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5 Filipino Condiments, Demystified
Condiments are to food like soy sauce is to rice: better with than without. Try French fries without ketchup or mayonnaise, or challah without salt. Notice that something's missing. Then add it back. Then taste the party of flavors on your tongue.
Just like the crispy saltiness of French fries benefit from the creamy mayo or the tangy ketchup, the right condiment can transform a mediocre dish into something sublime.Traditional Filipino condiments emphasize savory, salty, and pungent flavors, sometimes with an edge of sweetness and tartness.
Here are five that you can easily find in any Asian supermarket. You can make three of them yourself with ingredients from your pantry.1. ToyoAlso known as soy sauce. (If your tablecloth doesn't have a toyo circle on it, you're not using enough.)
Filipino soy sauce tends to be darker and saltier than the typical Chinese or Japanese soy sauce, something like a thin, salty shoyu.
Low-sodium versions are available, which I prefer for health reasons. You can always add salt to a dish, but you can't take it out once you've added it. 2. Fried garlicUsually put on top of stir-fries like pancit, or starchy dishes.
It combines the sharp pungency of raw garlic with a chewy texture that contrasts well with the past al-dente noodles. It's also easy to make:
Light a candle to get rid of the smell, unless you want the scent of garlic to permeate your house for days. (I do not mind this at all; my mother lights around six.)
Slice some cloves of garlic as thinly as you can (or 1/4-inch thick, if you really like it chewy).
Heat a pan, then add enough oil so that the bottom is completely covered.
Add garlic slices and fry until golden brown, turning if necessary.
Let drain on a paper towel. Serve hot or cold.3. Sukang Used as a dipping sauce. I love to eat it with lumpia.
It's a simple mixture of minced raw garlic with palm or sugarcane vinegar. I use 1 clove per 1/4 cup vinegar.
You can also use plain white vinegar, but its biting flavor masks that of the food half the time.
I prefer the softness of the palm vinegar and tangy sweetness of the sugarcane vinegar.
Sukang also makes a great dipping sauce for musubi.
4. PatisDecidedly not vegetarian. A salty, fermented fish sauce, patis is a real room divider. People love it or hate it (I love it, though the smell can be overpowering).
It can be an ingredient in soups and stews like sinigang and tinola, but is usually used as a dipping sauce for things like lumpia or meat.
Together with bagoong, a really salty, fermented fish or shrimp paste, it makes for some fierce (though unkosher) eats.
Unfortunately, none of the patis I've found in supermarkets carries a heksher.
The vegetarian versions, usually labeled "vegetarian fish sauce", don't carry the same level of umami savoriness that the real stuff does, but they smell much, much, better. 5. CalamansiSqueezed on top of any dish, it brings a bright, sweet-sour tang and opens up the existing flavors. Calamansi combines the tartness of a lime with the sweetness in a lemon and packages it in lush, orange flesh inside a green golf ball. Add it to soy sauce and you create toyomansi; add it to patis and you get patismansi; add those to anything and you get the best of both worlds. You can even make calamansi-ade, or add it to some lemonade for a tart kick. Try these on your next stir-fry, piece of challah, pita, tofu scramble, or meal and let me know what you think.Happy experimenting!
Just like the crispy saltiness of French fries benefit from the creamy mayo or the tangy ketchup, the right condiment can transform a mediocre dish into something sublime.Traditional Filipino condiments emphasize savory, salty, and pungent flavors, sometimes with an edge of sweetness and tartness.
Here are five that you can easily find in any Asian supermarket. You can make three of them yourself with ingredients from your pantry.1. ToyoAlso known as soy sauce. (If your tablecloth doesn't have a toyo circle on it, you're not using enough.)
Filipino soy sauce tends to be darker and saltier than the typical Chinese or Japanese soy sauce, something like a thin, salty shoyu.
Low-sodium versions are available, which I prefer for health reasons. You can always add salt to a dish, but you can't take it out once you've added it. 2. Fried garlicUsually put on top of stir-fries like pancit, or starchy dishes.
It combines the sharp pungency of raw garlic with a chewy texture that contrasts well with the past al-dente noodles. It's also easy to make:
Light a candle to get rid of the smell, unless you want the scent of garlic to permeate your house for days. (I do not mind this at all; my mother lights around six.)
Slice some cloves of garlic as thinly as you can (or 1/4-inch thick, if you really like it chewy).
Heat a pan, then add enough oil so that the bottom is completely covered.
Add garlic slices and fry until golden brown, turning if necessary.
Let drain on a paper towel. Serve hot or cold.3. Sukang Used as a dipping sauce. I love to eat it with lumpia.
It's a simple mixture of minced raw garlic with palm or sugarcane vinegar. I use 1 clove per 1/4 cup vinegar.
You can also use plain white vinegar, but its biting flavor masks that of the food half the time.
I prefer the softness of the palm vinegar and tangy sweetness of the sugarcane vinegar.
Sukang also makes a great dipping sauce for musubi.
4. PatisDecidedly not vegetarian. A salty, fermented fish sauce, patis is a real room divider. People love it or hate it (I love it, though the smell can be overpowering).
It can be an ingredient in soups and stews like sinigang and tinola, but is usually used as a dipping sauce for things like lumpia or meat.
