How to Make Kalabasa Flower Salad
Kalabasa flowers, or squash blossoms, are the main ingredient in a popular salad that comes from certain regions of the Philippines. I usually have the chance to taste this kind of salad every time I visit Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The term kalabasa is the Tagalog word for squash. This flower is one of the edible flowers from the gourd family, and it is often added to vegetable dishes.
When I make kalabasa flower salad, I like to add bagoong, or fermented anchovy sauce. This adds exciting flavors to the dish. When you make this recipe, you should feel free to adjust the amount of any of the ingredients to match your preferences.
Ingredients
- 50 pieces kalabasa flowers
- 4 small stalks spring onion, chopped
- 3 medium-sized tomatos, sliced
- 3 tablespoons bagoong
- Water, for blanching
- Pinch salt
- Water, for ice bath
- Ice cubes, for ice bath
Utensils
For Preparation:
- bowl
- chopping board
- knife
- spoon
For Cooking:
- stock pot
- strainer
- bowl
Instructions
- Clean the kalabasa flowers by detaching the flower from the stalk. Discard the inner part of the flower. Wash each piece.
- Boil water in a stockpot. Add small amount of salt. First blanch the stems, followed immediately by the flowers. Cook for less than 1 minute.
- While cooking, prepare a bowl with water and ice cubes.
- Once cooked, immediately remove stems and flowers from the boiling water and submerge them in the ice bath.
- Allow it to cool a little bit before draining the water.
- Assemble the salad by adding all the ingredients into a bowl.
Tips and Techniques
- Submerge blanched vegetables in an ice bath (bowl of water with ice cubes) to stop the cooking process.
- Add salt to the boiling water to give an initial flavor to the blanched vegetables.
- Bring water to boil first before adding the vegetables to lessen the cooking time.
- Serve kalabasa flower salad as a side dish or a vegetable main dish.
Questions & Answers
© 2019 Dred Cuan
Comments
AUTHORHi Liz,
You may try it with other edible flowers in UK. We usually make salads onboard for our specialty restaurants using the variations of edible flowers. Then for the bagoong, you may check out any Asian store in there.
This looks like a great idea for a salad. I am always keen to find salad variations, but I think I would struggle to get some of these ingredients in the UK.
