Divergent yet Delish

CEBU, Philippines - Stuck in a culinary rut? Forget about pizza and cordon bleu for a while and pack your appetite with something so ours, so Pinoy. 

It is quite hard to describe Filipino culture except perhaps that it is very, very diverse. Although we have a national language, it hardly captures the diversity of the 7107 islands and the roughly 80 major languages spread throughout.

That is the hardest and yet most beautiful thing about the Philippines. Its cultural differences are threads that makeup a very colorful tapestry of culture, ancestry, colonialism, and age-old traditions that blanket sixteen regions from Batanes to the southernmost tip of Jolo.

It is also because of these differences that make it so difficult for Filipinos to meet at one point, to basically agree on one thing.

Filipino cuisine is no different. With signature dishes and flavors bordering the bitter, the spicy, the sweet, the maasim and everything in between, divergent is a word that is close enough and yet does not do justice when it comes to describing the essence of the culinary conundrum. 

Ironically however, Filipino cuisine is a gastronomic genre that is well loved although kept slight beneath the mainstream. It is marked with rustic home made goodness that is an easy and delectable escape from staple restaurant flavors of Italian, French, and Fusion.

With Unilever Foodsolutions on a mission to add an extra oomph to old-time Pinoy favorites and to catapult these dishes to Pinoy-pride status via their So Pinoy Campaign, it’s easy to say that when it comes to food, this is definitely the one thing that many Filipinos will not waste time to disagree on despite the lingual and cultural differences.

Afterall, for Pinoys, food definitely knows no borders.

Here are the top five Pinoy dishes to put on the table and to delight the family this month:

Adobo

As a word, adobo may have Spanish roots meaning marinate or sauce but the dish in itself is definitely 100 percent Filipino. Highly popular in northern Philippines as a dish packed for mountain trekkers owing to its long shelf life, adobo is usually done best with native chicken cooked slowly in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, black pepper corns, and bayleaf. Highly popular and definitely more delightful when cooked at home, the hispanic origins of adobo as the word per se has long been drowned by its home-made goodness.

Ingredients:

1kg Chicken

40ml Knorr Liquid Seasoning

20ml Soy sauce

20g Knorr Oyster Sauce

50g Garlic

100ml Vinegar

100ml Oil

50g Chives

2 Bay leaf

Procedure:

1. Marinate chicken in Knorr Liquid Seasoning, soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and Knorr Oyster Sauce. 

2. Brown garlic in oil.

3. Add in chicken and marinade. Add water, if needed.

4. Add in chives and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer.

5. Cook until sauce has been reduced.

Serves 10

Preparation time: 1 hour

Bulalo

A specialty of Batangas but a favorite across the islands, Bulalo is a rich soup dish of beef shanks boiled until they are falling-off tender, leafy greens, potatoes, and corn. The joy in eating bulalo includes tapping out the marrow from the bone. When it comes to bulalo, as they say, the hotter the soup, the better.

Ingredients:

200ml Oil

1kg Beef shank

 20g Knorr Beef Broth

100g Caramelized onions

250g Assorted vegetables

Procedure:

1. Brown beef in oil.

2. Boil beef until tender.

3. Add in Knorr Beef Broth and caramelized oinions.

4. Serve with assorted vegetables.

Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata is an all-time favorite that’s “high on cholesterol but also high on flavor”. This is pig’s leg/knuckles deep fried to a golden perfection. Allow me to go low on the blah and go straight to how you can get this dish from the paper to your stomach.

Ingredients:

1 kg Pork hock

20g Knorr Pork Broth

Oil

2 Star anise

50ml Knorr Oyster Sauce

Cornstarch

5g Sugar

Procedure:

1. Soften pork hock by boiling in water. Drain and let dry.

2. Deep fry pork. 

3. Gravy: Add star anise to boiling water, then Knorr Oyster Sauce.

4. Thicken by slowly adding dissolved cornstarch. Add sugar to taste.

5. Pour gravy over crispy pata.

Serves 10

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Pinakbet

From the Ilocano word “pinakkebet” meaning “shrunk” or “shrivelled”, pinakbet is a dish that puts together basic vegetables like bitter melon, eggplant, ginger, okra, stringbeans, tomato, parda, chili peppers, winged beans and the like, cooked until sapped and shrivelled. Flavors are accentuated with bagoong, reflecting its Ilocano origins.

Ingredients:

100ml oil

50ml onion

50ml garlic

50g bagoong

250g squash

250g sitaw

250g eggplant

250g ampalaya

200g shrimp

10g Knorr Shrimp Powder

Salted duck egg

Procedure:

1. Sautee oinion and garlic.

2. Add in bagoong

3. Add in squash, sitaw, eggplant, and ampalaya

4. Toss in shrimp and Knorr Shrimp Powder

5. Top with salted duck egg.

Serves 10

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Sisig

A personal favorite especially when served in a sizzling platter with a slight drizzle of mayonnaise and fresh egg. Sisig is indispensible when you want some pulutan and drown your sorrows over some drinks. Made of pork cheeks chopped finely, sisig is great for those nights when there’s nothing great to do but talk with some buds.

Ingredients:

750g pork cheeks

250g pork liver

20ml Knorr Liquid Seasoning

5g Knorr Lime Powder

20g Knorr Liquid Seasoning

100ml Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise

100g onions

10g sili

Pineapple

Procedure:

1. Marinate pork cheeks and liver with Knorr Liquid Seasoning.

2. Grill separately over charcoal fire the finely minced cheeks and liver then combine.

3. Season with Knorr Lime Powder and Knorr Liquid Seasoning.

4. Mix in Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise, onions, and sili.

5. Grill pineapple slices. 

6. Serve sisig over grilled pineapple slices.

Serves 10

Preparation Time: 1 hour