Together with bagoong, a really salty, fermented fish or shrimp paste, it makes for some fierce (though unkosher) eats.
Unfortunately, none of the patis I've found in supermarkets carries a heksher.
The vegetarian versions, usually labeled "vegetarian fish sauce", don't carry the same level of umami savoriness that the real stuff does, but they smell much, much, better. 5. CalamansiSqueezed on top of any dish, it brings a bright, sweet-sour tang and opens up the existing flavors. Calamansi combines the tartness of a lime with the sweetness in a lemon and packages it in lush, orange flesh inside a green golf ball. Add it to soy sauce and you create toyomansi; add it to patis and you get patismansi; add those to anything and you get the best of both worlds. You can even make calamansi-ade, or add it to some lemonade for a tart kick. Try these on your next stir-fry, piece of challah, pita, tofu scramble, or meal and let me know what you think.Happy experimenting!
Lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) with sukang or sweet and sour sauce
Holidays and birthdays mean it's time to break out special dishes and special foods: ginataan mais, bibingka, and almost everyone's favorite, lumpia. Something about that crispy-crackly wrapper around warm, savory veggies (or meat) seduces people.Getting it just right is an art. You can't wrap it too thick, because then the insides are still gummy, and you can't wrap it too thin, because the insides won't cook before the outside is that perfect shade of golden brown. If you put too much inside the wrapper, it'll break either when you roll it or when you fry it. When Chanukah rolls around, fry them along with the sufganiyot. My favorite condiment for lumpia is sukang (palm or cane vinegar) infused with crushed garlic. My lola takes a bite out of her lumpia, then pours a little sukang into it before she eats the rest. Sweet and sour sauce and soy sauce also work well. Vegetarian lumpia1 package square lumpia wrappers, obtainable at any Asian supermarket
Feel free to substitute any of the below veggies:
1 small onion, diced
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cup bean sprouts, blanchedsoy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
1 T cornstarch + 1 T cold water, mixed to form a slurrySmall bowl of cold water for assembly
Vegetable oil for fryingIn a medium bowl, mix all the vegetables and seasonings together with a wooden spoon or your hands. Mix in the slurry.
If you prefer a smoother filling, pulse all ingredients except the slurry in a food processor until they start to form a paste. Pulse in the slurry until well mixed. To assemble:
Place a wrapper on a clean, dry surface.
Take about two tablespoons of filling and spread it across one of the corners such that it forms the long side of a triangle with that corner.
Fold that corner over the filling and roll once towards the opposite corner.
Fold the side corners towards the middle.
Continue to roll until you reach the opposite corner.
Wet one of your fingers with a little water and seal the edge, much like you would an envelope.
Repeat until all lumpias are rolled. To cook:
Fill a deep fryer, cast-iron pan, dutch oven, wok, etc. at least halfway full of oil. You want the lumpia to be able to float on top.
Heat over medium-high heat. When oil is hot (a drop of water will dance across it before it evaporates), drop in a few lumpia at a time and fry until golden brown, turning once.
Don't overcrowd the lumpia--they need room to float. Drain upright on paper towels and serve hot with sukang vinegar or sweet and sour sauce.Sukang (garlic vinegar)
1/4 cup vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic
Mash garlic, then mince finely. Add to vinegar. Stir well. Use liberally.Sweet and sour sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1-3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch + 1 t water, mixed to form a slurry
In a small saucepan, heat vinegar and sugar together over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Quickly stir in slurry and cook until mixture thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and chiles to taste.
Feel free to substitute any of the below veggies:
1 small onion, diced
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cup bean sprouts, blanchedsoy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
1 T cornstarch + 1 T cold water, mixed to form a slurrySmall bowl of cold water for assembly
Vegetable oil for fryingIn a medium bowl, mix all the vegetables and seasonings together with a wooden spoon or your hands. Mix in the slurry.
If you prefer a smoother filling, pulse all ingredients except the slurry in a food processor until they start to form a paste. Pulse in the slurry until well mixed. To assemble:
Place a wrapper on a clean, dry surface.
Take about two tablespoons of filling and spread it across one of the corners such that it forms the long side of a triangle with that corner.
Fold that corner over the filling and roll once towards the opposite corner.
Fold the side corners towards the middle.
Continue to roll until you reach the opposite corner.
Wet one of your fingers with a little water and seal the edge, much like you would an envelope.
Repeat until all lumpias are rolled. To cook:
Fill a deep fryer, cast-iron pan, dutch oven, wok, etc. at least halfway full of oil. You want the lumpia to be able to float on top.
Heat over medium-high heat. When oil is hot (a drop of water will dance across it before it evaporates), drop in a few lumpia at a time and fry until golden brown, turning once.
Don't overcrowd the lumpia--they need room to float. Drain upright on paper towels and serve hot with sukang vinegar or sweet and sour sauce.Sukang (garlic vinegar)
1/4 cup vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic
Mash garlic, then mince finely. Add to vinegar. Stir well. Use liberally.Sweet and sour sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1-3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch + 1 t water, mixed to form a slurry
In a small saucepan, heat vinegar and sugar together over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Quickly stir in slurry and cook until mixture thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and chiles to taste.
