THE PHILIPPINE COOKBOOK
Reynaldo Alejandro
Photos: no
Ease: 2-3, but with lack of detail 5
Growing up with a Filipino father who loves to cook, and cooks well, does not guarantee that one will know the names of, much less how to cook, all Philippine dishes. I am a case in point. OK, I learned to make adobo (the right way, the way my grandmother made it), pancit, lumpia and fried rice before I left for college, but much remained a mystery. Just as the cuisine itself is a mystery in most areas of the U.S. (Hawaii and the SF Bay Area are probably the exceptions).
This book, then, can be a primer for those of us who want to learn more about Philippine cooking: a glossary of terms and techniques, and many simple recipes. If you know how these dishes should taste or look, it may be enough to get you started and allow for adjustments in regional preferences. However, if you are completely unfamiliar with Philippine dishes, you will need something more comprehensive. The lack of photos and attention to detail in the recipe instructions (how long to boil pigs feet until it is tender, or braise chicken for adobo) will leave cooks new to the Philippine kitchen with dishes that can taste flat or just plain wrong.
Philippine cooking is not complicated or involved – most Filipino favorites are good old-fashioned home-cooking: pancit (rice or egg noodles fried with vegetables and meats), lumpia (deep-fried rolls filled with vegetables and meat, or bananas for breakfast), pinakbet (vegetables sauteed with garlic and fish sauce), estafado (stewed meats) and adobo (braised chicken and/or pork in garlic-vinegar sauce). The key flavor ingredients are few and simple, but rich in umami: garlic, fish sauce (called patis, similar to Thai, not as strong as Vietnamese fish sauces), soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper, and shrimp paste (bagoong). Philippine cooking is much influenced by Chinese cooking, but pancit Canton (fried egg noodles) and lumpia taste nothing like their Chinese cousins, fried noodles and spring rolls.
