Pinoy Food At Its Best

The Philippines is a country that's known not only for the tourist spots and attractions but also for the innumerable delicacies you'll get to taste once you get off the plane. In almost every part of town, you will find yourself trying things you never thought possible. While most of the commonly known dishes such as tinolang manok and nilagang baka (beef stew) headline the viand menu, there are others who would settle for old-time carinderia favorites such as fried fish, chop suey, pochero and a yard full of other viands that go well with a piping hot serving of white rice.

Many of the tourists that come and go really can't get enough of the food that the Philippines consider. Most of the ex-pats that I've seen strolling the streets of Makati Avenue can't get enough of the Pampanga-made sisig that becomes a common bar and pub favorite once the drinks start pouring in. In fact, sisig had become a common Pinoy favorite that most students and employees claim it to better with rice as well. Then, there's the balut, a duck (or chicken) egg that's a few days old that is cooked in a broiler and served hot. This is common at night, especially when you hear the vendor call it out in a sometimes distinct tone. It's eaten as is and most would say that it 'strengthens the joints'; you can guess for yourselves what they meant about that. You can also go for the chicharon, dried pork skin deep fried to a crisp. This is mostly fancied with a liter of beer or if the kids are around, a liter and a half of Coke.

You have the sinugba, which is another delicacy from Pampanga. It's steamed milkfish, or bangus as it is popularly called, and stuffed with relishes. It comes with a sauce that's also used for siomai and pancit canton. Speaking of pancit, these are also merienda (snack) favorites that won't fade out of the Filipino menu. Pancit is a dish that's got noodles in it and is mixed with a ton of toppings you could sink your teeth in. There's liver, fish balls, cabbage, carrots, chicken strips, pork fat, you name it.

On a Sunday, if you feel like going for something pungent rather than something oily like nilagang baka, the sinigang is something you'd probably be looking for. The sinigang is made from the extract of the sampaloc (tamarind), which grows from the tree of the same name, broiled with water and has pork and veggies to go with it. There are actually a few variations of the sinigang. You have the original sinigang-sa-sampaloc, the sinigang-sa-miso, sinigang-sa-calamansi which I found a wee bit weird and the sinigang-sa-bayabas, which I didn't expect to taste real good while sinigang na strawberry is very famous in Baguio considering strawberries are the main products they produce.

Finally, when you've had your fill of the feast, you can go for desserts. There is leche flan, macapuno, sapin-sapin, puto (rice cake), espasol and the ever so sweet peanut brittle or panocha. Desserts in the Philippines are sometimes found to be too sweet but hey, who ever made dessert with salt? It's something that we can be proud of and even the customers will agree most of the time. Clearly, Filipino food had gone a long way since its conception. Depending on who cooks or how it's cooked, it'll always taste gratifying. And if it tastes superb, just remember where it came from because if the food satisfied you and filled you up, then it's a sure bet it came from the Philippines.