Masarap!

February 17, 2009 5:20 AM

Anthony Bourdain finally goes to the Philippines. Filipino blogger MarketMan was one of Bourdain's guides and made sure he had the celebrated lechon, which Bourdain now claims is the best whole roast pig he's ever had. Here is: MarketMan behind the scenes on the show. MM's top 30 Filipino dishes. Top 20 Filipino Desserts.
posted by AceRock (34 comments total)

It's all Tagalog to me.
posted by cogneuro at 5:39 AM on February 17

I've been to Ibu Oka, the restaurant he went to in Bali. We got take away, and ate in our room with our hands (it tastes better that way, really). I've never had anything quite like it, and plan on going back at least more than one more time in my life. If he's saying the Philippines is better, I might have to put that on my places to go list.

Mmm... pork.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:06 AM on February 17

I think the problem I've had with this Internet "bacon" meme is that it so badly betrays how people who love bacon have been sadly under-exposed to truly tasty pork.

The filipinos understand. Very slow-roasting. Allowing the skin to become crispy but keeping the meat inside tender and juicy and keeping the heat evenly distributed. It seems like the same thing as Tongan fire pits.

Lechon is also popular in Puerto Rico so Bourdain's third place pork is just the First place again. In Mexico, the closest is copper-pot Carnitas from the state of Michoacan. Or Pibil from the Yucatan. In most French restaurants, the closest is Pork belly confits, perfectly salted and roasted with the right balance of fattiness and crunchiness.
posted by vacapinta at 6:47 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]

I'd take crispy pata over lechon, but that's because I'm all about the sour (in both flavor and attitude). I, like most mefites, hate lists inherently. So I'll say the obligatory about the Top 30: Bangus only gets a passing mention, and they picked Inihaw na Isda over Inihaw na Manok? Philistines (or Filistines).
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 6:50 AM on February 17

vacapinta Both Puerto Rican and Filipino lechón (which is just Spanish for "suckling") are presumably versions of the original Castilian roasted piglet ("Cochinillo" is the generic term, "lechón" that of the youngest, still lactating piglets).

It's delicious, although a rather guilty pleasure, and preferably not served whole if there are any impressionable children anywhere near the table (especially those who've seen "Babe").
posted by Skeptic at 7:04 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

My mom's side of the family lives in the Philippines and I went to visit them last December. Every night I went out to dinner with various family members and they kept on asking me what do I like to eat? Chinese? French? Fusion?

WTF? Fill me up with grease and pork and garlic rice!

The worst part of the trip was when I had to tag along to a business lunch at the Peninsula and I asked for fresh local fruit for dessert and they gave me unripe mango, unripe pineapple, strawberries and cantaloupe. What.

The best part of the trip was going to an area that is a row of fishmongers surrounded by restaurants. You walk through the market and pick your produce then go into a restaurant and tell them how you want it cooked. Also, there were 2 transvestites trying to sell me crabs (the food).

And thankfully, nobody tried to bully me into eating bulot this time.
posted by spec80 at 7:05 AM on February 17

WTF? Fill me up with grease and pork and garlic rice!

I had a half korean - half fillipino friend when I lived in LA. We would go to his Mom's place (the fillipino side) for dinner. All I remember is that everything was made with blood. Blood soup, blood sausage, blood pudding, blood pancakes, blood coffee, blood salad. There was never any pork. Since then I've never had any desire for this kind of cuisine. Maybe I need to give it another shot.
posted by spicynuts at 7:13 AM on February 17

Ah yes... my mom's into the blood sausage. I remember her sitting in my grandparents' house with plates of blood sausage and I was not the type of girl to refuse food, but I would run away whenever she would offer it to me. I would hear her cackling as I fled.
posted by spec80 at 7:16 AM on February 17

Skeptic - I've had cochinillo in Segovia - can't remember the name of the restaurant, but we had the ten course banquet, culminating in the baby pig. It's probably one of the top 5 meals I've ever had, and I think it came to 20 euros per head.

As for the "Babe" factor - the spanish kids at the table behind us were certainly loving it, squealing with delight as the waiters smashed the baby pigs into quarters with the edge of a plate.
posted by bokeh at 7:19 AM on February 17

Skeptic: It is likely that Filipinos were roasting suckling pigs before the arrival of the Spanish, and the Spanish simply renamed the dish lechon when they encountered it in the Philippines (as they did with Philippine adobo because it reminded them of Spanish adobo)
posted by AceRock at 7:42 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

The greatest thing in the episode, IMO, was the market where you would go and buy your fresh ingredients from the various stalls, then take it to another stall where they'd cook it all up for you.

