Pinoy Chefs & Cuisines Showcase

By: Aeron Lancero

 

Good day to you all, and I wish you happy start of the year! I am honored to be sharing my column with each and every current readers of Via Times and hope to have you continue on reading. So what is Fil.Am Eats going to write about? Well, let me first introduce myself to you… I am a Filipino-American born in the Island of Guam. Both my parents, born and bred in the Philippines, migrated to Guam before I was born. I grew up enjoying and loving our cuisine, I travelled three times a year to the Philippines until I was 14 and then went to gain my high school and collegiate degree in Manila. Once I graduated from college, I moved back to Guam and worked in the hospitality and tourism market for some time, then was able to work my way in major restaurants around the Micronesian Islands and Southeast Asia before moving to the mainland. Now I am a humble restauranteur that co-owns three restaurants in Illinois and another in Ohio. I have been blessed to call Illinois my home.

So what will you see in my column? Quite a few things… It will always have at least two of the following topics.

1. Restaurants that showcase our cuisine… There are many in Illinois. Some that are small and only showcase Pinoy food or higher-end places that have a few menu items that are Pinoy. Many of us want to be able to enjoy our cuisine and sometimes show it off. Allow me to share with you those places and highlight what they have to offer.

2. Our talented Pinoy Chefs. Whether they are up-and-coming, a friend of our culture and are not Pinoy to the award-winning ones. Let me share with you who they are and celebrate their accomplishments and support their drive to showcase our cuisine to the world.

3. Recipes of dishes, as I am fortunate to have access to many chefs to share their renditions of their favorite Pinoy dishes that may be on their menu or just something they love.

4. What is hot on the food scene, whether it be a dish, a restaurant around the country or an ingredient that highlights Pinoy’s.

5. Cocktails as well will be shared as now we have the likes of Tanduay Rum and array of beers available. We will share craft cocktail recipes that you can make at home or enjoy at one of the places that I will showcase.

These are what will be on there, so I can hopefully take you in a journey that highlights what is going on around our state, our country that we are living in and a few things from back home.

My Dish of the Month
Chicken Sisig – e+o Food and Drink

This is a dish that was placed on the former Philippine Consul Generals; Consuls cook book that showcased cultures and dishes from other countries. We had the honor and responsibility to showcase for the Philippines and this is what it is.

A popular dish traditionally with pig ears, although this one is more created for the masses. I love traditional sisig, especially pork. But this dish has exposed non-Pinoy’s to our cuisine and we are happy to say that the reviews have been great. Here is how we make it.

Diced oven roasted chicken thigh – 10oz
Spicy mayo – 2tbsp
Sweet chili vin – 1tbsp
Sliced Fresno
Sliced Jalepeno – 1 each
Sliced red onion – ½ onion
Salt – based on how you like it
Black pepper – based on how you like it
1 fried egg
Crispy shallots
Scallion
Micro chives

Mix chicken thighs with spicy mayo, chilis, and red onion. Season to taste. Place on cast iron and heat till carmelized on both sides. Heat egg and place on top of chicken. Garnish with crispy shallots and scallion. Place micro chives on top, finish with salt and squeeze a lemon wedge on it.

Then granish with crispy duck skin or chicken skin.

Now where to go and showcase our cuisine to nonpinoys… There are many out there and here is one place that I will share on my first column.

 

e+o Food and Drink in Mount Prospect

Winner of quite a few accolades like “best new restaurant” 2013 by Chicago Magazine, “Most memorable dining experience” 2014 by the Daily Herald, highlights themselves as a New American restaurant.

Their definition of what that is; is that we are a melting pot of different cultures and cuisines today so we have a little bit of everything to offer. From a great burger, to sushi, freshly-made pizzas to Filipino food.

Yes, Filipino food, in addition to the rendition of sisig that is above, they also have crispy pata, and not a little dish but a whole pork shank with skin served with a salad and accompanied by a garlic vinegar dipping sauce and chicken liver gravy dipping sauce. A little different to the popular “Mang Tomas Sawsawan”. They have pork belly adobo and adobo fried rice… A city-style design, helmed by celebrity chef Rodelio Aglibot aka “the foodbuddha” who is also FILAM.

As you can see just on the bar alone, it is a place where you can bring anyone. The diversity of the crowd is great and we have a fellow acomplished FIL-AM enjoying with her girfriends. Former luvabull Angelea. Here you and your guest can enjoy each other and not have to worry about your nonpinoy friends, just having to try and enjoy just Pinoy-inspired food but many more. The design of the space, a sleek and chic, but not pretentious. Obviously, I am biased but check out reviews, they will speak for themselves.

Well, I hope you enjoyed what I have to offer this time around and look forward to sharing soon. Also please do not hesitate to reach out and share your thoughts and insights. Is there a chef you want me to write about and meet, is there a favorite restaurant that needs recognition, is there a food dish you want a recipe for that we can modernize, so that we FIL-AMS can show-off to our friends and family who may not be familiar with our cuisine?

Please reach out. As my goal is not to showcase me, which this first column is doing but to show what FIL-AMS like to eat!!! Salamat sa inyong lahat.