,
04:03only a few continue to make Asintibuok here in Bohol.
04:07Making Asintibuok was very difficult at first
04:11because we don't have a vehicle or mechanism
04:17to make Asintibuok easily.
04:24Especially when it comes to carrying wood
04:29or hanging things on top of the Asintibuok.
04:32Carrying coconut husk
04:36was a burden on our father's shoulders.
04:40I witnessed the process of making Asintibuok
04:42when I visited Bohol.
04:44And you can't help but be amazed
04:46at the dedication of the people who continue to live
04:49this traditional artisanal salt.
04:52In the beginning, you will carry the coconut husk
04:57and soak it for 3 to 4 months
05:01before removing it and chopping it.
05:06Then, you put it in a pan.
05:09Natural seawater will enter the pan.
05:12The high tide will enter.
05:14That's why the coconut husk is naturally soaked in seawater.
05:18Then, the trees will gather the coconut husk.
05:24You have to sacrifice a lot of time.
05:29For 3 to 4 months, you have to wait
05:34for the coconut husk to soak in the pan
05:38before removing it and chopping it.
05:41When everything is ready,
05:44the burning process will start.
05:46After that, we will put it in a filtration tank
05:49and filter the hardened coconut husk.
05:52It will be filtered for one day
05:56in preparation for the cooking time.
05:59And then, the cooking time
06:01is another preparation for preparing the clay pots.
06:07It will be cooked for almost 7 to 8 hours.
06:13Then, you let it cook overnight
06:16until the clay pot is hot enough.
06:21Then, you take it out and clean it.
06:25Despite the many other ways of making salt
06:29from other parts of the Philippines,
06:31it is also a reality that these people are slowly forgetting.
06:36The truth of salt in the Philippines is very salty
06:39because we import over 90% of the salt consumed in the Philippines.
06:44Because we are archipelagos,
06:46we can no longer produce enough salt
06:51for our consumption in the Philippines.
06:53We have a law that prohibits the sale of natural salt.
07:00The salt that you make from the sea or other sources
07:05is illegal because it has to be iodized.
07:09For health reasons.
07:11So, that is our law.
07:13Salt law.
07:14It is prohibited to sell natural salt.
07:16All of our salt must be iodized.
07:19Now, in the field of export and manufacturing,
07:23our product that has salt is also rejected
07:26because the iodine or the iodization of salt
07:30here in the Philippines is not acceptable.
07:32Because it is not healthy for humans.
07:36So, it is a huge irony that we love salt
07:39but we do not control our supply.
07:42And number two, it is not proven that iodine is healthy
07:49because it is also contracted by other countries.
07:51Despite this, there are communities and families
07:55like Kinamang Veronica and Sir Nestor
07:57that continue to value the traditions of making salt
08:01and make an effort to introduce it to the world.
08:04And to give glory to the dedication of the people
08:07who continue to make it.
08:14So, while the team of Kinamang Veronica and Sir Nestor
08:17is busy making it,
08:19one of the very key ingredients that I will use
08:22in what we are cooking,
08:23I will prepare the other ingredients first.
08:25So, let's cut our squid into portion size.
08:29If you are going to do this at home, this is optional.
08:32We will just add bell pepper.
08:34Different colors, of course.
08:36For this recipe, this is one of the dishes that
08:40in less than five minutes,
08:42when you have prepared everything,
08:43you will be able to cook the squid.
08:45So basically, you just need your pan to be very hot
08:49because this is just quick.
08:51And of course, you want our pan to be hot
08:53so that you can retain the perfect texture of our squid.
09:00Just a tip,
09:02so that the product you are going to produce is more consistent
09:06when it comes to squid,
09:08basically, you cook its head first.
09:12As you notice, its structure is different,
09:16its appearance is different,
09:17and the thickness of the head.
09:20So, there is a tendency that if you cook them at the same time,
09:23the part of the squid will be undercooked.
