The heart and soul of Filipino food
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Filed under Miscellaneous; Non-recipes; Asian, Comfort food, Filipino
The following article was published in Code Red Magazine. The photos and links are supplied for this blog entry only.
My editor asked, “What characterizes great Filipino food? The long hours of simmering? The recipes that have been handed down through generations? The bold flavor of Ilocos garlic and sibuyas Tagalog? Or is it simply the time a family spends in sitting down for a meal and then continues to share stories long after the food is gone?”
I was transported to a night when my father labored over home-made siopao per my request when it would have been the easiest thing to drive to Binondo to buy a dozen. I remembered my grandparents’ heavy duty grinder and the chicharon and tinapa that went into it before they were sprinkled over home-cooked pancit luglog. The answer to the questions was obvious: ?It is all of that ? and more.?
It takes a conscientious cook to come up with great food, visual appeal adds depth to any food experience and the association with a pleasant atmosphere and company can make any food memorable. That is probably why many of us associate the greatest Filipino food with home and family. We think of mothers who lovingly prepare meals for their families every single day, and fathers who willingly spend their days off from work cooking for the brood just to give their wives a rest — even if their cooking skills limit meals, each and every time, to longganisa served with fried eggs and sinangag with very burnt garlic.
It is the association and remembrance from which we instinctively draw our standards when we try to define what great Filipino food means. How do I know? I have a four-year-old food blog and I have posted a lot of Filipino recipes in it — some cooked the traditional way; others, radically tweaked from ‘time-honored’ recipes. I have a lot of readers, most of whom are Filipinos based abroad, who have been following the blog for years.
When it comes to food, people can be categorized into: 1) Those open to new ways and ideas and 2) Those who will always judge food based on what they grew up with, their minds closed to any other versions. Among those that fall under the second category, the pattern of reactions is predictable. If I post a very traditional recipe, they will say, “Oh, that is how my Nanay cooked that dish… You’re making me miss the Philippines…” And so on, and so forth and almost always with a shower of praises that the recipe is just perfect.
But if I tweak the recipe by substituting or adding ingredients not associated with the traditional dish, I get criticized. A fellow blogger felt nauseated with the idea of tossing cooked spaghetti with kaldereta sauce. Not too long ago, someone who claimed to have been living in the U.S. for the last 40 years without having gone home for a visit bombarded me with criticisms because my Callos recipe included ox leg and chorizo. He said it was wrong because his mother cooked the dish with ox tripe only. The exchange got nasty as he insisted that the dish is called Callos in the first place because Callos is Spanish for tripe. He would not even admit that there was a difference between callos, the tripe, and Callos, the stew. The long and end of it is how I trampled on his childhood memories of Callos which, of course, was fatal in view of his inability to see anything outside his personal experiences.
It is the association and the remembrance, rather than the food itself, that make it great in our minds. If the memory of a particular food comes unbeckoned and the memory is welcomed and allowed to linger — the aroma, texture and colors still vivid in our minds — we call them great. That is why the juice from the buko bought from an ambulant vendor during a break from a game of patintero, and drank straight from the husk, will always seem the sweetest and the most refreshing.
While nostalgia, especially those associated with happy family memories, may help a lot in convincing people to stay in touch with their roots, there is danger too as it can stifle maturity and growth. People who have closed their minds — people who feel that they alone have the right to set universal standards for what constitutes great Filipino food will never enjoy the pleasure of knowing what lies beyond their personal experiences.
This close-mindedness is an affliction that purists suffer from. It is a condition exemplified by the attitude that there is only one way of doing things and anyone who deviates is guilty of travesty and is necessarily wrong. This close-mindedness, unfortunately, will always be a hindrance for widening our food experience. And that is sad because, lots of times, great Filipino food can be something beyond the realm of what we know so far.
I think of meals created by peasants and fisherfolk who stretch their creativity to unimaginable proportions to come up with simple yet delicious meals from humble ingredients that are available within their vicinity, and I feel that their cooked meals are nothing short of great too. These are food that, by themselves, contain a message that is a mixture of history, hope, sufferings and aspirations just like piaya from Negros, longganisa from Lucban, durian from Mindanao, tawilis from Taal and pili nuts from Bicol. Food and cuisine are, after all, part of a country’s history and culture and we cannot detract from their social dimension.
