Filipino Food

[Sarge]

Sarge, thanks for the stupid rant. You are busted as some having kind of personal vendetta against me.....

lol just a few facts and figures are enough to bring the drama queen outta ya and dry up your argument. You yodelled that even when I replied to you, on another thread, for the very first time.

In fact, I used to live near Greektown in Chicago and have toured Greece and frankly the Chicago Greektown food in America was often better

I am sure I know much more about the foods of the world than you based on your obvious Eurocentrism

I have also traveled and enjoyed Filipino food in the Philippines

You're not gonna get respect based only on these unsubstantiated claims, this ain't a pissing contest. Ones worldliness, knowledge, expertise is shown when you go in details explaining the subject at hand, and ability to engage in conversation about theoretical and practical understanding of food preparation & handling, ingredient specs, cooking etc... Just saying "I know a lot about food ...... I travelled more than you think yadda yadda yadda..." w/o backing that up with proper writing and expertise makes you look a fool, and childish. Not something I'd expect from someone who's close to receiving a free bus pass.

I have worked in the food industry on the restaurant publicity side, I have socialized with chefs and worked for one of the biggest wine oriented websites on the planet

my Filipino friends there told me the BAD food

so all your great knowledge and food expertise comes from the fact you did a PR stint in a restaurant, chatted with chefs during lunch break, and worked (what work?) for a wine merchant? and your great understanding of pinoy food is because a mate told you BAD things about it? this is better than watching Fawlty Towers tv comedy. What one can say ....

[Jingthing]

One can say, I will be the bigger man and let you have last word in this ridiculous exchange. Your arrogant attitude and endless twisted laughable distortions speak for themselves and I don't wish to expend one more bit of energy suffering one such as you. Good day. :D

My sincere apologies to any readers for my culpability in playing along with the snob up until now. I have learned my lesson, he isn't worth my time ... and most definitely not yours to read this tripe.

[Ulysses G.]

I have followed Jingthing's posts for quite some time and he is very intelligent and has excellent taste in food and many other things.

Sarge is just another big mouth America hating yob looking to wind up some Yanks. Pay him no attention!

[sutnyod]

Decent Filipino food=oxymoron

Right you are. When I lived in Thailand I took good food for granted. Big mistake. I have, however, to say that in the provinces there is nice food. They even use spices and herbs there . But in Manila? Forget it. Fortunately we are all good cooks. If anybody'd ask me about Filipino food my first reaction would be: shovel fatty meat and some veggies in a pan and fry with vinegar and sugar.

[junkofdavid2]

guess that's partly due to the American influence.

When in doubt, blame the Americans! You can never go wrong with that.

Couldn't agree more!!!!

And in Thailand, blame Thaksin for everything!!! Oh, I forgot, blame the Thai-Chinese and hi-so for everything else too! Can't go wrong with that either!

[bonobo]

You have a definite pattern of trashing everything American, whenever, and wherever you can.

Especially about our wonderful American food culture, which rivals any in the world. If you had spent any real eating time in America and don't know that, you had very bad advice about where to eat, or you didn't even try.

Jingthing, I would just leave it be. I know that can be difficult, though.

Sarge does have some decent knowledge on what I would term the production and scientific aspects of cooking, and I would even bow to this expertise when seeking some pertinent facts.

But he does have some weird perceptions on American cuisines, and he seems to throw that out at every opportunity. American food= bad, all other food=good. And if any other food is bad, it must be from the American influence. His comments on this thread on Filipino food are typical (e.g., interjecting a derogatory comment on US cuisine).

Not wanting to get into a posting war on another thread, I even PM'd him with all due politeness to ask him how he developed his views on American cuisine. Of course, that was a waste of time.

OK, he has some sort of agenda agsint American food. So be it. I would just ignore him. I realize this is difficult when he interjects specious comments which are pretty far off-base, but if you ignore them, your blood pressure will be lower, and you can enjoy Thaivisa.com much more.

[bonobo]

OK, after posting the above, I have a Filipino food question.

I am buying a slow cooker today, and I want to make pork adobo this weekend. Does anyone have a favorite recipe that he or she would like to share?

I am not talking about the kind of 20-minute adobo you can get in Pampanga or other places, but the slow-cooked, vinegary adobo you can find in Manila.

[on-on]

Decent Filipino food=oxymoron

Right you are. When I lived in Thailand I took good food for granted. Big mistake. I have, however, to say that in the provinces there is nice food. They even use spices and herbs there . But in Manila? Forget it. Fortunately we are all good cooks. If anybody'd ask me about Filipino food my first reaction would be: shovel fatty meat and some veggies in a pan and fry with vinegar and sugar.

