Published with permission by The Guam Guide

Trying to eat healthier and buy local? You’ll want to try the tasty recipes below. Tell us in the comments section what your favorite local foods and recipes are! Be sure to read our feature story, Is It Healthier to Eat Local?

Fruit: mango, calamansi, guava, saba banana, papaya, avocado, mountain apple, soursop

Vegetables: moringa, bittermelon, green onion leaves, sweet potato, taro, squash

Green Mango Salad – Island style

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of shredded local green mango
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic (or to taste)
• 2 fresh donne’ sali (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 locally grown cherry tomatoes (quartered)
• juice of ½ (medium sized) Guam lime (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup fresh local green string beans in 1 inch segments

DIRECTIONS:

Pour sugar into a mortar of sufficient size. Add the donne’ sali and garlic cloves into the sugar. Lightly pound the sugar, garlic and pepper with the pestle until they form a rough paste. In a bowl, combine the sliced string beans, shredded mango, sliced cherry tomatoes, and the sugar, garlic, and donne’ paste together. Add the juice of half a lime and the fish sauce. Mix the ingredients well so the sugar crystals dissolve. Taste and adjust to your liking. The key is to balance the sweet element with the salty element (sugar and fish sauce), as well as retaining the perfect blend of hot and sour elements (donne’ and lime juice). Plate up and garnish as you like, then serve immediately.

This is a local twist to a classic SE Asian dish, showcasing Guam’s seasonally ubiquitous green mangoes.

Source: Chris Leon Guerrero. Photo Source: InstantDaneTV

Tamales Gollai (Veggie Tamales)

4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 tbsp lard or vegetable shortening (or any substitute of your choosing)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or salt substitute)
• a pinch of sugar
• a pinch of black pepper
• a pinch of cumin (optional)
• 1 cup of Masa Harina
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup beef, chicken, or vegetable stock (your choice)
• 1 stalk of fresh green onions, chopped into small pieces
• 1/4 of a small red bellpepper, chopped into small cubes
• 1/4 cup of fresh moringa leaves, chopped finely
• 2 slices of bacon (pork or turkey), browned and finely chopped (optional)
• 2 donne’ sali, finely chopped (optional)
• 7 or more large banana leaves (heated for pliability) cut into 12 inch squares
• 7 or more squares of aluminum foil
• calamansi for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

To make the Tamales Gollai dough, beat the room temperature lard or shortening until fluffy. Beat in salt, sugar, donne’ sali, black pepper, cumin, masa harina, and baking powder until the mixture is crumbly. Add the chopped moringa leaves, chopped bacon, green onions, and red bell peppers and mix well. Add the beef stock gradually into the mix very slowly while continuously beating. Spread 1~2 tbsp of tamale mix in the middle of a pliable banana leaf. Fold both the left and right sides over the middle section, totally enclosing the tamale mixture. Fold both the top and bottom ends over the middle section to seal the tamale. Wrap each folded tamale in aluminum foil to seal it tightly and prevent any leakage. Arrange the completed and foil-wrapped Tamales Gollai into a steamer. Fill the bottom of the steamer with hot water, then cover the steamer. Cook the Tamales Gollai for approximately 40 to 60 minutes, taking care to top up the water in the bottom of the steamer. When done, remove from them from the heat source, then remove foil wrap from each one as you plate them up. Garnish with a side of local calamansi and serve while warm.

For a more health conscious version of this recipe, lard substitutes, salt substitutes, low-sodium stock, and low fat turkey bacon are great choices!

Source: Chris Leon Guerrero

Guam Laguana (Soursop) Milkshake

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of locally grown soursop puree (be very careful to remove all seeds!)
• 3 cups of milk (your choice of whole, non-fat, 2%, etc.)
• 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (optional)
• sugar to taste
• splash of Guam lime juice
• 2 handfuls of ice cubes

DIRECTIONS:

To make this tropical island milkshake, place the soursop puree in a blender. Add the milk, sugar, splash of lime juice, and yogurt, then blend well. Adjust sugar to taste and more lime juice if needed (keep in mind the ice cubes you are about to add will dilute the sweetness somewhat, so adjust accordingly). Add ice cubes, blend mixture until ice is crushed. Pour into a tall glass, garnish as you like, then serve immediately.

