Illustrado challenged chefs from prestigious hotels and restaurants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Manila to come up with delectable and innovative dishes that’s definitively Filipino. The result is an amazing selection of three course meals that feature tradition, fusion and nouveau Filipino cuisine that’s sure to keep your palates wanting for more.
Chef Happy Ongpauco
CEO – Happy Concept Group of Companies
& Vice-President for Operations – Barrio Fiesta Company
The daughter of restaurateur Rod Ongpauco and actress Liberty Ylagan, Chef Happy comes from the third generation of full-blooded restaurateurs giving Filipinos great tasting native dishes for decades. She earned a degree in International Business at the Assumption College, a diploma in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the HRAP and the Shatec Singapore Hotel, and studied Culinary Arts at the Culinary Arts Institute of America. Chef Happy went into her own food enterprise in 2000 and opened World Topps, a “hole in the wall” restaurant serving the yuppie crowd in Timog Avenue, Quezon City. That venture eventually grew into the Happy Concept Group of Companies which now has 15 restaurant branches and two catering companies including World Topps, Bento Box, Hawaiian Bar-B-Que, Lechon Express, Pamana, I Love Backyard BBQ, International Food Concepts Catering Group, and My Happy Carts Co. This creative and hardworking young lady is also on top of the family business as Vice-President for Operations of the Barrio Fiesta Company.
Turon Ala Mode with Ripe Mango
*1 portion
1 pc saba banana
1 pc spring roll wrapper
60 grams vanilla ice cream
¼ tsp white sugar
10 ml chocolate sauce
100 grams green mango (garnish)
Preparation: Cut the saba banana into 4 pcs lengthwise. Wrap each piece in spring roll wrapper and coat with white sugar. Fry till golden crispy. Serve in a dessert bowl with vanilla ice cream, top with chocolate sauce and green mango on the side.
Why did you establish your own business? Can you tell us when and how you started?
I started Adobo Restaurant in March 28, 2014. I worked at Muscat Duty Free when I came to Oman as a Marketing Executive and decided to establish my own business along with the help of my Omani business partners, Ibrahim and Salim.
I wanted to serve authentic Filipino cuisine to the Filipino community, locals and foreigners in Muscat and the surrounding areas, and to become a introduce and popularize Filipino cuisine to other nationalities. We concentrate on dishes from the southern regions of the Philippines so as to offer something different from the usual fare of Filipino restaurants in Oman. These are dishes that I would normally cook at home. As our aim is to extend our customer base beyond the Filipino community, we are endeavoring to cook and present our dishes at a high standard of home cooking quality and family-style serving.
What was your start-up capital and your basic operations set-up? (How did you operate? How many employees? What about your place of business?
The seed money for a business here in Oman is quite high compared to that in the Philippines. The capital paid for the essential infrastructure of the business, such as the restaurant seating setup, and kitchen and cooking equipment.
We started off with a staff of three, including me, and as the business grew, we were able to afford to hire one staff more after five months. As of now, we are planning to increase our staff with three more people coming in, after we get the Ministry approvals for Visa availability.
We are located in the Seeb area of Muscat, on a quiet street off the main road. The interior set up of the restaurant is very typical and traditional Filipino style where you will feel the atmosphere of dining in a bahay-kubo. There is also a collection of Filipino ornaments like ukulele, sungka, native fans and hats, lamparilya, and native plates.
What obstacles did you encounter?
The core problem is having to wait an entire year before the business plan could be practically implemented. There was also the issue of business partners; these were changed three times during the course of events. Next, we had to overcome the bureaucratic hassles involved in procuring work Visas for our Filipino staff contingent and securing the various municipality approvals regarding such issues. Also of prime concern was ascertaining tastes in the line of food and beverages.
Where are you now? How far have you gone? What are the landmarks in your business so far?
We started the business with four Filipino staff, including myself, and we are planning to soon employ more staff this year as the business grows and the number of our guests increase. In God’s will, we are targeting to expand in the next two years.
We are now in the stage of promoting the traditional Filipino way of eating—‘kamayan’ style. Along with this is the use of banana leaves in lieu of plates. We are proud to share Filipino food and culture to locals and foreigners, and to our kababayans who miss this style of eating now that they are away from our homeland.
We have a menu which offers a great variety of meat, fish, noodles, and vegetarian dishes, along with an assortment of desserts. As well as offering traditional Filipino drinks, we have been innovative in our concoctions by devising a number of unique blends based on different Filipino-inspired themes, such as the Mt. Mayon Lava, Boracay Island and Sandugo drinks.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an entrepreneur?