Hence, every Filipino’s definition of “Great Filipino Food” should never be considered as a box into which he can no longer add new contents. Every new experience can be a worthy addition and each of us is capable of creating a new Great Filipino Food everyday. We just have to learn how to recognize opportunities.
The potential is there when a mother labors in the kitchen on a Saturday evening and her kids walk in and offer to help. When she lets them, the shared activity, with whatever laughter and arguments go with the cooking, become the seed of memories of a Great Filipino Food. The potential is also there when the kids come home from school to say that they shared their lunch with their classmates and everyone found it wonderful because they enjoyed a respite from their hotdog-and-rice baon.
And, as we parents encourage our kids to open their minds and their hearts to new food adventures beyond the comfort of home, we give them the opportunity for growth, to appreciate unfamiliar foods and, indirectly, to respect cultural differences without being judgmental.
In the end, the heart and soul of Filipino food, that which make it great, is us — how we live, how we create memories, how we remember happy childhoods, how we keep our minds open to new food experiences and how we refuse to be bound by limitations we did not create.
My Top 10 Pinoy food:
My father’s sarciado
Dolor’s Kakanin (Concepcion, Malabon)
Paulite’s longganisa (Baguio City)
Bulalo from Soseng’s (Kamagong Street, Makati)
Lechon kawali from Genia’s (Kapitan Miong, Brgy. San Roque, Marikina)
Sinigang na baboy from Niagara Hills (Sumulong Road, Antipolo)
Lety’s buko pie (Los Ba?os, Laguna)
Lydia’s lechon Cebu
Dried fish from Tabo-an Market (Cebu City)
Pork ears barbecue (Mang Leo’s night stall, P. Zamora Street, Caloocan City)
What’s your Top 10 Pinoy food?
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my top 10 Pinoy food:
* Dolor’s sapin-sapin
* Rowena’s buko/ ube tarts (Tagaytay)
* chicken-pork adobo
* pork/ beef sinigang
* pichi-pichi (Amber’s)
* pancit Malabon
* puto (Calasiao, Pangasinan)
* ginataang halo-halo
* tapa/ longganisa + sinangag and egg
* bangus (daing or relyeno)
hi connie,
kind of funny because when i was just 8 or 9 i lived in P. Zamora St., in caloocan city. although i remember in the corner of P. Zamora there is a store where they sell Isaw and other BBQ stuff. from my memory my favorite there would be the isaw ng baboy. i just dont know if it’s Mang Leo
I still remember when we go to the market by walking with my mom and before going home i always eat in carinderia either spaghetti and palabok. the taste is not that great but as a child it is always a treat.
I can’t remember the dish my mother made because she passed away when i was 15 although my favorite would always be her sinigang it’s not that special but until this day it still remained to be my favorite.
My dad was a cook for a Chinese catering company. but he didn’t cook at home or he just cook breakfast which usually compose of oatmeal with egg i only get to taste things he cook when we go to a banquet where he is working. They said he was the best cook that they had.
sadly he also passed away a year and a half after my mom.
I guess i got my passion to cook from both of them.
For me the best isaw and tenga is in Padre Algue St., in Tondo Near my previous school Chiang kai shek college
My half brother’s Caldereta is the best.
I love the sisig in the carinderia near my previous workplace. crunchy with fresh egg on top and calamansi. sadly they closed the carinderia.
oops that is only 3
uhmm…. i guess the fourth one is seafood sisig in ka lui’s in puerto princesa
chiken inasal in Haim’s Chicken Inato in puerto princesa.
Bulalo in aling Cely’s in P. Concepcion in UST
Siomai which is sold in the street in ust (i don’t know his name i just remember his face)
Palabok near our house in Guerrero st., in Tondo.
Danggit from Cebu
Collette’s buko pie
there it’s 10
Michelle, Mang Leo didn’t have a store. He was the caretaker of the vacant property behind the Asistio Apartments. Every night he’d put some tables in front of the gate and he and his wife grill the barbecue.
Great article, Connie!
