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15 Hours of Feeding Frenzy in Manila
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#wsfc16 #ayalamalls #lovemalls #itsmorefunPH

Claudine Trillo, CNN Phillipines: What took World Street Food Congress so long to come to Manila?
KF Seetoh: Traffic Jam!

Now that we are here, there is not an ounce of regret, it blew our mind away and if you ever thought Philippines was all about Lechon and Adobo and Sinigang, go get your head checked or better still, come to Pampanga.

All the dozen or so international and local media corporate participants at the World Street Food Congress 15 hour food Frenzy Safari, held on the 20^th of February, was left with little to imagination. It was a non-stop caloric blast.  They went from Manila, to Pampanga and back- about 10 stops and over 30 items to fit into the mouth. They were dazzled by the iconic Aling Lucing’s Sisig (roasted chopped pork head tossed in onions, lime and soy), and we also saw how the Recovery Food people took their humble national breakfast of Tapsilog and turned it into beautiful Donburi bowls with plain Adobo, and brown rice, topped with pork, beef, milkfish flakes and a runny egg. Suddenly, humble Filipino breakfast fare has a new face and it is beautiful.

Everybody’s café in Pampanga they fell over how they ground cocoa beans with peanut and turn it into a little Chocolato Batirol nutty drink. It was unforgettable; they did their own version of their meat roll as if it was not sinful enough they made you dunk it in crab fat.

We could not be able to bring WSFC to Manila if not for the belief of what DOT and TPB and Ayala Malls have of the movement behind this event- that comfort heritage street food is the most meaningful most delicious culture that everybody can love. It generates an iconic brand and opportunities.

Good food need not be expensive and it must always evolve and heritage street food is the best  flag bearer of this believe.

Which is why the astounding Chef Sau del Rosario came up with the most pretty tamales Philippines has ever seen- served in a glass cup. It is made with rice flour, annatto oil, coconut, chicken, edible flowers crispy bits of various toppings. His Lechon Kare Kare is “the best I’ve ever had” says top Philippines blogger Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet, and I concur.  The Philippines Tourism Promotions Board’s tagline may be “its more fun in the Philippines”, but after this 15 hour food frenzy safari – it felt like “its more delicious in the Phillipines”

Next dash- Chinatown, Manila. Binondo is said to be one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world and they were here as long as the Spanish had been here,(since the 1500s). It is largely migrant Hokkiens from the Fujian province and they had preserve many of their food ways. From old Hokkien noodles, now done with a satay sauce (at Ah Mah’s Restaurant) accent to Hopiah – sweet cakes stuffed with ube (purple yam) paste, pandan and custard filling, they even have traditional gooey style oyster omelet downed with starch and eggs at Sincerity Restaurant. Blame or praise China’s expansion, but now you can also find Chinese chive and meat dumplings created by a Chinese northerner who speaks hardly any Tagalog and only Chinese with a heavy northerner’s accent (at Dong Bei Dumplings), . How’s that for authenticity – plus it’s good and cheap.

We save the best for last at this tour. Dedet’s truffle rice Lechon, which was the runway best seller at last years WSFC15 in Singapore, dazzled everyone yet again when it was offered as the last item at the Mercato Market in Bonifacio Global City , the event sponsors for this year’s World Street Food Congress in April (www.wsfcongress.com). Suddenly , everyone was hungry again after a 14 hour food frenzy just at the mere whiff of a perfectly roast piggy stuffed with truffle paella.

And more food for thought, if you are looking for opportunity, ideas, skills, partners, or just wondering how you can be involve and get a slice of the action in the world’s greatest food congress come to the world street food congress dialogue happening on 20 & 21 April 2016. Book your ticket here: http://wsfcongress.com/ticket-pricing-registration/ 

Happening simultaneously would be 5 days of street food feasting party at the world street food jamboree (20 to 24 April 2016) in manila, where 24 of the world’s best street food vendors and hawker would dazzle you with their iconic heritage street food fare!

All that was just a slice of Filipino food culture on platters. I think we will now open the Pandora’s box of Filipino food culture.

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Location and dishes:

1/ RECOVERY FOOD
Address: 31st Street Corner Rizal Drive, BGC Stopover Pavilion, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Food items:
-Hey Jude’s Paksig (Shredded Sarangani Bangus belly cooked in native vinegar broth and organic rice
-S.S.T (Spicy sweet tuyo, fried egg and organic garlic rice)
-Amadoblo (Old fashioned adobo with fried egg and organic garlic rice)
-Tapa De Morning (Home made tapa, scrambled egg and organic plain rice)

2/ EVERYBODY’S CAFÉ
Address: Del Pilar, McArthur Highway, San Fernando, Pampanga
Food items:
– Suman tamales (square suman made of ground glutinous rice topped with slices of egg, ham and chicken)
– Sumam bulagta (aka suman sa lihiya topped with latik or cooked grated coconut)
– Sarsyadong itlog (traditional capampangan omelette with ripe tomatoes n onions.)
– Everybody’s Cafe longanisa
– Pindang damulag (cured carabao’s meat that melts in your mouth.)
– Tidtad or diniguan (pork innards cooked with pig’s blood and vinegar.)
– Morcon, everybody’s Cafe’s most popular dish (Made with ground pork, spanish chorizo, quezo de bola cooked for 6 hours. )
– Camaru, mole cricket cooked adobo style. (Everybody’s cafe remove the legs and the wings to make sure they leave no itchy feeling. Our stock of camaru reched up to 1,200 kilos per year).
– Tsokolate Batirol (old fashioned chocolate drink made our of cocoa and peanut paste that is made using a century old stone grinder.)
– Fried rice
– Pandesal

3/ ALING LUCING’S SISIG
Address: Glaciano Valdez St, Angeles, Pampanga
Food items:
– Sizzling sisig  (chopped up pig’s head /face and liver, seasoned with calamansi)

4/ CAFÉ FLEUR
Address: 463B Miranda St, Angeles, 2009 Pampanga
Food items:
– Kare Kare bagnet
– Relyenong Bangos
– Lame kaldereta
– Sinigang Na Ulang
– Halo Halo
– Tamales Pampangueña
– Tsokolate Batirol
– Tsokoron

5/ WSFC16 PRESS CONFERENCE
Held at Manila Diamond Hotel : Quintos St, Ermita, Manila, 1000 Metro Manila, Philippines
Food items:
– Saté Lilit Bali ( Minced Balinese spiced fish cake saté )
– Pindang Serani Salmon (Clear Aromatic Salmon soup)

6/ The big Binondo Food Wok!
Address: Binondo, Metro Manila, Philippines
Food stalls:
– Amah’s Kitchen
– Sincerity Restaurant
– Dong Bei Dumplings

7/ SARSA KITCHEN + BAR
Address: Unit 1-7 Forum South Global, Federacion Dr cor 7th Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Food items:
– Sizzling Kansi (Bulalo)
– Chicken Skin Inasal
– Chicken Inasal
– Batchoy
– Ice cream sandwich (Ube/ Vanilla/ Chesse)
– Kinilaw
– Panit (Chicken skin)
– Isaw (Chicken intestine)
– Isol (Chicken tail)
– Tortang talong with Crispy Sardines and Kesong Puti

8/ MERCATO CENTRALE NIGHT MARKET
Address: Corner of 34th street and 8th avenue (across MC Home Depot), 34th St, Taguig, Metro Manila
Food items:
–Lechon de Leche stuffed with Truffle Rice (Filipino version of a roast suckling pig)

– Balut  (16 day old fertilized duck egg)