As a white-passing girl with inexperienced eyes, I don’t carry my CHamoru heritage from Guam in a approach most individuals instantly see. Once I was rising up in California, studying about my tradition by my mom and her household was a technique I may join extra deeply to that a part of my family tree. A key—and really tasty—a part of that training was making and consuming CHamoru meals.
Like most CHamorus (additionally stylized Chamorros), my maternal grandparents loved connecting with household and mates over meals, even after they moved to the mainland U.S. As a baby, a few of my favourite dishes have been impressed by different cultures that occupied or immigrated to Guam over the course of historical past, equivalent to hen adobo, pancit, and lumpia. However others are uniquely CHamoru: rice drenched with fina’denne’ (a soy sauce-based chile sauce), and hen kelaguen, also called kelaguen månnok, a recipe my grandmother realized from her personal grandmother and handed right down to my mom and me.
On a current go to house, my mom made a shock batch of this particular dish to have a good time my husband’s birthday. My mouth began watering as quickly as I noticed the mound of shredded hen. Taking my first chew, I lingered a second to let the cascade of flavors register: a swell of tart citrus shortly tempered by milky coconut, punctuated with zings of spicy crimson chile and inexperienced onion. The cool chicken was refreshing and fragrant, waking up my palate with a jolt—then joyfully confounding it in order that I needed to go in for one more chew, and one other.
A Beloved Dish with Combined Origins
Guam has a wealthy Indigenous tradition that continues to thrive, regardless of centuries of overseas occupation—first by Spain, which used Guam as a key stopover on its Mexico-to-Manila commerce route, then the USA and, briefly, Japan. After World Conflict II, Guam turned a U.S. territory, and since then, the island has welcomed various immigrant communities, together with Asians (from the Philippines, Korea, China, and Japan), Micronesians, and white People from the mainland. Every of those cultures has launched its personal customs to the island; over time, CHamorus have included lots of these influences into Guamanian delicacies. The ensuing culinary panorama is each hyperlocal and reflective of the world at massive.
Kelaguen is taken into account a uniquely CHamoru dish, however it’s thought to have originated within the Philippines, the place vinegar or acidic fruit juices are used to “prepare dinner” each uncooked and cooked meats, seafood, and greens. In Paleric, a chronicle of Guam’s historical past, Pale Eric Forbes speculates that Latin American settlers could have had a hand in creating the dish, however the historian acknowledges that “since lemons and limes didn’t develop in our islands earlier than the Spaniards got here, it’s greater than doubtless that the essential recipe for kelaguen got here from Filipino settlers within the Marianas.”
Judith Selk Flores, PhD means that the earliest variations of the dish have been doubtless made with fish and banana flower (fafalu), however that the applying of this methodology to beef, venison, and hen coincided with the arrival of the Spanish, who launched new animals to the island within the 17th century. Forbes notes that the placing similarity between the CHamoru phrase kelaguen and the Filipino kilawin could also be an indicator that CHamorus borrowed the time period to explain their very own distinctive tackle the dish. (The letters G and U mix to make the W sound in CHamoru, as in guiya, guennao, pugua’.) Nonetheless, there are few written information of the dish earlier than the Nineteen Fifties, so it’s tough to know for certain.
CHamoru Kelaguen At House
Kelaguen is an area specialty on Guam that’s served year-round, partially as a result of it’s so versatile in its preparation. “No different dish represents CHamoru culinary fare like kelaguen månnok,” write Gerard and Mary Aflague of their e-book, CHamoru Cuisine: A Mariånas Cultural Legacy. Whereas refined variations to the normal recipe abound, most begin with 4 key elements: finely shredded or chopped protein (on this case, hen), citrus juice or powder, onions, and contemporary scorching crimson chiles. Grated unsweetened coconut is nearly all the time added to chicken- and fish-based kelaguen, whereas crimson onions could also be utilized in red-meat variations.
Some folks—together with my mom—just like the comfort and taste of a store-bought rotisserie hen, or want to make use of solely darkish or gentle meat. For others, the flavour of fireside is essential: “A barbecue grill is fairly essential for hen kelaguen,” explains Shawn Camacho, common supervisor and co-owner of Prubechu, a CHamoru restaurant in San Francisco. “The smoke and char are such an necessary a part of that dish’s taste profile.” As for the opposite elements, Camacho says that “the magic is within the ratios.” Whichever route you select, finely shredding the hen by hand or chopping it into very small items is important, as doing so permits the flavorful marinade to completely infuse the meat.
Recent lemon or calamansi juice usually creates the dish’s acidic profile, although on Guam, Yours brand lemon powder is a well-liked substitute. Each my mom and Camacho’s enterprise companion, chef Shawn Naputi, solely use scallions of their kelaguen, however some cooks like so as to add white or yellow onions too. Others prefer to swap out the contemporary chiles for donne’ dinanche (CHamoru crimson chile paste), or add diced bell peppers for further coloration and crunch. Reaching the correct stage of spice is necessary; on the island, finely chopped donne’ sali and donne’ ti’au peppers—small crimson varieties which are “further scorching” and “common scorching,” respectively—pack the correct punch. Stateside, crimson chicken’s eye chiles are a extra broadly obtainable possibility. The coconut is historically grated contemporary, although frozen pulp is a dependable substitute. Even dried, unsweetened coconut works nicely, as long as you lend further moisture to the dish with some further marinade.
The character of kelaguen adjustments over time, settling into itself after a day; persistence will reveal a nuanced taste profile. From my very own expertise, I like to recommend first-timers put together the dish in keeping with a conventional recipe, then subtly regulate the ratios to fulfill private preferences.
Naputi and Camacho can’t discuss kelaguen with out sharing their very own childhood recollections of the dish “My grandpa and the boys would grill the hen, then they’d deliver it in and all my aunties would sit collectively and gossip whereas slicing the hen collectively,” Camacho says of the communal expertise. “My grandma was the one to take all of the elements, combine them, and add seasoning.”
Like most issues on Guam, making kelaguen continues to be so usually a household affair.