Only 10??? Okay then… here are my Top 10 Pinoy Foods in no particular order:
Tuyo
Tocino
Mom’s Pancit Malabon
Dad’s Kaldereta
Sinigang (Salmon or Bangus heads)
Ginataang Shrimp, Sitaw, Squash
Crispy Pata
Paksiw (Lechon or Fish)
Kare Kare w/ Bagoong
Adobong Pusit
There’s also this dessert whose name is at the tip of my tongue. It’s a layered “cake” w/ alternate layers of butter and crushed nuts (I think they’re nuts). That would be on the top of the list if I could just remember the name.
Here’s my top 10:
*My dad’s adobong manok sa gata
*My mom’s adobo
*Sinigang (esp. if any one of us in the family cooks it)
*Pork lechon from Iligan City
*Siopao from Victoria’s bakery in Iligan also
*Lety’s buko pie from Los Banos
*Lechon kawali from Tita Melba’s, Los Banos
*Pork/chicken barbecue from Surigao chicken, LB Square Los Banos and also from Kulasa’s, Davao City
*Pastel pastries (Camiguin)
* Chedeng’s peanuts from Iligan
Lani, san rival?
A scientist in the kitchen, o di ba, our “best” or “top” are often those associated with family and happy memories.
“It is in the association and remembrance . . . .” How right you are, Connie. My grandma ran an eatery inside the Sta. Ana Market when I was growing up, and she also loved hosting parties at home. I remember two roasting pigs in the backyard, a talyasi (“giant” wok) of arroz a la valenciana, steamed crabs galore, etc. To this day, I remember the distinct taste of some of the dishes she made. To me, there is no bopis like my grandma’s (yun bang nag-aagaw ang alat, asim at tamis). Only to mention a few, she also made the best palabok, chop suey, menudo and mechado. Her leche flan also became my standard. It was what we then called “mapikat”, not the jello type I often find these days. My friends tell me I have the knack for cooking – and it makes me smile. I may not be as good a cook as my grandma but I got the “knack” out of tasting and remembering her cooking. Thanks for making me remember once again, Connie.
Some of my old favourite eating places are no longer there, but here are a few I remember: palabok, menudo and pan de sal at Ferinos (Luneta), spaghetti with meatballs at the old Makati Supermarket, flying saucer at Aristocrat, tapa and asparagus soup at Ambos Mundos in Malate, and bibingka at Nena’s in Quezon City. I also remember the Country Bake Shop, Senorita Bakery and Sombrero, also in Malate. Ahhhh . . . .memories.
Your post really makes me reminisce about so many homemade dishes that i have on my list to re-create. I only took up cooking seriously a few years ago and a lot of the recipes have been lost forgotten. I really need to take serious look at some of my mom’s journals.
Lengua (mushroom / tomato sauce) of my Mom
Chicken Teriyaki of my Mom
Spaghetti Meat Sauce of my Mom (my cousins and family friends are all hoping i get to do this)
Kare-Kare from my Ninang
Cheesecake from another Ninang (another lost recipe)
Bulalo from my brother-in-law’s father-in-law
Birdhouse pizza (closed years ago)
Pollo con queso (i know you remember this)
Bulalo Steak at Residence Inn
Pastel de Camiguin
Good food always creates good memories, not only of the food but also with whom you share it with.
Josie, talking about Malate… there was a pastry shop there called Les Cibeles when I was about 6 or 7 years old. We always went there after every visit to the pedia. Like an incentive.
peterb, I think it’s because the food is first and foremost associated with home. Kasi that’s where we get our earliest memories of food.
Food brings back memories and also create hmm delicious ones…
josie, i also enjoyed the spaghetti at mkti supermart
halo-halo and pancit luglug sa Little Quiapo
banana split sa magnolia house along aurora blvd
kesong puti or quesillo from Cavite city along with pambonete bread
my Kare-kare
all kinds of pancit
leche flan, macapuno and ube halaya cooked the hard way
hi ms connie,
your site really makes my mouth water! I miss manila and filipino food! I have not found any dish here in Amsterdam that can compare to filipino cooking (dutch food is a bit blunt for my taste). As for my list:
1. My mom’s lechon paksiw
)
2. my mom’s special bopis
3. Becky’s prunes and walnut cake
4. My aunt-in-law’s Beef Calitera (don’t know if I spelled that correctly but that’s how it sounds
5. Our family recipe of Chinese Adobo
6. Morcon (especially if my aunt makes them)
7. D’ originals buko pie
8. Sweet and Sour pork from Delicious Restaurant in Ongpin
9. My mom in law’s sinigang na sugpo
10. My mom’s adobong talong
well, dami kong favorite, pero since we are talking “family” I’ll say much to my memory, my favorite food started from the dishes cooked at home. so here it goes..
