Guamanian Barbeque

The Chamorro language of Guam is now a dead language- with fewer than 10,000 native speakers and even fewer who learn it as a first language, my dad is among a dying breed. I feel a duty to continue learning and sharing as much as I can about the culture, the language, and the food.

My dad was born on Guam in 1960 and raised with his 13 siblings. He started working at the age of eight, and learned to cook for the family shortly thereafter. Today I will be sharing with you just a few of the items you may find at a traditional Chamorro barbeque, with some deviations given what is available in our area. We will be covering:

• chicken kelaguen
• finadenne and white rice
• tri-tip
• corn on the cob

Let's get started with finnadenne

There are a handful of variations but I will tell you what we made for this batch. You will need:

• Half a white onion
• A half cup of lemon juice
• A cup of soy sauce
• Three-four Thai chili peppers

First you want to thinly slice half of a white onion into a bowl. Next pour the lemon juice over the top of it. Slice your red peppers into small pieces and put them into the bowl- leave the seeds in if you want a little extra spice. Finally pour your soy sauce over the top, and put it into the refrigerator anywhere from one hour, to 24. The idea is, you'd like to let the onions soak up all of the flavor in the bowl before you garnish your dishes with it.

This sauce will keep well in your fridge, and you can continue to chop onions and peppers into it as you use them. It's a cheap way to spice up your food and tastes great on a lot of things.

Some variations of finnadenne call for green onions as oppose to white, a quarter cup of vinegar, or lime juice instead of lemon. You can also add more peppers if you like spicy

A quick tutorial on white rice:

• Put two cups of rice into the bowl of the cooker
• Wash the rice with water and your fingers, dumping and refilling until the water is almost clear
• Fill water to the two cup line on the inside of the cooker
• Cover, and push the button down to cook

If you don't have a rice cooker, you can do this on the stove:

• Put two cups of rice into a pot
• Wash the rice with water and your fingers, dumping and refilling until the water is almost clear
• Put the tip of your ring finger on top of the rice and fill until the water is at the crease on your finger
• Bring the water to a boil, then turn it all the way down, but not off, and cover the pot about 95% with a lid

I will cover how to make Chamorro red rice in a future recipe if you are interested!

Let's get our chicken kelaguen going:

As with most of these dishes, there are a variety of ways to prepare this depending on your preferences and your family's history with this dish on Guam. I will be telling you how this batch was prepared.

You will need:

• 3-6 bone in chicken thighs (breasts are preferred but this is what we had)
• About a cup and a half of green onions
• Two tablespoons of salt
• 5-6 Thai chilis
• 6-8 Lemons

We grilled our chicken, but you are able to cook it on the stove or in the oven if need be. We also opted for half-marinated, and half plain chicken. The marinade is simply soy-sauce and onions.

• Start your charcoal and wait until it has turned gray before spreading it to the outsides of the grill
• Place the chicken on the grill skin-side up and close the grill

• At 350-400 degrees, you want to let the chicken cook for 17-20 minutes
• While the chicken is on the grill we can prepare the rest of the ingredients

• Chop up your green onions

• Pour salt into a small walled dish and put your peppers on top
• Pour salt over top the peppers
• Crush your red peppers into the salt

If you have a pestle and mortar, that is the ideal way to crush these, but a small dish with the handle end of a knife can work just fine.

• Squeeze the juice from your lemons and save for later
• By the time you finish these steps, your chicken should be close to done. The chicken does not have to be completely cooked when you pull it off

• Next we are going to pull the chicken from the bones and dice it up
• Beware that the chicken will still be hot, so be careful with your fingers, but throw it into the bowl as you dice

• Next you are going to rinse the chicken in the lemon juice
• The acidity of the lemon will cook any parts of the chicken that are not completely cooked

• Hand stir in both the green onions and the red pepper salt
• Cover and put into the refrigerator once it is room temp (ideally you want it in the fridge at least half an hour to an hour before serving for the flavors to get to know each other)
• Add salt, red peppers, or lemon juice to-taste
• Make sure to save your chicken bones for soup stock later!

Chicken kelaguen also often includes fresh shredded coconut. It can be eaten with the skin on or off of it. My uncle would prepare this a day before consumption, usually only cooking the chicken for 5-10 minutes and allowing the lemon juice to cook it over night in the fridge. We have to make it slightly milder these days for my dad's stomach, but we used to cook it with 10+ Thai chilis when I was growing up. This tastes great on its own, but you can eat it as a dip with chips, or wrapped in a tortilla as well.

Super simple corn on the cob:

• First shuck your corn by pulling off the leaves and hair
• Throw the corn on the grill when you put the chicken on
• Pull the corn off just before the tri-tip
• This should be about 30-35 minutes turning halfway through

Now for the tri-tip:

The name of the game is garlic and time. For this you will need:

• 3-6lbs of tri-tip
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• About a quarter cup of minced garlic
• Roughly two table spoons of garlic salt

• first start the charcoal
• cut slits into the top of the tri-tip and place whole cloves of garlic into it

• next cover the top side of the tri-tip with minced garlic and garlic salt
• rub it in by hand

• spread out the charcoal to the outside of the grill so that the fats don't create an unnecessary flame

• place the tri-tip on the grill, garlic side up

• cover the grill and leave it on for 35-40 minutes

Now you have a feast for family and friends!

One important aspect of Chamorro culture is insuring that nothing goes to waste. The chicken bones can be used to make soup stock. The fats from the tri-tip can make gravy or au jus. The finnadenne can be refilled, and the bags can be washed and reused for future meals. If there is too much food for your house, the rest can be used for leftovers or balutan- food for your friends and neighbors.

When my dad was growing up on Guam, majority of the food came from his family's efforts: growing fruits and veggies and raising livestock, catching crabs on the beach, and picking coconuts straight from the tree were all a part of everyday life. In order to feed the whole family, you had to make every bit of the meal last. If you ever make it to a Chamorro get-together, they will always make sure there is enough food to go around and more.

I hope you enjoy this meal and share with those you love. Thanks for reading!