Good Food Trio: Sinigang, Pares, and Lomi

These three best-tasting Filipino dishes will surely satisfy your cravings for good food. Whether dining at home or al fresco in an upscale restaurant, Filipino food will always be present and enjoyed by every member of the family, not just here but worldwide.

• Sinigang: Best vegetable soup in the world

Savor the all-time favorite Sinigang, hailed recently as the best vegetable soup in the world on the food website TasteAtlas, which promotes cuisines from different cultures around the world. The website announced its vegetable ranking list via Facebook, last August 2.

Sinigang received 4.8 out of 5 stars, clinching the top spot from other “best” soups, namely Tukey’s mercimek corbasi and Lithuania’s saltibarsciai. The soup base of Sinigang makes it stand out from the rest of the list.

“With its sour lightness perfectly matching the harsh tropical heat of the country, Sinigang is a unique soup that is a true representative of Filipino cuisine,” TasteAtlas said. Although, it didn’t indicate which kind of Sinigang is the best (pork, fish, or chicken, among others).

It also mentioned the ingredients, “Sinigang is a sour Filipino soup consisting of sampalok (fruits of the tamarind tree), water spinach, green pepper, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, diced tomatoes, sliced onions, ginger, green beans, water, and salt. The basic broth usually consists of rice washing, with the addition of a souring agent. Other ingredients such as pork, fish, milkfish, shrimp, chicken, or beef may also be added to the soup.” It added, “Sinigang is traditionally served hot and steaming as a main dish, with rice as its accompaniment.”

With the popularity of the dish, “new variations replace sampalok with guava or raw mango, while different regions have their own techniques,” the website stated. It has become an often seen dish on special occasions such as birthdays or weddings.

The website also mentioned the restaurants with good Sinigang: Romulo Café, Sentro 1771, Fely J’s Restaurant, Manam Comfort Food, and Max’s Restaurant.

If we may add to the list, we also recommend the unique and mouth-watering versions of Sinigang sa Beef Buko of The Harvest Hotel in Cabanatuan City, and the appetizing Silang Sinigang of Tia Belle’s Tagaytay. Both are rich in flavor and loaded with fresh ingredients.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/TasteAtlas

• Lifetime “Pares” for Hidilyn Diaz

Pares also known as beef pares, “is a term for a serving of Filipino braised beef stew with garlic fried rice, and a bowl of clear soup.” It also refers to “any dish that is cooked in the manner reminiscent of the ‘asado-style.’”

Pares Retiro, a Filipino restaurant known for its great-tasting beef pares, mami, goto, and putok batok spicy bone marrow, has also extended recognition to our Tokyo Olympics Gold medallist, Hidilyn Diaz by giving her a lifetime Classic Pares.  On their FB page, they shared the poster with the caption “A true partner for life – true Filipino food goes hand in honoring our champion, Hidilyn Diaz!”

“Here at Pares Retiro, we improved the traditional food we have all come to know and elevated it to heavenly standards. Mahirap ba paniwalaan? Tara’t tikman ang langit!” stated on their website.

Pares Retiro also offers Filipino cuisine such as Pancit, Sizzling Sisig, Lechon Kawali, Kare-Kare, and mouth-watering desserts like Turon De Leche, Saba Con Yelo, and Halo-Halo.

It opened its very first branch in Quezon City in 2007. Their signature food product is paired with fried rice, chili sauce, and hot beef soup.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/paresretiro

•   A hearty Mucho Lomi

Your trip to Tagaytay will not be complete without stopping by Tia Belle’s Tagaytay. Never miss the chance to partake in one of its bestselling noodle dishes – the special Mucho Lomi. This rainy season and even on regular days, this Chinese-influenced dish is so popular, with a volume of orders for dine-in and take-out.

What makes this dish a favorite? “Its rich, flavorful broth, full ingredients, hindi tinipid, and always served hot,” said Evelyn Wise (a.k.a Tia Belle’s) the hands-on owner of the Filipino restaurant.

Many regional varieties are thickened with flour or eggs and incorporate pork or chicken, sliced pork liver, and a variety of vegetables, according to TasteAtlas.

Tia Belle’s owner is generous to share the recipe of Mucho Lomi for you to try cooking at home, particularly during this quarantine period. To order, visit: https://www.facebook.com/belle.tia.1

INGREDIENTS:

100 grams lomi

20 grams tofu

Half the crabstick

1 shrimps ball (cut half)

3 pcs of beef liver

20 grams lechon kawali

1 boiled egg

20 grams kalabasa slice cut to one inch

1 tbsp. fresh chop celery leaves

1 tbsp. spring onions

4 sliced onions

1 tsp. black pepper

1 chicken cubes

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tbsp. ground chicharon

1 tbsp. toasted garlic

One beaten egg

PROCEDURE:

• Slice cook liver into a strip.
• Prepare the washed lomi, kalabasa, fresh celery leaves, spring onions, tofu, lechon kawali, or fish fillet and 1 boiled egg, black pepper, 2 tbsp. cassava flour and chicken cubes — these can be added at the time of cooking.
• Boil the shrimp balls, kalabasa, and tofu for 2 minutes.
• Place on a strainer set aside.
• Soak the lomi in a small bowl filled with hot water for 1 minute, then wash with cold water. Ready the beaten egg and one lechon kawali.
• In a heated wok, pour oil, sauté the onions, celery, lomi, a dash of seasoning, 3 cups of hot water. Let it simmer for 8 minutes.
• Mix the black pepper, the chicken cubes, and soy sauce. Then slowly pour the melted cornstarch until it thickens and stir the beaten eggs. Keep mixing using a whisk, until the egg blends into the soup.
• Place in a bowl and arrange all the toppings: Shrimp balls, lechon kawali or fish fillet, kalabasa, liver, tofu, spring onion, ground chicharon. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

By Ruby Asoy-Lebajo

Featured photos courtesy of TasteAtlas, Pares Retiro, and Tia Belle’s Tagaytay

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