09:28So, the small attention to detail is that
09:32instead of cooking them at the same time,
09:34you should cook them first for around 2-3 minutes
09:37before you cook the rest of the squid.
09:47I am just cooking the squid that they use to cook their asinti buok
09:51because our butane there is a bit weak.
09:55So, at least, like I said earlier, you need to cook it quickly.
09:59Perfect source of high heat.
10:25Okay.
10:50We can say that the asinti buok is a labor of love.
10:53And now, with the help of social media,
10:56it is getting more and more popular.
10:59It is like a good income
11:02that despite the challenges that the salt industry is facing in the country,
11:06one of the salts that reflects our belief in the taste of saltiness
11:11will continue to survive.
11:14I am very happy because because of the asinti buok,
11:17I have been to many places,
11:19it is free.
11:20This is also the legacy that I can leave to my son or to our family.
11:29When you visit different cities in the Philippines,
11:33you will not be able to miss the many kinds of dried fish that are sold in every market.
11:39From dried,
11:40raw,
11:41marinated,
11:42and raw.
11:44Whether you are in the provinces of Visayas and Mindanao
11:47or even on the sides of the highway in the north,
11:50you will not miss the many kinds of dried fish that you will choose.
11:54This proves how we use salt
11:57to prolong the life of our fresh catch from the sea.
12:01This is the part of the lung.
12:03This is a long stretch.
12:06You know where you are, right?
12:08Yes.
12:09When the smell is like breakfast.
12:11Yes.
12:12Alright.
12:13Sir, how many kilos is this?
12:14This is just a kilo.
12:15It's equivalent to 50 kilos of pork.
12:17450.
12:18Salt is also used as a preservative.
12:22That's why we do this when there is a lot of anisad
12:25on the seaside,
12:27dried fish,
12:29shrimp,
12:30whatever kind of fermented fish or whatever,
12:34salt is a preservative.
12:36It's antibacterial.
12:38Aside from giving flavor,
12:40it's also very important in texture development of food.
12:44So, salt has a technical use
12:47aside from being salty and a preservative.
12:51Chef Tatong is one of the big fans of dried fish products in the Philippines.
12:56And this is his inspiration for the very easy dish he shared with us.
13:01Let's just start with the old frying of our Daing na Bisugo.
13:06And here, we just sautéed it a little bit
13:09to remove the excess salt, right?
13:12So, it's not too salty.
13:14We'll fry this until it's a little toasted.
13:17So, what we're doing here is,
13:20we're just increasing the amount of food we can eat
13:23by combining these two ingredients, main ingredients.
13:27So, let's just fry this.
13:30We'll set aside our fried Daing.
13:35Because we're going to cook it again with our tomatoes.
13:39I love salty food,
13:40because I think the love for salty food is very Filipino.
13:46The fried Daing
13:50is not a waste,
13:51because this will be the base of our Sarsa.
13:56Let's just sauté some garlic and onion.
14:00And since we're making Kinamatisan,
14:03we need a lot of ripe tomatoes.
14:07There.
14:08I'll add a little sugar to balance.
14:11And now, we'll add a little soy sauce for color, right?
14:16So, we're combining different forms of saltiness.
14:21We're not using salt,
14:23but the saltiness of our Daing
14:25and the saltiness of our soy sauce or fish sauce
14:29to have umami, right?
14:31We'll also add a little vinegar, right?
14:34So, what we're doing here is,
14:36we're balancing everything.
14:38We're not making it sour.
14:40We're not making it salty or sweet.
14:42What we're doing is,
14:43we're just balancing the flavors,
14:46so that it becomes very delicious.
14:49There.
14:50If you want it to be spicy,
14:51we'll add a little chili.
14:54There.
14:55And now, we can now add our fried Daing.
15:00Daing na Bisugo.
15:03Cooked together.
15:04So, what will happen here is,
15:05the Bisugo will taste like tomato,
15:08while the tomato will taste like Daing.
15:10Right?
15:11So, they're blending.
