Filipino food showcased in Asian food hall in London

LONDON - An Asian food hall in northwest London features Filipino flavors.

Manila Kitchen joins 25 other businesses at the Bang Bang Oriental food hall, situated in Colindale.

The restaurant, which opened in October 2017, offers traditional Filipino classics like kare-kare, chicken inasal, ginataang gulay, bangsilog, and halo-halo, as well as several other dishes with a modern twist.

It is owned and managed by Marc Malata – a chef whose passion for food came from his parents, Mario and Cathy of the restaurant Lutong Pinoy in Earls Court, west London.

The 28-year-old Malata told ABS-CBN Europe that he wanted to branch out. He saw Bang Bang Oriental, which opened last July, as a good opportunity to promote Filipino food to other communities.

“We thought it would be nice to try and make Filipino food more mainstream, and we felt there was no better place than an Oriental food court,” Malata said.

“Different people from other backgrounds try our cuisine to see what Filipino cuisine is all about. The fact that people are trying our food and we’re getting a good response is really good,” he added.

Manila Kitchen’s most popular dishes are the Filipino Brunch, which is a mix of lechon kawali, pork tocino, and a fried egg; and Boy Baboy, a mixed pork dish with grilled pork belly and spring rolls.

“We also have our modern dishes which we wanted to aim at the younger generations of Filipinos, like tocino and egg burger, tocino cheese fries, Filipino pork burger, ube cake, and custard,” Malata said.

The Bang Bang Oriental complex is the largest Asian food hall in London and seats up to 450 people. It houses shops specializing in cuisines from countries like China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Despite the fact that Filipino food is not as well-known or popular as other cuisines, Manila Kitchen’s assistant manager Dawn Dayrit is encouraged by the response they have already received.

“We do get a lot of people who haven’t even tried Filipino food who say, ‘We haven’t had anything, what do you recommend?’”

“After they finish their meals, they come back and say, ‘The meal was amazing, thank you,’ and that they will be coming back another time,” Dayrit said.

“We’ve also had customers who have been to the Philippines but have never had Filipino food back here in London. So when they see us, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, I had this in the Philippines!’ They get quite excited when they see they can order it here, so that is quite good,” she added.

In an e-mail, Bang Bang Oriental’s marketing manager Ying-Chu Chen revealed that prior to Manila Kitchen’s arrival, they received online feedback from customers saying that a Filipino option was missing at the food court.

“We particularly liked Manila Kitchen's menu proposal because their brand is current and modern, which we believed is a good combination with our Bang Bang brand,” explained Chen.

“Manila Kitchen also has a successful restaurant in west London which gives us confidence in their capabilities. It brings a great variety to our food hall which has been well received by our Filipino customers as well as all other nationalities,” she added.

Manila Kitchen recently launched its delivery service for the local area through the British online food ordering company Deliveroo.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pinoy restaurant week kicks off in NY, NJ

NEW YORK - Now on its second year, Filipino Restaurant Week is back, bigger and better with 15 popular Pinoy restaurants in New York and New Jersey participating this time.

Patterned after the New York Restaurant Week, foodies can sample a variety of Filipino cuisine at an affordable fixed price.

A three-course meal costs $25 dollars for lunch and $35 for dinner.

Filipino Restaurant Week was first launched in 2015. It shines a spotlight on Filipino restaurants as Philippine cuisine becomes more and more popular in the US mainstream.

"Last year, it was sort of an introduction to the Filipino food kasi everyone was talking about the Filipino Food as the 'in' thing, kaya lang alam ba nila kung saan sila makakakain?" Philippine Consul General Mario De Leon Jr. said. "This time, we’re really trying to look more on how to really sustain the Filipino restaurant business here."

Participating business owners say the restaurant week not only elevates the profile of Filipino cuisine, it helps feed their cash registers.

Nicole Ponseca, owner of Maharlika and Jeepney said, "We saw a bump in business, for the week, it was awesome and new faces too, gives an excuse or reason for people to come in."