The disadvantage is that you’ll never know whether or not you will succeed. The risk factor is always there, as well as the vagaries of the marketplace.
However, there are also advantages, such as being able to set my own high standards and striving to achieve goals. It feels satisfying to see what you have accomplished. We at adobo AFC Restaurant are in the process of perpetual improvement and innovation, and we aim to provide quality service to our valued customers.
Would you encourage other Filipinos to go into business? What is your advice to budding Filipino entrepreneurs?
Yes, I would recommend that my fellow Pinoys to go into business. For those who are willing to take a calculated risk and run the bureaucratic gauntlet, the rewards are great. But diligence, patience, hard work, sheer dedication, and perseverance are the qualities which are the ‘order of the day’ for any budding entrepreneur.
MasterChef Australia’s John Carasig shares his experience on the beloved reality cooking show, and his vision of putting Filipino cuisine in the global culinary scene.
By Rav De Castro
“I never thought in my life that I would join a reality TV show, but I’m glad I did. It’s a one in a million experience.” – MasterChef Australia’s John Carasig
Filipinos love their food. We are always proud to say that our favorite dish is our mom’s adobo, or our lola’s sinigang.
Filipinos also love showing off their food. Whenever a visitor from another country pays our home a visit, we make sure that we let them savor our most prided dishes: be it kare-kare, dinuguan, pancit, or lumpia. And of course, it will not be a real Filipino feast without the lechon.
Filipinos abroad are known to squeal in delight whenever they discover an Asian grocery in their neighborhood, because finally, they can cook in their home away from home their favorite Filipino dish. Nothing beats homesickness better than a steaming plate of rice and a bowl of your favorite ulam.
But despite the sheer number of Filipinos scattered all around the world, Filipino cuisine seems to take the backseat in the international food scene. While our Southeast Asian neighbors continue to gain popularity with their pad thai’s and their pho’s, we have yet to bring our beloved adobo to the center stage.
This is exactly what prompted John Carasig to join MasterChef Australia, a popular and well-loved TV program that features amateur home cooks competing for the title, each with his or her own food dream. And for John, his food dream is to finally bring Filipino cuisine to the limelight.
“My vision is to modernize our cuisine, but at the same time, respect its history and allow the flavors to come through—like it did the classic way,” John says.
A Filipino-born home cook who migrated with his family to Australia when he was a kid, John was a contestant in the 7th season of MasterChef Australia. He was known for creating Filipino dishes with a twist, and has wowed both the show’s judges and viewers with his creative take on Filipino food.
One of his signature MasterChef dishes is “Cheese and Crackers,” a dessert made of blue cheese ice cream, goat’s cheese ice cream with spiced poached pear, Botrytis Semillon caviar and a butter pecan tuille. Essentially, this is his version of his favorite ice cream flavor back when he was a kid in the Philippines—cheese. Cheese is not a very common ice-cream flavor in Australia, and in this dish, he showcased the palatable dance between his two cultural backgrounds, Filipino and Australian.
Signature Dish – Cheese and Crackers
John gets a lot of inspiration from his travels abroad. Being a flight attendant, he has sampled many different cuisines from many parts of the globe, and for him, Filipino food has what it takes to delight diners all over the world, if given the right treatment. In MasterChef, he has learned restraint of technique and respect for ingredients.
“As a flight attendant, I’m able to see other parts of the world and experience different cuisines. I’m able to use this experience and allow it to influence the things I cook, which is a huge advantage for me as a home cook.” – MasterChef Australia’s John Carasig
In one of the episodes, he was criticized for over-complicating his dishes, and using too many elements. But for him, having a myriad of culinary experiences sometimes made it a challenge for him to translate his vision in one simple plate. John is full of flavor, and he is rarely apologetic for it. Just like Filipino food, he could be appallingly spicy at first, then delightfully savory towards the end—just like our favorite Bicol express.
A lot of people named John as one of their favorites in the show, and this lot includes not only Filipinos. He became known as a top contender, and in one of the show’s team challenges, John’s team’s winning dish, Roast Chicken with Prosecco and Grape Jus, was touted by the judges as the “best chicken in MasterChef history.”