1. Tatay’s fish sarciado
2. Tatay’s ginataang adobong baka
3. Nanay’s kakanin (puto, palitaw, suman, pilipit, kutchinta)
4. Nanay’s callos
5. Nanay’s Estopadong Pata
6. Nanay’s paksiw na lechon
7. Nanay’s ginataang puso ng saging
8. Ate’s home made ice cream
9. Ate’s macaroni salad with pineapple
10. Nanay’s dinuguan
Sa Ermita pala yung Ambos Mundos and the bakeshops, Connie. Sa tagal ng panahon naligaw na memory ko. Les Cibeles rings a bell.
Re visual appeal: My father used to say that presentation is very important. That it should be a feast for the eyes first.
Tweaking a recipe by substituting or adding ingredients is A-okay with me. It satisfies one’s own taste, and also one way of discovering new recipes. I myself have made shortcuts in cooking to make life easier. A friend told me to use cream of mushroom in my palabok instead of the traditional sauce. There was no going back after the first try. The thickness of the sauce is perfect, and after adding all the other ingredients and garnishes, palabok na palabok na.
sampu lang Ms. Connie??! :O
ok, here’s my list….
1. Kare-kare at bagoong
waaaaah!)
2. Kaldereta
3. Bulalo
4. Arroz a la Alexandra (with added crab aligue,grabe! heaven!)
5. arroz caldo (fav ever!)
6. Pancit Sotanghon Guisado
7. My Mom’s Biko recipe (the BEST!)
8. Leche Flan
9. halo-halo with Ube Ice Cream
10. Pork BBQ (kasi wala nyan dito sa Kuwait
Yung 1-6 item—dito ko lahat kinuha yung recipes sa site mo. super sarap lahat!
You’re right, Taj, Makati Supermart nga ang tawag – not Supermarket. Sarap ng spaghetti nila, ano? And thanks for mentioning Little Quiapo, which served the best halo-halo ever, and also the Magnolia House. It’s nice to remember . . . .
My Top 10 Pinoy Food (in no particular order)
* My Nanay’s Pancit Luglug
* My Tatay’s inihaw na isda with tamarind sauce
* My sister’s sisig na suso
* Bringhe [I think they call this Arroz Valenciana as well]
* Arroz Caldo
* Aunt’s tibuk-tibuk (Maja Blanca)
* My Sinigang
* Colette’s Buko Pie
* Spicy Caldereta
* My Nanay’s Kilawin
I think I would under your first category. I usually change something on the traditional recipes that I grew up with. I substitute ingredients either because the ingredient needed is not available or it is too expensive. Or on some cases just to experiment. And the end result almost all the time it is great! That is why I love reading your blog because it always allows reader to try their own way. Just keep on posting “radical” recipes. Hehe… More Power!
my top favorite is totally weird but for me it’s really the best and the rest follows…
* Adobong tuyo (dog meat )
* My Dad’s Asadong Baboy at Manok
* My Dad’s Tochong Bangus ( Special Recipe..bangus not fried….i can share the recipe if requested )
* My Dad’s Special Beef Mechado
* Kare kare (even hindi masarap ang luto eh,masarap pa rin
* Pork BBQ
* Sinigang na baboy ( of course )
* Pork Hamonado
* Paksiw na Pata
* Kilawin Tanigue
Why only 10?…I still have so many to mention. I know how to cook all of these except for the Asado which my father failed to pass this recipe due to his untimely death. Anyway, his legacy for food will continue through me…..I wish. God bless
sarap naman nitong topic na to.
it makes me think of the wonderful memories of childhood.
