Meet Didi:
I'm a classic Overseas Filipino (worker)'s wife, who trailed with him on his globe trotting adventures. We used to be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and recently moved to the United States.
I am in love with food as much as (or maybe even more than) I love my husband. I enjoy cooking, eating out, reading books, watching shows, and listening to podcasts about food. I write about my Filipino expat food adventures-misadventures on my blog D for Delicious (http://dfordelicious.com)
I do miss the authentic shawarma, falafel and manousheh from the Middle East, but am now diving in deep into the Texas barbecue scene.
Hometown: Philippines
Current Place of Residence:
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, TX
Website: D is for Delicious
Twitter: @didipaterno
Facebook: D is for Delicious page
What inspires you to make Filipino food?
Though I do enjoy eating other cuisines from all over (American, Middle Eastern, South Asian - Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Southeast Asian - Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, East Asian - Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc), Filipino food is something I come home to. This is the cuisine I grew up with, reminds me of my family whom I have left behind in the Philippines. Most especially, pork adobo. It is one Filipino dish that I never grow tired of. It is in the ranks of those dishes that I can eat at least once a week or more (together with the humble munggo - mung bean soup). Plus its the dish that has magical properties of growing more delicious with age, unlike other dishes that you must eat fresh.
What is a special memory you have about Filipino food?
I forced myself learn how to cook more Filipino dishes when I got married and moved abroad. Though I do know how to cook, I did more pasta recipes, which my husband does not enjoy.
Filipino food for me was more daunting since I wanted to replicate the exact flavors I experience at home on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, I did not have easy access to tips and tricks from my mama, whom I did not have much dwell time in the kitchen with. One of the disadvantages of being away from the Philippines. I had a lot of failures, which ended up in tears because my husband hated the food I prepared. But eventually, with a lot of courage, more attention to the details (Yes, cooking does require one's full attention and love) plus basic cooking principles from cooking shows and cookbooks, I did hit the nail on the head and my husband now enjoys the Filipino dishes I prepare.
What is unique about your adobo?
Unlike other adobos that are prepared on the stovetop, I make mine using my oven. Plus it isn't your usual one pot adobo wonder that you just mix everything in the pot and leave it over the fire (or electric burners) for an hour.
There are a few additional steps that make it really magical :-)
This recipe is one of those distinctly umami adobos, where one gets to enjoy sweet, tangy, salty, earthy and potentially spicy all in one bite.
Recipe by Didi Paterno-Magpali
Originally published on D is for Delicious
Equipment needed:
Oven
Roasting pan
Ingredients:
3-heads of garlic
(You can even add one more if you are a big garlic fan)
A pinch of salt and ground black pepper
A splash of olive oil
1-kilo (2.2 lbs) pork belly slab/s with skin on
120ml soy sauce
250ml white vinegar
3-tablespoons sugar
1-teaspoon whole peppercorns or ground black pepper
(if you don't have whole peppercorns)
4-dried bay leaves
Step-by-step:
1. Chop garlic heads in half with skin on.
2. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and a splash of olive oil. Make sure that all garlic halves are well coated with SP and olive oil.
3. Roast in pre-heated oven (200 C or 400 F) for 30-minutes until melty and golden brown. Do not remove from the oven just yet…
4. Mix soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns and bay leaves in a separate container.
5. Score pork belly skin and dunk the pork belly slabs into the soy, vinegar, sugar and herb mixture.
6. Pull out the roasting pan with roasted garlic, transfer the pork belly with adobo sauce onto the pan and return to the hot oven.
7. Roast for 1-hour and a half, basting the pork belly slabs with the adobo sauce or turning over the slabs in the adobo sauce every 10-15-minutes.
8. Once the pork belly skin is slightly crispy and adobo sauce reduced by 50%, remove the pan from the oven and slice the pork belly into cubes.
9. Return the sliced pork belly into the roasting pan and make sure that the fatty cubes are coated with adobo sauce.
10. Return to the oven and cook for another 10-15-minutes.
Recipe best enjoyed with the following:
Bowl of steamed jasmine rice
Sliced fresh tomatoes
Chopped onions
A salted duck egg or sunny side up egg
A splash of Tabasco sauce for heat
If you can share your adobo or any Filipino food with anyone, who would it be and why?
My immediate family (in the Philippines and Finland)! I'm just so proud that I now know how to cook Filipino dishes close to what we grew up eating and want to showcase for far I've come as a self-taught cook :-)
What's another Filipino food that everyone should try at least once?
Kare-kare (Oxtail peanut stew) with bagoong (shrimp paste). This is one uniquely Filipino dish, whose origins I still am baffled by.
Where do you think Filipino food will go in the next few years?
I always am disappointed because our cuisine is always excluded in the menus of Southeast Asian restaurants. Hopefully it would get the recognition it very much deserves by the global food community as Filipino cuisine and part of the Southeast Asian cuisine landscape. It is a unique cuisine, unlike any other. One cannot compare it to the other SEAsian cuisines, which somehow have similar flavors.
Ours is unique because of the melting pot of influences from the Spanish, Americans, Chinese and Malays and the availability of beautiful produce.
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Would you like to be a part of Project:Adobo?
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