This dish is one of my fond memories of four years spent in Saipan. Local celebrations always included chicken kelaguen, red rice, empanadas, pancit, and other delicious island foods.
Traditional kelaguen starts with a whole chicken, cut in half or in pieces, that has been grilled till cooked but still juicy. Then you combine the remaining ingredients and stir with the chicken and let it stand and cool for an hour or so. To enjoy, put some into a tortilla and wrap it up and eat it. The sweet fresh coconut balances the heat of the peppers and the tartness of the limes.
Fresh coconut is key, so don’t buy sweetened flake or frozen coconut, which has added sugar.To open the coconut, drill some holes in the end where the three indentations are located—a 1/4-inch drill bit works well—and turn the nut over to drain the liquid. You can also use a hammer and a large nail, but Michael enjoyed getting out the drill for this. Then wrap the nut in a towel and pound it a few times with a hammer until it breaks into several large pieces. Pry the meat out of the shell with a small knife.
I have to agree with Santos at The Scent of Green Bananas: grilling the chicken over charcoal renders the best flavor for this dish, but it still tastes great if you use a gas grill or if you broil or bake in the oven.
[Updated March 26, 2010.]
CHICKEN KELAGUEN (KELAGUEN MANNOK)
Adapted from the Saipan Community School Cookbook, 1986.
Equipment
grill
sharp knife
cleaver or meat grinder
juicer or reamer
large bowl
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces, or 3 pounds (~1.3 kilos) boneless, skinless chicken breast
juice of 4 limes (or more to taste)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 coconut, grated
sea salt, to taste
3 or 4 Thai hot peppers, finely chopped (or other small red hot peppers)
tortillas
Preparation
1. Grill chicken pieces for 10 minutes on one side and then turn and grill 5 more minutes. Remove from grill and allow to cool a few minutes so that you don’t burn yourself. Remove skin and bones and finely chop or grind the meat.
2. In the large bowl, stir together chicken, juice, coconut, salt, onions, and peppers. Let stand 1 hour. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature wrapped in tortillas.
Variations
Broil: Use your oven broiler to cook the meat following the same directions as for grilling.
Bake: Preheat oven to 350° F and bake in foil-lined 9×13 pan for about 30 minutes. Don’t over cook; you want the meat to retain it’s juices.
Other peppers: I like to add finely chopped green and red bell pepper for additional color.
Resources
The Scent of Green Bananas (blog about food on Guam)
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I make this all the time! As a matter of fact, just bought three chickens from Costco and several packets of frozen coconut meat from our asian market. Yeah, plan to make this tomorrow. 🙂 I usually make this with green onions and red pepper flakes. It makes the dish look “Purdy”.
Nice site. Booked marked it.
I’m born and raised in
guam but i’ve been in palm bay florida now since 2003 and I’m sure i’m not the only chamorro here. I think it’s time for someone to open a chamorro restaurant or something to that effect. GOOD MONEY!!!
When I lived on Saipan, someone served this with red pickled ginger chopped in. It intensified the freshness of the taste. Has anyone else ever heard of this variation?
Hi Dave. I don’t remember ever having red pickled ginger in kelaguen, but it sounds good!
One of my favorite fiesta foods, we lived in Dededo for 2 years in the late seventies and made tones of food for our village feast day. I remember sometimes wrapping the keleguan in steamed cabbage leaves instead of tortillas.
Hafa Adai, Katherine! It’s also good wrapped in lettuce leaves.