Filipino Food Gets Some Respect

[Miami Danny]

These two spots are great in their own right-both were written about in the same day, in the Sun Post and the Herald. Irving's Magical Food Truck

AND

Tatay's

I'm currently a HUGE fan of Pork Chocolate, and for all the right reasons.

[Domestic Goddess]

MDanny - I was going to ask what was Pork Chocolate since I have never heard of it and I am Filipino. Then I read the article and saw it was Diniguan (Pork Blood Stew). My mom makes a great diniguan stew and we sometimes eat it with puto (round steamed rice cakes).

Um, both your links show one article - the sun post one.

[Miami Danny]

Tatay's

Sorry for the technical glitch.

I never heard it referred to as pork chocolate either, that's part of Irving's charm. Puto sounds dirty! Anything to that?

MDanny - I was going to ask what was Pork Chocolate since I have never heard of it and I am Filipino. Then I read the article and saw it was Diniguan (Pork Blood Stew). My mom makes a great diniguan stew and we sometimes eat it with puto (round steamed rice cakes).

Um, both your links show one article - the sun post one.

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Edited September 5, 2007 by Miami Danny (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

Actually puto is a small round rice cake, smaller than your palm and is usually white. It also can come in various pastel colors and in teeny-tiny sizes (think reese's cup size). It is made with ground rice flour and sugar then fermented. My aunt who was widowed at an early age, actually had a thriving puto-making business.

Puto sounding dirty? Nah! Not unless you change that last letter to "a".

[annecros]

Actually puto is a small round rice cake, smaller than your palm and is usually white. It also can come in various pastel colors and in teeny-tiny sizes (think reese's cup size). It is made with ground rice flour and sugar then fermented. My aunt who was widowed at an early age, actually had a thriving puto-making business.

Puto sounding dirty? Nah! Not unless you change that last letter to "a". 

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I am actually very ignorant of Filipino food. What else would you recommend trying? I am a very adventurous eater, but a little squeemish about raw foods, and shy of overly spicy. Tummy issues.

I did, and do, prepare your garlic fried rice. Yummy.

[Domestic Goddess]

Anne,

Here's a must of what you absolutely must try:

1. Adobo - whether it is chicken or pork or a combination of both, you have to try my country's national dish. Some make it dry, some make it saucy and some even flake it and cook it until it is crispy. The best way to eat adobo? With garlic fried rice, sunny-side egg, a couple of tomato slices for breakfast or brunch in the morning.

2. Sinigang - a sour-savory soup usually made out of pork. It is usually laden with veggies like water spinach, eggplant, yardlong beans and okra. You eat this with steamed rice and with a dip, fish sauce. You dip the pork in the fish sauce, put on top of your rice and with some veggies and chew. Slurp the hot soup between bites. Best eaten during cold, rainy days. Also can be made from fish, shrimp or beef cubes.

3. Lechon Kawali - Pork belly cubes, boiled until tender and then crispy-fried. Usually served with a liver-based sauce or soy sauce-vinegar-chili dip. Also eaten with rice and with your fingers.

4. Lechon Paksiw - leftover roasted pig or Lechon kawali are cooked with a vinegary-sweet sauce with banana blossoms. A lot of filipinos eat this stew with tuyo (fried dried salty fish) as a salty foil to the sweet taste of the stew. Also eaten with steamed rice.

5. Diniguan - pork blood stew. If you can overcome the black color of the stew and the fact that it is black because the sauce is made from blood, then you'd discover the wonderful savory dish known as diniguan. Cubes of pork and offal hide under the luxurious savory sauce. There are two ways to eat diniguan, again with rice and with puto (steamed rice cakes).

6. Pancit - made either from bihon (rice noodles), miki (thick chinese noodles) or sotanghon (mungbean noodles). This stir-fried noodle dish is made with a lot of veggies julliened and shredded pork/chicken and sometimes chinese sausage. Filipinos usually consider this as a snack or a side dish in a special feast. To eat, squeeze a calamansi lime fruit all over the noodles and eat with toasted bread.

7. Lumpia - there are two kinds of lumpia (spring roll): fried and fresh. Fried lumpia usually has minced meat with veggies (carrots, onions) and served with sweet&sour dipping sauce or soysauce-vinegar dip. Fresh lumpia is simply uncooked springroll (wrapper) with sauteed coconut heart or veggies (bean sprouts) with sweet-savory sauce topped with minced garlic and chopped peanuts. Again like with the pancit, lumpia is either served as a snack or as a side dish.

8. Nilaga - boiled beef soup with cabbage, potatoes, squash and spring onions. This hearty soup is another favorite rainy day dish. It is usually served with an boiled eggplant/squash sauce (mixed with vinegar and garlic).

The eggplant-squash sauce..

Hope that gets you interested to try out some of the wonderful dishes my country offers.

Edited September 6, 2007 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[annecros]

Hope that gets you interested to try out some of the wonderful dishes my country offers.

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Yes, it does!

I have enjoyed adobo and pancit in the past. Will have to pay more attention to the rest of your recco's.

Thanks.