Unfortunately despite having spent a ton of time in Manila, I'm there for work and haven't had a chance to make it out of the city yet, so my experience is limited as of now. I go out with the staff and try different filipino food all the time and I couldn't agree more with this. It ranges from bland to awful and the earlier posts about ingredient quality are spot on in many cases. I still can't believe Adobo is the national dish. I get the impression that they're a poor country and a lot of the good produce and livestock is sold for export, but that's just an assumption based on conversations and experiences, nothing factual to back it up. I can enjoy some beef tapa and daningding and of course the various ihaw barbecued meats aren't horrible (the spanish cuisine is good too, salpicao for example), but the overwhelming greasy smell that pervades the city is just a hint of how ridiculously greasy the cooking is, heh. My impression of filipino food from Manila (to match yours): throw away 95% of all the vegetables and 99% of all the spices, put fat and meat in a pan until it looks like a pile of lumpy gravy and pour it over rice. Place on banana leaf to serve.

Beer's cheap and they do American food (Both a blessing and a curse) much better than Thailand, so it's a nice break for a couple of days. Then I get sick of our horrible fast food and concept restaurant exports and start craving Thai food again, which is almost all pretty bad in Manila as well (though I hear People's Palace is good).

As for where to get Pinoy food in Bangkok, the Philippines Embassy regularly has Filipinos Abroad (or something) parties that all nationalities can attend that are stocked with San Mig varieties and tons of home cooked Pinoy food and entertainers. It's pretty much like being at a street market in Malate or something. Red plastic tables everywhere, people dancing and singing randomly, etc. Good time.

[bonobo]

Well, I made adobo the other night from a recipe I found on the internet. It was not a good effort.

The underlying taste was decent, but it was way too salty. Knowing I was using soy sauce, I should have cut out the added salt in the recipe.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

[computerpsychologist]

There is a famous Filipino Restaurant in Pridi Banomyong Soi 40, Sukhumvit 71, Phrakanong, Bangkok - KUMPLETO RESTO Filipino Restaurant. They have lots of fun activities there every Friday and Saturday night like the ff:

1. Kumpleto Idol Singing Contest - for Filipino amateur singers only who may want to join the singing fun. It works like the famous American Idol where they will get monthly finalist, and Grand finals will be held on December.

2. Kumpleto Bingo Game - 14-ball draw Bingo game w/ pot cash prize money starts at Bt500. If no winners, Bt300 will be added on next week's game.

3. Kumpleto Pridi Dollies Show - gay show standup pinoy comedians. Entrance fee is Bt60 only.

I bet you, it's always full-packed out there every weekend w/ a whole lot of FUN!

<snip>

[bonobo]

Just got back from four days in the PI, and I will throw out this observation:  I ate three lunches at Filipino company canteens in Cebu and outside Manila.  They all were pretty horrible, nothing near the quality I find at Thai company cafeterias.  I was so hungry that on three nights I went to buffets (Dads, a Filipino buffet with Filipino, Japanese and Western food--pretty good at the price-- and at the Dusit THani and the Shangrila.)

Having written that, I wouldn't mind hitting a Filipino place a couple times a year, so i will give the Soi 71 on mentioned in the post above a try.

[Ulysses G.]

You have a definite pattern of trashing everything American, whenever, and wherever you can.

Jingthing, I would just leave it be. I know that can be difficult, though.

Sarge seems to be Missing in Action!

[LuisPeyton]

Food is important for everyone. But we can not eat more spicy food otherwise we will have problem about health.

[Jingthing]

Food is important for everyone. But we can not eat more spicy food otherwise we will have problem about health.

That's debatable. Many herbs and spices are very health promoting. For examples, hot chilies, garlic, and galangal, and many others.

[midnightjay3]

I for one love Filipino cuisine!! Filipinos are creative enough and a great cook..

[onethailand]

Some Filipino dishes are decent - most of the ones I like involve pork, though.

Jollibees is beyond horrible.

But the one that I find the most disgusting - hot dogs. Must be 99% filler, and colored with a red dye on the outside. Doesn't matter if you find famous American brands like Swift manufacturing hot dogs in the Philippines, it's the same crappy stuff. Yet every Filipino I talk to, the number one thing they put in their suitcases when they travel are those disgusting hot dogs (like Thais and their Mama noodles).

Filipino spaghetti contains those hot dogs plus ketchup and sugar and does not in the least resemble any other spaghetti I've ever eaten, except perhaps for Chef Boyardee's canned stuff.

[jaideeguy]

Having spent almost a decade there before moving to LOS....mainly for the better food here.

I've often wondered why the Philipinos have been colonized by 2 western powers and only the worst of their foods have taken hold there and when the Phillipinos try to copy western food, they fall terribly short, yet the Thais , who have a delicious local cuisine can copy western food much better.

example.....bread

There are a handfull of Pinay dishes that I do appreciate....eggplant torta, some adobos, and a marinated seafood salad like cerviche....forget the name.

Also, observed that the Philipinos disrespect their food all the way from the market [filthy and full of flies] to the table, where it is often served at room temp, when it should be hot or cold]. Way too much sugar, msg and oil!!!

I do love the people of the Phil.....but would rather eat my own food there. saved a lot on restaurant costs