15:12So, this is very typical of Filipino food,
15:16the blending of flavors in our ingredients.
15:20Let's add a little water so that it can stew.
15:22Right?
15:23We want it to stew.
15:24Let it cook a little more.
15:26Just a little water.
15:27Then, we'll just let it boil.
15:32There.
15:33It's cooked.
15:38All the foods of the world,
15:40is really dependent on salt.
15:43Because without salt,
15:45there will be no flavor in your food.
15:47Without the salt,
15:48you will not be healthy.
15:50Because it is a carrier of all the minerals that is needed,
15:53for your internal organs to function properly.
15:56Function properly.
15:59When it comes to the taste of salt,
16:01of course,
16:02our favorite foods will not be left out,
16:04the salted eggs.
16:07Before it became a trend,
16:08just a few years ago,
16:10different foods have salted egg flavors.
16:12Salted eggs are now a regular part of Filipino food.
16:17And here in Victoria, Laguna,
16:18we had the opportunity to visit
16:21the production of one of the famous brands of salted eggs.
16:26Mr. Duck,
16:27of Tindahan ng Itlog ni Kuya.
16:30The Tindahan ng Itlog ni Kuya
16:31started in 2006.
16:35But we were already in our 80s,
16:38still in 1984.
16:40That's why it started in 2006,
16:43because I couldn't find good salted eggs in the market,
16:46so I decided that
16:48we would also process our own eggs.
16:51And that's how Tindahan ng Itlog ni Kuya was born.
16:55This is from a farm,
16:56so they are now sorting
16:58which eggs can be salted.
17:00We already have a quality control here.
17:02We remove the cracks
17:04before they are salted.
17:07Why?
17:08So that if there are cracks,
17:10and you break it,
17:11that's when the eggs start.
17:12This is a mixture of egg whites and salt.
17:15Then they put it in a drum.
17:18They put egg whites,
17:20it's called curing.
17:21It will last in this drum for 15 days.
17:24This is the first stage.
17:27People look for salty eggs
17:29because they say it's greasy.
17:31But if a salted egg is too greasy,
17:34it's too salty.
17:36Mr. Dax was known for not being that salty.
17:39We used to grow salted eggs,
17:42literally salty, right?
17:44If you notice,
17:45people nowadays,
17:46even here in the Philippines,
17:47although it's a bit delayed,
17:49we are becoming health conscious.
17:51So now,
17:52because of the improvement of our salted eggs,
17:56even kids can eat salty eggs.
17:59Duck has lower cholesterol
18:02compared to chicken and quail.
18:06So after 15 days of curing,
18:08this is our second stage.
18:10This is what we call washing.
18:13We wash all of these
18:15to remove the cracks
18:17prior to washing.
18:20So after our pre-washing,
18:23this is what we call the third stage
18:26where we wash the eggs one by one.
18:28If you notice,
18:30our finished product is very clean.
18:32They clean it one by one
18:34so that when we cook,
18:36the shell of the egg is really clean.
18:41This is our next stage.
18:43This is called candling.
18:45Here, we show that
18:47we separate the bad quality
18:50from the good quality.
18:52So in that way,
18:53you can really see
18:54that all of Kuya's salted egg products
18:57really have quality control.
19:00After the candling,
19:02we are now at the cooking stage.
19:04My staff will put it in these trays.
19:07We put it in these trays
19:09so that we can put it in the steamer.
19:14After steaming,
19:15we let the eggs cool.
19:18We let it cool for about an hour
19:21before we start sorting.
19:24In Kuya's eggs,
19:26we have different sizes of eggs.
19:29We sell medium, large, and XL.
19:33After sorting,
19:34it's time for branding.
19:35If you notice,
19:36our salted eggs have stickers.
19:39Modesty aside,
19:40our products are delivered
19:43I have consolidators.
19:45This is brought to San Francisco.
19:47This is brought to Hawaii.
19:49This is brought to Dubai.
