PATATIM

When I was growing up, every Sunday when our family (mother side) was not a barrio yet, my grandmother would always treat us all to lunch or just have a simple get together at her house. One of her favorite cuisine if not her favorite was Chinese food.

And with this she also had her favorite restaurant to get this from. The Majestic, when it was still located in the movie building in the uptown area and when our city didn’t have much restaurants to choose from, but in fairness this was one of the best if not the best Chinese restaurant in our place and still is at present hence the expansion and the branching out.

Going back to my childhood memories, one of the dishes that my grandmother would always order every time was this dish called “PATATIM”. At first I couldn’t understand what it was. It looked like a big chunk of jelly with tiny florets of vegetables that I don’t even bother to taste, as I happily stick with my good ‘ol friend LUMPIA SHANGHAI! But as I grew older and as I notice how my mom , my dad, my aunties would eat this dish with feelings as if it was super good, it wasn’t long enough that I had to feed into my curiosity and try it myself. To my surprise it was very tasty and I kept coming back for more. But it’s been a decade or more since those days, and lately as I reminisce I catch myself craving for that old taste of patatim.

So today I try to bring back those days by replicating a “PATATIM” recipe I found and making it my own.

Patatim

Ingredients

1 pc Pata or pork legs
3 pcs star anise
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp beef cubes
1 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
Peppercorn
1 pc carrot
½ can button mushrooms
5 pcs quail eggs / 3 regular eggs boiled and peeled
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 c water
Sesame oil
1 head garlic finely chopped

Procedure:

• Boil pata together with the next 7 ingredients and 3 c water for about 1 ½ hours turning the pata halfway so all the meat can absorb the sauce .

• In another saucepan place the oil and sauté garlic, carrots and mushrooms.get ½ cup liquid from the boiling pata. Reduce till half. Set aside.

• Dilute cornstarch in remaining 1 c water.

• When the pata is tender and cooked through add the boiled and peeled eggs wait 10 mins so the eggs will absorb sauce , mix cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil.

• Transfer cooked pata to a clean plate and top with the sautéed vegetables. Serve hot!

My patatim dish turned out good!! Not exactly the way it tasted when I was growing up but close and I think better. More meat and less jelly fat!! If you wish to make jelly like extend cooking time for another hour and add more water about a cup.

Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Leftover meat is good to shred and cook with remaining sauce and stuffed inside a pandesal…..now that will make a good afternoon snack!!!