Roast Chicken with Prosecco and Grape Jus, Candied Lemon and Lentils
Although John may have cooked some of the best dishes in the show, and presented the judges with Filipino food done with a modern aplomb, he faltered somewhere along the way, and got eliminated. He was in MasterChef Australia’s Top 13, and he exited with memorable dishes that introduced Filipino dishes to the Australian palate.
In one episode, he came up with a modern and classy rendition of our beloved halo-halo, and the judges were amazed by the dish’s novelty and its surprising symphony—they never thought that a mixture of milk, ice and fruits could create such a lovely dessert. His halo-halo may look different from our regular halo-halo served in a tall glass, but its exciting and refreshing flavors were there. John used milk granita with sweet cannellini beans, poached pear, peanut brittle, crème caramel, and soft meringue to recreate the unofficial Filipino national dessert.
John Carasig’s Halo-Halo
He also did not hold back, and brought a new version of our adobo to the table. Adding a very Asian coconut rice on the side, it instantly became a favorite among the judges.
John Carasig’s take on Pork Adobo
Now that he is out of the MasterChef Kitchen, John decided that he will continue pursuing his food dream. He has started a pop-up venture called Adobo Kitchen, an online-based food business where he creates his version of Filipino food that he loves, including ice cream with flavors that we Filipinos consider ‘normal,’ but Australians and the rest of the world would call ‘exotic,’ such as avocado, coconut, ube, and of course, cheese.
Adobo Kitchen will be mainly distributed in Australia where he is based, but since he is also traveling a lot, and has made many friends in Dubai, he is planning to do a pop-up event here in 2016. John’s Adobo Kitchen is his personal take on Filipino food with a modern twist, a great way to introduce the pomp of Filipino flavors to the global culinary community.
“I never thought in my life that I would join a reality TV show, but I’m glad I did. It’s a one in a million experience.” – MasterChef Australia’s John Carasig
John is grateful to become part of MasterChef Australia, and he considers this as a truly amazing experience, not only for himself, but for Filipino food as well. It is about time that someone with a Filipino heritage show Australians and the rest of the world what our dining tables are made of; we Filipinos cook with much flavor, much hominess, much heart.
“The television is an amazing thing, and editors can pull out things and make a story or drama out of any scenario,” John shares. Indeed, it was. And finally, the world has seen that Filipino food is more than our different versions of adobo, or our sauce-based iterations of the Spanish-born afritada. Filipino food has all the drama and the colorful story that could get any discerning diner hooked.
Sure, there are many Filipino restaurants that pepper many cities around the world where there is a Filipino community present. But the wide reach of the television is an effective way to let the world know about our beloved cuisine. Hopefully, John’s version of adobo and halo-halo is appealing enough for the rest of the world that people will also start craving it. And when there are more Pinoy restaurants in the world, the less homesick we become. Because after all, home is where our favorite food is.
Chef Mico Galligues share filipino recipes using ingredients known to stimulate desire. Read on as he spills his top culinary secrets.
Beyond the month of love, there’s always room for that mystic exotic potion we Filipinos know as ‘gayuma.’ Apparently, if you want to snatch someone else’s lover, or to cast a spell on your beloved, gayuma is what you need – nakakapraning! These mixtures are commonly sold around Quiapo and Baclaran. But be careful! They are not BFAD approved and maybe harmful to your health. So if you are not willing to risk ending up in a hospital bed, I suggest you might as well look into aphrodisiac foods instead.
According to ‘my friend’ Webster an aphrodisiac is a “food or drink that stimulates desire, derived from the name of Aphrodite (Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love, rose from the sea on an oyster and then gave birth to my best friend Eros – you know, the fashion designer/photographer?). Here is a list of common aphrodisiac foods which you might already have in your kitchen – aniseed, almond, avocado, asparagus, banana, carrots, chili peppers, basil, chocolate, coffee, oyster, ginger, garlic, cilantro, rosemary, balut (duck embryo), edible snails, oregano, saffron, thyme, caviar, tuna, salmon, cherry, dates, strawberries, peaches, etc.
Many articles and books have been written about these ‘hot’ foods and even Dr. Margie Holmes will tell you to eat some of these foods to spice up your relationship. Trust her, she is a clinical psychologist, and trust me I’m a chef. So, I prepared some Filipino recipes with our aphrodisiac ingredients for a unique Pinoy menu na siguradong nakaka-in love! Una siempre ang number one sa mga barako – ang pang malakasan nating ‘Soup Number Five,’ then ang pambato ng mga taga Cavite, Navotas at Malabon ang ‘talaba,’ ang ‘beef trio’ na sigradong makakataba ng puso, and a sinful dessert to cap it all.
