When my family moved to Minnesota in 1994 I was going into 8th grade and in a suburb and no one knew what Guam was, even some teachers got it wrong. I got comments like "what part of Russia is Guam in?" and "you speak great English considering you're from Guam!" Just lots and lots of ignorance all around and jokes about how far away Guam was. I mean we're still the butt of so many jokes even now but at least there's a month that we can celebrate our heritage! Happy AAPI month!
This week I wanted to share a couple recipes from our nana's kitchen. These side dishes were at every single BBQ we had when I was growing up and a staple on every Chamorro table for sure. I looked for a picture of nana's kitchen but in the 80's we didn't have cameras around all the time like we do now so those are all just memories at this point.
The first recipe is for kelaguen which is a light and bright cold chicken salad that is simple and delicious. I make it with our HB vegan chicken which tears into small pieces so well and looks just like real torn cooked chicken. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with Nana when she would be shredding the chicken and it always took so long because she didn't use food processors or anything. I guess that's why I so appreciate that our vegan chicken takes the same amount of time to hand shred. That time I spent just sitting with nana was the best-- she'd tell me stories of when she was a kid or scary Chamorro folklore stories. I'll make sure to put a link of where to order the HB chicken if you want to make this at home yourself. The second recipe is for flour Titiyas which is the Chamorro version of a tortilla. Ours are a little sweet and made with coconut milk and we eat them with kelaguen or just by themselves. They're easy to make and so delicious.
Vegan Chicken Kelaguen
1 14oz. pack of THB naked chicken (torn small or torn into chunks and roughly chopped small) CLICK HERE TO ORDER CHICKEN
1 cup shredded dry coconut (you can use the unsweetened kind from the store or for an adventure get a coconut and shred it yourself! lol)
4 stalks green onion (sliced thinly)
4-5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
5 Thai chili peppers (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Add everything to a bowl and mix. You can add more lemon juice if you like it more tart. You can eat it right away but nana always like to let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so before she served it so that the flavors would marinate a little.
Flour Titiyas
3 cups AP flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk (the canned kind)
1/4 cup melted non-dairy butter
Directions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in all the wet ingredients and mix until the dough forms. Add more flour or coconut milk to adjust so you have a smooth ball of dough. On Guam the humidity really affected the wet to dry ingredient ratio.
3. Flour your rolling surface and get out your rolling pin. You can also just flatten with your hands like nana did if you want or use a tortilla press.
4. Break off pieces of dough that are about the size of a golf ball and roll out the dough into flat discs about 1/8" thick.
5. On a dry skillet pan fry each disc on medium-low heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until it turns to a nice golden brown.
6. Stack the cooked Titiyas and cover with a kitchen towel to keep them warm.
These are so good for breakfast too and Nana would put them in the toaster if they were a couple days old. But they freeze well too if you don't plan on eating them all within a couple days.
This month please remember to support all the AAPI owned businesses in your hometown and as you travel all the time but especially this month. It's rough out there for so many businesses right now and emotions are running high with all the things the current administration is doing.
Love each other and support each other always 🫶🏼
XO, Aubry
