Florida Sourced Filipino Food at Kabayan Oriental Mart

Kabayan Oriental Market is selling Atsara made with Florida sourced green papaya. It is so delicious you might have trouble putting it down.

Atsara--Filipino pickled green papaya
Copyright 2012 by Helen A Lockey

The freshness of the papaya means it has more vitamins than bottled versions sold in the store according to Gemma Thedford, the owner. "We now have the equipment to process the green papayas," said Gemma, adding, "The pickle goes very well with our barbecued dishes."

I had to agree on the last point. I bought a BBQ pork combo that came with four skewers of juicy BBQ pork, four crispy, lady-finger sized egg rolls, a cup of white rice, and a large portion of Pancit (rice noodles, sauce, and vegetables).

The crunchy sweet & sour, spicy & salty papaya pickle really complimented the smoky, garlic flavor of the pork.

The shop is located in the plaza at the corner of Southern Blvd. and Royal Palm Beach Blvd at 251 Royal Palm Beach Blvd., Royal Palm Beach, FL 33470 .   Phone 561-904-6826

Updated May 2016

Banana Stalk and Shrimp Dish Recipe: Florida Style

I love sourcing ingredients from my backyard. Recently Tropical Storm Isaac gave me a really big resource from my yard, a fallen banana plant.

My Florida sourced banana stalk and Key West
shrimp dish, Fla.

I am a free-style chef and not used to following or giving out recipes. But for this dish I am going to try to make a recipe.

INGREDIENTS

4 cloves of American garlic, chopped
3 foreign-grown shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon safflower oil
½ teaspoon foreign grown turmeric
1 Pero Family Farms-grown red pepper, cut into strips
½ teaspoon dried English mustard powder
1 cup of chopped and steamed heart of banana stalk
1 stalk Californian grown broccoli, cut into florets
1 pound of raw Key West shrimp, with or without shell
Juice of 2 limes

EQUIPEMENT

Asian Wok pan
1 wooden spoon or spatula
Measuring spoons

STEPS

First add the garlic and shallots to 1 tablespoon of oil and cook on high until the garlic browns, about 2-3 mins. Turned down the heat to medium-high. Next add the turmeric and mustard, mix until well blended.

Next add the mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring constantly, anywhere from 4-5 minutes depending on your stove. Then add the cup of steamed banana stalk, broccoli, and red pepper. Cook between 1 and 3 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and the pepper is limp.

Then add the shrimp and cook until they become completely opaque. Just before serving, squeeze the juice of half a lime on each plate or put two wedges on the side of each plate.

 

Makes approx four servings

Heart Of Banana, Sth Indian Delicacy: Florida Style

Tropical storm Isaac's passage brought a lot of rain and wind to Florida. It also brought down my banana plant loaded with unripe bananas.


Banana plant stalk chopped to expose heart, Fla.

Embracing the expression--the glass is half full; I chopped down the plant to get to its heart. I learned years ago, the heart, when steamed, tastes a bit like cooked water chestnuts.

Heart of banana stalk exposed, Fla.

Unfortunately it is not possible to simply cut out the heart and steam it. First it has to be processed. The outer layers have to be cut away, and then trimmed further to get rid of any cardboard-like layers.

Trimmed down piece of heart of banana stalk, Fla.

It can be a bit disappointing to see how much of the plant is discarded but trust me you don't want to eat those outer bits.


Sticky fibers between slices heart of banana stalk , Fla.

Slicing can be very time consuming. The banana stalk is full of sticky fibers and the cutting process can take a long time because the knife has to be cleaned constantly.

Sliced and diced heart of banana stalk, Fla.

The hours of labor, yes I said hours, are worth it because in the end you get a delicious new vegetable to try. I steam it but it can also be cooked into a stir fry dish.