Tyrone Conshue, owner of Pinoy Filipino Restaurant said, "Every time you’re mentioned, it helps, it’s gonna really bring a lot of people who were nosing us before around the county."

Filipino restaurant week’s launch at the Philippine Consulate in New York also served as a way for restaurateurs to learn from each other’s experience.

Food and travel blogger Kat Popiel said running a restaurant is a tough business in New York City.

"Also know you have a responsibility, a good responsibility, a happy responsibility to the Filipino community to spread the message of what sinigang is or what a choriburger is. It’s all part of the business. The more you can promote your menu and your way of doing food, the more you’re elevating Filipino food as a status," she said.

Ponseca added, "I'm really hopeful. I feel a camaraderie for these startups. I see a lot of women, female Filipino Entrepreneurs. I reach out to them and hopefully we can support each other because this business is very very hard."

More information about Filipino Restaurant Week and the participating restaurants and their menu can be found at www.newyorkpcg.org/frw

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinay opens first kamayan-style restaurant in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - A new Filipino restaurant in San Francisco is offering diners kamayan-style dinner.

Pampalasa restaurant is located in the South of Market neighborhood, an area historically known to have a large Filipino community.

Owner Jennifer Villamin and Chef Bayani Inclano Jr. offer the city their take on Filipino culture and food.

"We're not fusion but we're not specifically very traditional either. It's more representative of a lot of us, American-born Filipinos and our experience with food. Our menu is very traditional in a sense that we keep the traditional names but a lot of the ingredients are very modern," Villamin said.

Pampalasa is San Francisco's first "kamayan-optional" restaurant that aims to make Filipino cuisine more accessible for first-time customers.

"We set up this entire experience for you so that you can eat with your hands and feel comfortable about doing it and be willing to learn an aspect of Filipino culture that [you] never knew about," said Villamin.

Other Filipino Americans say they are getting re-acquainted with their roots through food.

"I was born in the Philippines so we would eat with our hands but it was never a presentation like this," said Nilma Rubin. "It wasn't like a huge celebration kind of thing. It was a normal daily thing so it's actually really cool to see that here."

Filipino-Americans say that are proud to see that other people also enjoy Filipino food and customs.

"It's amazing that they could take our culture in, accept it and have fun with it too," said Jasmine Tadema.

The Laris siblings celebrated their father's birthday at the restaurant. They said eating kamayan-style made the birthday more memorable.

"It's nice. It's very communal," said Alfredo Laris. "It's very family oriented and there's a lot of different flavors you can share. It's really wonderful."

"Going from eating with a spoon to your hands was a completely new experience but it was a really good experience none the less," said Osvaldo Laris.

A vegan, meat and seafood option is available for kamayan dinners with the lechon kawali quickly becoming a local favorite.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US Filipino food fans: Balut is here to stay

NEW YORK – Whether it’s traditional Filipino or its Filipino American interpretation, Filipino food has arrived.

That’s according to a new story by the Washington Post, "At long last, Filipino food arrives. What took it so long?" published on April 21.

Three years ago, Bizarre Food host Andrew Zimmern predicted that Filipino food will be the next big thing in the foodie world.

But even before Zimmern’s prediction, in 2011 a Filipino food movement was slowly taking shape to introduce Filipino cuisine to the mainstream.

Restaurants like Purple Yam (formerly Cendrillion) and Talde in Brooklyn, Maharlika Moderno Filipino and Jeepney Gastropub in Manhattan were among those that began serving upscale takes on Pinoy food.

"I think that as Filipino and non-Filipinos begin to embrace Filipino food more and more, it is now really up to all of us restaurateurs and as proprietors to keep the level up," said Maharlika and Jeepney co-owner, Nicole Ponseca.

At the center of it all was the boiled fetal duck egg delicacy called balut.

Top TV chefs Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern even ate balut on national TV.

For three years now, Maharlika and Jeepney’s balut eating contest has become a yearly tradition in Lower Manhattan.

