Oh My Grill’s Kadun Pika or spicy chicken entry.
Oh My Grill’s chefs: Eric Palacios and Kent Kalen.
OH My Grill’s chefs Kent Kalen and Eric Palacios cooked their way into the top spot of the Kadun Pika or spicy chicken cooking contest at the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas on Saturday evening.
They said their entry was inspired by local culture and traditions.
“We really wanted to highlight and emphasize local ingredients in our local dishes that we serve, and that’s how we went about creating our entry for the Kadun Pika cooking contest,” Kalen said.
“We are both into local culture and food,” Palacios added. “We don’t want to do a lot of fusion…. We really want to stick with local-style food preparation and cooking.”
OMG’s Kadun Pika was complemented with side dishes.
“We add ‘saibok’ (sweet potato) in coconut milk dressing, local salad, which is ensalada, mixed vegetables but mixed the local way, and grilled eggplant in coconut milk,” Kalen said.
Palacios said their original plan was to include “lemai” or breadfruit for the side dish, “but because of the recent typhoon, we could not find any.”
As for coconut milk, Palacios said, “When you eat anything spicy, you drink milk to take away the spiciness or the pika flavor, so we use the coconut flavor to take away the spiciness.”
It was OMG’s first time to join the Kadun Pika contest.
The entries were judged based on taste/flavor, tenderness, balance of spiciness, and presentation.
This year’s Kadun Pika contest judges were Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Kimberly Concepcion, Rep. Marissa Flores, and Tan Holdings Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Human Resources Catherine Attao-Toves.
OMG received the first prize of $500. Distortion came in second and took home $300 while Hula Pika finished third and received $100.
OMG is among the participating food vendors at the Taste of the Marianas, one of the Marianas Visitors Authority’s signature events. It is held at Garapan Fishing Base every Saturday this month: June 3, 10, 17, and 24.
