Oh My Grill tops ‘Taste’ cookoff

Oh My Grill chefs Kent Kalen and Eric Palacios topped the Kadun Pika cooking competition last Saturday at the start of the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas International Food Festival & Beer Garden at the Garapan Fishing Base.

Despite being newbies to the Taste of the Marianas’ cooking competitions, Oh My Grill’s Kalen and Palacios set their goals high and did not fail as they took home the $500 cash prize and bragging rights.

Kalen, who is the head chef at Oh My Grill, said that, although they have previously joined other cooking competitions, this is their first Taste of the Marianas cookoff and they felt ecstatic to have won on their first try.

The pair, like the six other teams who joined last Saturday’s cookoff, were tasked with putting their own spin on the classic Chamorro dish, Kadun Pika, or “spicy chicken.”

Kalen said he really wanted to make sure that the local ingredients he used in his dish shone while also staying true to the basics of Kadun Pika.

Oh My Grill chefs Eric Palacios, left, and Kent Kalen pose for a photo after being named the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas Kadun Pika cooking competition champs. The two are the men behind Oh My Grill’s delicious dishes, which will be available every Saturday this month at their booth at the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas International Food Festival & Beer Garden at the Garapan Fishing Base. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

“We really wanted to highlight and emphasize local ingredients in this dish. That’s how we went about creating our entry for the Kadun Pika cooking contest. We didn’t want to do a lot of fusion as we really want to stick with local-style food preparation and cooking,” he said.

Palacios shared that their dish featured ingredients that are a staple in most island meals, like sweet potatoes, coconut milk, eggplant, and more.

“We had sweet potato in coconut milk dressing, we had ensalada (it’s like mixed vegetables with a local twist), and grilled eggplant in coconut milk. Our original plan was to include ‘lemai’ or breadfruit for the side dish, but because of the recent typhoon, we could not find any. [Of course] when you eat anything spicy, you drink milk to take away the spiciness, so we also featured coconut milk to take away the pike flavor,” he said.

This year’s Kadun Pika contest judges were Superior Court associate judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Kimberly Concepcion, Rep. Marissa Flores (Ind.-Saipan), and Tan Holdings vice president Catherine Attao-Toves.

Aside from Oh My Grill, the other competitors were Hula Pika, Madge, Humble Marianas, Team Oleai, Talayeru, and Distorted.

While Oh My Grill received the first prize of $500, Team Distorted came in second and took home $300 while Hula Pika finished third and received $100.