What used to be just a fear factor dare became a symbol of the Filipino food movement in America.

Maharlika customer Jermaine Holliway who has sampled balut before said, "This is a delicacy of a culture, of a country, it made it special."

But when a Business Insider’s story about balut became viral, it caught the attention of an animal rights activist Gabrielle Hardy, who is now urging Maharlika to stop serving what her petition calls disgusting and distasteful for serving an unborn baby duck.

New York Animal Rights Alliance America even calls it “murder” to eat balut. Its co-founder Kay Riviello said there was suffering on the part of the duck fetus since the baby duck is highly developed with a nervous system.

Patrons of Maharlika, whether balut eaters or not, side with Pinoy restaurateurs.

"It’s not murder, not at all. I think it’s disrespectful to us as Filipinos. I think they do that out of ignorance," Leah Abraham of Boca Raton, Florida.

Ponseca said that with no sanitation codes or state and federal laws broken, Maharlika will continue to serve this now more than ever popular Filipino delicacy.

"This isn’t pro-balut or anti-balut. This is a choice to be pro-Filipino, which I am," she said.

Ponseca says while the stop-balut petition may reach its goal of 5,000 signatures, one thing is for sure — balut is here to stay.

"Thank you to the petitioner to continue to shed light on balut because there’s many more people that have come in now, " she said.

Read more from Balitang America

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Gwyneth Paltrow posts own take on chicken adobo

MANILA - Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow decided to take on Filipino cuisine, trying out the highly-popular local dish -- the chicken adobo.

In her lifestyle website Goop, Paltrow recently posted the recipe of the dish, matching it with waffles and dipping sauce made from lemon juice, maple syrup, peppers, and soy sauce.

"This is Filipino adobo, not the Spanish version. The vinegar brightens the richness of the fried chicken and helps with digestion," she wrote in her post.

Paltrow kept it simple with her adobo -- letting the chicken simmer in the broth of white vinegar, bay leaves, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper flakes, and peppercorns.

She then dunked the pieces in buttermilk before taking it out to be breaded and fried.

The Oscar-winning actress suggests, however, that one add or lessen the amount of chiles "depending on how much heat you like."

Paltrow started Goop, a weekly digital publication, in 2008 "to share all of life's positives."

She previously featured the local brand Datu Puti, as she attempted to give an Asian flavor to her local vegetable dish by using the Filipino condiment.

"From creating a delicious recipe to finding a perfect dress for spring, Gwyneth began curating the best of lifestyle to help her readers save time, simplify and feel inspired," the website said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Zagat guide lists must-try Pinoy dishes

MANILA – An influential restaurant guide recently published an article about Filipino cuisine, which is said to have “become increasingly celebrated around the United States.”

In an article on Zagat published last January 10, writer Carey Jones listed “nine Filipino dishes you need to know,” while giving recommendations on where to order them in the US.

Leading the list is lechon or roast pig, which was once dubbed by chef and television host Anthony Bourdain as “the best pig ever.”

“The full pork feast is primarily for special occasions, while at restaurants in the US, you’re more likely to find dishes such as lechon kawali – the deep-fried pork belly,” Jones wrote.

Other Filipino dishes that are included in the list are adobo (meat or seafood braised in garlic, vinegar and soy sauce), lumpia (spring rolls), kare-kare (peanut stew), sisig (pig’s head and liver seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers), tocino (sweet cured meat), sinigang (sour soup with meat or seafood and vegetables), pancit (stir-fried noodles) and balut (fertilized duck eggs).

Chef, TV personality and food writer Andrew Zimmern recently included Filipino cuisine in his list of Top 10 food trends for 2013 in the US.

“This is the year, finally, that Pinoy foods have their day in the sun. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese: One by one, they’ve all delighted and inspired American diners, and Filipino cuisine is next,” Zimmern wrote in an article published in People Magazine.

Last year, a magazine in New York placed the spotlight on Filipino food, saying that the Big Apple is “finally ready” for our cuisine.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoy food gets spotlight in New York mag

MANILA – A magazine in New York puts the spotlight on Filipino food, saying that the Big Apple is “finally ready” for our cuisine.

