Filipino Food?

[The Game]

What's it like? I'm familiar with Japanese and Chinese and like those, tried Thai and it's just not my thing.

Also, anyone know of a place in the Greater Cleveland (Ohio) area that I could check out and try some? :)

[stickarts]

GM Presas brought me to a place once in New Jersey.
I let him order for me because I didn't know what any of the food was!
It wasn't quite like anything i have eaten before!
It was an interesting experience! I must admit that under normal circumstances i would prefer a thick steak! :)
If you find a place, let us know how it went!

[Bob Hubbard]

Ditto. :) I spent a year in Parma (suburb of Cleveland for those not familiar with the area or the Drew Carey show) and don't recall any, but wasn't looking at the time either. I try to get back that way at least once a year so if you find one, I'd love to try it out. Sadly, none in WNY that I know of.

Read somewhere that BBQ was a regular part though. ??

[HKphooey]

One of my hobbies is Asian/Islands cooking. I have found some good Philipino recipes at this website. This will give you an idea of som eof the foods.

http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/philippines.html

Personally like the Chicken Pochero-Style (Pocherong Manok). :)

[The Game]

Nice resource.
Hmm...Ginger Tea (http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/4602.html)?

Thank you

[Bob Hubbard]

I dabble in cooking, leaning towards Chinese and Mexican, but some of those recipes look fun to try. Any suggestions on where to look for some of the ingredients? I didn't find a few at my local grocery store (which has a decent international section.)

[Guro Harold]

Hi The Game,

Here is an earlier thread concerning Phillipine food http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29868&highlight=food.

Thanks for your post and welcome to MT and the MT FMA Forum!!!

[HKphooey]

I dabble in cooking, leaning towards Chinese and Mexican, but some of those recipes look fun to try. Any suggestions on where to look for some of the ingredients? I didn't find a few at my local grocery store (which has a decent international section.)

I am lucky to have to Asian Grocery Markets near by and some of the spices and non-parishables I order over the internet. Some local Asian restaurants often sell me certain things in bulk.

[forceanchors]

Be sure to try Balut any time you can !!!!!

[PeteNerd]

Be sure to try Balut any time you can !!!!!

Make sure you try Aso or Ascal too. It's delicious.

Pete

[The Game]

Is there a primary ingredient to Filipino food? Something you'll find pretty common in many dishes?

[Mcura]

Rice. Steamed Rice. You can't pass by a filipino meal without seeing a big ol' bowl of steamed rice that everyone then piles onto their plates.

[Bob Hubbard]

Rice is good. Any particular type, or just plain white rice?

[Mcura]

Plain ol' white rice is the norm, but some folks (especially in the US) will make and use variations according to their individual tastes. My great-aunt switched to brown rice for it's health and nutritional benefits, for example. Some recipes also call for glutinous, or sticky rice, for porridges and soups/stews.

[PeteNerd]

Rice is good. Any particular type, or just plain white rice?

Thai Jasmine Rice Milagrosa is the best substitute you can get in the states, for filipino rice. It's comparable to one of the more expensive rices sold in the philippines. Also in the Visayan region, people tend to eat a lot of gritted corn instead of rice. For some it's a price thing, some it's just a preference. Some people also serve rice and gritted corn at the same table.

Pete

[PeteNerd]

Is there a primary ingredient to Filipino food? Something you'll find pretty common in many dishes?

Most filipino cooking starts the same, with garlic and onion sauteed in oil. Then they build from there. They use a lot of vinegar and soy sauce in their cooking too. They also use a lot of ginger. Sometimes coconut milk. Some favorites are
Adobo - Pork or chicken cooked in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic
Sinigang - Sour soup
Pancit - Noodles with vegetables and meat
Kare Kare - Ox Tail in Peanut Butter sauce

Cuisine varys quite a bit from region to region. There is chinese, spanish, malaysian and american influence on the cuisine. They eat a lot of fish and seafood also. Barbecue is a big street food, basically grilled meat on a stick.
At Fiesta time nothing beats Lechon. Lechon is a whole pig, put on a bamboo pole and roasted over hot coals. It is cooked until the skin is brown and crispy. You can crack off pieces of the skin and fat, which everyone wants. Underneath that is all the meat. It's really delicious.

Well that's a good primer. I suggest just searching for recipes online or getting a filipino cook book.

Pete

[PeteNerd]

Make sure you try Aso or Ascal too. It's delicious.

Pete

I guess no one got my joke, so i'll explain. Aso is dog and Ascal is Aso de Calle or street dog. Certain regions are known for eating dog. A lot of people in the Philippines think it's gross to eat a dog, but there are a lot of people there that enjoy it too. When I was in Cebu I tried it and it's not really that bad. Sort of like beef, but a little more stringy and has more of a gamey flavor.

Pete

[Black Grass]

Me and my buddy polished of a pack of tocino and a pack of longanisa last night. I swear I think my heart stopped at one point.

Tocino is suger cured porked it has a lot of fat (60g of fat per 400g) it rocks on the BBQ.

Longanisa, is filipino sweet garlic sausage (so damn good!). As my friend says " it makes bacon look like lean turkey.

I have so say that filipino's are geniuses with pork.

Vince
aka Black Grass

[HKphooey]

Me and my buddy polished of a pack of tocino and a pack of longanisa last night. I swear I think my heart stopped at one point.

Tocino is suger cured porked it has a lot of fat (60g of fat per 400g) it rocks on the BBQ.

Longanisa, is filipino sweet garlic sausage (so damn good!). As my friend says " it makes bacon look like lean turkey.

I have so say that filipino's are geniuses with pork.

Vince
aka Black Grass

I will second that! If you like pork, you cannot go wrong.

[eric10]

Tocino and Longanisa rock, I love them, but they are so bad for you.
Some places will have beefsteak, basically BBQ beef with Filipino marinade on it. (Good stuff)
Pancit, like Lo mein is good.
Adobe is good, but you must like vinegar, usually has a nice vinegar bite to it.
Lumpia, Rocks this is a tiny egg roll filled with meat.
If you’re not a fan of white rice, some places have garlic rice, and or fried rice.

[arnisandyz]

Stay away from the Bagoong! Its like a stinky shrimp paste. My mom cooked it once inside and it stunk the entire house up for a month.

[eric10]

Arnisandyz, That's funny stuff. I remember my mom would cook fish and stink up the whole house like fish. I hated it. She would cook the whole fish, eyes and all.

[arnisandyz]

Ahhh!! the fish with the head! Only thing worse than the smell and seeing seeing the blown out eye sockets is seeing my mom and dad pick at it with thier hands. We use to have a local fish market by our house that used to save the heads for my mom to make sinigang.

My favorite Filipino dishes are Adobo, Afritada, Crispy Pata, Beef Tapa with a fried egg and rice, bisteak, Lumpia, Arroz con Pollo, Pancit, Barbeque on a stick...My mom has already taught my wife to make most all of these, so I'm eating good.

and don't forget the desserts!
Lecheflan, Halo-Halo, Puto, Polboron. My mom also makes this thing called "food for the gods" ...its really good but has tons of butter in it.

Something funny....My wife told me at the McDonalds in the Philippines they have a McLongonesa Value Meal served with eggs and rice!

[hongkongfooey]

WHAT! NO SIOPAO! I like pancit bihon and canton, adobo, tocino, afritada, lumpia, pandesal. My other half is from Cebu, but she doesn't cook much. I've tried the shrimp paste, didn't like it. I also didn't like mung bean cakes.