Food from the Philippines
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I was sorting some old family photos and I came across a face I had not seen since 1982. It was Gloria, a lady in my church.
Her name wasn’t actually Gloria — it was about three inches long and had a whole lot of vowels in it because she was from the Philippines. She had married a U.S. military man, and they were settled in our community for about six years before being relocated.
Gloria was a good name for her, though, because that woman was full of joy. One weekend, she taught my mother and I how to make three wonderful, delicious dishes from her homeland. My brother and I still make them today.
Filipino cooking is an amalgam of native, Spanish, American and Asian influences. Chinese and Arabic countries traded with the islands for centuries before the Spanish came.
When Spain took over “Las Islas Filipinas” in the 16th century there was a multitude of Pacific island tribal diversity. The culture was loosely united under basic Spanish customs and language, but still retained a large amount of indigenous character.
The United States bought the islands after the Spanish-American War and changed the name from the “Filipinas” to the “Philippines.” So now, thanks to empire building, we have Filipinos living in the Philippines. World War II eventually resulted in autonomy for the nation, and they’ve just left it at that for now.
Two dishes Gloria taught my family were bihon, a noodle and cabbage dish, and lumpia, which are like a skinny egg roll. Lumpia have many variations and are usually made with rice flour and water (most tasty), or wheat flour and water (standard egg roll), or cornstarch, egg and water (least tasty). They are very thin and usually round.
Some lumpia are not fried, but this one is. It’s a wonderful dark tan color when done, with the dark, marinated beef inside, and is dipped in bright red “banana ketchup.” Jufran is the traditional brand name, and it comes in regular or hot versions.
LUMPIA GLORIA
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped green
onions
2 eggs
To read complete story see the print edition or the online print edition.
Comments
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.