In an article titled “Blazing a Lumpia Trail: Filipino Cuisine Finds a Foothold in New York,” New York Magazine featured a list of promising Filipino restaurants in the city.

Citing how it has been recognized in the United States since last year, particularly by “Bizarre Foods” host Andrew Zimmern, the magazine agreed that Filipino food is the “next big thing.”

“It seems that New Yorkers are finally ready for Filipino food, which has long languished in the shadow of Thai, Indian, Chinese and other Asian standbys,” New York Magazine said in the article, which was also published in the Grub Street blog.

“If you have yet to acquaint yourself with the characteristically tart, sour and fermented flavor palate [of Filipino food], now’s the time,” it added.

Nine Filipino restaurants in New York were mentioned in the article: Vekslers, which combines Filipino and Spanish cuisine; Pig and Khao, which blends Filipino and Thai influences; Lumpia Shack Snackbar, which infuses Chinese elements into Filipino food; Papa’s Kitchen, which is known for its affordable Filipino dishes; Talde, which is owned by Filipino-American chef Dale Talde; Pan de Sal, a Filipino-style bakery; Maharlika, which highlights “ancestral cuisine”; Ugly Kitchen, which offers Filipino drinks and an Asian fusion menu; and Jeepney, a gastropub serving a modern take on Filipino food.

Last October, the Filipino restaurant Purple Yam in New York was chosen by the Michelin Guide as a “Bib Gourmand,” which denotes excellent and budget-friendly cuisine.

In August, popular American men’s magazine Details declared Filipino cuisine the “next great Asian food trend.”

Filipino delicacies such as halo-halo and balut have also been getting a lot of raves in New York.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Balut gets spotlight in New York

MANILA – The humble Filipino delicacy balut has been getting a lot of buzz in New York City, thanks to a restaurant called Maharlika.

The restaurant, owned by Filipino-American Nicole Ponseca, has been attracting more customers because of balut, a fertilized duck egg that is common street food in the Philippines, but is deemed strange or even disgusting in other parts of the world.

Eating the delicacy has been considered a “challenge” in reality shows such as “Fear Factor” and “Survivor.”

Just last week, Maharlika’s balut was featured in a video published by the US business and technology website Business Insider, with its staff having mixed reviews about it.

“While this looks like a normal hard-boiled egg, there’s more to it than meets the eye,” said Sydney Kramer, operations coordinator of Business Insider, as she held the egg before stepping inside Maharlika.

In the video, Ponseca explained that balut is “a great source of protein,” adding that “some say it’s an aphrodisiac.”

She went on to teach Kramer how to properly eat the delicacy – find the fat round side of the egg and crack the top, slurp the “juice,” and eat the yolk and the duck embryo.

“At the bottom part of the egg is the white, which you don’t usually eat. It has the texture of a pencil eraser,” Ponseca explained.

Kramer said she enjoyed eating the balut, describing the broth as “strong chicken stock” and the yolk as “like custard.”

She did not spare the duck embryo, too. “It tastes like chicken liver,” she said.

After trying it herself, Kramer brought some balut for her co-workers at Business Insider to try. But unlike her, they had mixed reactions.

Most of her female colleagues were turned off by the sight of the embryo, with most of them hesitant to eat it.

One of them even said: “I feel like I want to rinse my mouth now.”

But Kramer’s male colleagues were happy to try the delicacy.

“I think I swallowed it too fast,” one of them said, smiling.

Every year, Maharlika holds a balut eating contest in New York, with last year’s winner downing 18 eggs in five minutes.

This year’s balut eating contest, which was held last June 3, was attended by more than 200 people, according to a Facebook page for the event.



It seems that Filipino food is slowly making a mark on the restaurant scene in New York. Before the balut, the icy dessert halo-halo recently got raves  in the city for its unique flavors and textures.