Hint: Make a simple sugar syrup in place of undissolved sugar. It will bypass the time spent mixing and trying to dissolve sugar crystals in the blender. Fresh, ripe, strained guava puree can be substituted for soursop in this recipe. Simply delicious!

*Soursop seeds are toxic, so be careful when processing this fruit at home. Please be sure to remove each and every single seed.

Source: Chris Leon Guerrero/ Photo Source: The Deep Dish Cayman

Simple Soursop Smoothie

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups soursop (adjust to taste)
• 1 cup milk
• 5 ice cubes

DIRECTIONS: Mix together in blender.

Source: Roland P. Santos. Photo Source: My Juicing Web

Avocado/Cucumber Salad

DIRECTIONS: Slice cucumbers and overripe avocados. Season with vinegar, salt, and black pepper.

Recipe and photo Source: Bella Raynette

Star-Apple/Tomato Side Dish

DIRECTIONS: Sliced tomatoes with star-apple seasoned with salt, black pepper, and vinegar.

Recipe and photo Source: Bella Raynette

Black Taro

DIRECTIONS: Bought at Bemyore Market (Barrigada). Already precooked. Steam for a couple of minutes, peel off the skin, mash it, add salt and a little water (optional coconut milk), shape into balls, and steam them in banana leaves.

Recipe and photo Source: Bella Raynette

Boiled Taro leaves

DIRECTIONS: Boil taro leaves and stalk with coconut milk, yellow ginger, and lemon, and pork (optional). Cook over the fire as it takes a while.

Recipe and photo Source: Bella Raynette

Calamansi Basil Vinaigrette

Yield: 6     Prep Time: 10 min.     Total Time: 10 min.

INGREDIENTS:

• Zest and juice of one calamansi
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4-1/2 tsp honey
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the chopped basil, canola oil, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste in a shallow dish. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender until well combined. Drizzle over your favorite salad ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Source: For the Love of Cooking/Farm to Table Guam

Gollai Apan: (Chodda, Suni, Kamuti, Mendioca, Dagu)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lg cooking banana (medium ripe)
• 2 lg sweet potato
• 2 lg taro root
• 1 lg tapioca root
• 1 can(s) coconut milk
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch cinnamon, ground (optional)
• 3 cups water (until halfway evaporated)
• 1 cups tapioca pearls (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel and cut sweet potato, tapioca, banana, and taro roots in 1″ cubes. Rinse and drain using a colander.

2. Using a large pot, (non-stick) arrange your cubes in the pot; add water to cover the cubes. Cover pot, let it cook for about 30 minutes, or until roots are soft.

3. Reduce your heat to medium-low. Sprinkle the salt and sugar; add the tapioca pearls and coconut milk. Cover pot, let it come to a boil for 10 minutes (until thickened). Remove from heat.

4. Serve on a large platter, sprinkle cinnamon for garnish. Let cool and serve

Source: 671 Guam Recipes

Detox Meal

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup local spinach
• Half of an avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes

DIRECTIONS:

Saute pan with coconut oil. Mince garlic and place into pan with local spinach until leaves turn tender. Remove from pan and place in a bowl. Oil pan again and lightly grill avocado slices. Remove from pan and place into bowl with spinach. garnish with fresh coconut flakes.

Recipe and Photo Source: Bella Raynette

Pickled Mango

INGREDIENTS:

• 15-20 mangoes cored/sliced
• salt
• vinegar

DIRECTIONS: 

Place sliced mangoes in a jar. Add vinegar and salt until mangoes are fully submerged.

Recipe and Photo Source: Bella Raynette