A Visit to the Pacific Islands: Kelaguen

by Jan Drexler

Welcome to summer! I mean real summer. Hot days, afternoon thunderstorms, cloudless blue morning skies, cooking outdoors on the grill (or not cooking at all!) These are lazy summer days!

There are a few recipes that I save for summer only, and this is one of them. I cook the chicken in the early morning and mix this salad up around lunchtime. By supper time, it's been in the fridge for a few hours and ready to go.

The key ingredient in this dish is unsweetened coconut. In the grocery stores it's easy to find the sweetened coconut flakes that are so essential for fruit salads and Christmas goodies, but that version would make this dish too sweet.

You can find unsweetened coconut in some health food stores, or you can find several different brands by searching for "unsweetened coconut flakes" on Amazon. I find mine at E&S Sales, my favorite bulk food store in Shipshewana, Indiana.

I've shared this recipe before, but it deserves another look. I especially love sweet Thatcher's face in the last picture! I miss that dog...although his successors are doing a fine job following in his footsteps. :-)


Kelaguen


Because of my husband's job as a hospital food service director, he goes to a lot of food blogs. And he comes into contact with a lot of different recipes.

Recipes he rarely brings home!

So imagine my surprise when he gave me this recipe a couple summers ago!

He says the guy who posted the original recipe on the blog is from the Philippines. I Googled the dish, and learned that it's found all over the Pacific Islands.

Originally, it seems the islanders used this recipe to ferment seafood - basically "cook" it in acid and salt. When other meat sources were introduced to the islands, the recipe was adapted to include them. Even Spam! Although one of the sources said the Spam version is only popular among beer drinkers.

Draw your own conclusions :)

The version I make uses cooked chicken.

Kelaguen

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

1 hot pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

1/4 cup lemon juice (or juice of 2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut - dried or fresh

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve with warm tortillas or with a green salad.

Since this is an ancient recipe, pretty much anything goes.

Use whatever meat - or even tofu - you choose. I use diced, cooked chicken breasts. You can also use seafood, beef, canned tuna...whatever!

Use whatever pepper you want - or even none. I like the zing a hot pepper gives the dish - although I don't like too much of it. I used one of these - I think it's a Serrano?

Green Bell Peppers would work well, too.

And, of course, for the coconut I used some of the huge bag that I dug into last week to make my Delightful Coconut Dreams (recipe here).

Paired with a green salad, this makes a wonderfully quick, nutritious cold dish for summer!

Someone else thinks so, too!

What's your favorite go-to dish for hot summer days?

And while you're enjoying the hot summer, don't forget to think about Christmas! If you missed my Christmas novella last year, Bethany House is releasing it in ebook form for this year!

Jan Drexler is an author by day who is addicted to counted cross stitch and sauntering through the Hills with her dear husband and their puppies - goofy corgi Jack and growing-fast border collie Sam. You can find Jan's books and other fun things on her website: www.JanDrexler.com.