I agree with you wholeheartedly, cooking at home is the best way to go there in PH, you are correct about the availability of fresh Veg there, only it comes at a very high price, sometimes the quality is also a little suspect, for instance if you were to find a good thick walled Bell Pepper you will pay a very high price for this, see my other post here about growing these yourself, even with a limited amount of room this can be done. I had written about this here on DI before, I was using a Cold Smoke Generator cheap to buy from Shopee, using only a cardboard box I was able to smoke my own Bacon and Fish, this gives so much added flavour to many dishes, such as a Fish Soup, or a type of Carbonara I made using the Bacon and Blue Cheese, this is to die for, just about any type of sawdust is adequate for this even that from Coco wood, here in UK I have an Air Fryer this being just perfect for roasting Veggies adding some Rosemary and a little Garlic salt these make fine eating. Even eating out here in UK is often a disappointment to me, so very high priced and mostly the food is no better than I have at home?
Is Chop Suey Filipino? I understood it to be American Chinese. So I think we cannot quote a non-Filipino food as a good Filipino food. However, I do like Chop Suey (but it's not Filipino!). I dislike Sinigang - not into sour things (except my own tongue at times) - and some Taiwanese guests here recently disliked it too. The only Filipino food they did dislike - not sure they tried balut! Pancit is okay. But it seems to me that quoting fruit and home cooked veg and/or fish as good Filipino food surprises me, when they can be cooked in any country. So if I left this country, what would I miss? That is, what would I not be able to replicate elsewhere to an equal standard? The answer is nothing. BUT, leave the UK and you won't replicate good fish and chips here or Cornish Pasties! Maybe not even a haggis.
I don't know, and I don't care, whether chop suey is a dish origal from the Philippines or not. All I kniw us it's available, you find it in each filipino household at each celebration. And it's easy to prepare, tasty and you will find sufficient ingredients for it at each local market. I quoted fruits and local vegetables judt for the reason that everybody would be able to prepare tasty filipino food if he wants. I agree with you that most of the eateries and restaurants, also ones with western management, are of very low quality and most of them you will not join 2 times.
Fish/Meat is basically the same the world over, the only difference being how you cook it or what ingredients you use to flavour it. Most Filipino celebrations I attend here in UK usually have Spag/Bol or Pancit accompanied by a Beef stew and Fish being an expensive option. Big celebrations hosting a whole Hog roast, last time I enquired £300. for a medium size pig roasted. My wife initially wouldn't eat roast Lamb, why do Filipino's not like Lamb? and question, is it available in restaurants in Philippines?
I've found fish and meat to be wildly different the world over. Fresh caught or farm raised fish - I know which I prefer. The pork here is quite good, one time off the coast of Guatemala while on a tug boat we discovered our freezer had died and all of the meat was ruined. We pulled into a small port bought a side of pork and thought all is good. Once we put some cuts into a frying pan it smelled like a garbage can on fire- dumped the entire 140 lbs over the side and went to an offshore oil rig to be resupplied. Who knows what that pig was fed/processed to make it smell like that, no-one wanted to find out what it tasted like. After growing up in the midwest USA don't even get me started on what passes for beef in this country! The PI is blessed with fresh tropical fruit and veggies, can not do any better. Fresh fish for the most part, decent pork and chicken, dairy sucks - it's all in the prep. When we travel around the PI we probably eat 95% of our meals in carinderias, simple food but stick mostly with the veggies and at least its real food. People ask me in my home country what Filipino food is like and anymore I reply - how many Filipino restaurants have you ever seen in the US? Question asked and answered.
Well, Arbour - for me by far the best restaurant in the region - recently put s lamb roast on its menue. It's absolutely deliciius. Low snd slow roasted it cimes on a bed of well prepared vegetables and if you choose the right wine it gives you an outstanding dining experience. Check Arbour restaurant at Hibbard Avenue. They are, of course, on Facebook. There is a picture of the lamb dish. Well worth to give it a go. And a visit at Arbour always pays back.
Agree 100%. Even my dogs prefer pork broth and bones over beef. They get it just to add variety. Here's something I came accross recently- I got some pork chops fr9m my regular vendor but this time they were so tough we could have used them as coasters. Even the fat layer was so hard we could barely cut it, so the puppies for big chunks and they took their time using them like chew toys. Anyone else had a similar experience and know what causes it , or how I could identify it prior to purchase
My apologies, I shouldnt of generalised, of course the environment in which they live or breed will affect the taste and flavour. However a good chef would deal with what's at hand.
I am just laughing. Indeed I was yesterday for lunch at Arbour and indeed I had the Beef Cheeks. Absolutely delicious, tender, cooked to perfection. It had been low and slow cooked for about 12 hours and you really taste it. I had it with a dark beer, Porter, from Apolong and it matched the taste of beef, sauce and vegetables very well. Another outstanding dining experience at Arbour. Certainly not the last one.
