There is an argument going around regarding what our National Dish is. Some say its Adobo. Some say its Lechon. Some prefer Adobo for the reason that Adobo is cooked everywhere in the Philippine Islands. Each region has its own kind of Adobo. Adobo is basically a saucy dish made of oil, soy sauce, garlic, vinegar with salt and pepper with chicken and pork. The portions of the ingredients differ but those are the basic ingredients. Some prefer their adobo sticky dry with little sauce, others prefer it with much sauce and an abundance of garlic flavor.. There are others who like it oily while others like it watery with less oil. Some like to add hard boiled quail eggs and also potatoes. The chicken and pork are always cooked to a very tender state and when mixed with the sauce, it is the perfect meal served with rice. However its prepared, it is always a popular dish in a Filipino meal. There are other variants of the Adobo. Aside from the dark colored brown black Adobo, Adobo is also served white or what they call Adobong Puti. This is a Kapampangan native dish which has all of the basic ingredients minus the soy sauce but you add bay leaf and peppercorn. Its not white because there is cream added in the mixture rather, its actually clear colored. But as the adobo simmers, it kinda develops a white texture because of the fat of the pork and chicken which then blends with the other ingredients hence Adobong Puti.. The Pampanguenos swear by it. As a matter of fact they say that is the original way to cook adobo. Soy Sauce came much later.. But if you ask me, you should try the Yellow Adobo or Adobong Dilaw. This is a Batangueno specialty originally from Taal. This is the adobo I grew up with and its divine! Basically its the same ingredients as above which are vinegar, garlic, onions minus the soy sauce but with a little fish sauce. The kicker ingredient is turmeric which is a kind of ginger. You first brown your chicken and pork cutlets then set it aside. You start with some oil, then add onions and copious amounts of garlic.. Add a little water to keep consistency.. Then add the vinegar and cut up turmeric. Then when the ingredients are simmering, it will turn yellow then add the meat cutlets.. Then simmer and mix together and add some water as necessary if you wish to have more sauce or less.. The more turmeric there is, the yellower it gets.. and you want to achieve a balance of yellow golden turmeric goodness with oil, vinegar, some patis, Knorr Chicken cubes, bayleaf, peppercorns and salt.. The dish tastes like heaven and is served best with rice as well. But some would say, yeah Adobo is a great candidate for our National Dish but its roots are actually not Filipino.. It was cooked by the Hawaiians, Samoan Islanders and Mexicans long before we ever started to cook it. Ok Point taken.. So what is the most native Pinoy dish then? Well it will have to be Lechon. Ahh Yes, The Ubiquitous Pinoy Lechon.. Who can ever resist a well made lechon that is crisp on the outside and tender juicy flavorful on the inside. Your fiesta is not a celebration without Lechon. Lechon is the star of the party. The more tasty your lechon, the more successful your party is. It is served in birthdays, weddings, graduations, fiestas, debuts, in any or all occasions even funerals if the person died happy. Rich and poor alike, leftist and rightist, conservative and liberal agree on Lechon. Basta may lechon, magkaibigan tayong lahat! We are all united for the love of the roasted pig. It is the best dish to serve when you have friends or you wish to make friends. Even your enemies become friends when you serve Lechon. Lets just say, everyone is impressed when you serve lechon. Now you think lechon is all the same. Nope. Its all done differently and everyone claims their lechon is the best.. Perhaps what is common to lechon is the crispy skin. You gotta have crispy skin when you serve lechon. The skin of a pig is full of heart clogging cholesterol but thats what makes Filipinos happy. It is happy food. It makes you young.. or you die young... Suckling Pig or Young Lechon tends to have crispier thinner skin and it is widely perceived that you have reached lechon perfection when the lechon that you are cooking over a spit achieves that perfect crispyness that people rave about. U bite into it and CRUNCH! Its an art form. But I also would want some flesh thats succullent, moist, flavorful.. The Cebuanos have attained that state. Anthony Bourdain has said the best pig bar none he has ever tasted is a Cebuano Lechon. Now why is it that good? Well the secret is the lemon grass which is stuffed into the lechon plus a few other spices it adds as it cooks over a fire on a spit. The lemongrass adds this divine element to the lechon which just makes it so tasty. Of course others might disagree.. But I would have to say, it is very good. A well done pig indeed.. For as much as Cebuano lechon is superb. Its not even the most popular. Manila lechon favorites like Milas Lechon or Lechon ni Mang Tomas are still the kings of the Lechon castle.. Add some thick salty sweet lechon sauce and Yessir! Its masarap! Lately though I have tasted some very good niche lechons in the higher end of the lechon spectrum.. There is this quiet place in Makati called Lechon Degustacion at Pepitas Kitchen hosted by Lechon Queen De Leche, Dedet de la Fuente. She serves the most delicious suckling lechon this side of the planet. As a matter of fact Pepitas was recognized as one of Asias Best Dishes just recently.. It is that good. It is that transcendent. She serves her lechon with different kinds of stuffing like truffles, fruit, raisins, flavored rice, etc.. She has a French Lechon version, a German, a Chinese, a Christmas type and others.. She then cooks these piggy beauties in these stand alone brick ovens at even temperature and when its done, they are all freaking good. No, they are more than good, its a taste of heaven in a pig. And then you have Greek Chef Antonis Kouroutsavouris aka El Greco who is now a Manileno. Out of his great desire to please his Pinoy clientele, he serves a Greek style lechon de leche where he adds extra virgin olive oil, pears, apples, olives, plums, raisins, onions, etc and other unique Greek seasonings as stuffing inside the lechon.. He then dresses his lechon ala Porchetta and puts it in the oven. What comes out after is this out of this world lechon dish that is not only fragrant and moist but also super delicious and crispy.. He has merged the best of both worlds. The ancient cuisine of Greece and the Love of Pinoys for Lechon. He calls his piece de resistance the Gourounopolo. Perhaps its the best lechon (if you call it that) I have had on the planet.. Every time I have a taste of that succulent morsel of pig meat and skin, I just go.. Effin Wow! I am blown away. Served with Basmati rice slathered with Epirus Greek Butter and almonds, I cant help having this stupid grin on my face. Yamas! So there you have it. So is our national dish Lechon or is it Adobo? I love both dearly but if you ask me.... I would perhaps have to say Lechon because this is really our national celebratory dish. It defines how heart clogging fun we are as a people. We work hard and play hard but we also party and eat hard. We love our pigs like we love our idols and our feast days. If Jesus Christ was a Filipino, his last supper main dish would have been a Lechon. It would have only been appropriate. And so I say, Lechon it is! You are the Winner for me though a few might disagree! But damn.. You gotta try that Adobong Dilaw. It will make Miss Piggy sweat.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 23:35:49 +0000
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