I am trying really hard not to talk about Spring rolls the way a decent website talks about Spring rolls. But for once, I will try to act like a clickety-clacking typewriter void of a bell when it comes to the rightmost part of the page. If you’re a bit confused, then you were born after the year 2000 when typewriters cried dry tears after their ribbons were left to dehydrate. In the end, what’s left of them is their space bars…. which actually amounts to nothing (but a lot of spaces).

Let’s do it Plain Jane!

Spring rolls originated from China. Don’t you dare stop reading. Because spring rolls did not originate from Vietnam. Most that I read said that it originated from the province of Fujian, China where they call them Popiah or Lunpia. Filipinos were one of the first non-chinese people that were exposed to Spring Rolls because most of the Chinese delegation that migrated to our country came from the province of Fujian. So we are like, sons of the spring rolls. You dig? Alrighty then.

Spring rolls in Filipino is called Lumpia.

Spring rolls in Indonesia is Lumpia.

Spring rolls in China is Popiah.

Spring rolls in Malaysia is Popiah.

Spring rolls in other parts of China is Lunpia.

Spring rolls in Filipino is called Lumpia.

Spring rolls in Vietnam, I can’t read or write. So click this if you are really interested in Vietnamese spring rolls which I assure is just another kind of Lumpia.

I have to put those in separate lines because if they were in a paragraph they double the boredom of the explanation.

Ok, what else do you want to know about Lumpia?

Springs rolls were called spring rolls because they are famous with the Chinese during New Year where it is Spring in the mainland.

You know what, I hate this. I was expecting that there is a really awesome, Po-and-Mulan-like-legend about Spring rolls. Or even about the Filipino Lumpia. Instead, all I got where these boring stories about how some people wrap red ribbons all over spring rolls during new year. I mean, where are all the sword fightings and the kung-fu legends who were supposed to kill an army of samurai warriors with a single spring roll as a weapon?

I will avenge how the boring stories of culinary history killed the supposed to be full of awesomeness legend of the almighty crunch.

I will return.

Prepare for the legend of Lumpia…

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!!!!

So what else did I do before myfilipinokitchen jumped to its premature death around the middle of 2011?

I talked about sex.

Press play father.

It all started with the question, “Do Aphrodisiacs in the Philippines really work?” And then thoughts about procreation erected from there. Apart from everyone’s knowing, I even wrote to Doctor Holmes (A Filipino sexpert) to answer this for us but to no avail she’s busy helping couples who have problems while on a washing machine.

After that, it built up the discussion to Filipino Street Foods (as many consider innards to be aphrodisiacs) which included intestines, liver, heart and most organs that end up in a stick. If you are not a believer, I suggest you go through with them and see how it boosts your elements. Elements? What in the world do elements even mean? Is this an infomercial of some sort?

And then the discussion halted to an abrupt end when the genius in me jumped to the topic of Filipino Celebrations where I suggested dishes for big occasions to which the article culminated to people bashing the daylights out of me because I left out Lumpia to where I promised on the grave of my dead husband-and-wife Hamsters, Schlamoo and Baxter that I will make a series about Lumpia. So I got excited. This is Lumpia. This is the quintessential Filipino party food. It took me 3 months to research how Lumpia came about – its beginnings, variation, international reputation and kung-fu origins. So from June to October, I stopped writing to prepare for a masterpiece… that didn’t came about.

Facepalm. 

Double Facepalm.

Can somebody stop that offensive music and all that talk about sex please?

Because of the obsession to make the perfect Lumpia series that I stopped writing. I don’t want to go into details but because there were no regular articles from the helm, writers stopped writing. It didn’t only affect this site, it affected all my writing gigs. Seriously, I can’t figure out why it shattered everything that I was doing.

Weird man.

I need to know what happened that’s why I’m writing back. To see where all those lost articles went to, catch them one by one and post them here.

I’m back to zero this 2012. Back to zero in a year when the world is supposed to end.

Or a year that wasn’t. As far as I can remember this website died around June last year.

I would like to blame the Lumpia series that started the whole mess leaving me in a comatose state but I am the one who plunged a blunt butcher’s knife into my own skull. I still blame the Lumpia series though. And by the way, thank you to those who came looking for me and asking me why myfilipinokitchen.com has not been updated especially that person who sent an email with a question mark as a subject and a content that only says – “Are you dead?” I appreciate and acknowledge your concern for the wellbeing of both the site and myself. Currently, I am writing from another world. I am still waiting for my soul to be dragged back to the kitchen where my lifeless flesh has been hanged like honey-cured ham. Ain’t that sweet?

