SM Hypermarket Bulalo Cook Off

When one speaks of beef and Bulalo, only one place comes to mind: Batangas. Bulalo seemed to be Batangas' specialty that there are so many restaurants - even small-scale eateries in the province that serves this dish, and one's trip in Batangas is incomplete without eating Beef Bulalo. Now that it the weather's starting to get cooler, one's choice for rainy day comfort foods is Bulalo.

Last November 4, 2011 SM Hypermarket Batangas, set a new record for The Best Tasting and The Most Number of bowls to be served.  There were 10 groups that participated in the event namely: Le Elegancia, Ginazel Catering, Siemen’s Canteen, Hot and Cold Cafe, El Torro, Joel Arceo, Madelyn dela Pena/Lutong Bahay, Tapa Kalderate Atbp., Karlos Place, Place of Mine Catering Restaurant.

Each team's Bulalo dish were judge by Chefs Aries Cueto and JunJun Borlan Jr. from Lyceum of the Philippines, Batangas and Mr. Jun Lozada, Assistant Manager of SM Hypermarket, Batangas. All of the participating teams needed to produce a Bulalo dish that is not only tasty and delicious, but creative as well. They also had to serve samples of their dish (not below 50 servings), with each bowl weighing at least 100 grams each - complete with meat, vegetables and broth.

The typical Bulalo dish consisted of Beef Shanks (with marrow), green beans, bok choy and/or wombok, and corn. Some participants went with that, but others opted to go the creative way - by preparing Bulalo Kaldereta, Sizzling Bulalo, and Bulalo Pasta.

This is a cooking challenge, and each participants had 30 minutes to cook thier dish and plate it as presentable as possible. I got to sample some of the dishes, and I was really thankful I wasn't part of the judging panel as it was really difficult to judge which among the dishes was the best tasting. In the end Le Elegancia won The Best Tasting Dish and Madelyn dela Pena/Lutong Bahay won The Most Number of Bowls, having served 165 bowls. Both teams won 25,000 each. After declaring the winners, members of the audience got the chance to sample the dishes, and I personally agree with the results. Le Elegancia truly served the best dish - it was so comforting and heavenly.

I was super happy to be a part of this event. Having to taste authentic Bulalo and witness how talented Filipinos are and sharing this day with other bloggers really made this day a fun-filled and knowledge-filled and yes, tummy-filling day. This Cook-off is part of the SM Hypermarket Master Chef which began last July 2011. I know you still remember the marathon that made up weekly cooking demos for three months, and the kitchen makeovers that have 5 lucky winners redesigned by PSID graduates and SM Hypermarket.

Jesz

SM Hypermarket Master Chefs Program

In celebration of their 1oth year, SM Hypermarket created the SM Master Chefs Program, and part of that program is the Cooking Marathon. From July to November, we will witness great chefs touring and cooking at different SM Hypermarket branches. With the partnership of nineteen master brands that all the people are always buying and use in their cooking like Knorr,Nestle All Purpose Cream, Unilever Food Solutions, Tabasco, Lee Kum Kee, Lady’s Choice, Maggi, Clara Ole, Kikkoman Soy Sauce, San Remo, McCormick, Bounty Fresh Chicken, CDO, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog, Magnolia Cheeze Spread, Magnoila Purefresh, Magnolia All-purpose Cream and Magnolia Dare Crème, the SM Hypermarket Master Chefs Program aim to provide not just good foods people can re-create and serve at home, but also provide them with knowledge and a chance to have a kitchen makeover, too!




Last July 9, I, together with my sister and two blogger pals participated the cooking demo at SM Fairview. Chef Deejay D. Santos III (he does cooking demos for Sysu International) prepared three dishes viewed by students and SM Hypermarket customers. I liked how he presented the dishes because he explained everything to the audience and I did gain more knowledge in cooking because of him. He used Lee Kum Kee products for the three oriental dishes he prepared namely:


Spicy Prawns in Hoisin Sauce

I loved the blend of Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce and the Lee Kum Kee chili bean sauce, but Chef Deejay didn’t put a lot of chili bean sauce because he acknowledged the fact that most of his audience were students who might not prefer too spicy foods. Very easy dish to make, perfect for busy moms and yuppies.


Oriental Pasta Delight

Tired of the usual white and red sauce? Try this dish, it’s like our Filipino pancit with a twist, but if I will cook this one in the future, I will put some nuts on it, too.


Delicious Chicken in Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce

Very simple yet delicious dish, if you have some reunion or a typical Sunday dishes this will be perfect. This dish needs slow cooking, and you need at least two hours just to cook the chicken, but for moms, this will also give you time to do other chores, like cleaning the house. There wasn't enough time to make the chicken skin crispy, but still, it was a dish I really liked.

SM Hypermarket will also launch a series of supersized cooked-off events. It will be held in five different locations, with the help of local government units and the community, and participants will be feature a regional dish. Not only that, because SM Hypermarket is happy to serve their customers there will also be five lucky shoppers who will win a kitchen make-over with the help of the designer from Philippine School of Interior Design(PSID).

For at least 500php single receipt purchase including at least one of the sponsor in SM Master Chefs Program (see the first paragraph to see the list of the 19 brands), customers may join the promo. All registration forms are available at the customer service, just fill up the form and answer the question “Why does my kitchen deserve a free makeover?” using at least 50 words or less. You also need to attach at least three pictures of your kitchen, before dropping off your entries at any SM Hypermarket branches. This is a raffle, so equal chances to everybody.

Winners will be notified via registered mail and phone, but if you are renting your current house, you must have a written consent of the owners. All the employees of SM Hypermarket, all sponsors, its partners, its affiliates, and all companies and individual directly or indirectly connected with SM Hypermarket, its agency Ad Targets, Inc. and their relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity are disqualified from joining the promo.

For more information just log-on on their website at
http://www.smhypermarket.com/hypermarket/?p=420 or you may like them at their facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SM-Hypermarket-Super-Chefs/111494208866352 or you can visit any SM Hypermarket branch.

Jesz