I'd kill for something like that here in the States...
posted by mkultra at 7:55 AM on February 17

I've been to maybe half a dozen Bourdain recommended restaurants around the world, ones featured on No Reservations, and have to say the man has pretty middle of the road tastes. His "best food on earth" spot in Saigon was a pale tourist imitation of cheaper and better stuff available everywhere.

I've vowed never to follow his footsteps anywhere ever again, it's a recipe for middle of the road slight-patina of adventure tourism. Except his love of Au Pied Du Cochon in Montreal disproves everything I say, it really is one of the top three restaurants in North America.
posted by Keith Talent at 8:08 AM on February 17

When I was a skinny, punk-rock thirteen year old, I had a Flip fake-grandma.

I'm half Mexican and half white, and my golden coloring with some vague Spanish features leads lots of Philipinos to mistake me for a member of the club. Seriously; I get lots of clueless Caucasians asking me if I'm "Chinese or something," but the only Asians who regularly conspiratorially whisper to me and ask me if I'm one of their own are Filipinos.

Anyway, this sweet little old lady with bad English would cluck disapproval over my stringy, scarred up arms and shaved head and tell me I'd be a lot prettier if I grew my hair out and gained some weight. To that end, she'd stuff me with rich, amazing desserts.

I've been trying to figure out the name of San Rival for years. I need to track this down.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:28 AM on February 17

Juliet: A quick search of Sans Rival turns up this recipe
posted by AceRock at 8:33 AM on February 17

AceRock I reckon there must have been a bit of both. Roasting pigs seems quite an ancient activity. But at first sight, the dishes seem too similar not to have been some culinary cross-pollinisation going on. Also, pork in general and pig roasts in particular are just far too significant in Spain and especially Old Castile (which provided most Spanish soldiers and priests) for this to have been entirely coincidental. Note that the Philippines (just like Puerto Rico) were a Spanish colony for three centuries, until just a little over a century ago.

The linked list of Filipino desserts includes quite a few that can trace their ancestry directly to Spain (for instance, the first one mentioned, "yemas", sugar-coated egg-yolks, is a typical treat of Ávila, not far from Segovia). Of course, cultural influences went in both directions: my birthplace, Valladolid, also close to both Ávila and Segovia, has a fine collection of Asian art in a former missionary convent. And my family, for some obscure historical reason, has some avid mah-jong players...
posted by Skeptic at 8:34 AM on February 17

I watched this episode last night and I was drooling when they were eating the pork skin. MMMMMMMMM crispy greasy pork chips.
posted by shmurley at 9:14 AM on February 17

Skeptic: That is interesting about the yemas and the art in Valladolid.

In Why We Eat What We Eat, Raymond Sokolov wrote about Philippine (mostly savory) cuisine. You may find it interesting. Here's the gist:

Perhaps the best way to think about the Spanish cloak of words disguising the blatant originality of Filipino food is to look at the great Filipino houses of the colonial period... The great mansions of the colonists had a stone exterior at street level to make them look Spanish. But these were not bearing walls. The real structure of these two-storey houses was a traditional Filipino bamboo post-and-beam skeleton inside the stone skirt and rising visibly above it on the second storey, topped with a palm thatch roof. Such essentially traditional structures would withstand the frequent earthquakes and let air flow in to combat the tropical heat. The Spanish stone at ground level was a skin that often cracked and fell away when the earth shook. The Filipino underpinnings within survived, like the superficially hispanified Filipino cuisine.

For Filipino tamales and paella and adobo, the cloak of names covers and indigenous reality.

posted by AceRock at 9:15 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

Previously, on No Reservations: Anthony Bourdain discovers that the guy who won his viewer contest is a lot more fun on the internet than he is in real life with his emotionally distant Asian family.
posted by brownpau at 9:44 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

Just for everyone's benefit -- translation of the top 30 filipino dishes in Acerock's second to last link.

30. Ginataang Kalabasa -> Eggplant (Kalabasa) stewed in Coconut Milk (Ginataang)

29. Tapa – different from the Spanish tapa. In the Philippines, beef tapa are air-dried strips of cured beef. Think, say, steak tips that have been turned into jerky. Eaten for breakfast alongside garlic fried rice and egg.

