LP 17: Egg’s a Deal! It’s squash yema

Thanks to Angelo of Eat Matters who is hosting this month’s Lasang Pinoy, a Filipino food blogging event with focus on any egg-based recipe, I had to rummage through my best culinary memory for a dish that can truly be considered Egg’s a Deal!

The result is this simple but great-tasting yema; not just any yema, mind you, but a squash or pumpkin yema that my veggie-hating kiddos relished with gusto. Kids always love sweets and so entranced were they with the taste that they forgot it’s something they wouldn’t eat otherwise if the squash was sauteed with other vegetables or simmered in coconut milk.

A yema is a Filipino round-shaped candy of Spanish origin which counts among its main ingredients egg yolk and condensed milk. The mention of yema evokes memories of my childhood since I always happily munched on this sweet treat and/or cooked this in home economics class.

The recipe for the candy I adapted from “Filipino Cuisine,” my favorite local cookbook published by Centro Escolar University.

How to prepare –

toast 1/2 cup pinipig
chop three tablespoons of jackfruit or langka
open one can of condensed milk
take out two tablespoons of butter or margarine from the refrigerator
boil and mash one cup of squash, chopped into pieces
prepare six pieces egg yolks by using egg separator
chop two tablespoons peanuts or cashew nuts
take out three-fourth cup sugar

For the final countdown –

“Mix pinipig and langka in condensed milk. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine butter, squash, egg yolks and cashew nuts. Add to the pinipig mixture and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. When thick enough to hold its shape, remove from heat. Cool mixture. Form 1/2 tablespoon mixture into balls and roll in sugar. Wrap each in cellophane.”

Cook’s Notes:

1. Toast the pinipig enough only so as not to burn.

2. The reason why I shy away from buying squash and thereby cooking pinakbet is that it’s so difficult to chop. Save kitchen time by buying chopped squash pieces in the market, but make sure it’s freshly prepared.

3. The nuts are optional. I omitted them from my recipe and it was still able to hold its own. You can add more pinipig and more squash though.

4. Make the candy more attractive to kids by buying multi-colored wrapper. Enjoy:)

The recipe is also in my revived food blog. Do check it out 😛