Reading John’s excellent post earlier today about his first experiences in visiting the Philippines made me feel a little nostalgic. It’s been 17 years since my first visit (almost 17 years to the day), but I still have fond memories. I wrote up the adventure of my first trip to the Philippines on a series of stores on my Mindanao Blog, if you want to read it, read all the posts that this brings you to.
The memory that came back to me today, though, after reading what John had to say was on my second (or was it my third) trip here. One of the things we did on that visit was that we bought an oven/stovetop for my Mother-in-law, “Ma” as I always call her. Ma had never owned an oven before to my knowledge. She always cooked over a wood flame, as far as I know. That was the only way I ever saw her cook, anyway. As I recall, the same day that we arrived for a visit in General Santos, we went to the appliance center and choose the oven. We didn’t tall Ma that we had bought her anything, we just scheduled the appliance store to deliver it to the house. Of course in addition to the appliance itself, we purchased all the needed accessories – a tank of LPG, hoses, etc. Well, when the delivery van pulled up, Ma was very surprised. As I recall, I think that she said they had the wrong house! But, we convinced her that it was for her, and the delivery people got it all set up for her.
The next surprise was that I had brought a bunch of ingredients and other supplies with us from the USA, and I planned to cook for the family, to sort of inaugurate the new oven. Soon I found out that it was fiesta time in the Barangay, and they have a tradition that everybody goes from house to house to sample the food that is supplied in each place. Oops! I better cook an extra large order. The next surprise was that it was my plan to cook a Filipino dish – Lumpia! By the way, speaking of Lumpia, have you ever heard of anybody who doesn’t like Lumpia? I know that it’s a favorite of mine, and has been since the first time I tried it.
Well, it didn’t take long, the word got around the Barangay that the “Kano” was cooking! Everybody was making plans to go try the food at the Bayoy house and see how that Kano food tasted! Oh boy, I was really on the spot! I got busy and got cooking! I cooked a ton of Lumpia, and I cooked another dish too, but it escapes me what the other dish was! What I do remember, though, is that my cooking was a smashing hit! There were so many people coming from around the Barangay to eat that we had to actually hide some of the food, or else Feyma’s family would not have been able to try my cooking! It was a great time, though, I enjoyed it a lot.
What are your favorite Filipino dishes? I have a number of favorites, and I know how to cook a number of Filipino foods myself too. When we lived in the USA, my biggest feat when it comes to cooking was that I cooked a Relleno Manok. Who knows what that is? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a chicken that is stuffed. The challenge is that you have to debone the chicken, and you have to leave the bird intact too! I removed every bone in the bird, except the drumstick bones and the wings, which you are supposed to leave. The next step is that you stuff the boneless carcass with things like ham, longanisa, eggs and other ingredients. You bake it, and when it is fully cooked, it looks like a whole roasted chicken, but it is boneless! You can cut it up similar to what you would do with a meatloaf, but it looks like a regular chicken! I will say this, that Relleno Manok was delicious too. As I recall, I either cooked it for our Anniversary or for Feyma’s birthday one year. I know it was for a special occasion.
This trip down memory lane is making me hungry!
Hey Bob, if you can debone a chicken like that, then you'd better start a new business selling Turducken! Debone a turkey, a duck, and chicken, and arrange them like those little russian dolls with a layer of stuffing in-between each. Bake and slice like meatloaf, just like the dish above 🙂
hi bob as i said before i am a cook so i have been trying a few filipino recipes like adobo ,different styles of pancit ,linaga (boiled chicken stew)pescado al horno (baked fish , and many others,its really fun to learn new recipes, one of my favorite places to eat in davao is the iron horse buffet, very good food all u can eat, also the resturant at paradise island resort has good food and so does jacks ridge, i remeber when my fiancee and i had our engagement party and i told her i would cook , she dared me to cook and i said no problem its what i do i cooked chicken alfredo for about 15 family members , her tita said you better keep him ..lol
Lumpia, Pancit, Lichen and orange shrimp:smile: are some of the things my darling wife cooks and I can't get enough of. Spelling could be a problem in relating the foods. Sad to I'm not an accomplished Philippine cook. I can cook one heck of a terriaki venison though.
Hi Elisa – What a novel idea! It sounds cool!
Hi Ken – You da man! It sounds like your wife found a good one!
