American Grown Filipino: Comfort Food Keeping Memories
Words by Summer Smith
Graphics by Levi LoCascio-Seward
Introduction
I am elementary-aged, but not yet conscious enough for complete memories to stick with me. My family and I are at Auntie Nilda and Uncle Dale’s house for a New Year’s Eve party— the entire house is enveloped in the scent of jasmine rice, cured or barbecued meats, lumpia, pancit, and home. There is karaoke in the living room, my alternative cousins and their friends sit on the stairs, and almost everyone speaks Waray-Waray or Taglish (a mix of Tagalog and English). There are people there who I am not blood related to, but are family regardless. I took all of the sensory experiences in, and Mommy helped me make a plate of food. I time-travel with every bite.
Lumpia
The ancestral roots of lumpia are found in China, traded to us in the 1700s. They are also known as spring rolls and were originally served in the spring (hence the name) to represent fresh beginnings. Now, they are a popular dish at parties and gatherings of all kinds.
I watch Mom and Nanay (although nanay does mean mommy, it’s what I call my grandmother) make lumpia at the kitchen table. They lay out all the ingredients: lumpia wrappers, shrimp, beef or pork, carrots, string beans, and garlic. The veggies are put into a food processor after being chopped, then everything goes into a bowl to get mixed to become a proper filling that eventually gets wrapped. Usually, they make thirty or more and then fry them. My favorite part is the sweet chili sauce— although sometimes we just use leftover duck sauce we keep from getting Chinese food. I take a big bite of lumpia dipped in sauce and am immediately met with the most satisfying crunch, then soft veggies and meat, altogether sweet and savory flavors. It reminds me of every time my family came over to watch the Baltimore Ravens play on our huge CRT TV, of every New Year’s Eve party. I’m reminded of birthdays and my quarantined high school graduation. I think back to when I was little, watching mommy cook.
Balut
Or “wrapped”, because it is covered in a bag during incubation. Balut is a fertilized duck egg, incubated typically for 17-18 days, and was given to us through Chinese traders along Laguna de Bay. Other Southeast and East Asian Countries also have this dish (though not identical).
Duck eggs are bigger than chicken eggs. The scent and flavors are different, but hard to describe. I prefer duck eggs. Balut contains the same white part, but it is more yellow and has veins running through it. The center holds a duck embryo rather than a yolk. The insides also have a soup of amniotic and allantoic fluid. I know it sounds extremely clinical, but it’s delicious. The first time my auntie brought them over, my little sister was terrified to try them. Traditionally, you’re meant to eat balut quickly in a dark room— this is not how I eat them. I’m not disturbed by the way the embryo looks because, in my mind, we eat meat all the time. This is no different. The egg is boiled, I suck out all the soup, eat the yellow-white part, then eat the duck. When I think of balut, I think of every time I’ve met a Filipino family member for the first time. My auntie is usually there, and she usually brings balut. Each time, they are surprised that I enjoy balut because I am American and half White. I eat the duck in front of them. The whole thing.
Spamsilog
Spam being Spam, silog being fried egg and fried rice (any dish with “silog” at the end means that dish has fried egg and rice with it). While the Philippines was still being colonized by the US during WWII, spam arrived— but not to feed Filipinos, rather to feed US troops. Thus, it became a luxury import, but now it is just a staple in a lot of Filipino food.
This was the first thing I learned to make for myself in college when my best friends and I had a kitchen in our own apartment, ft. a random roommate. I sliced up some Spam, fried it with an egg, and cooked jasmine rice. This was before one of my best friends and I stopped being friends completely. I even think the spam was hers, and if it wasn’t, we shared it anyway. Eventually, months went by, and the Spam was long forgotten in its metal container, in a plastic bag, inside the cabinet. She moved out by the second semester of that same year without saying anything. Spamsilog is savory. Salty. I don’t remember making Spamsilog after that. We never said goodbye.
Tocino
Created by the late Leticia “Lolita” Olalia Hizon, who is more known as Apung Lolet. She had a neighbor who was a meat vendor who had leftover meat, he asked her to save this meat, and she did— by inventing tocino. Although there is Spanish influence (Tocino translates to “bacon”), Hizon adapted it to fit Filipino culture. She eventually co-founded Pampanga’s Best, the original tocino maker (which also carries other Filipino foods).
Every time I came home from college, Nanay would make this for me. I’d walk into the door and immediately smell tocino— sweet and savory cured meat— and freshly cooked white rice. I started teaching myself how to make tocino and adobo in college for my best friend and roommate Zoë and me. The first time I made it was not the best (in my personal opinion, since tocino was a long-time favorite of mine) and a little soupy, but I learned eventually how to perfect it. Cooking is an art form and a hobby I don’t usually partake in (especially not since moving back in with my parents), but regardless, something I love to do. Creating for others is one of my love languages (or maybe it’s acts of service), and I think this runs in my family, specifically my mom’s side. Doing things for others runs in our bones.
Sinigang
Coming from “sigang” or “to stew”—sinigang means “stewed”. Indigenous to the Philippines. Pre-colonization.
There are two specific times I remember eating sinigang outside of whenever my grandparents or mom would make it: when I had COVID for the first time and when I went through my last breakup. Both times, it was Mom who made the sinigang. I’ve had COVID three or four times in the last five years— the worst being the first (although the second and third times were very close to worst). I couldn’t get out of bed at all, I had to have four blankets on me at all times (it was the summer), plus other more usual sick symptoms (congestion, sore throat, cough, etc.).I could, fortunately, taste things. Mommy brought in a big bowl for me with mostly broth, pork with the bone in it, bok choy, and spinach (there are more ingredients than this, like eggplant, white radish, carrots, and sweet peppers— but not in my bowl). The other time, during this particular breakup, I did not eat for days, otherwise, I’d throw up. On day five, before I went to the psych ward, I finally ate some sinigang. It gave me the strength to get through the next week.
References
Alejandria, Maria Carinnes P., et al. “The Authentic Balut: History, Culture, and Economy of a Philippine Food Icon - Journal of Ethnic Foods.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 25 Nov. 2019, journalofethnicfoods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42779-019-0020-8#Sec4.
Angela, and Admin. “Sinigang History: The Unofficial National Dish of the Philippines?” FOODICLES, 22 Oct. 2024, foodicles.com/sinigang-history/.
Generoso, Lana. “Unwrapping the History of Lumpia: A Bite-Sized Journey Through the Origins of Spring Rolls.” Food in History, 5 Apr. 2023, wordpress.kpu.ca/foodhistory/2023/04/05/unwrapping-the-history-of-lumpia-a-bite-sized-journey-through-the-origins-of-spring-rolls/.
Gorme, Pia. “Inventor of the Beloved Filipino Tocino: Leticia ‘Apung Lolet’ Hizon Passes Away.” Yale University, Yale University, 7 Oct. 2021, seasia.yale.edu/news/inventor-beloved-filipino-tocino-leticia-apung-lolet-hizon-passes-away.
Ortile, Matt. “Matt Ortile’s Favorite Comfort Food: Spamsilog (a Diaspora Recipe).” Hyphen, 15 June 2020, hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2020/06/matt-ortiles-favorite-comfort-food-spamsilog-diaspora-recipe.