28. Paksiw na Lechon – Roast Pig (lechon) in a vinegar stew (paksiw). Usually made with leftover lechon from last night's fiesta. Tremendous combination of sweet and delectably sour. I agree with MM's that this deserves to be higher than #28.

27. Manggang Hilaw with Bagoong – Raw Mango (Mangang Hilaw) with Fermented Shrimp Paste (Bagoong), definitely an acquired taste.

26. Lechon Kawali –> Pot Fried (kawali) Roast Pig. Basically, deep fried pork belly. Also deserves to be higher.

25. Pancit Palabok –> Stir Fried Noodles (Pancit) with Rice Vermicelli (Palabok), always sauced with a thick gravy made from shrimp, fish sauce and filipino limes (calamansi) and usually served with hardboiled eggs and ground meat.

24. Kinilaw –> ceviche technique applied to sashimi sized ingredients.

23. Pritong Galunggong –> Cripsy Fried (Pritong) Mackarel (Galunggong). Another staple breakfast/lunch item.

22. Longganisa –> Sweet Chinese-style sausage with garlic; often misnomered as Filipino Chorizo due to textural similarity, it is not at all spicy.

21. Bihon Guisado -> Stir Fried Chinese Noodles (Bihon) with sliced vegetables and meat (Guisado). Popular birthday dish where the long noodles are supposed to represent wishes for a long life.

20. Beef Caldereta –> Beef Stew with vinegar, oil tomato base and mixed with peas, potatoes and bell pepper. Similar to Mexican Menudo

19. Chicken Inasal -> achiote marinated grilled chicken.

18. Beef Bulalo/Nilagang Baka –> boiled beef soup, usually with cabbage and soy sauce. Comfort food for Filipinos, but generally doesn't stand up to, say, Vietnamese pho

17. Rellenong Bangus –> stuffed (relleno) milkfish (bangus), stuffing is usually a dice of pepper, garlic carrot and raisins.

16. Tortang Talong -> Eggplant Omelette (Tortang) and, yes, ketchup is a popular condiment. Ketchup also tends to be an acceptable sauce for spaghetti.

15. Bistek Tagalog -> Filipino (Tagalog) Steak (Bistek). Usually thin fillets of beef studded with garlic and pan fried with onions in a soy sauce reduction.

14. Laing –> taro leaves cooked with spicy coconut milk and ground pork. A regional specialty from Bicol, a southern province with a preference for hot and spicy (see also Bicol Express)

13. Pancit Luglug –> Stir Fried Noodles (Pancit) with Thick Rice Noodles (Luglug), always sauced with a thick gravy made from shrimp, fish sauce and filipino limes (calamansi) and usually served with hardboiled eggs and ground meat.

12. Sisig –> pork offal fried with lime and chili

11. Dinuguan –> Pork blood stew. Big fiesta staple.

10. Tinola –> chicken stew with green papaya, fish sauce and ginger.

9. Monggo –> mung bean stew

8. Lumpiang Sariwa –> Fresh (Sariwa) rice paper rolls (Lumpia), similar to Vietnamese spring rolls; normally stuffed with shrimp, lettuce and turnip.

7. Inihaw na Isda –> Charcoal Grilled (inihaw) Fish (Isda), catch all category in MM's blog for a diversity of grilled fish dishes.

6. Daing or Pritong Bangus –> Cured and Fried (Daing) Milkfish ... also another popular breakfast option. The biggest adjustment I had to make to life in North America is the scarcity of seafood options in your breakfast and brunch menus.

5. Pinakbet –> baked vegetables (usually okra, eggplant, string beans and local squashes) with fermented shrimp paste.

4. Lechon –> the best goddamn roast pig you will ever eat in your life.

3. Kare-kare –> oxtail stew with peanut sauce

2. Adobo –> garlic, soy sauce and vinegar stew with chicken or pork or seafood. As far as Mark Bittman is concerned, it is the best chicken dish that exists on this planet.

1. Sinigang –> Tamarind-based seafood soup, similar in many ways to Thai tom yum.
posted by bl1nk at 9:46 AM on February 17 [8 favorites]

Great Filipino cuisine story:

Years ago I lived in SF, CA and was heavily into the local Filipino community. Went to SFCC for Filipino Studies, learned fluent Tagalog, and attended any Barrio Fiesta that came around.

Anyway, there I was at a Fiesta, and they had a balut stand (basically an hors-doeuvres of boiled egg replete with fetus). I had never tried one, and asked how best to have one.

The proprietor said, just bite in!, so I did and got a mouthful of shell and little chick bits.

Much laughter ensued.

