Slow Eating_ Getting to Know Filipino Flavors Through Parallel Plates _ ASEAN-Korea Centre

8/2/2019 Slow Eating_ Getting to Know Filipino Flavors Through Parallel Plates _ ASEAN-Korea Centre

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Slow Eating: Getting to know Filipino flavors through parallel plates

Article by Michelle Camille Correa (Philippines)

Blog Correspondent of ASEAN-Korea Centre

A degustation, when everything is in slow motion as you savor each step in the process of eating, is

probably the most fulfilling way to eat to your hearts (and tummys) content. You feast your eyes on

little bow ls and plate s laid out beautifully on your table, after which you scoop up a small piece of food

on your mouth and taste it, slowly, letting your tongue know the flavors fully in your mouth. A

degustation is truly one of the most wonderful events in a foodies life.

I experienced my first degustation recently at a restaurant in Manila called Caf Ysabel.There, I was

introduced to the flavors of Filipino cuisine and the Filipino style of cookingwith a tw ist. To convey

how uniquely Filipino our cuisine is, Filipino dishes were paralleled and compared w ith its foreign

counterparts.

The degustationsought to answer the question, Is there a Filipino taste?

To which I found my own answer.

To prepare our taste buds, appetizers kinilawna tuna, a Filipino dish made of fish with coconut cream,

radish, shallots and ginger, was served alongs ide Mexican ceviche, or fish with chili, ginger, garlic,

coconut and boiled corn as side.

Normally eaten as a main dish with rice, the kinilawna tunauses vinegar as a pickling agent, compared

to the ceviche which uses orange or lemon juice. Oftentimes, kinilaw is also paralleled with Japanese

sushi for its raw and fresh qua lity. I personally preferred my native kinilaw during the degustation for

its strong and sha rp vinegar-y flavor, compared to the milder-to-the-tongue ceviche.

Next served were two soup dishes, sinigangnamaya-maya, a Filipino soup made of fish with tamarind,

radish, tomatoand kangkong, and tom sab pla soup, a Thai soupmade of fish with coriander,

lemongrass kaffir and lemon juice.

The sinigang was served hot while the tom sab pla was served lukewarm. In contrast to Filipinos who

like their soup steaming hot, I learned that Thais believe that soup must be served lukewarm in order

to enjoy the onslaught of flavors given by lukewarm soup.

Comparing the two soups, sinigang has one distinctly sour taste whereas the tom sab pla is spicy,flavorful, and has layers of tas te. I am Filipino but I found the layers of flavors in tom sab p la pure

bliss.

Meat dishes gave heft to the dinner experience with the Filipino adobo, or chicken marinated in garlic,

pepper and vinegar, and Andalucianadobo, or chicken with oregano, thyme, basil, sweet paprika, and

cayenne, taking the lead.

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Filipino and Andalucian adobo

Filipino adobo is a popular dish and can be made with various meats. It can even be made from

vegetables like kangkong. Thus, adobo is actually not a recipe. Rather, its more of a procedure, a way

of cooking and preserving meat without the refrigerator.

Normally marinated in soy sauce and vinegar, the Filipino adobo served that night was without the soy

sauce that most Filipinos are familiar with. Nevertheless, it tasted so good, with its sharp, pepper-y

and garlicky flavor. For me, nothing beats this kind of strong flavor.

Another set of meat dishes were served: Pinoy barbecue(pork with marinade of garlic, soy, sugar,

vinegar, and some brown ketchup) served with Pinoykurat, which is a kind of vinegar-like dipping

sauce, and char siu (pork with star anise , five spice powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, black

pepper, and soy)with Taiwan pickles.

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o s es are s an oo s w es ern names. e noy ar ecue s a a a y-s y e s w an

American name, whereas the char siu is a type of Chinese roast also known as asado , a Spanish name

given by the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines. Both meat dishes were tasty, but the flavors of the

barbecues glaze appealed to my Filipino tongue more.

Puchero

Last but not least was puchero, a stew of beef, chicken, sausages and vegetables. It was served with

four kinds of sauces which we were encouraged to experiment with using various combinations.There

were Filipino sauces from the Tagalog region, one being the combo of eggplant, garlic and vinegar,

and the other being the Filipino vinegrette. There were a lso two Spanish sauces, the combo of oil and


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vinegar, and the sofrito, or tomatoes sauted in garlic and onions

This dish was my favorite because the beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the soup was

delicately flavorful. As for the sauces, the eggplant combo topped it all.

Four sauces of puchero

And then there were the noodle dishes. There was the pansitbihon from the Philippines (sauted rice

noodles with chicken slivers, innards, patis/fish sauce and pepper) and Vietnamese Bun Noodles (rice

noodles served cold with coriander, fried onion, laksa leaves, leeks, sweet garlic, pork, soy and nuoc


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.

Pansit bihon and Vietnamese bun noodles

The pansitbihon served was done Pasig-style (a city in Metro Manila), which meant that the dish was

served soupier than regular pansitbihon. It was generously topped with chicharon (pork cracklings). It

was served warm, whereas the Vietnamese Bun Noodles was served at room temperature.

Both dishes were de licious and had their unique qualities. Pansitbihon was a bit on the heavy side,

but was delicately flavored by the chicken broth. It warmed my tummy in a good way.

The Vietnamese Bun Noodles was a nice contrast in that it cooled my tummy. The fresh vegetables in it

was also refreshing and nourishingperfect for tropical countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.

And finally, swee t desserts caped off the seemingly long and well-savored dinner. Four desserts were

served, a ll milk-based.


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Recommendhi on

Tibuk-tibok and arroz con leche

First was tibok-tibok, a pudding made of coconut milk with carabao milk from the province of Pampanga

in the Philippines, and arroz con leche, a rice dessert combined with fresh milk, cinnamon and

lime/dayap.

Filipinos are said to have a very sweet tooth so for me, the tibok-tiboks sweet, light and milky taste

totally won me over.

More swee t things came when two ice creams were se rved, the Mantecado Ice Cream (fresh carabao

milk with lime) and the Butter Pecan Ice Cream (cows milk with brown butter and pecan). In these ,

fresh carabaos milk was the highlight as these ice creams were served without eggs. Both we re

sweetly satisfying.

So what then, is the Filipino taste? What I personally realized, while tasting Filipino food alongside its

foreign counterparts, is that our taste is marked by an intense flavor that delights our taste buds one

at a time. Be it singularly sour for kinilaw and sinigang, predominantly peppery for our adobo, or

heaven-like sweetness for our tibok-tibok and mantecado ice cream, we definitely have this authentic

and original Filipino taste.

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Slow Eating_ Getting to Know Filipino Flavors Through Parallel Plates _ ASEAN-Korea Centre

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