Filipino Food!

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I heard from many people not to expect much from the cuisine in the Philippines. I'm not sure why, nobody could really explain why to why but I went in wondering if it was as bad as people had warned. Can I just say everyone is a liar or perhaps I just don't have a refined palate but whatever the case I'm finding the food quite tasty!

Kwek kwek was my intro into Filipino food and not a bad one. On my twenty hour bus ride to Cebu I had a hankering for some filipino food and this was my cheapest option. A hard boiled egg wrapped in orange tinted batter and then fried and placed in a delicious sauce. Can you really go wrong with anything fried? No I think not. Thank you Island Fiesta for providing me with a tasty treat.

While walking the streets of Bohol I popped into an eatery that had several options of Filipino food, each for just 10 pesos. Lunch number one was rice with two mystery dishes and pinakbet. A combo of veggies like okra, eggplant, squash and fish was perfect after several days with a shortage of vegetables in my life.

After watching this past season of Top Chef, where during restaurant wars they made Filipino food I was excited for some Halo Halo. I'm not sure why it stuck with me, but the idea of it has been stuck in my head. I wasn't even sure exactly what is was, but Erica and I were on a mission to find it. Strangely enough the only place we could seem to find it was in the mall. That should have been our first hint, but we dropped the 60 pesos which seemed a bit steep for us, and awaited our tasty treat. Halo halo is suppose to have shaved ice, leche flan, gulaman, übe, banana, kaong, beans, garbanzo, milk and a scoop of übe ice cream. Well I'm pretty sure we were lacking half of those treats, but the übe ice cream was delicious. I think I'll have to give this another go, because I was a bit disappointed in it.



Redemption thy name is Joy Joy Restaurant! After a long day I saw Halo Halo on the menu at the only open restaurant on Good Friday in Siquijor. I had no choice but to drop 45 pesos (so much cheaper!) and grab the tasty treat and thank god I did. It was fabulous. Unlike the fake one I had in the mall this one was the real deal. A huge bowl of shaved ice, ice cream, flan, chocolate syrup, corn flakes, milk and fruit. Oh how lovely and refreshing after a long day!



Ensaymada at tsokolate was something we picked up on the side of the street, at least I think that is what it was. A fellow baking up some cheese bread, sugar and more cheese won the hearts of us and 20 pesos for what may be the best twenty pesos I have ever dropped it was so good!!



Buko juice can pretty much be found on every corner. Basically it is just young coconut and when I finally got one I got a HUGE coconut. It was way to much for two people but every sip was refreshing after a day on the beach. Just 20 pesos it wasn't as great as the ensaymada at tsokolate but it was pretty fantastic.



I had heard that Adobo was pretty much the national dish of the Philippines so naturally I had to go out and find it. It wasn't too hard because behind my hotel there as a street market that sold delicious morsels of everything for just 10 pesos. I grabbed the chicken adobo and it was pretty tasty but there was probably more chicken bone that chicken itself. But the sauce it is in was fabulous!



Longanisa was another fail just like halo halo. I ordered it with breakfast and received what was pretty much a hotdog. I have a feeling that isn't a true longanisa so I will have to be on a hunt for a true pork sausage.



I had nearly purchased the pancit habhab on my boat ferry to Cebu but had passed. After a minor hike up chocolate hills I decided to chow down on this noodle dish. The dish had veggies and a few pieces of meat and apparently is traditionally served on a banana leaf. Mine was on a plate and it was quite tasty. The flavoring was unique and although I think some chili would have made it off the chain, it was pretty tasty.



I never thought i would go out of my way to order up some intestines but if he are deep fried why not? Sisig was another item I was able to pick up at the 10 pesos place and I found myself wishing I had bought much more than 10 pesos worth. Seriously deep fry anything and its tasty, but I devoured my intestines in seconds and seriously was wishing I had a whole lot more!



Beans, beans and more mung beans. Erica always on the search for something vegetarian found us Mongo which was a tasty treat of boiled lentils. When we got it a second time there were pieces of beef in it which although not good for Erica was really quite tasty for me! It looks like mush and taste like heaven.



Five whole days, it took five days before I finally grabbed some seafood here in the Philippines. How crazy! I don't know if there is a particular name to it but a huge chunk of fish boiled in a delicious vinegary broth. I mixed in a bunch of veggies which just made it all that much better.



Green beans and beef was for dinner and the beef was just so fabulous. So simple and so tasty!



Happy Easter! Ok it is actually the Saturday between Good Friday and Eastr but we just happened to stumble upon an Easter feast happening a day early. Invited to partake in Lechon I was ridiculously excited. I had read that this meal primarily occurred during fiestas and had written off ever getting the real deal due to me wrongly assuming that stumbling upon a fiesta would happen. The entire pig is spotted and roasted and we got to witness the entire process from the slaughter to the roasting to the consuming of Bogart (Bogart of course being the pig). The crispy skin was AMAZING! Seriously it was soooooooo (there aren't enough oooos to really get my point across) good! I tried the tail, hoof and the tongue. I have no idea if the guys were joking with me about the tongue being one of the best parts but I tried it none the less. Frankly the rib was hands down the best part with the most delicious taste tickling my taste buds! The pig was stuffed with a ton of stuff but the lemongrass is what I tasted a loved! Apparently there is a sauce that is normally paired with it but we never got any and you really didn't need it anyway. Hands down the best meal I've had thus far.





While hanging out at the bus station in Manila, waiting ever so patiently to head north naturally i became hungry. My mission was to seek out cheap food in what was clearly not a cheap city. My first stop was a canteen were I grew excited to see Laing on the menu. To be honest I had no clue what it was and frankly it looked just like weird colored baby food but I had starred it when I first wrote up my list so that had to mean something. That dish was worth every star I gave it. Taro leaves cooked up with coconut milk with meat and chili thrown in for good measure. It was fabulous.



But not all together filling. So naturally I ordered up some Chopsuey with an egg and some rice. Every once in awhile there is a major need for veggies and this filled it for me! Great little meal.



Julie's Bake Shop



When you live in Thailand, a world without baked goods, the sight of Julie's Bakery got Erica and I pretty excited. Our goal, try it all!



Buko pie wars apparently go down here in the Philippines but I'm not sure why. We grabbed one at Julie's Bakery it the young coconut pie was nothing special compared to the other tasty treats we had gotten that day.



The binangkal was really tasty, just a small little ball with some sesame seeds.



Japanese fig and a fig pie were fabulous.



Can you ever go wrong with pineapple pie.



Or with anything that has the word chocolate in it, such as the chocolate crinkle.

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Comments

[Ulrich]

Oh My!
I can't help, but comment because I suddenly miss Philippino food. Been to the PH once and I was pleasantly surprised with the cuisine. Sisig, adobo and halo-halo!! If you're still there, go look for those crispy fried tilapias and bangus (milkfish, I think), siniggang soup, karekare and tinola chicken.

[Steml02]

I had no idea I would enjoy sisig so much but it was so good! Thanks for the recommendations! I'm on a serious hunt for Kare Kare but haven't found it yet!

[D MJ Binkley]

We loved, loved, loved the Filipino food.
We've traveled extensively and the Philippines was an unexpected treasure. They do not do a good job marketing themselves. The food, the people, and the beauty of the country are top shelf. Looks like you had a great time.