A Taste Of The Philippines

Filipino Food Month takes place in April each year. The month was created to appreciate and preserve Filipino culinary heritage, as well as the farmers and fishermen who make it all possible.

A TRIO OF BIG, BOLD FLAVOURS DOMINATES OUR NATION’S UNIQUE CUISINE

Filipino cuisine is dominated by the bold balance of three elements of taste: salty, sour and sweet.

These flavours stem from a medley of cultural, historical and environmental influences that have shaped Filipino culinary traditions for centuries.

Salt is used both to highlight other flavours, but also as a standalone taste. Filipino soy sauce is extra salty, while snacks like chicharron (fried pork belly) and puffed fish crackers are loaded with it. Bowls of sawsawan (Filipino soy dressing) and dishes of bagoong (a condiment of fermented fish, krill or shrimp paste) are both used as table seasonings. Salt’s also an important part of native Filipino heritage. In the Bohol region, they make a salt called asín tibuok, which is sharp, earthy and smoky.

Meanwhile, jolting acidity isn’t only acceptable in Filipino cooking — it’s key. Vinegars, calamansi (a local citrus fruit) and tamarind are vital, used to enhance flavours, brighten up heavy dishes and tenderise meats  They can also be used in palate cleansers, such as atchara (pickled green papaya). The high acidity also has the purpose of preserving food in the tropical climate, so dishes such as adobo (a vinegary stew) and sinigang (tamarindspiked soup) can be left out all day without spoiling.

Filipinos also have a very sweet tooth. You’ll find American doughnut shops and fast food chains scattered all over, and there are local cake shops on every corner. Traditional sweets like leche flan (creme caramel), halo-halo (shaved ice), biko (sticky rice cake), banana cue (fried bananas) and bibingka (baked rice cake) are filled with sugar, but it’s also used in savoury dishes like adobo, tocino (cured pork), longanisa (sweet sausage) and even in spaghetti sauce. You’ll be hard pressed to find coff ee that isn’t pre-sweetened, while teas and juices are usually fi lled with syrups and sugar. Sugar is everywhere.

MUST TRY DISHES

SISIG

This dish of sizzling pork originated

in Pampanga province in the 1970s.

Locals would take leftover meat and

marinate it in a mix of calamansi,

vinegar, soy sauce and chillies. It’s

often topped with an egg yolk.

SINIGANG

This soup is made by cooking meat or

seafood in tamarind-based broth with

vegetables, and can be soured with

fruit like calamansi, green mangoes or

santol. It varies between regions.

CHICKEN INASAL

A grilled chicken dish from the Western Visayas region. Chicken legs are marinated in vinegar, calamansi, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and annatto oil, then grilled over charcoal. Served with garlic rice and atchara pickle.

Essential ingredient

Calamansi is a native citrus that’s a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin. It has the sourness of a lemon but the appearance of a tiny lime with orange fl esh. It’s used in marinades and sauces, and as a table seasoning, too.

This is an edited extract from Masarap, by Richie Castillo and Alex O’Neill.

Source: National Geographic Traveller