So what in the freaking world happened last year?

By January, I finished writing about Filipino-Spanish stews. Click on this link to see where it all started 2 years ago. I can’t forget the thing because whenever we find ourselves in a conversation about this website with virtually anyone, my wife will not fail to say, “There was this one time that we ate Tomato-based stews for a week because my husband wants to write about Filipino-Spanish food in his website. It was a tomatoey torture.” And I say delicious at that.

The year also started with new authors writing for myfilipinokitchen. Click this to see the reckoning. Allow me to do an Oscar speech for a moment:

I would like to thank Joy Trebillo Babich for writing about Filipino Food in Filipino. Sure you raised up a resistance with your use of our national language but then “pakialam nila?” or where we just simply tell them – whatever?!

I would also like to thank our resident chef, Chef Mike Santiago. Chef, this site is not worthy of you but you showed us mightily that our readers are definitely worthy of a good Filipino grub. Thank you so much for reminding myself and other bloggers how to construct a recipe to which I fail miserably by bombarding my recipes with words that oftentimes confuse mothers whose only aim is to find simple recipe instructions… instead they find useless banter between “slice 3 tomatoes” and “sautee onions” and multitude of “really really really” added to every line.

I would also like to thank Jennifer Leonard with her superb potato salad recipe and who came all the way from California to Melbourne, Australia just to talk to me face to face about Filipino food (I would like to think so). Thank you for giving us the oppotunity to meet your “disapproving husband” and for sharing to us your family roots and what it feels like to be a Filipino who grew up outside of the Philippines.

Thank you very much guys.

And after two years of untangling web addresses, broken links, flashy, annoyingly popping and useless ads, lies, sometimes unreliable wiki information and self-glorifying content in the internet, I have finally finished the History of Filipino food with American influence and Japanese influence swept in the month of April. What a year finished in a quarter! (Maybe this is the reason why I stopped writing.)

I would like to finish this all in one post and get to the time when that blunt butcher’s knife landed in my skull around June but I am trying to shorten articles here in the site. So for now, I’ll have to end this so you will come back tomorrow and see the year’s aborted end.

And thank you to you too, dear reader for reading this. You are the reason why this blog is alive and I have to end this before I start with cliches and whatnots that will make you throw your computer (or your mobile) in revolt.

Ciao Siopao!

One of my many banes when I’m writing an article here in the site is that I do so much research, I get obsessed by it.

I want to write about Lumpia but something stronger is stopping me to talk about it. I want to know more about the roll of almighty crunchiness before I crack it open for you guys. I think there is something more than what’s inside the roll. I have a few ideas but it doesn’t read delicious yet. This is also what stops me from posting frequently in the site. If an article is not ready, myfilipinokitchen.com will remain quiet.

The other day, Lei asked me, why don’t you talk about all the food that we’ve been cooking for the last 5 days? To which I uttered my usual reply; myfilipinokitchen is not ready for additions of foreign food yet. This website is not about me and my adventures (although, it does reflect it quite a bit) but about Filipino food. That’s why if there is no Filipino food kick, this website will fail to produce content. And that’s what happened for the last 2 months. Alright I’ll stop now before this gets boring. No more dramas. We want don’t want no drama drama.

So for the lack of an article to post yet, I will follow what the lady of the house suggested. Here are the foods that a Filipino family eats, whenever they are not ready for some Filipino yet.

And pardon me, these images were just taken with our humble iPhone. If you are an Apple fanboy, treat this as a tribute.

MONDAY

Prawn and Chickpea Stew and Cucumber and Avocado Salad

 TUESDAY

5 Spice Fish with Crushed Potatoes and Leek Soup

WEDNESDAY

Cucumber and Feta Salad and Kibbeh with Minted Yogurt

and that comes with

Mackerel Marinated in Pomegranate and Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Salad

THURSDAY

Salmon in Miso Marinade and Shiitake Stir-fry

and on the side

Thai Noodle Salad

If you are asking what’s for Friday… I think we had a dozen burgers.

I hope you guys enjoyed this filler while I dig more about Lumpia. And I’m still looking for my writing powers if I ever had any.

Enjoy the week ahead and happy cooking! Thanks Steve!

Aside from the silly subliminal thought that Lumpia is a a symbol for a human male’s genitalia, I don’t have special memories about it. Well aside from it being an ideal first date food.

