Midnight Express: From Pampanga’s bulanglang itu to France’s chicken galantina 

Saksi's Midnight Express on its first two episodes this week took viewers to two wildly different places for very similar reasons: Pampanga to get a taste of a unique take on sinigang, and all the way to France to check out a Christmas-perfect dish. 

 

Bulanglang itu, Pampanga's version of sinigang 

 

If other Philippine kitchens use sampaloc to achieve that sinigang-approved sour taste, the Kapampangan use bayabas or guava—and this what makes bulanglang itu a unique dish! 

 

Kim Tinio, tourism officer of Angeles in Pampanga, explained that Pampangueños are very creative cooks. "Kung anong merong available na ingredients na pwede nilang magamit sa kanilang pagluluto or availability sa kanilang backyard, yun ang ginagamit nila," she said. 

 

To serve sinigang na isdang hito, or bulanglang, in your own home, you need hito or catfish, gabi, pechay, okra, siling pansigang, and kangkong. But to get that Kapampangan flavor, you need hugas-bigas and panukang bayabas or overriped guavas. 

 

Allow the hugas-bigas to boil. Add gabi and bayabas until it boils again. Then, add hito, okra, siling pansigang, kangkong, and pechay. And there you have it.

 

During his test taste, host Mikael Daez said, "Parang after-taste lang 'yung asim niya. Iba ang bulanglang itu... Hindi siya masyadong maasim pero masarap!" 

 

Chicken galantina, a French-inspired dish for noche buena

 

There are only 99 days to go before Christmas! Are you starting to prepare your menu for noche buena? If not, then let Midnight Express help you! Why not add a French-inspired dish to your Christmas eve meal? 

 

Chicken galantina is deboned whole chicken stuffed with different fillings, which was invented in France in the 19th century. 

 

Galantina comes from the French word "galantine," which means deboned chicken stuffed with ground meat and other ingredients. 

 

To prepare chicken galantina for your noche buena, you need deboned whole chicken and for the filling, get ground meat, salted duck eggs, chorizo, cheese, onions, and corn starch.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling, then stuff it into the whole chicken. Wrap the chicken in foil and tie it with a string, then steam. Your Christmas dinner is guaranteed to be merry. — Trisha Macas/VC, GMA News