Hi Wayne – What is the orange shrimp? I've never heard of it, but it sounds good to me! In your profession, I bet you can cook a heck of a lot of different types of game!
I've tried adobo but my fiancee says I make it too sour. My real specialty is Chinese cooking. I make a really good General Tso's Chicken.
Hi Bob,
I guess that was Philippine Fiesta 101 for you, huh? I'm very impressed! I haven't even attempted to make either lumpia or rellenong manok – too much work! It's easier to order those. Ken is pretty happy with anything I make – sinigang, kaldereta, adobo, pansit sotanghon (his mom's favorite), afritada, etc.
Louis, now we know where to go for Gen. Tso's chicken next time we're in Davao… 😉
I miss kinilaw, Bob, using first class fish like blue marlins. If the weather isn't good and fish is rare, boiled seashells freshly picked is OK for me. I love the butong (fresh buko juice + young meat+ condensed milk) specially when it's very hot! During fiestas, I miss the sinugbang baboy and torta and suman- pilit for dessert and the crunchy chicharon with little meat attached dipped in soy sauce and coco vinegar mix. Yummy !!!
Hi Louis – When should I swing by your place for the tasting? Ha ha.. I do enjoy General Tso's Chicken, and my niece makes it for me regularly!
Hi Tina – Yep, that was my first Fiesta in the Philippines. We had fun. Lumpia is very easy to make. The Relleno Manok was quite a challenge, though. That deboning is a major job. I have been told that your butcher can do it for you, but I wanted to tackle the job myself. Sounds like Ken is adventurous!
Hi Jul – I am not a huge kinilaw fan. I prefer Sashimi instead. A lot of the things you named, I have never eaten. I'll have to try some. I do love chicharon with a little meat still on it, though! Oh, the cholesterol!
I miss the "inihaw na panga" and fresh durian. Yummy talaga!
Hi Bobby – I also like Panga, it's tasty! And durian, that's great stuff too! I'll eat an extra helping for you next time! 😉
Hi Bob,
This brings back some memories for me also. I remember on my second trip to the Philippines my wife and I bought her mother a new oven. After I set it up I decided to try it out and bake a cake for the family with some cake mix we brought from the US. When it came time to set the temperature on the oven I realized it was in celsius. Unfortunately the cake mix was in fahrenheit so I had to convert it. I must have converted correctly because the cake turned out very good.
Hi Aaron – Yep, I remember my cooking so clearly, it was a lot of fun. I can see you doing the cake too – I bet that even if it didn't turn out good (due to the temperature thing), the family still would have said it was the best cake they ever had! Sounds like you had a good time!
You made me hungry with this post, Bob. The traveling from house to house is pretty much the universal meaning of the fiesta, it can certianly be areally fun time.
Whenpeople tlak about lumpia I imagine most of them are referring to lumpis shangahi, the thin rolls of ground pork and other ingredients rolled tight in the wrapper and deep fried but folks should also watch for lumpia ubod which is rolled thicker, stuffed with lot's of chopped veggies and served raw, cold … no meat … good for those who are watching te old cholesterol and fat count. It's a speciality at the Max's restruants … there's alady roun the corner from us who makes it to order, two are ameal, even for my big tummy.
Hard to say what my fav food here is, although morcon comes close .. morcon is kind of aFilipino version of what the German's call rouladen, thin tender beef roole dup with tasty stuffing and cooked in aloverly sauce. My wife, Mita, the "Unoffical Cook' is quite an accomplished cook and photographer, she has aton of great recipes and food photos on her blog. The first few months here in the Philippines I lost about 40 pounds but I think most all of it has come back now, sadly.
A very popular fish is the bangus (Milkfish) and it's not bad eating but it has the annoying property of being literally full of bones. We have a vendor who comes buy a couple times aweek and will bring Bangus Relleno on request, now _that_ makes a darn fine Sunday dinner.
I just ate, why am I hungry again? 😉
Hi Dave – I love ubud lumpia. But, I like it fried. The ubud lumpia I've had a Max's is fried (I think they have fresh too, though), and has a little bit of meat mixed in as well. But, ubud really adds a great flavor to lumpia!
Down here, we can get deboned bangus, which is excellent. It's from a company in General Santos, and I've never found a single bone in it. I like bangus OK, although I prefer ocean fish to freshwater. When it comes to fish, my favorite is tuna or malisugue sashimi. I love the stuff!