I *Heart* My Favorite Foods in the Philippines

I've been living with my family outside the Philippines for 10 years now, and we go home for vacation only every 2 years (to save on expensive airfare ticket, we are 7 in the family).  One of the things I miss in the Philippines (aside from my parents and relatives) are the Philippine foods that are not available here. If ever they are available here, they cost triple the price or more.  So, we just have to wait until we go home to enjoy these delicious Filipino foods.

There are lots of food I like but I have just listed four here.  The first one is our Philippine mango - the Carabao variety.  It is the sweetest and most delicious mango ever.  I've tasted mangoes here from Pakistan and India, but nothing compares to our Philippine Mango.  No wonder it has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the sweetest fruit in the world.  This is a favorite among my kids too. 

Philippine Mango. Image by supafly, Flickr

The second is lechon and lechon paksiw.  Lechon is a whole roasted suckling pig served with sarsa or sauce from mashed pork liver and spices.   While lechon paksiw is a vinegar-based stew using lechon meat.  It is usually mixed together with ground liver or liver spread (sometimes I just use bottled Mang Tomas lechon sauce) to add flavor and cause the sauce to thicken.  This dish is definitely not allowed in this country so I miss this a lot.

Lechon. Image by Arcade, Wikipedia.

The third is lumpiang sariwa (or fresh spring rolls) especially lumpiang ubod like the one served at Goldilocks. It is termed fresh, in contrast to the spring roll, because it is not fried.  This dish consists of minced ubod (heart of palm), flaked chicken, crushed peanuts, and turnips (optional) in a double wrapping of lettuce leaf and a yellowish egg crepe.  The accompanying sauce made from chicken or pork stock, a starch mixture, and fresh garlic completes the delicious taste of this dish. Other variations of this dish is substituting other fillings for the ubod like camote strips, bean sprouts, green beans, cabbage and carrots.

Lumpiang sariwa is available here.  I don't cook but just buy through a friend who knows someone who makes a delicious and tasty version of this.  But it is still not the same as those sold in Goldilocks because it is prepared not with ubod but the other vegetables.  Oh well, it tastes good anyway but I make sure to eat some lumpiang ubod when in the Philippines.

Lumpiang sariwa. Image by Kguirnela, Wikipedia

The fourth food or snack that I miss in the Philippines is the taho.  Taho is made up of soft tofu, mixed with arnibal or dark caramel syrup, and sago or tapioca pearls.  Since childhood, my siblings and I buy taho from the magtataho or the street vendor who yell out "taho" in our neighborhood.  We have actually befriended the magtataho that he alternately yells the name of my younger brother with taho when he passes by our house.

It has been two years since I tasted my last taho.  I can't wait to go home and taste my next one.  How I wish that all of my kids have the same fervor we had when we were young when it comes to drinking taho. It is a very healthy and nutritious snack.  But so far, only 3 of the 5 like it.  Oh well, I'll just try convincing all of them again next time.

Magtataho.  Image by Kguirnela, Wikipedia.

That's it for this post.  How about you? What are the favorite Filipino foods you would surely miss if you go out of the country and live overseas?  Or what Filipino food you don't ever get bored eating?

[This is an entry to MISSION: I *HEART* THE PHILIPPINES]