Vigan Pipian

Vigan Pipian. With the recent trip to Vigan I manage to bring back home a bunch of pasotes for my long overdue Vigan Pipian recipe. To educate our readers who are not from Vigan or not Ilocano and never heard of this delicious dish here are some brief description as per my personal knowledge. Pipian is not similar to Kare Kare except perhaps the color . The three essential ingredients that may not be in your regular kitchen are pasotes a herb that gives that strong flavour, kamias which of course gives a sour tasting thick soup and toasted ground rice, grind coarsely to give a porridge texture. Pipian is serve as merienda but may be serve as a vian. Beef and pork parts, chicken or a combination may be used. Frankly I am not really sure if it originated in Vigan.

For my recipe I used chicken but should you have the above mentioned essential ingredients and want to try it with beef or pork then use the same recipe, except the beef or pork, especially if you elect to use beef parts then it has to be pre-boiled till soft and tender. The suggested consistency should be very thick similar to a thick arroz caldo so start with using less water or broth then add more liquid as necessary. Should you want to have Pipian as a vian then the consistency may be reduced. You may need more annatto seeds for a heavier orange color, or use one whole packet of Mama Sita’s Annatto Powder. Here is the recipe of my Vigan Pipian, good luck and happy cooking.

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken , cut into serving pieces, bone in
1 cup rice, toasted and coarsely ground
1/2 cup annatto seeds, color extracted using 3/4 cups of warm water
1/2 head garlic, chopped
2 medium size, onion chopped
1 small bowl of pasotes leaves
1 big bowl of kamias, trimmed, sliced crosswise
1/2 cup fish sauce
salt
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:

In a big sauce pan sauté garlic and onion until fragrant. Stir in the chicken and stir cook until the chicken render fat. Add in the fish sauce and stir cook for a minute. Now add in water or chicken broth to about half level of the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add in the ground toasted rice and annatto extract, let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom.

Add more annatto extract if required. Now correct the consistency and saltines by adding more broth and salt. Add in the kamias and continue to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add in the pasotes in small quantities at a time until desired pungency and cook for another 1 to2 minutes, serve hot.