So this is going to be a unique post for a few reasons. First of all, I usually share recipes that are
tried and true,
family favorites, or from
professional cookbooks. If I develop a recipe, it is usually a
twist on an old favorite or a recipe I just
know will be a hit!
Today, I have a recipe for a dessert from the Philippines that I am sure many of you are unfamiliar with. I did a bit of research on this, since I love long
Wikipedia-clicking sessions. :) There are 3.4 million Filipino-Americans, which makes them just over 1% of the population, mostly concentrated in California and Hawaii. Oh, then it makes sense that you would not have eaten in a
Filipino restaurant or shopped at a
Filipino supermarket like I have, right?
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Shockingly, there are
more persons of Filipino heritage in the U.S. than those of
Japanese,
Indian,
Korean, and
Vietnamese backgrounds. In fact, the only Asian group that is more represented in the U.S. are those of Chinese heritage. Then why do people not know more about Filipino food? Well, for one thing there are
very few Filipino restaurants. Also, it is difficult to find recipes, partially because Filipinos rarely cook using recipes and exact measurements, which Lindsay from Pinch of Yum
noted. That means, whenever I ask someone, "Well, how do you make this dish or this dish?," I
never get a straight answer!
Therefore, I made it my mission one day to hover over the shoulder of the "chef" whose dish I wanted to copy, in order to time and measure everything before it was added (with her permission, of course). I finally had a recipe that I could start with, and after a bit of tweaking, I finally have a recipe to share with you all!
Now about the dish itself! After all of that talk about traditional Filipino food not being represented well in the U.S., I admit that this is a non-traditional version of Ginataang Bilo-Bilo. The word
ginataan refers to a multitude of dishes, all of which are cooked in coconut milk. The word bilo-bilo refers to the sago or tapioca pearls, although some people make glutinous rice balls instead, called
palitaw.
Basically, here are the ways that my version of the dish differ from traditional Ginataang Bilo-Bilo:
- I use sago (tapioca pearls) instead of palitaw. I like palitaw, but it is time intensive to make.
- Traditional versions include ube, a purple yam. It's good but I didn't have one on hand.
- My version is considerably more chunky. Traditionally, it looks like more of a soup, but I prefer a higher fruit to liquid ratio, like a stew.
- I eat it cold, like pudding, but it is traditionally eaten warm like porridge. Try it both ways to see what you prefer!
I like this dessert because it is a fruit-filled, colorful, flavorful, and relatively healthy. As much as I love cake, sometimes I need to lay off the refined carbs a bit, and this is perfect. :) Also, this is great for anyone who is gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegan, so it is pretty versatile!
Are you ready to see how to make this? Then let's get started!
(Non-traditional) Ginataang Bilo-Bilo
A
Vintage Zest original recipe, adapted from an anonymous chef's family recipe :)
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