1. pancit malabon of my ninang
2. kare kare and bagoong of my lola
3. puto bungbong and bibingka of my uncle
4. paksiw na pata of my mom
5. leche plan
6. fried chicken (no fuss, just salt and pepper)
7. ginumis
8. pork adobo
9. ma mon luk’s siopao
10. ma chang or sounds like it from a resto in chinatown
the recipes from 1-7 are from my mom’s side. they all love cooking and growing up i saw and tasted a lot of good stuff.
one of my tita tweaked the fried chicken. instead of salt she used patis and added calamansi.
ginumis is a coconut milk concoction of my ninang.
then pork adobo is the first recipe i ever learned when i was in gradeschool. sabi ng mommy ko mabubuhay na ko kasi marunong na kong mgsaing at mag adobo!
for me, ma mon luk’s siopao is still ‘the siopao’, i remember dati pg ngsisimba kme sa quiapo super treat na sa min yung kumain kami dun. andun pa ba yung resto na yun?
yung ma chang or something that sound like that is a meat in sweet sauce, pasalubong ng uncle ko to pg bibisita sya at galing sya sa binondo.
wow…i feel so much at home. well, my top ten list are:
Sinigang bangus belly (from our neighbor in tandang sora who owns Ninang’s Restaurant)
My lola’s ILOKANO ADOBONG PUSIT
My mom’s PINAKBET
My brother-in-law’s BOPIS
My dad’s DINUGUAN
My dad’s PINAPAITAN
My mommy Letty’s PORK and CHICKEN ADOBO
My inday’s ENSALADANG EGGPLANT
My sister’s PANCIT BIHON
My brother-in-law, Joey’s ISAW w/THE YUMMY VINEGAR
Manang in Tandang Sora Market’s EMBUTIDO
this is aptly written! how many times i have tried to “deviate” from common recipes only to the disgust of my family and friends. sometimes my “recipe” is ignored for visitors later to eat. only to find out i was the only one eating.
my fave:
Ma’am Nena’s Dinuguan
My father’s Dry Adobo
My mother’s Talong Salad
Samar’s Nilatukang Manok
haay…sarap! i felt homesick already!!! anyway my top 10 are:1.lechon kawali by my dear husband(he only cooks it at least twice a yr lang)
2. pancit,sotanghon
3.barbecued pork or chicken
4.ginataang langka salad
5.tortang talong..yumyum
6.pinakbet
7.fresh lumpia
8.halohalo
9.sinigang na baboy
10.dry chicken or pork adobo
those are delicious dishes guys…truly Filipino…I am not a good cook but I have a good tatste buds…hehehehe..just kiddin’…I laso got my favorite spots for this eating expedition…
1. Original Buko Pie- the best buko pie in los banos laguna..thats a promise.
2. Bulalo – Rose and Grace restaurants in Sto tomas batangas.
3. Ginataang Hito – Silangang nayon in Pagbilao Quezon
4. Sinigang sa Miso – Palaisdaan restaurant in tayabas Quezon…sarap dun promise ulit
5. Tapsilog – one area in las pinas near the bamboo church
6. pansit with catsup – yummy – you should try this – Pansitan ni aling maciang in San pedro laguna
7. chicken inasal – sa davao ako nakatikim
8. Laing – the best one is a restaurant in naga city
9. pandesal – Pugon bakery – dami branch all over manila
10. Sisig and pancit lucban – Buddy’s restaurant- one branch in makati and the rest are in quezon provinces
try nyo guys and you wont regret it..tsibugan na!!!!!
mine would be:
1. my dad’s sinigang na baboy (gabi, sitaw and puso ng saging are the only vegetables – the gabi and puso ng saging make a perfect combination which results in a white, sticky sour soup)
2. my dad’s kaldereta
3. any thing with gata and is spicy but to top the gata list is laing!
