[Staff blog] Inside Philippine Food Culture: Impressions After 3 Weeks
We had closed sushi class for a month in August.
For 3 weeks, I went to Cebu in Philippine for studying abroad and exploring food culture.
I talked with Filipinos and learned about many cultures and differences from Japan.
【Traditional Local Food】
Some Filipino foods use coconut oil, so they were oily and heavy to me. I’ll introduce some local food I ate.
Sisig
It’s a grilled dish that is cooked with pork, onion and chili pepper. And it is seasoned with soy sauce and vinegar. Because it’s easy and inexpensive to make, it’s familiar among locals.
Humba
It’s a dish similar to braised pork belly. It is seasoned with sweet soy sauce and served with fried egg and added something spicy sauce.
There’s also a dish called adobo.Since humba is often flavored with star anise and sometimes doesn’t include vinegar, I think it has a sweeter flavor than adobo.
Halo-halo
Halo-halo is a classic Filipino dessert. The word means “Mishmash” in Tagalog.These are desserts similar to parfaits, featuring shaved ice, ice cream, cereal flakes, and coffee jelly. It often includes ube ice cream and other ube-flavored treats.
Ube is like a purple potato(yam). Its features are purple color and sweet taste.It tasted just like Okinawan “Benimo,” and I absolutely fell in love with it! I ended up drinking an ube milk drink every single day.
【Seasonings and drinks of Philippine】
Soy sauce
Apparently, there are two or three soy sauce manufacturers in the Philippines.The ones I saw most often was “Silver Swan”.
It was made from saltwater, wheat and soy beans. The ingredients are not much different from Japanese soy sauce, but the taste was completely different.I can feel more soybean umami flavor from Japanese soy sauce than Philippine soy sauce. However I thought Philippine ones have the potential to let you blend your own seasonings and customize the flavor. The same soy sauce was used in a dish I ate at a one-Michelin-star restaurant in the Philippines, but the chef said he blends his own soy sauce to make it sweeter.
Banana ketchup
It’s a kind of ketchup made from banana, sugar, vinegar and some spices.
During World War II, tomatoes were in short supply in the Philippines, so Filipinos used bananas, which were produced in abundance, instead of tomatoes. That is how it all began.
I hear they use it often when making pasta and other dishes.It’s pinker than Japanese ketchup and very sweet.
【Sushi and Philippine】
There were some similar cultures of the Philippines and Japan.For example, the staple food is rice. When they eat something maindish, eat it with rice. Pasta, hamburger, etc……My first impression was why do Filipinos eat all things with rice? So, it also seems traditional. Also I felt they are not familiar with Sushi. They rarely have the occasion to eat raw fish, they also don’t eat sushi with raw fish. When they eat fish, they usually grill or boil it. However, it’s not as if there are no fish that can be eaten raw, there are many fish sold at the market. So, I thought that if techniques for nerve-stunning(ikejime) and filleting fish were developed, we might be able to enjoy sushi made with raw fish in the Philippines.We were able to eat grilled fish sushi at Puso Village and Sugbo Mercado Market!
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