Filipino Cookbook. Miki Garcia

      Filipino Cooking:

       Asia’s Best-kept Culinary Secret

      My adventure with Filipino cooking began when I lived in Manila and in rural Iba (in Zambales Province) for about a year in the 1990s. I had always loved the country and the people of these tropical islands; however, it was only after living there for several years that I discovered and grew to love the amazing variety of foods that the Philippines has to offer. When I met and later married my Filipino husband, my love of the cuisine was further strengthened since he was from the province

       of Pampanga in Central Luzon, which is considered by most Filipinos to have some of the best cooking in the nation.

      Kapampangans—as the people from Pampanga are called in Filipino—are skilled cooks and spend a great deal of their time preparing fine dishes and sharing sumptuous meals with relatives and friends. When not cooking, the Kapampangans are generally thinking about what to prepare for their next meal. This great passion for food and attention to detail means that my husband loves to spend time in the kitchen, and even when I am cooking he likes to interrupt me and often offers to take over, especially if he feels I’m not doing things correctly the “Kapampangan way.” Due to this, I can truly say that his Kapampangan food culture has thoroughly rubbed off on me over the years.

      Even though we have lived in many other countries of Asia and Europe and now live in America, I prefer to cook Filipino dishes whenever we entertain because I find that everybody loves the food. Over the years I have scribbled enough recipes to fill up several notebooks. For many years, I tried to find a cookbook of Kapampangan and other regional Filipino recipes that would satisfy the discriminating tastes of our Filipino friends and relatives, but I could never find one. I ended up asking my foodie friends and relatives for their favorite recipes, trying them out whenever I could, and, through trial and error, compiling a large collection of recipes that seem to exemplify the best dishes and flavors from all parts of the archipelago. Thus, this cookbook, the result of that effort, reflects the very best of Filipino cooking, and the recipes encompass a large selection of traditional and authentic dishes that can be enjoyed by anyone on any occasion and are accessible to Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike.

      Filipino cuisine is one of the best-kept culinary secrets in Asia. Unlike Japanese, Chinese or Thai food, its dishes are not readily available in restaurants. Filipinos love to entertain in large groups and have a tradition of throwing large and loud parties at home. And so it is only in Filipino homes—wherever they are around the world—that can one find truly authentic Filipino cuisine.

      Like other cuisines, Filipino cooking reveals a great deal about the history and geography of the place from which it sprang and the people who created it. The dishes were not developed in the kitchens of royal palaces or by wealthy aristocrats, and nor is there a long tradition of dining out in restaurants. The food is instead the creation of the common folk. In short, Filipino cuisine is the everyday “people’s food.” Its dishes are prepared to be enjoyed by everyone whenever there is a reason or occasion to gather and celebrate. Filipinos view food primarily as a means of connecting with family and friends rather than an end in itself.

      One of the things I love about Filipino cuisine is its simplicity. By and large, the dishes do not require any special utensils, there are no complicated techniques, and it does not use many exotic or expensive ingredients. Most of all, preparation times are short since it’s often too hot and humid in the Philippines to spend very much time in the kitchen!

      The ingredients required to make Filipino dishes are, for the most part, very easy to find. Expatriate Filipino communities, and markets catering to their needs, have sprung up in many urban areas around the world. In addition, a large number of Filipino ingredients originally came from the New World (brought over by the Spanish from Mexico) and can now be found in most large and well-stocked supermarkets (see pages 12–17 for a list of Essential Filipino Ingredients).

      The Filipino national cuisine is an amalgamation of many different regional styles from the various islands as well as many historical influences from abroad. The Filipinos themselves describe their cuisine as sari-sari (varied) and halohalo (mixed) because of the wide array of influences found even within a single meal. Filipino cooking can truly be considered a melting pot, deeply influenced by over 100 different island ethnic groups as well as by settlers from all parts of Asia, and by the Spanish and American colonizers.

      The native inhabitants of the islands are known as Aetas, who still live in the mountains of Luzon and Mindanao. They are believed to share the same ancestry as the aboriginals of Australia and the Papuans of New Guinea. The arrival of the Malayo-Polynesian peoples from the Asian mainland via Taiwan 6,000 years ago drove them into the mountains, and Malayo-Polynesians are now the predominant inhabitants of the Philippines. Their cooking styles involve the preparation of foods by boiling, roasting and steaming using coconut milk and peanut oil. The roasting of a whole pig, known as Lechon, is believed to be an ancient Polynesian practice.

      Regular contacts with the Chinese also influenced Filipino cuisine. Chinese traders, who visited and settled on the islands from the fifth century onward, brought their culinary techniques and ingredients. Fried Rice Noodles (page 93) and Spring Rolls (page 31) are two typical Filipino dishes with their roots in China. Many of the typical Filipino sawsawan, or dipping sauces, are also of Chinese origin. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the islands were also visited by Arab, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Javanese, Cambodian, Indian and Portuguese traders. Each of these cultures subtly influenced the evolution of the local cuisine.

      The Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the sixteenth century lasted for 300 years and brought significant Spanish and Mexican influence, via Spain’s colonization of that country, to the food culture of the islands. Located on the vital sea routes of Asia, the Philippines became a lucrative trading port for the Spanish. In exchange for sugar and other local products, the Spanish brought chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, cacao and potatoes from the New World. It is said that as many as 80 percent of local Filipino dishes have some Spanish or Mexican influence, either because of their ingredients or because they are local adaptations of original Spanish or Mexican dishes.

      Many Chinese dishes that were introduced during the Spanish colonial times were given Spanish names. For example, the ever-popular Chinese rice congee was given the name Arroz Caldo (Rice Porridge with Chicken, page 92), while Chinese-style fried rice was called Morisqueta Tostada—commonly known by its Tagalog name, Sinangag (Fried Rice with Egg, page 91). Spanish food and culture, and the Catholic religion, continue to define the modern-day Philippines even though Spanish colonial rule ended in 1898.