MAUI- Filipino Foods Chayote Guisado Recipe

It's time for a little Filipino food, sorry guys but there's so many people mentioning Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, and Korean foods these days, my native Philippines is left out of the conversation. You see, Filipino foods are a fusion of many lands, from American, European, Spanish, Asian, it's huge covering lots of ingredients, it can be presented as in house family food to fine dine.


Here is a recipe for a greenish fruit native to Mexico, but found its way to the Filipino chef's kitchen, Chayote Guisado simply means sauteed Chayote. And here is the recipe, feel free to tweak it if you are allergic to certain ingredients.

•  4  chayote squash, peeled, seeded and sliced into your desired style.
• 1-2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 lb. pork, sliced into cubes, I like to use a loin cut
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, rough chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tbsp. fish sauce, or patis
• salt and pepper, to taste
• water

1. In stainless steel pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the pork so all juices come out, or sweat it out.
2. Add the garlic, onions and tomatoes. Sauté  a few minutes till the tomatoes start to wilt.
3. Add the chayote pieces, and then add the fish sauce, be careful but not too much salt and pepper. Cook stirring for few more minutes until it all comes together.
4. Pour in some water and bring to a boil. Cover it with a lid, make sure to lower the heat and let it simmer until the Chayote fruit is tender.
5. Adjust the seasonings to your liking.
6. Remove from heat. Serve with rice.

Note: Other herbs and spices that goes well with Chayote Guisado is bay leaves, marjoram, thyme, pepper corns, and some hot peppers works too.

In some supermarkets the Chayote is found under the Squash category, so some employees in those places may not know what a Chayote is. Some people pronounce this fruit in various ways. I've heard people call it, 

"Chu Yote," or "Chey yo tee," or "Cha yo tay," or "Shay oh tay," well you can come up with your own pronunciation.

We'll cover more Filipino foods in the next posts up coming, it can be in a few minutes or a few hours or  a few days.