If I never found out about Shanghai Lumpia (or Lumpiang Shanghai to be proper), I would have never liked Lumpia. What’s flashing at the top of my head whenever I think about Lumpia is a very oily and very gummy pastry, soggy and chewy almost-bamboo bamboo shoot filling and some green stuff that I don’t even know. In terms of Lumpia, my formidable years formed an ugly picture of it.

Until I met my wife in the form of a Lumpia Shanghai Goddess. It’s always the woman that changes a man you see. Yup, more than 20 years of ignoring the mighty cylinder of awesome crunchness. I pity myself. Now, I learned how to appreciate, cook and love Lumpia because her family makes it perfectly right. Not oily, not gummy, no soggy or weird feelings (see fillings).

So I decided to share their family recipe with you guys.  I suppose, I partly own it now since I am a part of their family. They also make a mean Papaitan (Bitter Soup) but that can wait.

But first I want to take you on the journey of knowing what the Filipino Lumpia is aside from being a source of greed and envy during Filipino parties. Where does it come from, how did the wrapper meet the filling, and how many wars has it caused in the world. I heard they used them as currency before. It could have been the most rolled thing other than weed.

My childhood reflects exactly the attitude of most Filipinos toward their cuisine. I didn’t really bother myself to know more about Lumpia. I was just satisfied in saying no to it and I never really took the extra step to know where in the world it came from or how it ended up in my plate. I was just happy to ignore it. And it carries on when you go outside the Philippines. When it becomes OK to ignore your own food.

Well… what can you do about it?

If you have any ideas about the origin of Lumpia though, please, feel free to tell us about it and save other readers of some fictitious origin story that I will tell them next time.

(Argh. I hate it. I lost my writing powers.)

What have I learned while I was away?

I learned how to make fresh Lumpia wrappers.

I learned that wrapping a fried Lumpia thinly will make it explode when you fry it.

I learned how to cook 2 dishes out of making chicken broth.

I learned that the South Eeast Asian version of fried chicken doesn’t involve any crumbing. Case in point, Max’s Fried Chicken.

I learned that using real saffron in Arroz con Caldo boosts the flavor exponentially.

I learned how authentic it is to eat green mangoes unpeeled.

I learned how to liquify bagoong. And to sip it with delight.

I learned that during radio interviews, you can actually lead the announcer into what you want them to talk about.

I learned that there is no better language to speak but Filipino when you are with Filipinos.

I learned cooking British dishes.

I learned that the usual process of Filipino cooking weighs more on guts.

I learned how Italians appreciate their tomatoes. And thought that we Filipinos should do too.

I learned how to connect more with Filipinos in my community.

I learned not to bother myself writing in this blog.

I learned what it feels like to not write in this blog.

I learned what this blog is.

I have come to a point of “Write or Die”.

I learned to live.

Instead of answering all the questions individually about what I cooked during my birthday, I thought it would be a good idea to put it all in this page and just send them a link.

I love cooking during my birthday. It’s the way I celebrate and thank God for the life he gave me. By simmering in the kitchen all day and after that see most of  the people that are close to me (unfortunately, I can’t invite them all), celebrate and thank God of all the blessings through preparing and partaking food. I think that’s why you need to at least have a small celebration during your birthday. Food represents life. Celebrating life is a must if you ask me.

So what did I prepare this time?

Let me give you an account of how my birth-day went:

I popped the duck in the oven for 130 deg C. This was 7 hours before the celebration. Three days before, I brined, marinated and dried it to make a perfect Peking Duck. I then set-up  the monster barbecue machine, turned it on fire, all at 100 degrees celcius. I placed a wire rack on one side and popped around 2-3 kilos of rolled lamb shoulder, that should stay there in the next  6 hours at a minimal 100 to achieve a medium well… at least that’s what my intuition tells me. I chucked the chicken cuts as well on the grill. They were marinated in ketchup and fruit syrups that I got from the fruit mix that we used for fruit salad. So all are cooked in low heat becuse not only that it makes me do a lot of other stuff, but it also softens the meat while retaining all the juices in.

And I went back to the kitchen.

I drained the chicken stock that I prepared the day before. Then I put back all the stock in a pot and added Japanese Sake. That should stay there for the next 5 hours for a Chamomile Teapot Soup.

The pig cheeks and almost all of its face was waiting for me in the oven (Yes, your butcher can do a face-off for you). This was the first thing I did this morning – to chuck them in the oven to develop cracklings and boiled the ears in the marinade of fruits syrup, soy sauce and a lot of cracked pepper. So to start with the hard part - chopping them into little pieces along with onions and red and green chili peppers for Sisig. Sisig is chopped pork with crackling on a hot plate. The mixture of meat, skin and fat was around 3 kilos and I really hurt my hand chopping them that I have to revert to putting the rest in a blender.  All of them were placed in a container ready for the hot plate later. I think I only have 3 more hours.

