Chicken Fillet With Etag And Soybean By BSU Students Win Cooking Competition In Diliman, QC

Consider this as another triumph for Cordilleran cuisine. Two students taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management at the Benguet State University emerged victorious in a cooking contest held last August 8 in Quezon City. Pamela Jeane Remiendo and Maravilla Senado won the Soybean Cooking Contest with a unique dish that has chicken, soybean, etag, carrots, and broccoli as main ingredients.

For the uninitiated out there, etag is the dried meat (usually pork) that is very popular among Cordillerans. The drying process involves either spreading the salted fresh meat under the sun or over a smoky fire. The dried meat is also often referred to as either kiniing or kinuday.

Remiendo and Senado named their dish Rolled Chicken Fillet with Etag-Soybean in Honey Mustard Soybean Tidbits Sauce. It has chopped carrots and broccoli on the sides. It's easy to prepare, affordable, and most important of all, healthy.

According to Rodeliza Flores, the coach of the students and a member of the faculty of the College of Home Economics and Technology (CHET) in BSU, they included etag in the dish's ingredients to give it a Cordilleran taste.

The contest was sponsored by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (an agency under the Department of Agriculture). It was part of the events for the 13th Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum and Product Exhibition.

With the victory, BSU will be receiving a 1 million peso research grant for soybean production, processing, and product packaging. The winning students will also receive certificates, a plaque of recognition, and incentives.

The winning dish. Image credit: Rita Dela Cruz via the BSU Facebook page.