4. pinakbet and bagoong
5. nilagang dahon ng kamote, okra and talong with bagoong dip
6. espasol, cassava, majablanca, biko, kalamay, puto, kutsinta
7. tinolang manok (especially if the chicken is native)
8. pancit habhab (from quezon)
9. sopas
10. sinigang na bangus (especially the bangus from pangasinan)
Here’s my top ten:
1. kare-kare
2. sotanghon ( Antipolo )
3. Colette’s buko pie
4. Tonang’s pancit palabok (Mandaluyong)
5. Bulusan st. “BBQ sa kanto”
6. sisig (UP dil food court)
7. Bulalo (Bulalohan sa Circle, Mand.)
8. Ube Halaya ( Good Shepherd Sisters)
9. Corned beef
10. spaghetti sa turo-turo
i grew up in malabon, most of my favorite foods was acquired when i was young.
1. lola’s sinarsahang baka
2. pancit malabon ni lola or nanay ko
3. nanay’s kare kare with not too salty bagoong from malabon
4. lola puring’s lumpiang hubad with crispy chicharon bulaklak toppings
5. talunang manok, lola said this is what you do to panabong na natalo.
6. adobong pusit
7. piniritong espadang isda with piniritong kamatis at patis, from malabon off course, yung special sabi nga ng lola ko.
the rest i acquired when i was older
8. sisig ni aling lucing sa angeles city
9. sugba, tola, kilaw na tuna and bihod.
10. lechon from cebu
I like this website, I am 1/2 Filipino and 1/2 Afro American so I many mixtures of recipes–my favorite is my mom’s sinagong (fish)–could you suggest any good Filipino restaurants in the Sacramento area? Also, I’m open to new recipes for chicken/pork adobo and pancit.
december 2007
hello, from Montreal, Canada
Would you pls send the receipe for Buko Pie and let me know if the frozen one is okey to use.
lilli
my email address is: lilli.m.mascunana@sympatico.ca
thanks
Reading the lists from different people’s responses made me drool. It also made me think since I no longer crave for these that much nowadays. When I think of food-tripping, what comes to my mind are usually foreign food. But now that I have to remember, I think I will once again learn to appreciate the greatness of Pinoy food. Here’s my personal list & it’s more than 10 (not necessarily in order):
1. bagnet
2. lechon cebu
3. kalderetang kambing
4. pampanga’s sisig (the boiled & flavored-type)
5. chicken heart barbecue
6. vigan’s longganisa
7. leche flan
8. stir-fried prawns/shrimps
9. laing
10. halaya
11. camto
12. fish kinilaw
13. pancit habhab
14. kare-kare
15. dinuguan
16. pancit molo
17. batsoy (or any type of mami)
18. ginataang langka
19. pancit puti
20. pancit malabon
21. crispy crablets
22. litsong manok
23. balut
24. spicy alimango
25. beef tapa
There are definitely more. I’m so hungry now so I will end my list with just 25.
yum the food was great thanks
My Top Pinoy Foods from my Childhood Memories and Manila Days:
1. Ulo-ulo soup from Visayas Avenue,Q.c
2. Jumbosilog/Tapsilog from Rodic’s at U.P Diliman
Shopping Center
3. Crab Maritess from Red Crab
4. Banana Cue enjoyed near SSS Main in Diliman,Q.C
5. Sisig from Trellis
6. Beef Stew from Kimchi’s
7. Fish Ball/Squid Balls from the vendor outside Zuellig Pharma in Makati
8. Adobado from Nes and Tat’s Restaurant in Iloilo Ciy (Catfish)
9. Tatoy’s Chicken from Tatoy’s Restaurant in Iloilo City
10. Inihaw na Bangus from Tatoy’s
11. Kinilaw na Shrimp, the way our cooks used to make in Dumangas, Iloilo
12. Nilaga na Baka the way ilonggos cook
13. Seaweed Salad with mangoes, tomatoes and vinegar
14. Pancit Molo
15. Dinagyang Siopao from Arevalo, Iloilo
16. Bacolod Lechon
17. Dinuguan at Jaro Biscocho Haus
18. Pork and Chcken Adobo, the ilonggo way.
19. Ham & Chicken Sandwich with Melted Cheese on top from the old Tavern Restaurant in Iloilo City.
20. Chicken with Green Peas, Quail Eggs and Cashew from Summer House Resto in Iloilo City
21. Halaan soup
22. Sipa from WOK-INN Resto in Matalino St., Q.C
23. Kare-kare, lumpia shanghai from little quiapo
24. Bibingka from Nanette’s along Maginhawa St. at U.P Village
25. Pares from Cocoy’s Pares along Visayas Ave., Q.C
I wasn’t much of a cook when i still lived in the Philippines and my old job entails eating out a lot. I just want to pay tribute to the eating places who gave me so much joy and pleasure during lunchtime on the road at work.