Good thing I have a wife. Not only a wife, but a beautiful, sexy, caring and a “looking-after-me” kind of wife. When I turned my head up, I saw her on the fryer getting busy with Lumpia (Filipino Spring Rolls). Yesterday she prepared 3 desserts. A Maja Blanca which is Filipino Pudding made with coco milk and corn. She also prepared a Fruit Salad with a sort of custard sauce. And finally, for a very Filipino dessert, a Leche Flan which white people call Creme Caramel.

So I went back quickly to the Barbecue and set the chicken cuts aside because they’ve been cooking for 2 hours already. And then I threw the pork belly cuts in. The pork belly was divine because you can see the luscious thick fat and an even lining of meat in the middle. Last night I also marinated them in just lemon, salt and pepper. I just have to make sure that they are cooking in low heat because barbecuing pork belly is dangerous specially when no one is looking after it as I am doing…. how many things was I cooking already? I have to run quickly back to the kitchen because I was also grilling skewered pork barbecue there. I don’t want either of them to get burnt.

And back on the cutting board because I think I only have 2 hours left.

I started cutting the fresh tuna fillets that I got from the local fishmonger this morning. They were red and vibrant and the fishmonger said they were just in this morning, I took him for this word and grabbed 2 big fillets. They are now being prepared kinilaw style, so I started marinating them in vinegar.

I realised there are too many I’s in this post. Indulge me, it’s my bIrthday.

I jumped on to making a Greek Salad – cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, olives and a lot of Dodoni Feta. They were all mixed and placed in a grape vine nest. The dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and oregano will be swirled later during serving.

I remember I need to check the pork belly because they are the only ones that you need to have an eye on because of too much fat. When I got back to the barbecue a fire was growing to a feet tall that I have to take it off by splashing the marinade in and closed the hood. Thank God I was cooking outside. When I opened the hood, 2 kilos of delicately cut pork belly has now turned to charcoal… and this was on low heat. I felt betrayed and disappointed. One main course gone to ashes. So I cleaned the grill and then run back inside the kitchen to check if my pork barbecue skewers are on to the same fate. I wanted to shout and freak out but I have to just to accept that sometimes things get screwed up really.

Hot plate onto the stove to heat up. One more hour and I have to have a quick shower.

Breath….

Everybody took a bath before me and I have to take a very cold shower. Not a drop of hot water left. Most of you know that it is winter from where I am. So I was trembling as opposed to what I expected to be a comforting shower. At least when I was putting on clothes I have this big smile because the wife bought me a new blue Nike Free as a birthday gift. I like.

Back to the kitchen. I blanched Asparagus (Asparagi if many?) and king oyster mushrooms and placed them in cups. I transfered the broth (the one with Sake) to a teapot, added pockets of chamomile tea. When the guests arrive the broth will be poured in those cups.

It’s 6:30 pm and guests are coming in by now. This year we are looking back and celebrating with the first group of people that I have met here in Australia - our neighbors who helped us buy our first car, a family friend who can’t stop telling stories, always handy, a Filipino family that we worked with in our first job here, and  my wife’s colleagues and of course my wife’s auntie and uncle - an intimate gathering of 15 people.

I called up everyone to get their seats on the table. I grabbed the hot plate and placed it on a pizza stone, I transfered the Sisig in the hot plate and poured a mixture of soy sauce, water and pepper. The sizzling sound of Sisig on a hotplate signalled the start of the celebration.

We had Sisig, Lumpia, Kinilaw, Greek Salad (Woh! That’s a far throw! Not. Half of the guests are of Greek descent.) and a few slices of different kinds of bread. And those are just appetizers. It’s a Filipino party what do you expect. Duck, Lamb, Chicken, Pork Barbecue skewers are still on-cue for the mains. And for desserts, you have to read again to remember what they are. There’s a 15 minute break for each course.

Happy Birthday to me.

And yeah, we forgot to take even a single picture. Great.

To all those who greeted me on Facebook thank you very much. For me, nearly 200 people is very overwhelming. If only you were all here to celebrate with me. Thank you very much. Thank God for another year of Filipino Food.

Isaw. That’s what we call them. I-saw. The first syllable is pronounced as E and the second one is pronounced as if you are saying Tao -more like saying E-sao. But that’s when you are in the northern parts of the Philippines. Both in the central and south, they are called either inihaw or inasal.

