Pinakbet or pakbet is a popular Ilocano dish hailing from the northern regions of the Philippines. Pinakbet means shrunk or shriveled. It is considered as a very healthy dish consisting of basic vegetables such as native bitter melon, eggplant, tomato, ginger, okra, string beans and others.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup squash, cubed
5 pcs string beans, cut 3 inches long
5 pcs okra, sliced lengthwise
4 small whole baby ampalaya, only ends are cut off
1/4 cup patani (optional)
6 pcs eggplant, halved
3 pcs tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp. ginger strips
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pcs onions, quartered
1 tbsp. fish bagoong or shrimp paste
1/4 kilo bagnet or pork belly, fried until crispy ( for vegan, replace with fried gluten )
1 cup water
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, arrange the vegetables in the following order: squash, string beans, ampalaya, okra, patani, eggplant, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and onions.
2. Top with bagnet (or pork) and bagoong (fish paste).
3. Add water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer.
4. Slowly stir with a ladle to make sure that all portions are cooked.
5. Simmer until almost all the liquid is conserve hot. Good for four.
Tokwa’t Baboy is a traditional appetizer in most Filipino restaurants and in places offering beer. It is traditionally cooked with pork ears, soy sauce, pork broth, vinegar and other spices. Tokwa’t baboy can also be paired with Arroz caldo.
Ingredients:
1/2 kilo pork (cut into chunk cubes) or ½ kilo pork ears (cut into small slices)
6 pieces tokwa or beancurd
2 heads garlic , minced
1/4 teaspoon salt (for pork)
1 cup cane vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt (for sauce)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 small onions , diced
2 small pieces chili pepper
Sliced onion rings from 1 onion
Directions:
1. Fry the beancurd or tokwa until golden brown and crisp. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to dry.Cut the fried tokwa into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.
2. Boil pork meat or pork ears in water with 1/2 tsp salt until tender. Cut the cooked pork into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside.
3. Mix vinegar, soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, sugar, chili pepper (red sili), black pepper, diced onions and garlic in a bowl.
4. Combine fried tokwa and pork pieces together in a shallow bowl. Pour sauce made in step 3 onto the bowl. Garnish with fresh onion rings.
The Philippines is the second largest archipelago next to Indonesia.It is a tropical country where people enjoy a healthful climate with only wet and dry seasons all year round with 7,000 islands.Thanks to its rain forests, an immense assortment of tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, durian, papayas, watermelon and the well-known mangoes can be harvested by season.This mix of fruits carves Philippines as a fruit basket especially one of its islands, Mindanao.Filipino culture is as mix as it gets as influences of Filipino foods expands as time goes by.The modern Filipino foods menu reflects culinary tastes of China, Japan, India, Spain and USA.Needless to say, Philippines has evolved a unique melting pot of cultural diversity where East meets West.
Philippine recipes are products from influences of Chinese, Malay, Spanish, Mexican, American and Indian. Filipinos are known to have a hearty appetite and just love to eat. In fact, a typical Filipino eats three meals a day and two snacks in between.Filipino country folks eat a breakfast while some eat a second breakfast around 1030am then a mid-afternoon snack.The folks living in rural areas have their main meal at mid day while city folks emphasize the evening meal.Thus, it is no surprise that Filipinos have a wide array of food recipes that comes with a cup or more of hot and steamy rice.An unusual feature of Filipino food is the combination of major meat ingredients such as chicken and pork adobo or pork and fish chopsuey.
Rice
Rice comprise the main bulk of a Filipino food or diet, be it breakfast, lunch and dinner.It’s usually boiled until the grains become fluffy.A normal meal of a Filipino family consists of moulds of rice together with a dish of meat and/or vegetables.Filipinos are quite creative when it comes to leftover food especially when it comes to rice. The previous night’s rice can be fried with garlic or made into Shanghai rice.Filipinos don’t mind the simplicity of such fare as long as the rice is acceptable and not too sticky or not too dry – just right, complete with the always present dipping sauces.
Hospitality
Food is the basis of their social life that Filipinos often asks a stranger to “come and eat”.They’re known to be naturally hospitable and sociable.Even strangers who happen to pass by Filipinos who are eating are then invited to “come sit and eat with us”.It’s acceptable to say you had already eaten.It’s better not to accept the first invitation as to wait if they do insist.This is a unique Filipino way of gauging whether the invitation is sincerely extended or not.If they press on further and insist you come and eat with them, it shows they have prepared food enough for everyone especially during special occasions like fiestas.
Filipino Cooking Methods
Filipino food is one of mixed and varied origins of Chinese, Malay and Spanish however their cooking methods are simple.There are five cooking methods that comprise the pillar of Filipino cooking namely boiling (nilaga), grilling (ihaw), roasting, steaming (halabos) and frying (prito).The modern day cooking calls for these cooking methods quite convenient for Filipinos.It was not until when Spanish came to the Philippines that the method of sautéing (guisado) was” Filipinized” and adapted into the Filipino kitchen which adds to the basic methods of Filipino food and how they’re cooked.
Filipinos indeed love to cook as much as they love to eat.In fact, it is obviously seen in their unique and creative yet delicious known to be cherished not only by Filipinos but also other visitors of different nationalities.
