Filipino Food – New Asian Cuisine – What’s New in Trendy Asian Cuisine

As Americans, we have the opportunity to experience a wide range of cuisines. From Ethiopian to Israeli, French to comfort food, we have it all. And we love Asian cuisine. Chinese food is what we order when we are tired or have no plans for Thanksgiving and Pad Thai is available at our neighborhood bodegas. We have tried more Asian cuisine than Confucius! There is now an increasingly popular Asian cuisine that Americans are not so familiar with.

Filipino food is one of the most varied cuisines on the planet. This is because the Philippines, although small, is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. And since the 1990s, more and more Filipinos have moved to the United States (the Philippines is one of the top four “sending countries” since 1998) introducing their eclectic cuisine to the United States.

The Philippines is a country with more than 80 ethnic groups, 170 languages ​​and the richest biodiversity in the world. The country’s culture is a mix of Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish, Mexican, American, and Malay-Polynesian origins.

The most popular Filipino dish among Americans is lumpia. Lumpia is influenced by Chinese spring or egg roll. It is stuffed with a variety of vegetables including turnips, carrots, sprouts, and chopped onions combined with meats such as shrimp, beef, or pork. Philippine lumpia contains fewer ingredients than a Chinese spring or egg roll, leaving a fresh taste in your mouth with hints of the tropical flavors of the Philippines.

Tropical flavors like those of refreshing drinks such as Cantaloupe or the Gulaman and Sago drink. The Cantaloupe drink is made up of freshly grated Cantaloupe with water, ice and sugar. Gulaman and Sago’s drink is mixed with agar jelly and tapioca balls/pearls. These sweet and fresh drinks are a perfect complement to your main dish.

Or try the popular and delicious Sinigang Soup. This flavorful soup is loaded with ingredients! Sinigang soup incorporates fish, pork, chicken, shrimp, or beef. While all of these options are delicious, the tamarind base of this soup pairs best with shrimp. Just look up Sinigang na Hipon (Hipon means shrimp) for this dish and look for your biggest spoon.

Having grown up in the California Bay Area, Filipino food is nothing new to me. However, I was shocked to learn how limited my experience with Filipino food really was. Having had my share of lumpia and pancit sotanghon, my mouth watered as I learned about the wide selection of Filipino food. Not to mention the exciting collection of Spanish, Mexican, Chinese and Indonesian influences in Filipino food. Lesson learned, eat more Filipino food.

Try the paellas, the curry-based kare-kare and the halo-halo sweet dessert. Halo-halo is worth exploring and is a delicious example of how eclectic Filipino food really is. This dessert is sweet and salty mixed with nangka (jackfruit), beans, bananas, chickpeas, custard, corn kernels, milk and ice cream. Halo-halo is often topped with shaved ice, nuts, and fruit; this dessert is delicious and romantic.

The most festive dishes are suckling pig (roast pork), sapin-sapin, pinakbet, puto and tapsilog. All the dishes present the sour, acid and vinegar flavor so particular to Filipino food, which is as “fusion” as possible. The best part of Filipino cuisine is that you can explore new flavors in dishes that you already love.