Philippino Food?

[TeriyakiPinoy]

I see there are a lot of people of the Philippines but there isnt anywhere a thread about Philippino food

whats wrong about it? it's also great
but i think nobody likes us Pinoy&Pinay people

If you do like our foods and recipies then feel freely to write a comment








(i shall start everyday from now on to make balance between japanese and Philippino food ;-)D

 

[miwasatoshi]

This raises a lot of questions in my mind.

Before going further, please be aware that I'm ethnically Filipino, born in Metro Manila, but now an American citizen and full-time resident. I grew up with balut, bagoong, lumpia shanghai, turon, kare-kare, halo-halo, you name it, I ate it, and it's all I have left of "back home". But first, before going into the culinary aspects of this thread, there are things to consider.

Here are my questions:

Is Filipino food really seen very often in Japan outside people's homes? If not, then that would easily explain the lack of threads on the topic -- if the general public isn't exposed to Filipino cuisine, then they wouldn't know to ask about it.

Given the potential difficulty of opening Filipino-themed businesses in Japan (the only one I've seen was a Filipina hostess bar in Matsue and I severely doubt the business owner was Filipino) how many Filipino restaurants are there that people know about? How successful have they been? How easy is it for an ethnic Filipino to open and run a business in Japan?

Once we can answer these questions, then we can explain why people may or may not have awareness of Filipino cuisine.

To compare -- I have lived in the United States for the vast majority of my lifetime (1983-present). Still, it is very, VERY hard to find dedicated Filipino restaurants outside of Filipino ethnic communities in California. Here in Arizona, I know of precisely ONE restaurant serving Filipino food in a ten-mile radius (and probably less than a half dozen in the entire metropolitan area). This isn't some place in the boondocks (heh, bundok!), either: this is Phoenix, 6th largest metropolitan area in the nation.

Given that there are 75,000-100,000 Filipinos here, and only maybe 5 restaurants, it follows that there are simply far fewer Filipino restaurants per capita than Japanese or Chinese restaurants.

Maybe it's because everyone just cooks at home instead of going out to eat ... that's always been the issue with my family!

 

[TeriyakiPinoy]

Thanks, but if u come to Negros Occidental you would be shocked!! In a few years the Japanese cuisine is RISING here! but so to hear our cuisine isnt rising at all in the other country's what a shame!

Maybe because of our bad reputation people doesnt want to try our cuisine, people thinks about our reputation they think that we have the same level as Thailand (because of the sex-tourisme) but that isnt true! we have nice dishes too

well that's all what I can say for now! Hope to hear a lot of other people too?

 

[Iron Chef]

Maybe because of our bad reputation people doesnt want to try our cuisine, people thinks about our reputation they think that we have the same level as Thailand (because of the sex-tourisme) but that isnt true! we have nice dishes too

Food is food... I doubt most people take into consideration the country of origin's "reputation" when trying an ethnic dish.

A) "Hey, i'm hungry for some Chinese. Sesame chicken sounds real good right about now..."

B) "Hmm... did you know that China's communist regime has often been the subject of harsh criticism for it's human rights failures?"

A) "Uhh... dude, I am just jonesin' for some some Chinese..."

 

[SushiShin]

Never tried to food before of them but it seems nice, im allready glad that they eat pig and cow

 

[TeriyakiPinoy]

There are really tons of nice dishes here in The Philippines!:

For a country comprising of over 7,000 islands, there are just a handful of 'national' dishes found in the Philippines' common menu. These 'national' dishes include adobo, lumpia, sinigang, bistek and lechon among others.

Adobo

Adobo is made from chicken, pork, squid (pusit) or vegetables stewed in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf. It is believed that this dish was derived, and then, Filipinized from the Spanish adobado, a more complicated preparation soaked in garlic and oil.

Lumpia

Lumpia or better known as spring rolls in English is filled with vegetables and meat. This dish tastes great when served with soy sauce, vinegar or a slightly sweet sauce.

Sinigang

The lightly boiled, slightly sour soup known as sinigang makes a delightful dish when served with rice. This soup is cooked using souring agents like unripe guavas, tamarind leaves and flowers, kamias and tomatoes. There are different varieties of sinigang such as sinigang na isda (sour vegetable soup with fish) and sinigang na baboy (sour vegetable soup with pork).

Bistek

Another popular national cuisine of the Philippines is the bistek or beef and onion rings braised in soy sauce. This dish is what one would call beef steak, Filipino-style - reinvented with an Asian touch of soy sauce.

Lechon

Finally, there's lechon (litson), an important dish at many fiesta occasions. Lechon is a suckling pig, slowly roasted over live coals to make it crispy and tasty. This dish is often served with a thick liver sauce, simmered with vinegar, sugar and herbs.

Filipino Food(part 2)


Food, glorious food! Where else in the world can you sample delectable and tempting delicacies if not in the exotic country of Philippines. It is hardly surprising that Filipino food is often labeled as somewhat strange but in its own way, a unique mixture of eastern and western cuisine. After all, with nearly 400 years of outside influences, the Philippine cuisine is a fascinating blend of Malay, Spanish and Chinese cultures. To the Filipinos, food is important as it is an integral part of local art and culture as well as communal existence.

