35 Kreta Ayer Road | Tel: 6222 6676
Despite a lot of time spent in the Philippines over the years and some very good Pinay friends, I don’t actually know a lot about Filipino food.
I had encountered Adobo before, as well as Sinigang (tamarind based soup. You can buy the stock for Sinigang at Lucky Plaza and make it at home, it’s sour-ish soup), Lechon (a whole roasted pig), ihaw-ihaw (grilled on coals), the breakfast of garlic fried rice and longanisa (fatty sausage) but not much else.
Generally the cuisine has some Chinese, Asian influences; but compared to Thai and Malay food, less use of spice and not a lot of chilli. It’s not just balut and mangoes!
So my Pinay posse decided to fix my ignorance and take me to Bonifacio, a smart-casual eatery in Kreta Ayer that does the real McCoy.
The restaurant is nicely done. Not too casual, and still with a sense of style. It’s pretty mellow, the service is good, the staff is great (a shoutout to Divine, Jerome and Sharon), and the menu is quite extensive, so we didn’t try everything, but here’s a selection you should try.
Pugad Laing
Taro leaves cooked in coconut, topped with yummy grilled prawns. A little like ‘masak lemak’. I brought it home for Susi to try, and she pronounced ‘Sedap when kena the chilli’. So now you know. Ask for spicy when you order it.
Daing na Bangus
I really liked this, and would go back just for it. Bangus is milkfish (a white fish) that’s smoked, fried, and served with a salsa. Clean flavours and yummy. (see Aldo’s description below. It might be clean flavours but not easy to make!)
Hala Pata!
Apparently the must-have. Deep fried leg of pig. Crispy, crunchy, fatty, porky. Beloved by all.
Turon
Yummy dessert, almost like banana fritters, but lighter. A cross between churros and banana fritters. It’s fried, it’s banana, it has caramel, what can possibly be wrong with that combo??
Bonifacio serves several versions of Halo-Halo, including the Ginataang version, which is different from the standard Halo-halo. I found it really sweet so be warned!
I’m going back to try the corn beef pasta as I find that a fascinating culinary concept! There’s tons more on the menu so it may take more than one visit. I especially want to try the Binukadkad na Isda (fried fish with tamarind and eggplant)
Make sure too, that you have the garlic rice, buko (young coconut) juice, and of course, calamansi juice. Remember though, to ask for less sugar, as even I am defeated by the Filipino sweet tooth, and that’s saying something!
Pinoy friends tell us a bit more about the dishes (Thanks Essa and Aldo):
Essa:
Turon: Classic Filipino dessert made of quartered bananas covered in brown sugar and encased in thin spring roll wrapper, then deep fried. Often also comes with a sliver of ripe jackfruit in the middle that just takes this beloved snack up a notch. Turon is ubiquitous Filipino street fare. It’s simple to make and combines crunch and sweetness so delicately. I remember summer afternoons happily munching on turon as merienda!
Crispy pata
Cholesterol-laden and highly calorific indulgence. I make sure to have some every time I visit home. It’s quite laborious: a whole hind leg of a pig is first boiled in spices for a good 90 minutes and then deep fried, while at the same time trying to ensure that the meat remains juicy and moist. I haven’t mustered the courage to attempt this at home and brave the serious oil spatters. But there is truly no need to, as many Filipino restaurants can make a great crispy pata.
The crispy, crunchy skin, having absorbed the flavors of peppercorns, onions, vinegar and bay leaves during the boiling, is highly coveted. The whole hind leg is served with a variety of dipping sauces (from vinegar with crushed garlic to soy sauce with bird’s eye chili, and everything else in between) and a mountain of steaming rice. Crispy pata is the guilty pleasure of Filipino food.
Aldo:
Laing: Growing up, I was wary of eating anything with milk or coconut as they had the tendency to upset my stomach. So when our family cook, Betty, informed me that she was going for a vacation and that her post would be taken over by Ellen, I knew I was in big trouble. Ellen hailed from the Bicol region of the Philippines, a region known for the incorporation of chilli and coconut milk in anything and everything they cook.
Neither did it help when Ellen revealed her specialty to be laing– something my 10-year old mind imagined to be a deadly combination of crushed red chilli, fresh coconut milk and leaves from a plant I can only describe as “hairy.” Due to my overactive imagination, dinnertime became an extension of playtime where I played hide-and-seek and “catch-me-if-you-can” to my clearly unamused nanny.
It was only when I was a bit older when I started to appreciate the complexity of this hearty dish of torn and dried taro leaves and stems. The musky flavour of the plant is coddled by the creaminess of the ginger-infused coconut milk. The bite of the red chilli serves as perfect foil to the other-taste-numbing goodness of sautéed pork belly and salted fish. A versatile dish that can be served piping hot or at room temperature, laing’s flavours can only intensify over time.
Indeed when I was older and after I visited Ellen’s region (where the people have withstood house wrenching typhoons and earth shattering volcanic eruptions), the only running around when “laing” was mentioned is the dash I make towards the dinner table.
Tinapang Bangus
What an off-putting picture! But delicious, I promise!
The first gutted-then boiled-then dried-then smoked-then finally fried national fish is usually served with dark pink shelled salted egg, and fresh or boiled tomatoes (yes, the fruit). The salted egg oddly compliments the saltiness of the smoked fish, while the tomatoes (or as some would prefer it, the dipping in cane vinegar) help prepare and placate you for the next burst of smoky delight.
When done right, the smoking process infuses the meat of the fish with a distinct near-burnt character that disposes one to imagine the idyllic sun drenched countryside. The bangus belly is also an experience of gustatory contrast as the smokiness from both the boiling sea salt-ed water and the slowly burning wood shavings provide the perfect background for the silky sweetness of this freshwater fish.
Halo-halo
The ubiquitous halo-halo, whose name literally means ‘mixed together’, has as many versions as there are merchants, for the only two staple ingredients are crushed ice and milk (even the milk may have variations!). The best ones are those that provide you with an array of contrasting flavours and textures – from the crunch of the dried pinipig and shaved corn kernels, to the chewiness of the sweet beans or nata de cocos; from the earthy texture of a spoonful of rootcrop royale ube halaya (purple yam) to the velvety bliss that is leche flan (milk-egg custard with a caramel finish). The result is a festival of flavours replicated by the spectrum of colours from the numerous ingredients swirling in the icy, milky whirlpool that’s in your glass.