Still, it's yummy when eaten right.

also, I miss my Filipino friends and would very much appreciate anyone up in this hizzy who wants to converse in Tagalog by e-mail. Sincerely yours, Ang iyong hapang-kababayan, Lipstick Thespian
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 9:51 AM on February 17

I love No Reserve ration. Anthony gets to eat well, drink heavily, smoke profusely and act like an asshole.

Those are my four favorite things!
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 11:04 AM on February 17

One of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco is Palencia. Its a really cute place with a lot of care taken in the food. Not a hole-in-the-wall but more of a 'nice date' place. Authentic and delicious.
posted by vacapinta at 11:12 AM on February 17

vacapinta, I hate to the be one to tell you but Palencia is no more. Next time you're in the Bay Area, you'll have to trek a little farther, say Daly City.
posted by junesix at 11:50 AM on February 17

Damn! That really sucks. Oh well...now I miss San Francisco a little bit less...
posted by vacapinta at 12:00 PM on February 17

What, no lechon manok? What they do to the pig they do for those who may not eat pig but can eat chicken. And it is oh, so tasty.

Thankfully, I eat both, and have no problem having them share the same plate... along with a plate of dinuguan on the side (I love it when English menus call it chocolate sauce).

I miss the breakfasts and the Christmas holiday feasts the most when it comes to Filipino cuisine. Living in West LA makes trying to get to a half-decent Filipino place a trial (the closest I could find was Magic Wok in Artesia, which is a hilarious name for a Filipino place). Anyone know of something closer? This is probably one of the few things I am envious of about NorCal... Daly City.
posted by linux at 1:28 PM on February 17

I know that a lot of folks are revolted by the idea of eating blood, but, really, dinuguan is delightful. If you can handle the flavor of, say, chicken liver, then you should at least try it. And Filipino adobo really is one of the tastiest dishes on the planet. The recipe linked upthread uses skinless chicken, which I have to say sounds unusual, since fat has played no small part in every chicken or pork adobo dish that I've eaten.*

For those of you in Austin, Texas, the Chronicle ran feature feature on local Filipino eateries a couple years ago. I believe that all four are still in business. There was a time when I was going to Mang Dedoy once a week, since it's near my office, but I fear that eating that food too often would be a good way to develop gout.

* - But if anybody has a good vegetarian adobo recipe that doesn't rely on seitan or some other meat substitute, I'm all ears.
posted by cobra libre at 2:23 PM on February 17

cobra libre -- I've had pretty decent luck with using adobo on vegetables that are sturdy enough to handle marinades (ie. portabello mushrooms, eggplant, etc.)

My basic universal adobo recipe:

1. Mix equal proportions of white vinegar and soy sauce. (usually .5 cup of each for every pound of meat or veg)

2. Combine with 4 cloves of garlic (minced) and 1 bay leaf. If you're planning ahead use this to marinate whatever your dish is going to be (chicken, pork, squid or veg) or just pour into a pot with the dish if you're working at the last minute.

3. Start the rice when you're ready to start cooking.

4. Heat the pot until the stew starts to boil. Reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste (more pepper than salt, usually)

5. When the rice is done, serve the stew.

note: I've found that vegetables and seafood don't necessarily benefit from the marinating step, but meat certainly does.
posted by bl1nk at 3:14 PM on February 17 [1 favorite]

Anthony Bourdain! So hip, so worldly, and that look: kinda bored, a little jaded. What a dream boat!
posted by belvidere at 4:31 PM on February 17

The last time I ate Filipino food, I served myself up a heaping scoop of what I thought was some kind of chopped mushroom salad. Turned out to be organ meat; definitely too rich for me.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:34 PM on February 17

I've been to Ibu Oka, the restaurant he went to in Bali. We got take away, and ate in our room with our hands (it tastes better that way, really). I've never had anything quite like it, and plan on going back at least more than one more time in my life.

I was in Ubud for two weeks and went to Ibu Oka three times. I wish in retrospect I had gone more.
posted by dfan at 9:07 AM on February 18

Thanks, bl1nk!
posted by cobra libre at 9:28 AM on February 18

I'm confused. Is Bourdain cool because he ate Filipino food, or is Filipino food cool because Bourdain ate it?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:54 PM on February 18

Neither.

Bourdain is cool because he's fucking Bourdain, alright?

Filipino food is cool because goddamn, pigs. Yeh.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:29 AM on February 19

Did you pee your pants a little as you typed that?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:43 PM on February 20