Soup Number Five
*Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 pcs onions, chopped
1 pack Tamarind Mix
2 liters water
1 whole cow’s organs
1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
1tbsp sibot similar to 5 spices
15 grams of black fungus (tengang daga)
4 pcs Chinese cabbage leaf
2 stalks of spring onion, chopped
Patis (fish sauce), to taste
Procedure: Boil the cow’s organs in water. Scrape with a knife to clean. Discard the water. Bring fresh water to boil, then add the meat and salt. Simmer until tender, remove the meat from the broth and cut into cubes. In a pan, heat oil then sauté onions and the meat, add the broth, peppercorn, sibot, and bouillon. Bring to boil and add the tamarind mix. Season with patis. Serve hot with cabbage, black fungus, spring onion and crispy garlic.
Procedure: Remove oyster out of the shells and set aside. Chop tomatoes, onion, garlic and coriander and mix together. Pour the limejuice and season with salt and pepper. Assemble the food.
Filipino Recipes: Chef Allan Briones and Chef La Nina’s new spin on classic Kare-Kare
Tender Braised Beef Short-Rib, Tamarind Pickled Aubergine and Peanut Butter Cream with Baby Bok Choy and Anchovy Bagoong Jelly
Photo by: Chef Mico Galliguez
Tender Braised Beef Short-Rib, Tamarind Pickled Aubergine and Peanut Butter Cream with Baby Bok Choy and Anchovy Bagoong Jelly Photo By – Chef Mico Galliguez
Ingredients:
*4 Portions
Tender Braised Beef Short-Rib
1.8 kg beef short-rib with bones
2 pcs carrot, chopped
½ pcs celery, chopped
2 pcs onion, chopped
3 pcs bay leaves
2 pcs star anise
2 cloves garlic
5 pcs black peppercorn
10 grams sea salt
50 ml fish sauce
Tamarind Pickled Aubergine
2 pcs large aubergines
50 ml white vinegar
50 grams sugar
100 ml tamarind extract puree
Peanut Butter Sauce
5 ml vegetable oil
50 grams onion, finely chopped
5 grams garlic, finely chopped
100 ml stock from beef short-rib
25 grams roasted peanut, blended finely
25 grams peanut butter
Peanut Butter Cream
150 grams peanut butter
50 ml cream
50 ml milk
1 egg yolk
25 grams sugar
80 ml double cream
Anchovy Bagoong Jelly
5 ml vegetable oil
10 grams onion, finely chopped
2 grams garlic, finely chopped
2 grams green chili, finely chopped
80 grams anchovy
40 grams bagoong
10 grams sugar
50 ml fish stock
5 grams textura agar
Garnish:
8 pcs young bokchoy
1 pc red chili, sliced finely
chives
Chef Allan Briones and Chef La Nina – Photo by Chef Mico Galliguez
Preparation:
Tender Braised Beef Short-Rib – Preheat the oven at 180C. Sear the beef short-rib on a hot frying pan. Place all the ingredients in a deep roasting pan together. Fill up the pan with water until well covered. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Braise it in the oven for 2hours. Remove from the oven once meat is tender braised. Remove the bone from the meat and cut it into the portion sizes. Strain the stock and keep it for the sauce. Tamarind Pickled Aubergine – Boil vinegar with sugar and reduce it into half. Add tamarind extract puree and remove from heat. Slice aubergines into portion sizes. Deep fry until lightly browned. Marinate with tamarind puree. Peanut Butter Sauce – Sauté onion and garlic together with oil. Add stock and bring it to boil. Add peanut butter and roasted peanuts together. Simmer for 5minutes. Peanut Butter Cream – Whisk egg yolk and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Bring cream and milk to boil in a pan and pour it into the egg mixture. Place mixture in a double boiler and stir it until thick. Melt peanut butter over low heat, remove from the heat and mix with thickened egg mixture. Fold mixture with double cream and set aside in the fridge. Anchovy Bagoong Jelly – Sauté onion, garlic, chili with oil until golden brown. Add anchovy and sauté for 5min. Add bagoong and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add sugar and fish stock, and bring it to boil. Combine with agar and remove from the heat. Pour it into a mould and set aside until firm. Remove from the mould and cut into portion size.
Oyster Shooter with Tomato Salsa
