Filipino Cookbook. Miki Garcia
family and friends for a celebration. Essentially, Filipinos love any reason to eat and enjoy each other’s company!
How to Eat a Filipino Meal
Most Filipinos prefer to eat with their hands, especially in informal situations. Making sure their hands are clean, Filipinos always use the fingers of their right hand (even left-handed diners) to take a small portion of rice and to press it into a mound. A piece of meat, fish, or vegetable is placed on top of this mound and picked up with the fingers, and then brought to the mouth where the thumb is used to push the food into the mouth. It might take some practice, but this is the authentic way of eating Filipino food.
The Spanish introduced forks and spoons and, since then, their use has become widespread. The fork is normally held in the left hand and the spoon in the right hand. A knife is not normally needed since most foods are either pre-cut into bitesized pieces or tender enough to be cut using the spoon. The spoon is used to collect and then scoop up a mouthful of food while the fork keeps it from moving off the plate. Only in the most formal settings will you see a knife used. Although the Chinese left a lasting impression on Filipino food and culture, chopsticks are generally not used. Filipinos use a flat plate, making it impractical to pick up rice with chopsticks.
Another unique part of the Filipino dining experience is the use of patis (fish sauce) and bagoong (either sautéed shrimp paste or anchovy sauce) as condiments. These condiments (pampalasa) are used in soups, stews, and to accompany just about any dish on the Filipino table. Even when a dish is flavorful and well seasoned, a Filipino will still want to add patis or bagoong. So remember to put a small saucer or patis or bagoong on the table during mealtime if you want to keep your Filipino guests happy.
Meals are served family style—that is, they are placed in the center of the table with individual serving spoons, allowing each diner to take only the desired portion. Viands —the dishes that accompany rice—mostly have bite-sized slices of meat and vegetables.
Filipinos are easygoing and hospitable. They love to share their food! If you are visiting a Filipino home, you will definitely be offered helpings of local specialties—and if it’s fiesta time, you’ll enjoy even more.
Guests are treated with respect, but don’t start to eat until the host says so. Don’t hesitate to take a second or third helping as your host will be delighted that you’re enjoying the dishes. If you don’t like the food, try to eat a little bit out of courtesy. It is always important for guests to accept food offered by the host or fellow guests—never decline! Make sure you finish everything on your plate; otherwise the hostess will think you didn’t appreciate her cooking. Above all, enjoy the hospitality of family and friends while sampling the variety of textures and tastes found in Filipino cuisine.
Essential Filipino Ingredients
Filipino ingredients can be found in Asian or Latin American grocery stores. If there are Filipino eateries in your neighborhood, it is worth checking with them to find out where they get their supplies. Chinatowns are also good places to look. Many hard-to-find fresh vegetables, such as bitter gourd, can be found frozen, canned, or bottled. Also, a wide variety of Filipino products are now available from online businesses (see Resources, page 112).
Agar-Agar is a thickening agent made from seaweed that is used to make desserts and jellies. It is flavorless and dissolves when boiled in water and sets to a gelatinous form when left to cool. It is similar to gelatin although gelatin is made from animal by-products and easily dissolves in hot water. Agar-agar gels more firmly than gelatin too. Known as gulaman in the Philippines, agar-agar is sold as dried white or colored bars or packed as flakes or powder. Look for them in Asian or health food stores.
Anchovy Sauce, or bagoong isda, is fermented fish sauce—anchovies are commonly used—that is popular either as an ingredient or condiment. Anchovy sauce is very salty, has a strong, pungent smell, and varies in appearance, color, and flavor. No need to sauté or cook the sauce when used as a condiment. Asian groceries sell bottles of gray-colored anchovy sauce either as bagoong monamon or bagoong balayan, and may contain whole anchovies. Do not confuse with regular fish sauce or patis. See also Sautéed Shrimp Paste.
Annatto Seeds are tiny, dried reddish-brown seeds used as natural food coloring. They have little flavor and are mainly added to impart a tinge of red color to dishes. The seed is usually soaked and squeezed in warm water or fried in oil to extract the reddish orange color (see How to Make Annatto Water, page 19). The seed is from the annatto fruit, originally brought from Mexico to the Philippines. It is sold in packets or bottles in Asian or Latin American grocery stores. Mixing paprika with ground turmeric powder is a good substitute. Red food coloring may also be used, or you can simply omit the coloring agent altogether.
Bananas Among many varieties, saba bananas are widely cultivated in the Philippines. They are shorter in length but stouter than regular bananas. The skins are thick and green when unripe, yellow when ripe. In a typical Filipino dish, unripe or semi-ripe saba bananas are used. Semi-ripe or ripe saba bananas are fried, grilled, and boiled for desserts and soups. Saba bananas are usually cut into four pieces when used in soups. Thinner slices are called for in desserts such as Sweet Coconut Milk Delight (page 98) and Mixed Fruits and Shaved Ice Parfait (Halo-halo, page 104). Frozen saba bananas are available in Asian grocery stores. Plantains or unripe regular bananas may be substituted (use about half of a plantain for every saba banana.)
Banana Blossom Also known as banana flower or banana heart (puso ng saging is the term commonly used in the Philippines, puso is Filipino for heart), this vegetable is an edible bud from the banana plant and is actually several layers of reddish fibrous skins. Fresh, bottled, or canned banana blossoms are sold in Asian grocery stores. When using a fresh blossom, remove several layers of the hard outer sheets to reveal the lighter-colored inner layers, cut into thin circles or quarters, and soak them in salted water before cooking. Artichoke hearts or zucchini flowers may be used as substitutes.
Banana Ketchup looks just like regular ketchup and is made from bananas, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and spices. It has a sweet-and-sour taste and doesn’t taste like bananas at all. The red coloring is added so it looks like tomato ketchup. Banana ketchup is cheaper than tomato ketchup in the Philippines, and is also commonly found in Hawaii and the West Indies. It is often used as a dip for fried chicken, hotdogs, and other fried dishes. It is readily available in Asian grocery stores. Tomato ketchup is a good substitute.
Banana Leaves are sold either as large sheets folded up, or pre-cut to smaller sizes. These versatile leaves can be baked, grilled, used as a cooking sheet, a plate, or a wrapper for steamed dishes. The banana leaf gives the food a nice texture, color, and taste. Leaves should be rinsed, cut, and held over an open flame for a few seconds or scalded with boiling water to “wilt” them and make them easy to fold without cracking. The leaves can also make a beautiful and exotic background when used as serving plates and party platters. Frozen leaves are often sold in large sizes and can be sut down to smaller sizes. Leftover leaves can be simply wrapped in plastic and stored in the freezer. They are available either fresh or frozen in Asian or Latin American grocery stores. Aluminum foil can be used as a substitute.
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