FOOD

Dinuguang taho, sisig fideos, and nose-to-tail adobo: Madrid Fusión Manila, day 2

enablePagination: false
maxItemsPerPage: 10
totalITemsFound:
maxPaginationLinks: 10
maxPossiblePages:
startIndex:
endIndex:

On the second day of Madrid Fusión Manila, chefs take on the culinary practice of “nose-to-tail.” In photo: JP Anglo's (of Sarsa Kitchen + Bar) version of the adobo is an interesting eating experience: moving counterclockwise, first, one eats the chicken tail braised in coconut milk adobo; second, the gizzard braised in batwan and roasted garlic adobo; third, the beer-braised chicken heart adobo; fourth, the chicken liver in XO sauce; and fifth, the chicken intestines in roasted garlic adobo sauce. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Manila (CNN Philippines Life) — After all the rice that went around at Madrid Fusión Manila’s first regional lunch, chefs tried their hand at cooking “nose-to-tail” — a culinary practice emphasizing the use of all, or almost all, parts of livestock or produce in order to maximize the source. While the practice is not alien to Filipino cuisine (just look at the way we have made street food out of a pig or a chicken’s inner organs or how we have a multitude of uses for coconut), there is still, undoubtedly, a long way to go in making the practice a part of Filipino food culture. The goal is to make preparing and eating food economically and ecologically sustainable, in line with Madrid Fusión Manila’s theme this year: “Towards a sustainable gastronomic planet.”

From dehydrated limes used to garnish ABV Bar’s cocktail to next-generation adobo featuring chicken heart, intestines, gizzard, tail, and skin at Sarsa, the second day’s regional lunch featured lunch plates that are both filling and innovative. Notable was how pig’s blood — in the form of our dinuguan — was made into taho at Raintree and was also an ingredient in Manam’s black moon puto.

Here are some glimpses of the food and drinks from day two.

Jay Angeles (Health Kitchen Manila. Creative Dishes, and Recipes) presented an old Filipino favorite, dinakdakan, made of chopped beef tongue, braised oxtail, smoked liver, topped with pig’s brain mousse, which had a satisfying spicy finish. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Kalel Chan (Raintree Group) took three minutes upon being informed of the nose-to-tail theme to come up with his take on the native Filipino merienda: his smoked dinuguan taho (or smoked pork blood pudding) is topped with sampaguita and kaffir sauce, with surprise pig ears at the bottom. Amazingly, it works. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Patrick Go (Black Sheep) sticks pickled pork tongue, batwan-braised pork ears, and coconut-smoked pork cheeks together and lays them atop a smoked pork hock congee. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Niño Laus (Ninyo Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge) updates the Betamax with 70% dark chocolate cacao, crispy chicken craw and pili, inengkanto rice crisps, cashew, Davao chocolate nibs, ube puree with uni kalamata, and kamias emulsion. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Sunshine Puey’s (Gourmandise by Sunshine) coconut pie comes with smoked coconut cream, brown butter latik, and cashew crumble. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Topped with balaw-balaw from his grandmother’s recipe, Mikel Zaguirre (Locavore) combines different textures in his kare-kare with tripe, braised oxtail, 3-nut puree, pickled banana hearts, braised peanuts, and binatog. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Manam’s sisig fideos (a type of Mexican pasta) come with Asian noodles and assorted vegetables, and the trademark crispy sisig from the restaurant. With it is the traditional rice cake with dinuguan, topped with cured egg yolk. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Garnished with dehydrated limes (whose juice has been squeezed previously), ABV Bar serves a cocktail of locally made rum (the oldest in the Philippines) and barako coffee. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Pedro Brewcrafters puts a spin on its beer by employing the calamansi. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

The sponge cake from Hiraya Bakery is topped with vanilla chantilly cream and roasted white chocolate streusel, on a lining of sampinit-cinnamon compote. Sampinit is a native raspberry. Photo by GABBY CANTERO

Manila Creamery came up with a gelato featuring ingredients from the south, including Mindanao cow’s milk. Photo by GABBY CANTERO