The Dazas’ Filipino-French Fusion

Take a page out of the Dazas’ family cookbook with this easy sotanghon recipe that marries French and Filipino flavors

As members of the storied Daza clan, Nina Daza-Puyat, and Ava Daza- Zanirato grew up in a family where their lives, relationships, and love language were largely centered around food.

From late culinary icon Nora Daza, the passion for gastronomy passes down to Nina — her youngest daughter and former editor-in-chief of Appetite Magazine and her granddaughter, Ava. Their culinary legacy is filled with many special family recipes – some traditional, many with their own unique twists – that continue to be passed on throughout generations, with each introducing their own flavors.

Nina’s Umami Aligue Sotanghon is one such recipe, carrying the influences of both Filipino and French cooking and memories of the days her mother and the late Bong Daza, Ava’s father, ran and managed a Filipino restaurant in Paris.

Originally paired with rice and known as Sugpong Pampango, the recipe had the French enjoying
every bite!

“Lola Nora had this idea of serving prawns with aligue mixed with French creme fraiche — and the
French went wild,” Nina reveals to Ava. “And she served it with rice!”

With the French singing praises about the dish despite not knowing much about Filipino cuisine, the rich flavors of both the shrimp and the crab fat-infused cream eventually served as a foundation for various culinary concepts including the widely beloved aligue pasta. Tossed in the same rich cream, Nina achieves the same, or if not, more delicious results with SAPPORO Longkow Vermicelli. It’s so simple, Nina points out.

“The best ingredients are all you need,” Nina emphasizes. “For the noodles, we choose SAPPORO’s sotanghon noodles because the texture adheres better to the aligue sauce. It also stays firm and elastic with a chew that can hold up to the richness of the cream and crab fat.”

With the best ingredients, the possibilities are limitless. Just like how Nina Daza-Puyat uses
SAPPORO Longkow Vermicelli to marry French and Filipino flavors, there are so many fusions out there to explore. Social media is already transforming into one collective online cookbook, who knows? There might be some recipes out there that will inspire budding chefs and food lovers everywhere!

Umami Aligue Sotanghon

INGREDIENTS
ALIGUE SOTANGHON
4 small bundles SAPPORO Longkow Vermicelli
1/3 cup butter
I head garlic, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 (8 oz) bottle crab paste or taba ng talangka paste
1 bottle Navarro’s taba ng talangka (special variant)
1 cup culinary cream or all-purpose cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
�1/2 tsp. fine salt
�1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (patis)
1 cup water
GARLIC SHRIMPS
1 kilo fresh shrimps, large size
�1/2 tsp. fine salt
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1/4 tsp. Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 �cup butter
1/2 cup chopped garlic
Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Lemon slices or quarters, to garnish
DIRECTIONS
ALIGUE SOTANGHON

1. Soak SAPPORO Longkow Vermicelli
   in water for 20 to 30 minutes. When softened,
   use scissors to cut and shorten strands. Set aside.
2. In a wok or large saucepan, melt butter.
   Toss in garlic and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes,
   but do not brown.
3. Add taba ng talangka paste and stir
   to heat through. Pour in cream and sour cream,
   then continue stirring until well-blended.
4. Season mixture with lemon juice, salt, pepper,
   garlic powder and patis. Simmer over low heat
   for another 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Next, add water and bring mixture to a boil.
   Add the softened sotanghon and stir to coat
   noodles with the sauce. Leave pan uncovered and
   simmer over low heat for 12 to 15 minutes until
   noodles have absorbed the sauce. Make sure to
   stir the noodles every five minutes.
6. When done, turn heat off. Transfer Aligue
   Sotanghon to a serving platter and serve
   with Garlic Shrimp.

GARLIC SHRIMP

1. First, prepare the shrimp, which can be
   prepared one of three ways: split and butterflied,
   peeled with tails intact, or completely whole
   and de-veined with shells cut.
2. Next, season the shrimp. In a small bowl,
   combine salt, white pepper, Spanish paprika and
   garlic powder. Sprinkle the mixture on the shrimp
   and toss. Set aside.
3. In a large frying pan, melt butter. Toss in
   chopped garlic. When garlic starts to change color,
   add shrimp and cook until the shells turn orange.
   Flip the shrimp on the other side and cover the pan
   with a lid to cook them for another minute. Turn
   heat off and remove shrimps from the pan.
   Do not overcook.
4. Serve with Aligue Sotanghon. Garnish with
   chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

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