To me, there is nothing like experiencing a new cuisine. Every bite brings about a childhood like excitement as you anticipate what flavours will come next. Everyone at the table then starts to guess what ingredients are in each dish. Your taste buds get to explore new found territory.
There is no doubt that to many people, Filipino cuisine remains to be a mystery. That being said, a few friends have surprised me often requesting that I cook specific dishes. I’m like “hold up… sista say what? How did you know about Kare Kare?” So I don’t think it’s completely foreign but on the same token, it has got a long way to go in terms of making an impact on the Australian food scene that would make mama proud.
So um, what is Filipino food?
To answer the above question, Cherrie and I joined forces to host a Filipino Fiesta for a few of our friends. I mean, what better way to introduce our cuisine than to host a rockin feast! Fellow bloggers who came for the gorging were Agnes, Penny, Shellie, Thanh, Kat and April.
Cherrie and I agreed that the best way to represent Filipino food is by cooking up traditional signature dishes from our own region/hometown in Philippines. As with all Asian countries, we too have dishes that may not suit the faint hearted (literally!), so drumming up the menu was no easy task but we were pretty damn excited and passionate about our culture which fueled us to prepare more than a few items between the two of us. Being smack bam in the midst of winter, there were the obvious soup based choices as were the comfort food types. Just to clear things up, by comfort food I mean, fatty food.
Filipino food to me, encompasses the various elements from our surrounding neighbours – especially with our heavy use of coconut milk, ginger and tamarind.
The Four S’s in Asian cooking are evident across our dishes being:
1. SWEET,
2. SALTY,
3. SPICY,
4. SOUR. These vary from one region to another.
In my province, Pampanga, located in Central Luzon, we don’t too many spicy dishes which is why I’ve only grown accustomed to hot dishes in my adult years. Yea boy!
Most Filipino’s follow one cardinal rule: all meat must be well cooked. In fact, my family and friends have their steak well done and would rather eat dirt than swallow beef tataki. Let’s just say that going to a sushi train for dinner would not be ideal….
Chicharon (pork crackling!)
Zee Menu
Here comes the food…
The fiesta was held at Cherrie’s lovely home and by the time it was all set up for the mains, it certainly looked like one huge ass buffet. But wait, there was more to come not including some sides around the kitchen table like the homemade Chicharon (pork crackling) with vinegar, garlic, chilli and black peppercorn the side for some dipping action made by Cherrie’s mum. So good.
An empty but eager table awaits the feast to come.
Before…
and
After…
Blogger rule no.1: photos come first, eating comes second.
In every Filipino party, there is Lumpiang Shanghai which are our version of spring rolls. These delicious morsels were made by Cherrie.
Homemade Pork Tocino made by me. This was sort of an experiment. Normally, you would make Pork Tocino using a curing mix. In the Asian grocers, you can find bacon curing powder or Mamasita. I’ll post up the recipe soon, but essentially, I added lemonade (used in many of our dishes), ketchup, sugar, soy sauce, salt, tabasco sauce and lime juice. The pork is boiled then char grilled.
Chicken Adobo made by Cherrie. I kept eying this out before everyone started arriving!
Chicken Tinola with lemon grass and corn made by me. A hearty chicken soup with lots of ginger, garlic, fish sauce and lemongrass. It’s naturally sweetened by the corn cobs. Grab my recipe here
Remember when I was telling you about those dishes that may not be suitable for the faint hearted? Well, this one of them. But I love Dinuguan which is essentially, pork blood stew made by Cherrie’s mum.
Cherrie’s Ginataang Kalabasa – cubes of pumpkin and beans in a creamy coconut milk base. One of my favourite vegetable dishes, sometimes served with prawns as done here.
Desserts
Leche Flan by Cherrie. This was such a great ending to the meal and was happy to take some home to devour. Leche Flan is one of the most popular desserts back home and if often the trickiest of not done right.
I made Palitaw which is sweet rice cakes made of glutinous rice powder and coconut milk topped off with with fresh coconut, sugar and freshly toasted sesame seeds. This is best eaten fresh, so I ran a muck in Cherrie’s kitchen and made it from scratch. The coconut was grated using my mum’s traditional coconut grater where you need to squat down to use it. I’ll post a recipe soon of course.
So pretty ain’t it?! I came back for seconds or was it thirds…eh..who’s counting. Made by Cherrie, I went weak for this Coconut Jelly.
An array of childhood treats: Polvoron is a crumbly shortcake made up of milk powder (Kat and I crave this LOL) flour, sugar and butter. The chocolates on the right aren’t your typical chocolates. The texture is dry, similar to Polvoron. There were other sweetish morsels including some deep fried chocolate bars and a pandan chiffon made by Shellie.
