Philippine cuisine

[x9200]

I realized that probably I have not eaten anything from the Pinoy typical food (at least consciously) and actually as per rather large community around it is strangely unheard. You can daily hear about Chinese, Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Balinese and dozen of other more or less local cuisines but nothing about Philippine. What is the reason and what place could you recommend to get the right flavour?

[nakatago]

Filipinos tend to blend (well, at least try to) into the communities they get into. Those that open restaurants mostly cater to other Filipinos and I guess no one bothered to open a restaurant to 'introduce Filipino food to other cultures.' The reason for Filipino restaurants here, I guess are also because of the large density of Filipinos. Last I heard, we're the fourth biggest 'ethnic' group in Singapore.

Where to sample food? Not sure but http://www.7107flavours.com.sg seems to be the biggest. I haven't tried it, though. My mom's a very good cook so my standards for Filipino food is very high and I don't want to be disappointed. There's also this: http://www.bonifaciogroup.com/ which I also haven't tried. (Hey, if I want Filipino food, I'll just cook it myself...which I do). For smaller places, you can stroll over to Lucky Plaza (e.g. Kabayan), Orchard or Tampines (Mang Kiko's), Lau Pa Sat (Baliwag Lechon) or even that sisig place in Tanjong Pagar. I heard there should be other smallish places but not sure where.

Filipino food is usually a mix of Southeast Asian, Spanish and Pacific islander so some dishes taste similar but there's something there that sets it apart. Also, it's so easy to get it wrong--I've sampled food by other Filipinos and I was quite disappointed (re: "my mom"). You then get people like Vaucluse describing Filipino food as "grotesque" --> http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... highlight= (I could've refuted him but this is Vaucluse we're talking about).

They say the quintessential Filipino food is adobo because, when done right, you get a bit of salty, sour, sweet and spicy all in one dish. Not a personal favorite, though, I didn't really develop my own recipe for it.

My recommendation? Find someone who knows how to cook well based on Kapampangan cuisine. Hailing from the Province of Pampanga, they're famed for being very good cooks. (DISCLAIMER: my mom is Kapampangan. So am I a good cook? My girlfriend says 'yes' but she's biased). It's kinda a big let down if a Kapampangan doesn't know how to cook well. But again, YMMV so everything will depend if your preferences can be met.

I am not a food anthropologist so these are just my 2 cents based on what I observe.

[zzm9980]

I've seen a bunch of small filipino shops/cafes in Roxy Sq and/or Katong Shopping Center (not I12 Katong). They looked like they were catering to the maids waiting in agency offices and the BMD girls at the pubs there.

I really enjoyed the place I tried at Lau Pa Sat a few times, no idea how authentic it was though.

[morenangpinay]

i read previously why Filipino cuisine isnt as promoted as other asian cuisines. Its probably because we rather eat than promote. Also, we have 7,107 islands and each one has a different version of every dish in the country. But there are signature dishes identified with Philippines. You can check out anthony bourdain's review on philippine cuisine though to get an idea. Usually our cuisine is sour, salty, or sweet and we have alot of pork dishes ... anthony bourdain said lechon is the best pork hes tasted. so must be good right lol

I also don't eat at the restos here lol because i can cook it myself. I usually like pork sinigang, chicken tinola, pork adobo, igado, pork knuckles, lumpiang shanghai, lechon, lechon kawali.


You can try those two restaurants bonifacio and 7,107 flavours
let us know when you try it.

[zzm9980]

I also don't eat at the restos here lol because i can cook it myself.

It sounds like the same thing with the Vietnamese food here. It's all absolutely terrible, and that's likely because every woman from Vietnam tends to cook really well. So they stay home and cook it, instead of patronizing restaurants.

[x9200]

Thanks nak, zm and morenangpinay.

I realize this is a pretty trivial concept but as it looks many of as can cook and actually cooks, maybe we could replace one of the future Friday gatherings with Saturday or Sunday afternoon BBQ in one of these public BBQ pits in the places like Labrador Park (probably most centrally located)? Everybody would bring her/his favorite country food and whatever drink (s)he would like to have or share

[nakatago]

So they stay home and cook it, instead of patronizing restaurants.

This.

@x9200: sounds like a charming idea; we just need to sort out the logistics. Suddenly, I remember SMS cooking crabs...

[Bino]

There are also quite a number of Filipino food stalls in Lau Pa Sat in Raffles Place. May be a good place to start..

[sundaymorningstaple]

So they stay home and cook it, instead of patronizing restaurants.

This.

@x9200: sounds like a charming idea; we just need to sort out the logistics. Suddenly, I remember SMS cooking crabs...