Before I go on with trivial things (Which is for you my dear regular readers who do not usually comment! I know you’re existing, you just have muted hands.) let’s accomodate our new readers by getting straight to the point. Here’s a list of Filipino street foods or Filipino barbecue I have made in this site so far:

Skewered Chicken Skin Barbecue. Which is one of the first posts I’ve made in this series. The post was made up when I was working on Saturdays in a relatives’ Charcoal Chicken shop, it’s one of those Greek chicken shops here in Australia. Until now I can say that they have the best Charcoal Chicken I’ve ever tasted in Melbourne… or even in Australia. Of course, I cook there! What i’ve noticed though, when they do prepare their Chicken Schnitzels is that throw the chicken skin away after peeling it off from “everyone’s meat” – which is the chiken breast. So I collected them all and made something more wonderful than a bland piece of meat.

I wasn’t suppose to talk there. I was just supposed to give a list of Filipino barbecued street foods. Here’s the rest -

Skewered Pork Barbecue. This is epic and in a 3-part series so don’t forget to click the next post. I’ll shut up now.

Skewered Chicken Liver Barbecue. You gotta know why Liver is the best food in the world.

Skewered Chicken Hearts Barbecue. Exotic, fun-tastic, tick-tocking delight.

Skewered Chicken Gizzard Barbecue. Juxtaposition in a grill.

Skewered Chitterlings Barbecue. This is where Isaw got its name.

So far I have 6 in the list. Read them all. I had fun writing them so you will have fun reading them too. And if you want to request for more please let me know. That is, if I have time to do it. And what I meant by that is, it’s winter from where I am already and making barbecue is next to impossible. Well unless you have something to bribe me with, we can do negotiations.

A month ago, @Limer35 and @Filipeanut, Filipino foodies from California, sent me a tweet asking me what do I think of adding Betamax to Adobo. To clarify, it’s not that dino-age system that your grandparents use to watch a movie. Betamax is a slang for coagulated blood cubes or cakes as it resembles the tape that you load in your Betamax system to watch movies like Total Recall, Top Gun, Pretty Woman or that Nora Aunor movie that’s famous for the line – “My brother is not a pig”. Well right after they got my attention in Twitter about this radical idea of adding blood cubes in Adobo, I thought… it was actually brilliant.

So I thought, how am I going to do this? (I got excited suddenly.)

Because first and foremost, blood cubes (or cakes) are very delicate, I have to do this right. Although it retains a certain integrity, when cooked recklessly, it will still disintegrate into a million pieces. Remember eating a Dinuguan like an exploded blob of bloody chaos instead of the perfect smooth and saucy Dinuguan stew? That’s why I want to pull this off right. And  and I thought it may affect the delicate soy sauce and vinegar combo of the Adobo. @Limer made a version of his own but I didn’t really have a enough info on know how it turned out.

So -

1. I did this carefully by cooking the chicken in vinegar with a generous amount of salt, the traditional way of cooking Adobo. I then set the chicken aside and dried it up for a bit, then shallow-fried it in high heat to wrap it in crunch.

2. For the sauce, I mixed chicken stock, soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns and bay leaves, and then reduced them to a sauce.

3. And as for the betamax, I marinated it in vinegar… which diluted the thing. Which is exactly, how you make Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) – by diluting the blood in vinegar or tamarind squeeze. Luckily it didn’t melt entirely. So I quickly shallow-fried what is left of the freaking thing in high heat just to make a well formed crust and then cooked it further in low heat so as to avoid eating raw blood. Yuck. Sookie.

The reason why I made this is because this is what Modern Filipino Cooking is which is also our topic next week. Reinventing and innovating traditional dishes. Sisig, Bicol Express, Tapsilog and its varities are among a few of them. I’ll discuss them further hopefully by Monday.

Anyway, I’ll stop blabbering. Here are the pictures.

Kudos to @Limer for the brilliant idea. You rock Adobo in a bloody way!

Next week we will be talking about Modern Filipino Cooking and we will discuss recipes that have been created decades after the 2nd World War. This week, I will be giving you a glimpse of what we will be taking about not only next week but also for the next month.

In this segment, which I am thinking of doing on a regular basis, I will let you guess what are the secret ingredients to this Filipino Food. And what Filipino recipe is it. Let’s begin shall we?

So have you guessed what are the secret ingredients in this secret Filipino food recipe? And don’t you even dare to view the page source. You’ll find nothing there anyway.

Let the games begin!