Meet Chef Yana:
For me, cooking was therapy and an adventure -- it was another venue to explore creativity. Growing up as an only child, my childhood revolved around the kitchen with my aunt and grandma, who loved to cook. They say smell is the strongest memory-invoker; so since I left the Philippines and moved to LA then New York City, I strove to re-create and innovate upon the flavors and smells of my island using ready and accessible ingredients -- keeping it close to “home” yet local.
Hometown: Iloilo City, Philippines
Current Locale: Brooklyn, NY
Current Gig: Gypsy Filipina Chef
Website: SALO Series & The SALO Project
Instagram: @SALOseries
Facebook Page: Salo Series
Twitter: @saloseries
What is the ultimate Chef Yana specialty?
The specialty, man....I would say everyone loves my flan and I roast everything to perfection -- when everything is juicy and falls off the bone. Signature cooking style, I would say if I'm alone, it's very guerrilla style. I'll find whatever I have in my pantry and make something out of it.
Being born in Iloilo, do you incorporate flavors from there in your cooking?
Oh yes, we Ilonggos love sugar and seafood. I channel those flavors: fresh, salty and sweet. Oh, and I love my spice.
You mentioned that your aunt as an influence in your learning to cook when you lived in Visayas. What did she introduce you to?
She introduced me to food as a medium to be creative. She was an English teacher, but she loved to cook and experiment in the kitchen. As a kid I was exposed to not just Filipino food, but French, Italian, American and other cuisines that would pique her curiosity and she would want to try and make at home. I was her sous chef. Imagine a 5 year old chopping garlic and onions. LOL so glad I didn't chop any of my fingers off.
Tell me about the Filipino food scene in your current area in NYC. How does it differ from LA?
Filipino food scene in Brooklyn is really close to non-existent. There is one Filipino restaurant in Brooklyn and some fusion pop-ups. That's part of what propelled me to start SALO. There are a couple of places in Manhattan, but I would say they're very "westernized" and more of a fusion, lending a lot of Filipino flavors. In Queens, there are more mom and pop places where you'd have the turo-turo and closer to home. In LA there's a very solid area of where you can find good Filipino food without it being a fusion. I'd say finding Filipino food in LA is more accessible versus New York.
What is a special memory you have about adobo?
Adobo... man..... that is the ultimate comfort food. Mind you, my grandma doesn't really cook, but when she does, she makes this adobo that is just ridiculous. It's sweet, salty and vinegary at the same time. and chicken is just brown all the way through. MY adobo reminds me of my grandma.
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Yana's Chicken Adobo
by Chef Yana Gilbuena
Ingredients:
4 lbs of chicken thighs/ legs
1 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of spicy viengar
1 handful of peppercorns
1 pinch of bay leaves (about 5-6 pieces)
a handful of garlic
Procedure:
1. boil the chiken for 15 minutes with the garlic
2. drain and keep stock
3. lightly fry the chicken in its stock and oils
4. mix the soy sauce, sugar and vingaer in a separate bowl. Add to the pot.
5. bring to a boil, add peppercorns and bay leaves; reduce the sauce.
6. simmer/ or boil on low for 45 minutes
7. serve
Aside from adobo, name a Filipino food that everyone should try at least once and why:
Balut, for sure. I blame Fear Factor. Seriously. Because it's such a beautiful thing: you think it's an egg but no, it's more than just the egg. It's the sabaw (soup aka amniotic fluid) that you first taste when you open the balut. Then the more you peel, you see the chick, then the yolk and then you have the last option to eat the egg white. But I love its simplicity and complexity at the same time.
Another one is batchoy. I mean, I'm from LaPaz, Iloilo where batchoy was invented. Nothing beats that hole-in-the-wall batchoy/carinderia by the mercado. It is really is Filipino Ramen. I think I wanna do a Filipino noodle shop when all of this is done.
We have so many! I mean goto, sotanghon, lomi... yum!
Now that you've brought up Fear Factor and this disconnect from simple Filipino eating traditions...what is an attribute of our cuisine that you feel might be misunderstood?
I feel like, oftentimes "kamayan" is seen as kitschy or a "trend", but in reality, that's how food is best served and eaten. I grew up in Iloilo and it's a coastal city -- my weekends were spent by the baybay (the beach coast) or by the piers, having a picnic at the park watching the ships sail by. I would get so excited to go there and eat by the baybay because everything was so fresh and simple -- fish was fresh, the line the bamboo tables with banana leaves, they cook the fish in their stone grills, oysters freshly blanched, and the oh so spicy vingear where you can happily dip anything into. The were no pressures of formal dining, everyone is just enjoying the food as it is, no pretense...It just reminds me of how life can be simple and I just wanted to share with with my food and my dinners.
Tell me more about your newest endeavor. “The Salo Project” is a very interesting concept: “50 States, 50 Weeks, 50 Pop-Up Dinners,” what goals and visions do you have for it?
You'd probably laugh, but i envisioned SALO, not just in the 50 states, but hopefully a global thing -- inspiring other Filipinos out there to embrace our flavors, our ways, our culture starting with our food.
Goals in the 50 states.... I aim to have Filipino Cuisine more than just a trend, but as a staple. I hope to meet awesome like-minded visionaries, proud progressive Pinoys, the new blood... the ones that understand each other and help build a loving community who has their heart rooted where home is. I hope to meet amazing people who are just all about the love and kindness. doing the mini-tour, I've been so blessed to find how generous and kind people are.
The main goal of this project is to create and raise awareness of Filipino cuisine and to highlight Filipino food by focusing on the flavors of its three regions: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; also by providing a unique social dining experience with my underground, pop-up dinners throughout America.
Filipino cuisine has been an underdog compared to our Asian neighbors. My quest to bring Filipino food to all 50 states is to broaden people's palate and bring to light a new cultural social dining experiment experience.
These dinners will encourage the adventurous to experience the other side of the (usual and conventional) dining experience. SALO dinners bring together a group of culinarily curious strangers around a common table and encouraged to abandon the standard way of eating, through the absence of tableware.
This project also heightens the value of passionate home cooks. Julia Child brought over her passion for French cuisine to America and encouraged people to cook more. I aim to do the same, but with Filipino cuisine.
A portion of my 50-state dinner proceeds will be donated to the contingency relief plan for the victims of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines via Nafconusa.org.
How can we support/attend your dinners?
I have my website live where people can see the
schedule and tour dates and also donate and host me: www.thesaloproject.com
I'm just happy to share my passion, bringing together people through (Filipino) food. and please donate and be part of the SALO project:
Yana's Indiegogo Fundraising Page
(as of this posting on February 19th, there are only 30 hours left to support!)
If you can share your adobo with absolutely anyone, who would it be?
Ooooh........ this is hard. I think i would love to share my adobo with Paulo Coelho. His novel, The Alchemist, has always been an inspiration throughout my developmental years and I would say yes, the heart does speak and I understand the language of the universe and this is my way of giving gratitude
If you had a round trip plane ticket that could take you to ANY 5 destinations in the world, where would you head to?
Oh gosh! let's not do this...but yes, I would love to go to the tip of Argentina, take the two week cruise down to Antarctica, then fly out to Tibet, see Everest, then go to Galapagos, then New Zealand.
Where do you think Filipino food will go in the next few years?
I think it will get more known, and I'm sure we will see more innovators and passionate people sharing the culture through food.
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For more details on Yana's Salo Series visit her website and check out this video:
Would you like to be a part of Project:Adobo?
Follow this link to submit for your own adobo-file!
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