A Christmas Spread

Here are the other dishes served during our family Christmas lunch. My brother’s yaya of so many years never fails to bring an array of the most luscious suman and kakanin from their home in Cabalantian, Pampanga. Note that we have two types of freshly made suman, the Suman sa Lihiya or Sumang Kambal in Tagalog otherwise known as Sumang Bulagta in Pampango and the Suman sa Dahon or Sumang Bulong in Pampango.

We also had an authentic Chinese ham that was not too salty. My sister bought 6 kilos of fresh sugpo which I cooked halabos style. Sharing with you the recipe for the Halabos na Sugpo here. To make the Halabos a little extraordinary I made a sauce out of the marinade the sugpo were cooked in…

HALABOS NA SUGPO

Ingredients:

1 kilo Sugpo

¼ block of butter

1 Tbsp cooking oil

10 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 cup 7 Up

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 tsp cornstarch

Procedure:

1.Clean and trim sugpo legs. Cut the sharp point of the carapace. Wash the sugpo. Put salt and pepper and add 1 cup of 7 Up. Marinate for about 30 minutes.

2. Saute garlic in butter and oil. Do not brown.

3. Next add the marinated sugpo. When these turn pink remove. Pour the marinade, boil and let cook until reduced into half. Add about a teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken and use this as a sauce for the Halabos na Sugpo.