Cap off and more feasts!
By the end of the fun filled night, our calorie intake was far beyond its limits and with all the food constantly tempting us, it was impossible to ignore the desserts glaring. I was so full, laughing made my tummy hurt!
Going by traditions, everyone left with some leftovers and an insight into Filipino cuisine. Cherrie and I had a blast hosting and will soon do it again. What came after our feast, was more feasts! Over the few weeks, Agnes hosted Chinese fest, Penny and Shellie hosted Malaysian bling fest then Agnes and Kat hosted an English themed Christmas in July where we all made a little sumthin sumthin – I drummed up a heavy Trifle. Recipe coming soon.
You know how I love me COMICS right? Here are all the the Filipino flag based heroes
Have you tried Filipino food?
If you’re not already signed up for updates from Food Rehab, get on the list and I’ll do my best to keep us learning about none-other than glorious, GLORIOUS food! Also, follow me on Facebook (NEW!) or Twitter if you have either of those addictive things.
Keep eating,
Adrian
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I loved being your co-host. I was a blast. I’m glad we got to show a little of our culture and traditions. When’s the next one???
Twas so much fun co-hosting with you. We should definitely do a Licheon Xmas Feast!!!!
OMG the PORK CRACKLING!!!! *drools*
It goes great with chilli vinegar too 🙂
Great night,wonderful company & amazing food. Thank you for sharing them with us both online & off
Our pleasure, watch out for the next filo feast!
I’m so completely in awe of you, and everyone involved in these feasts! I dream of one day being able to tag along, although I fear my cooking skills will appear more like a five year old making play-doh in comparison 😛
Somehow, I also can’t help thinking that those chicharons would be four billion times more delicious than the “pork rinds” I once bought and ate from a vending machine on a dare… 😉 And I really want the patilaw!
gaaawd, there were so many feasts that month. Crazzzaaay!
Nah, we’re all amateurs- so long as the food is edible, we will eat it! LOL
YES! I can attest to the fact that chicharons is waaay better!
Ooo.. I note that this was the 1st Filipino fest… I shall make myself available for the second one 😛 Hahahaha… And I could have eaten everything there that night! Damn it!!
Yes, you better come to the 2nd one!!!
Wow… so many unfamiliar dishes. The pork blood stew especially looks so fascinating!! And I’ve only heard of Adobo from a hilarious cartoon series called “Rick & Steve”. Lol!
Great looking desserts too. Totally agree with you about how wonderful it is trying a new cuisine, and Filipino food is indeed literally impossible to come by in our fine city.
Kudos to everyone involved!
Dinaguan is a native dish everyone loves…well…some friends have been put off my pigs blood though. LOL
Yes, Filipino food is very rare in Australia…hopefully we can change that with more of these feasts
oooo how envious i am! mmmmmmmm.
come to the next one!
It was indeed a yummy couple of weeks. So much eating and cooking with everyone. xoxo
so much food, so little room LOL
Awwww man, I only JUST got over being jealous that I missed this event! 😛
Yes, hope you can make the next one
Aww, what a fun event! 🙂 I wish there were more filipino places in Melbourne, as I do like the comforting food now and again. I miss my beef salpicao with egg and garlic rice!!
Amazing work the two of you though, can imagine everyone was rolling out the door after!
Was a crowded house with everyone pigging out, but great food of course!
Thanks,, yes, rolling out indeed
Yay, it was so awesome! Thanks to you and Cherrie for being brilliant hosts. xx
Thanks Agnes, your Chinese fest was also rockin!!
only had it once, I used to work with some Filipino nurses in the UK but its a long time away this feast looks amazing what a fun evening
You gotta try the Pork Tocino- great dish to get introduced to Filipino food
I don’t think I’ve tried Filipino food (at least not that I can remember) but it looks good! You guys should open a restaurant in Melbourne. 😉
We should- Cherrie- you wanna partner up? 🙂
I’m sure all your guests are glad you’ve exposed them to the joys of Filipino food! That leche Flan looks so good.
Cherrie’s leche Flan was awesome
From the looks of it I haven’t had nearly enough Filipino food- would love to track down the chicken adobo recipe it looks fantastic (as does that flan…)
Try out Cherrie’s chicken adobo recipe- got the linky in my post
All my older relos, including my parents, will only eat their steak well done. Surprisingly my mother has warmed to sushi these days and will eat some fish sashimi but I’ve got a long way to go yet towards beef tataki!
Wow, at least your mum is willing to try something raw!
