Adobo in Chicago
July 29, 2001 | 12:00am
Long has the lament been about the lack of Filipino cuisine in the international gastronomic stage. In bursts and spurts Filipino restaurants have tried to make their marks in the capitals of the world, with different degrees of success.
Now a Chicago-based Filipina has set up kitchen in the Windy City, and from the lookand tasteof things is doing quite well, thank you. Jennifer Aranas, together with husband Cesar, opened Rambutan in the Wicker Park area of Chicago, and is introducing Chicago residents to the delights of tapa, lumpiang shanghai, kilawin, humba and yes, adobo.
Reviewed in last months Food & Wine magazine by Lisa Futterman, Rambutan presents Filipino food the traditional way, but "tweaked" into modern form. Chef Aranas, formerly an accountant, does an adobo, for example, with duck flavored with, among other things, pineapple and dates.
Among the restaurants best-selling dishes is beef tapa, marinated overnight in lime juice, sugar and peppers then seared in a cast iron pan. The tapa is served with good old sinangag and a curried eggplant dish made with Aranass own curry blend.
Aranass family originally hail from Cebu, but she grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Abandoning the numbers of accountancy she enrolled in cooking school, then worked in various restaurants in California, specifically in the Napa Valley. After two years there she found her way back to Chicago and opened Rambutan. She is said to still consult her mother on recipes, on how things were done "back in the Philippines".
She offers Rambutans growing clientele with chic down-home food; kare-kare, pinakbet, pancit, turon are on the menuyou cant get any closer to the pugon than that. Her mostly American patrons appreciate the "unique fusion of Latin and Asian flavors". Food & Wine notes: "In the current jumble of pan-Asian and nuevo-Latino fusion, Aranass sensible, solid home cooking stands out. Rambutan gives Americans a chance to sample a cuisine that has been missing from even the most cosmopolitan cities."
Now a Chicago-based Filipina has set up kitchen in the Windy City, and from the lookand tasteof things is doing quite well, thank you. Jennifer Aranas, together with husband Cesar, opened Rambutan in the Wicker Park area of Chicago, and is introducing Chicago residents to the delights of tapa, lumpiang shanghai, kilawin, humba and yes, adobo.
Reviewed in last months Food & Wine magazine by Lisa Futterman, Rambutan presents Filipino food the traditional way, but "tweaked" into modern form. Chef Aranas, formerly an accountant, does an adobo, for example, with duck flavored with, among other things, pineapple and dates.
Among the restaurants best-selling dishes is beef tapa, marinated overnight in lime juice, sugar and peppers then seared in a cast iron pan. The tapa is served with good old sinangag and a curried eggplant dish made with Aranass own curry blend.
Aranass family originally hail from Cebu, but she grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Abandoning the numbers of accountancy she enrolled in cooking school, then worked in various restaurants in California, specifically in the Napa Valley. After two years there she found her way back to Chicago and opened Rambutan. She is said to still consult her mother on recipes, on how things were done "back in the Philippines".
She offers Rambutans growing clientele with chic down-home food; kare-kare, pinakbet, pancit, turon are on the menuyou cant get any closer to the pugon than that. Her mostly American patrons appreciate the "unique fusion of Latin and Asian flavors". Food & Wine notes: "In the current jumble of pan-Asian and nuevo-Latino fusion, Aranass sensible, solid home cooking stands out. Rambutan gives Americans a chance to sample a cuisine that has been missing from even the most cosmopolitan cities."
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