You talking about these?

[revhappy]

I realized that probably I have not eaten anything from the Pinoy typical food (at least consciously) and actually as per rather large community around it is strangely unheard. You can daily hear about Chinese, Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Balinese and dozen of other more or less local cuisines but nothing about Philippine. What is the reason and what place could you recommend to get the right flavour?

One reason why I feel you dont find Filipino cuisine very commonly is because it is pork heavy. Indians, even though some are non-vegetarian, but pork and beef is big no no to most. The Malays will never ever get even close to pork. The chinese I am not sure, but I believe they too digress pork.

So Filipino food will essentially cater to only Filipinos and unless there are lots of them in a particular place, I think it may not make business sense.

Another reason and the more important one is what Nak already has mentioned, that Filipinos are not so fussy about getting their own food, like the Indians for example. Just a case in point, my office foodcourt, in Signature building in changi, had no Filipino food untill all this while. There was 1 Indian and several others like Japanese, Korean, western etc. The Indian one always had a huge queue kind of like 80% ate Indian and the rest non-Indian. Recently a Filipino joint opened in the food court called "Lutong Pinoy" and boy now there is big queue for it as well almost equal to the Indian one.

[Mi Amigo]

You talking about these?

Another good use for the BCL* there


* Bird Cage Liner

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yep, 'bout the only thing it's good for.

[nakatago]

I realized that probably I have not eaten anything from the Pinoy typical food (at least consciously) and actually as per rather large community around it is strangely unheard. You can daily hear about Chinese, Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Balinese and dozen of other more or less local cuisines but nothing about Philippine. What is the reason and what place could you recommend to get the right flavour?

One reason why I feel you dont find Filipino cuisine very commonly is because it is pork heavy. Indians, even though some are non-vegetarian, but pork and beef is big no no to most. The Malays will never ever get even close to pork. The chinese I am not sure, but I believe they too digress pork.

So Filipino food will essentially cater to only Filipinos and unless there are lots of them in a particular place, I think it may not make business sense.

Another reason and the more important one is what Nak already has mentioned, that Filipinos are not so fussy about getting their own food, like the Indians for example. Just a case in point, my office foodcourt, in Signature building in changi, had no Filipino food untill all this while. There was 1 Indian and several others like Japanese, Korean, western etc. The Indian one always had a huge queue kind of like 80% ate Indian and the rest non-Indian. Recently a Filipino joint opened in the food court called "Lutong Pinoy" and boy now there is big queue for it as well almost equal to the Indian one.

The pork is not an issue why Filipino restaurants are not common. Note how other cuisine would be pork heavy as well (e.g. German?). Even in other cities where there isn't a lot of Hindus, Buddhists, Jews or Muslims, Filipino restaurants are not that common. Singapore, if you think about it have a lot of Filipino restaurants already--mainly because of the percentage of Filipino residents.

Filipinos just don't bother putting up restaurants to cater to other than Filipinos. Successful Filipino restaurants in other countries usually started out to cater to a local Filipino community but then the non-Filipinos strayed into them and liked the food and told their friends.

[x9200]

Filipinos just don't bother putting up restaurants to cater to other than Filipinos

But why? If there is a business opportunity there would people willing to earn some money. Hard to believe Filipinos are different
IMO what revhappy said makes good sense. The only other local majority eating pork are Chinese but they don't like heavy stuff. Indians like heavy stuff but not pork. Malay cuisine partly overlaps with Chinese and Indian (in the food textures and some flavor patters at least) so there is no clear contradiction here. These are the cuisines catering for cross-culture majorities and the Filipino cuisine only seems to suit one single major group and some Western minorities (still did not try it but looks good).

@SMS, your daughter?

[the lynx]

Filipinos just don't bother putting up restaurants to cater to other than Filipinos

But why? If there is a business opportunity there would people willing to earn some money. Hard to believe Filipinos are different
IMO what revhappy said makes good sense. The only other local majority eating pork are Chinese but they don't like heavy stuff. Indians like heavy stuff but not pork. Malay cuisine partly overlaps with Chinese and Indian (in the food textures and some flavor patters at least) so there is no clear contradiction here. These are the cuisines catering for cross-culture majorities and the Filipino cuisine only seems to suit one single major group and some Western minorities (still did not try it but looks good).

@SMS, your daughter?

More and more Chinese are acquiring the taste for really heavy flavours (hint: me!). To be honest, Philippine cuisine is not readily available everywhere, and without having to walk into Lucky Plaza. My area unfortunately doesn't have any restaurant or even stall serving such in hawker centres. I would have been able to sample more frequently if it is more common.