Kare-kare. File photo
MANILA – Two US websites have shone a spotlight on Filipino food, two weeks after the influential restaurant guide Zagat featured the country’s cuisine.
In an article published on Thrillist on January 20, writer Andy Kryza mentioned “seven entry-level Filipino comfort foods that will have you completely hooked.”
Echoing other food writers in the US, Kryza said “signs are pointing to a boom in Filipino food” in America.
“It’s one of the most unique flavor profiles out there, but where do you start? Probably not with the blood stew or chicken embryos (those are pretty good, according to Andrew Zimmern),” he wrote.
Leading Thirllist’s must-try Filipino dishes is lumpia, which Kryza described as “the Pinoy cousin to the egg roll, spring roll and salad roll.”
“It’s filled up with carrots, sprouts and other veggies, with the option to add shaved chicken, shrimp, pork or tofu. Often served with peanut sauce, it’s one of the culture’s favorite appetizers and the perfect gateway food for beginners,” Kryza wrote.
Other Filipino dishes that made the cut include adobo (meat or seafood braised in garlic, vinegar and soy sauce), pancit (stir-fried noodles), menudo (pork and liver stew), inasal (grilled marinated chicken), kare-kare (peanut stew) and lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly).
Referring to the lechon kawali, Kryza said: “[It’s] a condensed version that makes bacon look healthy by comparison.”
Early this year, an article on Zagat listed “nine Filipino dishes you need to know” while giving recommendations on where to order them in the US.
Jeepney restaurant on Vice.com
Meanwhile, the Filipino restaurant Jeepney in New York and its owners were featured in a clip on Vice.com, a website on various lifestyle topics.
The video “Munchies: Jeepney,” which was uploaded by Vice.com on YouTube, showed Jeepney owners Miguel Trinidad, Nicole Ponseca and Tomas delos Reyes sharing some of the restaurant’s specialties.
The three were then filmed visiting nearby restaurants owned by their friends.
A number of websites and newspapers in the US have been featuring restaurants such as Jeepney.
Just recently, chef, TV personality and food writer Andrew Zimmern included Filipino cuisine in his list of Top 10 food trends for 2013 in the US.