Im eating right now but I wish what’s on my plate are these food more than the sad looking burger that i have right now.
next time you have a fiesta i’m flying over there LOL!
xo,
Malou
Yes, come down!
I have to admit I dont know much about Filipino food *ASHAMED* but all this looks toooooo good! Especially the chicken tinola!
chicken tinola is one of my fav dishes, especially in Winter
love the before and after shots! that pink coconut jelly looks too cute!
Yeah, thought it would be good show it! The coconut jelly was silky smooth
yum everything looks great especially the palitaw YUM!
I made the palitaw fresh that night 🙂
What a fun party and great way to become acquainted with Filipino food! Dinuguan sounds like a challenge and I’ve got my eye on the Leche flan. I bet it tastes divine! 🙂
Thanks! Yep, we thought it would be a great way to introduce our cuisine
Fantastic! I have a feeling that I’d love Filipino food! And you know something funny? I always get mistaken for being Filipino! 😛
Ha! That’s hilarious. I get called Chinese all the time…LOL
I grew up with Filipino food and friends so this post brought back so many memories. I haven’t had any for a while now but love it oh so much. totally agree with the cooked meat thing, how funny! I also loved seeing the polvoron! yum! I did buy some recently and it was so good. I do love the home made kind, my friend and I used to try and make it after we had eaten all the shop bought ones. Great post x
Yes, love polvoron and would love to try and make it soon. There were so many amazing flavours in Philippines, I wanna go back!
Oh wow looks so amazing! And what a good idea – how awful is it that the only Pinoy foods I know are ‘adobo’ and ‘balut’? 😉 Shameful!!
Nah, most people don’t know much about Filipino food so not shameful at all 🙂 Good to know you know about Balut
this looks so great, i really love the blogger photo shot!
Thanks!
That Pork Tocino looks amazing! Chargrilled goodness and it really looks full of flavour 🙂 what a great night filled with food, fotos and friends!
Chargrilled goodness indeed! IT was a fun night filled with many satisfied stomachs
I live in the wrong city. So much glorious food. Would love to taste and learn more about Filipino cuisine.
Yes, come to the next one!
Oh hi, I just died and went to heaven! One of my dearest friends’ mom used to always cook us up a Filipino storm… we’ve been on opposite sides of the world for several years now but damn do I miss her cooking! Uh I mean my friend 😉
Kidding aside, looks like a fantastic gathering and hope you were all stuffed to the brim after!
Lucky you! What’s your fav dish?
Stuffed indeed
Great job to you and Cherrie for such an epic Filipino feast!! You pretty much ticked all the boxes when it comes to showcasing Pinoy food…. mmmm now I’m hungry….!
It was epic alright! Thanks Trisha
What a fun evening! That chicharon looks amazing, I would love the recipe for that!
It was a great night. Cherrie should have the recipe on her blog
I thought I’d come by and look at one of your previous posts and boy, did I click on the right one…what a feast! There are so many amazing Filipino bloggers in the blogosphere now that I’ve gotten to know a few traditional favorites very well. Looking at your spread here, I’ve made that pumpkin and beans stew, coconut jelly, even polvoron (it’s on my blog – twice!). You guys are holding all sorts of feasts over there, it just makes me want to emigrate to Melbourne and join you ;-).
PS. I really enjoyed that Corrine Bailey Rae song you recommended, thanks very much!
aaaw thanks! I gotta check out your polvoron recipe now! Yum
Glad you liked the song- rocks doesn’t it?! Makes you wanna shake your bootay
Great feast Adrian. It was an eye opener to Filipino food for me.
Thanks Thanh, glad you enjoyed the feast!
I am completely jealous of your Filo feast lol, though I can make a few things myself, as my Mum is Filipino. It looked delicious! And of course, you had me at chicharon 😉
Just wondering if you could please post your tocino recipe? I love it, as does my Aussie hubby & our 2 little girls. I’ve used Mama Sita’s mix, but a more healthy as such alternative would be awesome! Thanks 😀
Hey Melissa,
You read my mind, hopefully I can finish the post soon 🙂
Yes, I prefer to make my own mix. If you get impatient with the post, let me know and I’ll email across the recipe to you . VIP style LOL
hahahaha this reminds me of our table during celebrations, well, the lumpia and leche flan mostly. the rest we usually have on an ordinary day, but hey, it’s filipino at its best.
Such a great post Adrian! I need to do a Filipino feast of my own 🙂 and snaps, my Mum is from Pampamga too 🙂
WOOOP! YASSS, you must!!!
Oh that’s soooo cool. Yes, then food def runs in our blood!!