(Warning, long post to follow. But there are yummy recipes involved, so be patient!)

(No, I didn't take one, though it's on the list of family/couple goals.)

How about a trip to the Philippines today? Faramir served a two-year mission in the Philippines and one of the unexpected joys of hanging with him was discovering Filipino food.

Filipino food is actually not the cascade of flavors that other southeast Asia country's cuisine can be. My brother served in Thailand and he came back with an appetite for all things hot and spicy. Another brother served in Japan and came back with the same thing. Another brother in Hong Kong. . .and. . .well. . . you get the idea. I was excited that Faramir served in a Asian country so that I could discover something new, and I did, but very different from the other countries. It's a bit amazing to me that each country ends up having their own unique flavor. (Can anyone say Scorpion on a stick?) Anyway, Filipino food is very different.

We've met several natives over the last few years and I always enjoyed dinner with them. There is always food to feed a small army. Waaay more than one family could ever eat. Faramir informs me that it can become a little competitive. We had two natives in our ward in Washington and they had a little unplanned/un-talked-about battle. One fed us dinner and I (unknowingly) raved about it in the presence of the other. Two to three weeks later we were invited to her house for dinner and there was an even bigger spread. I still couldn't tell you who was the better cook, but it was fun anyway.

My two favorite Filipino dishes are Lumpia and Chicken Adobo. Lumpia is the Filipino version of an eggroll. Chicken Adobo is. . .well. . .a chicken dish served over rice (oh wait, it's all served over rice, but maybe you didn't know that). I tried my hand at making them both last night, and the dishes actually got rave reviews. I took dinner over to my brother's house, because by the time I got done, I did have enough food to feed both families and I already have a fridge full of leftovers. Yummy. Since I'm still on a high from doing such a good job, I thought I'd share the recipes with you.

Chicken Adobo (not to be confused with the Mexican version of Adobo. Verrry different.)
1 whole chicken, cut up—or some 3 to 4 lb combination of white and dark meat. I actually used 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 2 leg pieces.
1 cup water
½ cup vinegar (I used rice vinegar. Most people recommend the wine vinegars. Frankly, knowing what I know of where my husband spent most of his time, they probably just used white vinegar. They were too poor for the expensive stuff.)
½ cup soy sauce (A note here about soy sauce. The Philippines has their own version of soy sauce, just like every other Asian country. Look for Silver Swan soy sauce at an oriental foods market. It has less sodium than most soy sauces. It's very nice, actually.)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp pepper
4-8 cloves garlic-smashed or minced. (I used 4)

Generally the natives would just cook this all up in a pot, but I used a slow cooker yesterday with fabulous results. Put the chicken in the pot. Mix the everything else together and pour over the top and let it simmer for 6-8 hours on low. Pull the chicken out and serve over white rice with soy sauce. You can pull some of the drippings out for sauce if you want. I know of some people who have thickened it with cornstarch to be like a gravy although that's not the Filipino way. I had the bizarre experience of having my garlic turn green. I think it was some chemical reaction with the vinegar, but it was weird so I didn't serve it with the chicken.

Easy. Yup. We love Easy.

Of course Lumpia is not nearly as easy as Adobo is.

Lumpia
Egg roll wrappers. (You can generally find egg roll wrappers in the refrigerated section of the produce department. You need about 30 wrappers so plan accordingly.)
1 lb ground beef (you could also do a ½ ground beef, ½ ground pork combo. Faramir never had it with anything other than ground beef—although his was usually from a water buffalo—no domesticated cattle in the Philippines.)
1 head cabbage—shredded
2 carrots—shredded
1 med yellow onion--finely chopped
1 bunch green onions—finely chopped
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

water in a bowl

oil for frying

Prep all your veggies. Put the onions and carrots in one bowl and the cabbage in another. Mix together the water, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 4-6 quart stock pot, brown the meat over medium heat. Drain the oil.
Add the onions and carrots and stir-fry for 10 minutes.
Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 5 more minutes.
Add the water mixture and stir-fry for 2-3 more minutes.
Allow to cool and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Open egg roll wrappers, take one and place it on a plate so it looks like a square. Put 1 Tablespoon of mixture on the wrapper.

Oi! This is where I wish I had a video camera, because this part is far easier to watch than to explain. The water in the bowl is to seal the egg roll wrappers. Some people use egg. Water works just fine. I line the edge of the wrapper with water. Then fold the top over the filling. Fold in each side and then roll. I put water any place on the wrapper that is going to come in contact with other parts of wrapper. The object is to seal it so that the filling doesn't come out. So after I fold the sides in, I line everything with water and roll. In the Philippines they make them long and skinny. When I made them they were more short and fat, but the taste was the same.

If you get stuck, call me and I'll come over and help.

If I can.

Put 1/2-1 inch of oil in the bottom of a pan and heat on medium heat. Fry Lumpia until golden brown.
Hope you enjoy these dishes!