Are you craving for some comfort Filipino/home food?
Good news! Filipino cuisine are becoming more popular in the British public. Nowadays, you have a number of options to consider if you want to have a taste of our own Filipino dishes.
1. Visit a Filipino Restaurant or Pop Up Stall/Restaurants
A number of Filipino restaurants & stalls have popped up offering our own signature dishes from the famous lechon, kare-kare, barbeque and others. Some of them are now making a name in the food industry.
Bbq Dreamz, has started as a food business offering Filipino inspired street food, has won the “My Million Pound Menu” competition and was able to secure a £350,000 investment. Their crispy pork belly and sticky adobo wings are few of their signature dishes. Now, you can find them on various pop up restaurants/ locations.
2. Join a Filipino Supper Club
Filipino Supper Clubs are also becoming popular. Adobros and Food with Mae are just few of the thriving chefs who are hosting Filipino inspired dining experiences.
3. Visit a Filipino Store
If you are in/near towns such as London, Luton and Leeds---you are lucky!
These are few of the towns/cities where you can find a Filipino Store where you can buy delicacies, ingredients and goodies from the Philippines from “daing na bangus” (milkfish), marinated meats (like “tocino”, “tapa” or “longganisa”), sauces to our childhood favourite ice creams (ube or mango ice cream).
To our readers who are based in UK, do you know where the other Filipino Stores are located? Please leave your comment below.
4. Buy your goods in the Oriental Store OR World food shop.
There are some oriental OR world food shops that sell ingredients OR goodies from the Philippines. Most of these shops would sell staple ingredients like Philippine branded soy sauce, vinegar, noodles, etc but options are not as extensive as those you find in the Filipino stores.
5. Be creative. Find Alternatives.
As you are now in a different country, the reality is that you won’t be able to find all the ingredients you’re using back in the Philippines here in the UK. You need to be creative and find an alternative solution so that you can create the dish that you want.
Few examples are our famous sinigang (sour based soup). “Kangkong” (Swamp cabbage) is very difficult to find in the UK- an alternative for Kangkong can either be spinach or kale.
Another good example is Tinola (Ginger based chicken soup), you can find chayote or chow-chow in Oriental or World Food shops. But if you can’t find any, an alternative you can consider is courgette or zucchini.
Can you share with us too other alternative ingredients you when you cook/prepare Filipino dishes? Share them with us!
Now that you know your options, it's time to eat! Kain na!
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