Food Culture Heaven
So much has changed since I was in the Philippines, but one thing that I cannot avoid to mention is the food. The one thing you see all around you here is food and an indescribable amount of food choices. It floods your senses and leaves you unable to escape in the wake of the sights of choices they have to offer. First of all, almost everything is served with rice, and there are all styles, from traditional Filipino, to authentic Chinese, to Japanese, to Korean, and every possible nationality of food you can think of. And yes, there is American fast food as well that is able to compete with all of them. Two nights ago, I tasted this amazing shrimp dish that was cooked in chilies and butter. Yesterday, I ate some delicious spring chicken fried to delicious goodness which I ate with a sizzling tofu plate and Shang-Hai fried rice. There is an abundance of tropical fruits and the numerous shake and smoothie stalls compliment the hot weather.
I think that food is an important part of Asian culture for some reason. And yes, the Philippines is an “Asian” country, as a lot of people like to contest that fact in the U.S. I know because I grew up and studied there and that is what we all consider ourselves. No, we usually never call and do not think of ourselves as “pacific-islanders” as some Americans like to label us, and to presume otherwise is in a way, racial, as I raised the topic with some of my old friends. Ok, besides that; today, I tried this one new Japanese fast food restaurant called “Pepper Lunch” It was A-mazing!!! Just so you know, there are dozens of Japanese fast food restaurants so me and my cousin decided to eat here because he said lots of people eat there a lot. So they have like a few dozen choices of meals and you pick the number or item that you want and they serve it on a sizzling plate. So I picked the teriyaki beef with fried egg served with rice topped with corn. I know what some of you are thinking, “Um, I dunno, it sounds weird”, which is a normal American reaction since their taste buds aren’t used to a lot of foods.
But it was amazing. So let me describe it. They serve it to you on a circular sizzling plate and the meat and egg is raw so it is just beginning to cook when they serve it to you. You have to cook the meat yourself, but that’s why the plate is like really hot. There are two Japanese liquid sauces for flavoring when you cook the meat and they are on dispensers on the table along with salt and pepper. Along with that, my item came with a thick teriyaki sesame sauce in the side. So you can either cook the meat first by turning it around on the plate or just let it cook eventually after mixing it all up. And boy, it was good. I finished the whole thing. My cousin had the sizzling salmon with rice plate and it looked good as well. My meal alone was about 245 pesos which is about 4.50 U.S. dollars which is not bad at all for pricing and the quality of food.
The thing you have to understand about dining is that if people know of a better way to make money at cheaper prices in Asia, they will. For example, there is a good restaurant that has amazing ambiance and service and the food is spectacular, what they’ll do is create another food chain or spin-off, maybe fast food with the same recipes but with lower if no ambiance so it’s cheaper. Of course, the higher paying customers can still go to the restaurants with the great ambiance if they still want to. And that’s how you get amazing food at extremely lower prices at many places here in the Philippines. They turn high quality dishes into “fast food”. Of course, people still get a craving for regular fast food like hamburgers and Filipino hot dogs so you have Wendy’s and McDonlads to choose from as well. But in order to really experience Filipino culture, you have to eat at the local Filipino “turo-turo” or “carinderia” or eatery. You usually point to the food that you want which is usually something local and inexpensive which may be newly cooked, or they heat it up and serve it to you with rice. You eat in a small open space that is provided and you can also order bottled soft drinks to wash the food down. If I had to call the most authentic food experience of Filipino culture, it would be the “Turo-turo”.
At its core, it’s the simple food of the masses that reflects the true Filipino culture and experience. From adobo to pusit (squid), and from sinigang (tamarind stew) to laing (a spicy vegetable dish), and kare-kare (peanut stew) to inihaw (charcoal roasted) na liempo (pork belly) or isda (fish); the essence of the Filipino culture is imbued into these traditional dishes from Spanish-colonial times. There is nothing like eating in a small open spaced eatery in hot and humid weather with a friend, on a meal that you know defines where you come from, the history, the people, family, friends, and the ups and downs of life. Because despite all the extravagant malls that the country has to offer and amazing places to visit, and the food; what defines the culture is what isn’t always seen on the outside. It’s the little things that sometimes define the true nature of the experience. There are also the struggles and hardships of a people, the masses who strive to work out a living to support their families and put their children through school and college. And then the immense poverty that is still rampant leaves children sleeping on the streets.
I’m not asking the foreigner to go to this country made up of more than a thousand islands just to sympathize with the people or take a breathtaking vacation that leaves most people breathless in the heat of the tropical sun. What I suggest is that in order to make the most out of the experience, one should leave the biased tongue and taste buds behind and inculturate oneself into the lives of the people, the history, their experiences, and the food. This is no realm for the picky or the judgmental. What better way to truly experience a culture than through the various food palates? The modern Filipino man or woman of today possesses almost all of them, is used to every type of food. It is a reflection of the experience and history of a people, and it is in our most traditional recipes that help define who we are. But it is also how and who we experience the food with, such as the people we care for that defines the value that we give to every meal.