19:51Our buyers bring it to Canada
19:55where they will export it
19:56because it's branded.
19:59At first glance,
20:00it looks like a very simple process.
20:02But the result of what they do
20:04here at Kuya's Egg Store
20:06brings joy to the taste.
20:09That's why even though
20:11it's not easy to cook
20:13the local products that we sell,
20:15it's a food experience
20:17that I can say is truly Filipino.
20:20Aside from flavoring
20:21and using salt as a preservative
20:23in our eggs,
20:25you can also find the dominant taste of saltiness
20:28in Filipino food
20:29in different kinds of sauces and condiments
20:31that we use every day.
20:33We, as Filipinos,
20:35when we say salty,
20:37we really think about
20:39what we mix in our sauces.
20:42Fish sauce,
20:43soy sauce,
20:44shrimp paste.
20:46There's a very wide array of salters available to us
20:51in the Philippines or around the world.
20:53And when we cook,
20:55what we want to build
20:56is not just one note.
20:58When you say it's salty,
20:59it's just salty.
21:00You want to build complexity, right?
21:03So, when we cook,
21:04when we combine all these flavors,
21:06it becomes more interesting to the palate.
21:09One of the people I met in this food adventure
21:12who already mastered the use of salt and saltiness
21:15to make the perfect sauce
21:17is Sir Menandro,
21:19the owner of one of the biggest producers
21:22of shrimp paste and fish sauce in Pangasinan,
21:24Merlis Shrimp Paste.
21:27A lot of people make shrimp paste here,
21:30because it's seasonal.
21:32When it's seasonal,
21:33that's when they make shrimp paste.
21:35I was the first one to store the shrimp paste here.
21:38In Pangasinan.
21:40So,
21:41when there's no more shrimp paste left,
21:43because it's seasonal,
21:45that's when all my fellow fishermen come here
21:47to make shrimp paste.
21:48That's when they get it from us.
21:50So,
21:51that's when we started making shrimp paste.
21:55This is where we store the shrimp paste.
21:58We store it for six months.
22:01We just have to wait for it to smell good.
22:07This is also a daily product.
22:08Daily product.
22:12There you go.
22:16That's the smell you're talking about.
22:18Yes, that's the aroma.
22:21It's been more than two months.
22:26But it already smells good.
22:27It's like you're looking for something to squeeze the calamansi
22:30with hot rice
22:31and steamed calamansi.
22:33Yes.
22:34Oh, Lord.
22:35Right?
22:37So, this is the fish that we've caught.
22:41Yes.
22:42Because what's happening here,
22:44the bottom is the shrimp paste.
22:45Yes, the meat.
22:46It's dripping.
22:47What's rising is the fish sauce.
22:54Just so our family members can imagine,
22:58this is the shrimp paste.
22:59This is the shrimp paste.
23:00Yes, this is the shrimp paste.
23:01There.
23:02This is the fish sauce.
23:03That's the fish sauce.
23:04That's what we sell.
23:05Yes.
23:06In our store,
23:07this is the fish sauce.
23:09Yes, this is how it looks.
23:11Okay.
23:12Do you have something like that, sir?
23:20This is the stir-fried calamansi.
23:25Is it good?
23:27And the shrimp paste smells good.
23:29Really?
23:30Yes.
23:33Winner.
23:35In every drop of salt,
23:37the taste of Filipino food becomes alive.
23:40From simple rice,
23:42salty eggs,
23:43to delicious shrimp paste,
23:45salt is not only a flavor,
23:47but also an important part of the food experience
23:50that we inherit from our land,
23:53sea, and tradition.
23:56Salt brings out the natural taste of the ingredients
23:59and it makes every bite delicious
24:02as it is a part of a deep story and tradition
24:05that reminds us how delicious it is to be a Filipino.
24:09This is just the first taste of our exciting food adventure.
24:13Join us as we continue our celebration of flavors, Food Explorers.
24:26www.FoodExplorers.com