A Primer of Sorts

A mini-feast with a lechon (roast pig) as centerpiece

There seem to have been some minor interest on Filipino cuisine recently. The Frugal Gourmet (Jeff Smith) has featured Filipino cooking in his immigrant series on tv and also in a companion cookbook. There was also a request for a recipe for 'pancit bihon' in the rec.food.recipes. I am surprised though that Filipino food is not that well-known here in the US (compared to Thai food for example) - as Filipino cuisine as one New York food critic (Barbara Costikyan) put it, is "sophisticated and exotic". The Frugal Gourmet's description though is less flattering - this is not a cuisine that can be called "high class," but it is a cuisine that can be called delicious - although of course his selections of recipes are the more common ones. Many other cookbooks featuring Asian cooking have raves about Filipino food, yet it seems like Pinoy cooking has not gained much foothold in mainstream USA. Perhaps this is one cuisine that is just waiting patiently to be discovered.

A Filipino party is not complete without generous servings of pulutan (hors d'ouvre to go with the drinks)

Philippine cooking is the familiar blended with the exotic. Just as the Filipinos are part Malay, Chinese and Spanish, so is the cuisine of the seven-thousand-island Philippine nation. One can also taste the subtle hints of Indian, Mexican, Arab and American influences. American contribution to Filipino kitchen particularly became heavy following WW II when surplus canned foods became widely available because of the shortages of fresh produce. The Filipinos embraced these 'new foods' and turned them into dishes that taste nothing like canned food. For example, by sauteing canned corned beef with onions and garlic, they created a dish uniquely their own.

Here are some dish suggestions should anyone would like to sample Filipino cooking (whether from recipe or restaurant) - these dishes are fairly traditional and whoever cooks them couldn't go wrong. As one author has put it, exploration of Filipino dishes will not be an arduous trek, because Filipino cooking is easy.

Chicken and pork adobo - imagine a rich, dark, well-marinated stew of chicken and pork, with flavors that hint of the vinegar and soy sauce. This dish is probably considered as the Philippine national dish, if ever there is one. Jeff Smith says the Filipinos love meat cooked in vinegar and this dish is the best example of such a thing and it is unusually delicious. I can't argue with that.

Pancit - imagine a steaming mound of sauteed noodles with bits of fresh vegetables, thinly sliced savory sausage and tiny shrimps laced throughout. This is easy to prepare, and the recipe is very flexible. Different types of noodles can be used: bihon (rice noodles), Canton (flour noodles), sotanghon (soybean noodle) and mike (pronounced as mee-kee, fresh egg noodles). These noodles are usually available in Asian stores. Vermicilli or angel hair pasta could also be substituted.

Rellenong Manok - imagine a whole chicken, deboned and stuffed with a mixture of ground chicken, pork and ham, plus whole sausages and hard-boiled eggs, so that when it is sliced and served, the dish looks good as it tastes.

Tinolang tahong - New York Magazine has described this as a most dazzling dish, a glorious soup made with plump mussels steamed in ginger root, spinach and a bit of onion.

Inihaw na talong - again from New York Magazine: a memorable dish which is broiled eggplant with chopped tomato, onions and bagoong - fabulous. (Bagoong: Tiny shrimp fermented in salt... could be ... hideous.)

Lumpia - either fresh (lumpiang sariwa) or fried (fried lumpia, lumpiang Shanghai) - Jeff Smith calls them heaven. Lumpiang sariwa are like crepes (rice/egg pastry) filled with Chinese vegetables and topped with peanut sauce while the Shanghais are small spring rolls, rice pastry filled with ground beef or pork. Fried lumpias are basically the fresh variety, deep fried to perfection.

Kare-kare is a meaty oxtail stew with pieces of tender tripe and vegetables in peanut sauce.

A simple dessert table

For desserts, one can choose from the ambrosiacal halo- halo - mixed fruits in crushed ice and milk, to the wonderful leche flan to the brazos which are custard wrapped in meringue. Watch out though, these desserts can be obscenely sweet.

I guess these dishes can get you started. There might be a Filipino restaurant near you.

More Filipino Recipes!

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