Unlike its surrounding Asian counterparts that uses hot chilies liberally in their dishes, the Philippine cuisine is often labeled as bland and mild. This made Filipino dishes more suitable for those with sedate and sensitive taste buds. As with other Asian countries, rice is their staple food and will be served with most meals. To the Filipinos, simple cooking means fish of different sizes from the sea. They prefer their fish and other seafood such as crabs, shrimps and shellfish to be as fresh as possible. The freshness of the seafood is often complemented by sauces and spices. In fact, seafood is appreciated at its best when left uncooked - in a vinaigrette (kilawin) matrix, grilled (ihaw or inihaw), and sometimes stuffed with onions wrapped in banana leaf.

It is no secret that coconuts are used liberally in creating exotic Filipino dishes. Cooking meat and vegetables using coconut milk create dishes called guinatan. These dishes originated from the Malay side of the Filipino cuisine. Apart from that, coconuts are also great for creating mouth-watering desserts like bibingka (puddings made of ground rice, sugar and coconut milk, baked in a clay oven, topped with fresh, salted duck eggs) and macapuno (thick dessert jam).

 

[yukio_michael]

I see there are a lot of people of the Philippines but there isnt anywhere a thread about Philippino food

It's a forum about Japan, so, I suppose that might answer the question.

It's also great, but i think nobody likes us Pinoy & Pinay people.

I've never heard of anyone abstaining from a particular type of food simply because they didn't like the race of people who made it... Even the Germans ate Jewish food.

I've never seen any Filipino restaurants in the United States, and Filipinos make for at least one out of the top ten immigrants here. Contrast this with the fact that Filipinos make up approximately 89,851 foreign residents compared to (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, other 237,914), and that's of ONE percentage of the entire population of Japan.

I've seen more Ethiopian restaurants than I've seen Filipino ones, I've eaten more Malaysian food than Filipino...

If it's any consolation, Viet Namese & Thai food is also mis-represented in Japan... I've had the good pleasure of probably having the best Viet Namese food outside of Saigon, same goes for Thai food... but, I've not seen these types of restaurants in Japan frequently.

There is probably more opportunity for a Filipino person to open a restaurant in the United States than there would be in Japan--- but that all goes down to the demographics of immigration, and the ability of those immigrants to rise above the level of poverty status.

 

[miwasatoshi]

It goes without saying that if you go to Negros, my own home province of Cavite, or ANYWHERE in the Philippines, you will find awesome Filipino food.

But that's not true outside the islands at ALL.

There are over a million Filipinos in the United States -- but very very few Filipino restaurants. Yukio_Michael brings up a lot of this in very good detail (and I've got to get back to work anyway).

It's not a matter of discrimination per se ... simply a lack of exposure, not just in Japan, but worldwide.

 

[TeriyakiPinoy]

okay thanks, for the comment on that (O_°')

But what about the dishes?
Did i dicribed it well? or do i still have to add something more?

 

[yukio_michael]

okay thanks, for the comment on that (O_ﾂ≫?ｹ')

But what about the dishes?
Did i dicribed it well? or do i still have to add something more?

I've read a bit about Filipino cuisuine in travel books, but I suppose that it comes down to tasting it to really know what it is like...

Indian food & Thai food are both spicy dishes, but I wouldn't say they are similar types of dishes--- You can describe food to some extent, but you have to go try it to really understand what it tastes like.

Try describing the taste, texture & smell of natto, or nuoc mam, the fish-dressing (people say 'sauce' often, but it's really not a sauce per say...) used extensively in Viet Namese cooking...

I found a Filipino restauraunt nearby, バジルなビジネスデイリー

...sometime when I get the chance, I'll have to go try the food.

 

[miwasatoshi]

The problem with that is that unlike Thai food and Indian food, there is no single dish that you can basically say epitomizes Filipino food in the minds of many -- it's quite varied, and doesn't rely on a core spice combination or anything like that.

The closest I've seen to a "signature dish" is probably adobo, which is one of the simplest dishes to make in the Filipino repertoire, and therefore, one of the most widespread (I've seen this at Hawaiian restaurants like L&L in addition to Filipino chains).

This being said, Wikipedia is generally a good place to start when searching for resources and references on topics like national cuisine (use the Cuisine of the Philippines article heading - I don't have enough posts to include URLs yet). That particular article is reasonably comprehensive.

As for Filipino franchises abroad, they're sort of thin on the ground, but in Southern California, I can think of several:
Goldilocks Bakeshop (16 US locations)
Jollibee (11 in California, 1 in Nevada)
Manila Good-Ha (several in California)
Red Ribbon Bakeshop (15 in California)

And individual places:
Barrio Fiesta
Manila Sunset

All these are findable on Google.

Outside of Southern California (and one restaurant, Ma-I Island Grill, conveniently located within walking distance of Arizona State University), I'm afraid I'm really of no help with finding Filipino places elsewhere.

Wow, kinda off-topic for a Japanese forum. Oops.

 

[SushiShin]

thanks for the post and comments,

i was looking for restaurants all over the world but i wanna knwo how many there were in japan, but as i could see there is nobody who really can help me.