You may have tried santol or cotton fruit but did you know that the flesh (the part often discarded) can be made into a delicious dish? This Filipino viand or side dish is called Sinantolan or Ginataang Santol.
In this recipe article, you’ll learn several things about Sinantolan but most importantly you’ll learn how to make one yourself to enjoy it at home or sell it for business. Make sure to read the article before jumping to the recipe.
What is Sinantolan?
Sinantolan, also known as Ginataang Santol, is a ginataan dish or a dish cooked in gata (coconut milk). It is known to be a common dish in Bicol and Laguna.
Why is it called Sinantolan? It is derived from its main ingredient, the local fruit called santol or cotton fruit.
Image from: https://www.fruitsinfo.com/
We commonly eat santol by consuming the white cotton-like part of the seeds while the rest of the fruit gets discarded. The larger part of the fruit, the flesh, is put to good use by grating it then cooked into the delicious Sinantolan.
What is Sinantolan made of? Other than the santol fruit, flavorful ingredients are added into the mix like gata, pork, bagoong alamang, and chilis.
The taste could be described as a combination of citrusy and salty flavor with a spicy kick. Although the spice is optional, I think the chilis’ role in this dish is important for the overall taste.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Santol
When in season, santol is quite abundant in the market and fruit stands. If this isn’t available in your area, try looking for frozen grated santol in Asian stores.
Pork
Pork will bring additional flavor to this dish and it’s recommended that it has fat content. While this recipe uses ground pork, you can also manually mince pork for this. I recommend pork belly for this.
If you’re going for a vegetarian/ vegan dish, you can substitute vegemeat instead of pork.
Bagoong Alamang
I picked bagoong alamang as the seasoning to make the dish savory. But you can also use salt (to taste) in the absence of this.
Aside from these, we will also be using other regular pantry ingredients like coconut cream, onion, garlic, chili, and cooking oil. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Cooking Pan (Kawali)- Sinantolan is a one-pan dish and you will be needing a cooking pan to cook the entire dish.
- Cheesecloth (Katsa)- You will be needing this or a similar material to remove the juices from the grated santol.
- Food Processor (optional)- You can easily grate the santol with the use of a food processor. If you don’t have one, you can use a grater or a knife.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Cook Sinantolan
Cooking Sinantolan can be broken down into 3 major parts. The first part involves preparing the santol fruit. The second part involves sauteing. And the last part involves cooking in coconut cream and seasoning the dish.
To prepare the santol, peel the fruit and remove the seeds (don’t forget to sip the sweet part). We then need to grind the flesh using a food processor or a grater, you can also do this manually by mincing with the knife.
Next, we need to remove the juice or the liquid content of the ground santol. You can do this by wrapping it with cheesecloth or katsa then wring it to release the liquid.
For the second part, we simply saute the meat with garlic and onion. We then add-in the grated santol to the pan.
Lastly, we then add the coconut cream or kakang gata and season with chilis and bagoong alamang. Check out the step by step recipe below for more instructions. You can also learn more about coconut milk in this article.
How to Serve Sinantolan
As a personal favorite, I prefer having Sinantolan as a side dish to grilled food like pork, chicken, and fish, and serve it with warm steamed rice.
How to Store and Reheat Sinantolan
As a side dish, you may be serving Sinantolan in different meals. To store it properly, place it in a clean covered container. Refrigerating this can extend the shelf life for 2 to 3 weeks. To warm when ready to eat, you can use a microwave oven or over a stovetop using low heat.
Other Vegetable Recipes
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Authentic Sinantolan (Ginataang Santol) Recipe
Equipment
- Cooking Pan
Ingredients
- 4-5 pcs santol (cotton fruit), peeled with seeds removed
- 150 g (¼ lb) ground pork
- 3 cups (750 ml) kakang gata (coconut cream)
- 2 pcs siling haba (green chili)
- 5 pcs siling labuyo (or red thai chili)
- 3 tbsp bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pc medium-sized red onion, minced
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Place the santol in a food processor and process until cut into very small pieces. You can also do this manually with a grater or knife.
- Remove the santol’s juices by wringing using a cheesecloth (katsa). Discard the liquid then set aside.
- Pour the cooking oil in a cooking pan and heat.
- When hot enough, add-in the garlic and onion.
- Saute or cook until onion becomes translucent.
- Add-in the ground pork and continue to cook until the meat turns light brown in color.
- Add-in the santol then cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Pour-in the coconut cream and let it boil.
- Stir and cover the pan. Let it simmer over medium heat until the liquid reduces to half.
- Add-in the bagoong and the red and green chilis then stir.
- Cook until the liquid completely evaporates.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a serving plate. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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