At the same time, I wish that you can visit my home province of Iloilo and have a food trip there.
here’s more tribute for iloilo city and Bacolod:
1. La Veranda de Fatima restaurant for the best Lechon Kawali and sweet and Sour Pork, as well as spaghetti during childhood and teenage days.
2. ice cream cakes and pastries from Calea in Bacolod City
3. Pork Estofado by the Paulinian Sisters of my childhood school days
4. Lechon Kawali and Ginisang Munggo from Deleonian Resto in Central Market, Iloilo City.
For the best buffets in Manila:
1. Lunch and dinner buffet of Sofitel Philippine Plaza
2. Makati Shangrila buffet
3. Hyatt in Pedro Gil lunch and dinner buffet
4. Kamayan
Not so good buffets:
1. Dad’s
2. Chinatown’s best foods in Banawe
Best Hotel Breakfast Buffet in Cebu:
1. Waterfront Hotel in Lahug
hi! ’tis my first time to browse pinoycook and i found it mouth watering! aym a father of 5 grown up kids ages 28 down to 17 and aym the cook at home their top favorites r chopsuey filipino patsky style, low-salt fried rice, nokos in black, stringbeans in soy sauce and oil, linusak, benignit, escabeche, biko, et al. i reminisce the time when i was just newly married when i tried my hand on cooking pancit. That was the time that my Ilocano blood of cooking good food was discovered. It pleases my Julie each time I cook adobo and lechon kawali. Onthe other hand it becomes also a sore point when i tell her to slow down on them since they are against doctors’ orders. well, have a nice day folks, aym getting my late lunch now. slurp!
hay….ginugutom nyo ko mga kumare…..
1. Lechon Cebu (Naldo’s Lechon House, tel (32) 3460202 contact Butchie Tan 0917-6300-888
2. boneless crispy pata – Serye QC circle
3. pork & chicken BBQ – Ric’s BBQ, Ayala cebu
4. fresh lumpia – goldilocks
5. bistek tagalog – goldilocks
6. Dinuguan – Naldo`s lechon house, Cebu
7. lechon manok – Sr. San Pedro and Andok’s
8. inihaw na liempo – gerry’s grill
9. inihaw na pusit – gerry’s grill
10. inihaw na isda – sutukil, cebu
11. garlic buttered fried chicken – Manila Foodshoppe (cebu)
12. bangus sisig – gerry’s grill
Hi Everyone,
I enjoyed reading your top favourite filipino dish!=)
It gives me an idea on what filipino dish to cook with my other filipina friends here in The Netherlands.. Everytime we get togther, we think of a nice filipino dish that we can prepare! Though sometimes, ingredients are difficult to find, we just look for a substitute..like tinolang manok, instead of using the “dahon ng sile” we use the big green chili… hehehe
Anway, here’s my top 10 favourite :
1. my mom’s sinigang na baboy
2. my mom’s mechado
3. bacolod chicken inasal
4. my grandma’s chicharong bulaklak
5. our helper mayett’s adobong baboy
6. my uncle’s monggo soup
7. ilonggo grill’s cadios
8. Harbour View’s sisig
9. Dampa buttered shrimp
10. Rojonet’s crispy pata
Gusto kong umuwi ulit ng pinaaaasss!! haaaayyyy…
Hi Ms. Connie,
Just wanted to share my top 10 list of my favorite food. I really enjoyed reading each and every dishes that your readers love to eat.
Here’s the top 10 on my list.
