Achuete and Achuete Oil
Achuete is a common cooking ingredient in the Philippines. It’s used as a coloring agent for a variety of popular dishes. I do think it has a flavor all its own, very subtle but distinct. For certain dishes like Pancit Malabon, kare-kare and chicken inasal, achuete is an essential ingredient.
I made some achuete oil for the chicken inasal I posted about yesterday. It’s very simple to make, just gently heat up some vegetable oil with some achuete seeds in a pan and strain for future use. For certain dishes, you can also add some hot broth or water to a few tablespoons of the seeds and swirl it around till the liquid has turned a deep orange.
Now that I’m writing this post, I was pleasantly surprised to find that even Emeril has a recipe for this Annato Oil and Paste!
August 13th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
[...] 1 tbsp. Annato oil [...]
March 6th, 2008 at 2:09 am
Did Bacolod Chicken Inasal also put achuete on their inasal? hehe. Just wondering.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Arney, yes they do. Notice the color next time you’re there…
April 1st, 2008 at 5:32 am
Did achuete actually affect the food’s taste? By the way, I like that bacolod chicken inasal.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:25 am
Aries, I think it does. The best way to find out is to compare by cooking two batches of the chicken - one without the oil and one with the oil. mmm…I just might try that…
May 5th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I think achuete makes the bacolod chicken inasal look yummy.