Halo-halo, which literally means “mix-mix,” has been “taking over New York City” according to an article published in The Atlantic Wire.



Last June, the Filipino dessert was included in CNN’s list of “25 best foods for summer” to mark the start of the warm season in the US.

A few months before that, halo-halo was praised by well-known chef and travel host Anthony Bourdain when he tried it for an episode of “Parts Unknown,” which airs on CNN.

Pinoy food is next big thing?

Last year, “Bizarre Foods” host Andrew Zimmern predicted that Filipino cuisine will be the next big thing among American diners.

In an interview with the website of the US morning show “Today,” Zimmern said: “I predict, two years from now, Filipino food will be what we will have been talking about for six months… I think that’s going to be the next big thing.”

“I want to go on record – this is not something that’s hot somewhere and will get hot everywhere else,” he said. “It’s just starting. I think it’s going to take another year and a half to get up to critical mass.”

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US foodies see adobo as next gourmet dish

With a steady blend of heat, flavors, and love, Filipino cuisine has caught the eyes and taste buds of American food enthusiasts and experts, who see a dish as simple as adobo as the next gourmet dish.

At last month’s Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, California, news site New America Media reported: “Adobo is considered a signature dish in Filipino cooking, which, judging from the buzz at [the event], could be poised to ride the next gourmet food wave.”,

However, the craze goes beyond Adobo, the news site said, adding that veteran food writer Nancy Freeman “has been a long-time fan” of the Filipino cuisine.

“I think there are so many hot Filipino restaurants now, and they have really helped get this food bubbling to the surface of the marketplace,” said Freeman, who is also the president of the Asian Culinary Forum.

In the hit US reality TV show “Top Chef,” for example, Filipino American contestant Paul Qui whipped up a contemporary version of the staple dish, using quail and ginger rice. The dish sent him off to the next round and earned him admiration of kababayans who tune in to the show.

Gourmet Pinoy food

Freeman told New America Media that putting Filipino food forward to high-end dining lies in its presentation. For her part, she has been pairing Filipino dishes with wine—quite fitting, she said, because our cooking is influenced by Spaniards and they “drink wine all the time.”

The freelance food writer-editor has paired Adobo with white wine and got favorable results.

“Who would have thought that would be fantastic? It worked very well, none of us expected it!” she said.

She also said that chefs should “consider veering away from ‘lutong bahay’ or home-style cooking.”

“It can’t just be as my mom or grandma makes it. It can be however you want to make it, it can be a modern take, it can be fusion, it can be whatever tastes good, as long as it reflects its roots,” Freeman told the New America Media.

Pinoy food transformation

Several Filipino American chefs took to this train of thought as they competed last month in the second “Kulinarya: A Filipino Culinary Showdown,” a cook-off hosted by the Philippine Consulate General together with several agencies including the Philippine Departments of Tourism and Trade and Industry.

Arlene Nuñez, for example, bagged the prize in the Amateur division for her menu that included Adobo Banh Mi—merging the staple dish with a classic Vietnamese sandwich.

Chef Albert Rivera reigned in the professional division “with a sampling that included shrimp and vegetable fritters with a ‘Calamansi’ Ponzu Sauce” and the classic Filipino summer refreshment halo-halo, “a dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and a mixture of various fruits and beans.”

For her part, Gloria Ramos, who competed in the Amateur division, made a “veganized” Afritada, replacing chicken or port with tofu.

“My daughter turned vegan and I had to create different things for her,” she said.

Covering the Kulinarya event was newspaper editor Nicholas von Wettberg, who said, that Filipino cuisine could “break through the mainstream food scene by making it as healthy as possible, especially by cutting down on grease and sodium.”

He said the Filipino dishes he saw reflected the creativity of chefs of Filipino descent, especially with desserts.

“The way the chefs presented their dessert courses was very colorful and vibrant. It’s satisfying to know that there are young Filipino chefs out there who are thinking outside the box, there was definitely love and care for detail with these dessert dishes,” he said. - VVP, GMA News

source:gmanetwork.com