1. Binagoongang Baboy
2. Sinigang na buntot ng baboy
3. Buttered garlic Crabs with chili
4. Rib Eye Steak
5. Crispy fried Tilapia
6. Dried Pork Adobo
7. Goto with Chili powder
8. Pancit with chicharon on top
9. Buttered lamb chops with garlic sauce
10. Lechon paksiw
Just wanted to share with you my recipe of Binagoongang baboy na super duper pinagmamalaki ko.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 kilo of pork belly(about an 1 1/2 inch thick to preserve the juice inside and 3inches in length)
5pcs Siling green
10pesos of ordinary hilaw na alamang from market
1head garlic
1pc onion
3pcs medium sized tomatoes
Procedure:
1. Fry the Pork liempo until almost golden brown with less cooking oil coz the pork liempo has too much oil in it.
2. Set aside the fried liempo and start sauteing the garlic, onions and tomatoes from the same pan using all the oil then add the alamang and 2pcs siling green to add some kick. let it cook for almost 30 to 45minutes para medyo malutong mabuti ung alamang at maabsorb nya ung oil from the pork.
3. Remove half of the cooked alamang (for your manggang hilaw) then put the pork back to the pan together with the remaining half of the cooked alamang then add water (more than the level of the pork). make it simmer for an hour or until the pork soften (melt in your mouth pork). remove some oil to prevent heart disease. hehehe.
4. Ready to eat na.
It’s very easy yet very rewarding when you see all your loved ones enjoy eating it.
Thanks and have a great day!
okay fine am john Bowell i have a wedding coming up on the 20 of September 2009,time;1pm to2pm and i have some in laws from Italy so i will need some cheese lasagna and meatballs for about 110 guests that are coming SO CAN I GET THE PRICE PER PERSON AND THE TOTAL PRICE FOR THE 110 PEOPLES NOW.
You’re in the wrong site.
Thank God my mother is still around so I can enjoy her specialties:
1. chicken pork adobo
2. mongo w/ampalaya
3, dinuguan (recently displaced w/ your
recipe
4. lechen flan, guinatan, candied camote
WISH I COULD GO BACK FOR THESE:
5. Dipasupil’s Longaniza – Baguio City
6. Ube Jam – Good Shepherd Sisters, Baguio
7. Lengua – Hizon’s, Malate/Ermita
8. Mocha Cake – Joni’s Bakery, Manila
9. Buko Sherbet – Milky Way, Malate/Ermita
10. Mechado – a caterer in Los Angeles
Now, I’m really homesick…
Oh, I should do a write-up about Hizon’s soon. I love Hizon’s!
Hi Connie, it’s so nice to read your blog. Hindi lang food but you also touches the humane side of your readers….I really cannot let this topic just passed by without remembering my Lola Nena (maternal grandma). She’s a good cook. Pero hindi yata namin namana ‘yung “patience” niya into cooking. Some of the foods I loved were those cook by my great Lola Nena. 10 Favorites/terribly missed foods:
1. Chicken Pastel (made by my Lola Nena, i love the creamy taste from nestle cream, evap milk and cheese)
2. Leche flan (also from Lola Nena, cooked in a very low fire, slow cooking. afterwards, she puts some fired charcoal on top para maging light brown din ung top)
3. Kare-kare (from Lola Nena also, she make her own sinangag na bigas at mani)
4. Buko or fruit salad (from Lola Nena also, she put little amount of minced celery stalks to balance the sweetness and for some crunchiness)
5. Mechado (from Lola Nena, slow cooking of big slab of beef in fresh tomato less the seeds, then thinly slice after cooking)
6. gelatin (from Lola Nena, a very simple dessert with fruit cocktails and evap milk)
7. Siopao asado and mami (from MaMon Luk, i love putting the sauce into the mami soup. I was 7 to 14 years old when my father always take me to that shop for a quick meal)
8. Halu-halo (sa Digman, originally the shop is located at Bacoor Cavite)
9. Fish ball (i love eating this stuff near our market, yung nakikipagsiksikan ka sa pagsawsaw sa sauce)
10. Longganisa and tocino (i just can’t foget how I and my 3 brothers love this stuff. Nakakatuwa kasi during our childhood days, mom always serve tocino and longganisa. and we always cover our shares with plateful of rice, then ‘yung unang maubusan ng share ay nakatingin na lang sa may natitira pang share…hehehehe). Those were the days. Nung magkakasama pa kaming magkakapatid. Now, we have our own family na, at magkakalayo na rin ng place of work at bahay. Kaya very sledom na rin kami magkita-kita.
Love assian recipes.