A selection of uncommon flavors from Filipino cuisine

Filipino cuisine is known for its variety of dishes bearing rich flavors that serve as a treat to the senses. With the number of regions in the country having their own special take on viands like sinigang, adobo, and many others, there is seemingly an unending array of flavors for all to enjoy.

However, with the numerous types of dishes and their variations, it is inevitable for some to have little to no recognition of their unique look and taste. Because of this, they are often ignored in restaurants and other establishments.

Chef Alfred Santiago, the Chef de Cuisine of Solaire Resort Entertainment City’s Waterside, saw how these dishes are often unnoticed and hoped to give people a sense of how delicious they could be through the restaurant’s “Salu-Salo sa Waterside” promotion. 

Serving as a celebration of Filipino culture, Waterside’s “Salu-Salo sa Waterside” joins together traditional Filipino music and dance performances with unique dishes from the various regions in the country, which will be set up in a “boodle fight” manner with a large banana leaf sprawled on the table as guests are welcomed with a refreshing aperitif like guava-passion fruit infused lambanog or a citrus-guava mocktail. 

Santiago, with his eagerness to promote forgotten dishes from Filipino cuisine, came up with six main dishes together with his team.

“We had to do research from books [and] from the internet. But [from] what I chose, I wanted it to [use] coconut because the main ingredient that we produce here in the Philippines is coconut,” shared Santiago, adding that the process of researching took two to three months. 

The chef also shared that his culinary team hailed from different regions in the country, which had helped in ensuring the authenticity of the dishes’ taste as cooking them entailed a collaborative effort.

The viands on the “Salu-Salo sa Waterside” menu which are these six forgotten dishes consist of Iloilo’s lauya, a flavorful soup that has very tender pata, unripe langka or jackfruit, and vegetables and nilatik na kalabasa or squash cooked in coconut milk and shrimp, Davao’s tiyula itum, a black soup with beef and goat pieces, and burnt coconut meat, Cavite’s pancit puso which mixes bihon and miki with pork, shrimp, fishball, kikiam, chicken and vegetables, Sorsogon’s pagulong at pasayan, a delicacy with shrimp and sigarilyas in coconut cream, and Cebu’s kinilaw na langka.

Other dishes include inihaw na pampano or grilled fish, suwam na mais or Filipino fresh corn soup, tinola halaan sa kawayan or clam soup, crispy pata or crispy pork leg, and chicken adobo sa gata or chicken in coconut milk. There are also appetizers like embutido stuffed inasal wings, glazed banana liempo lumpia, pusit isaw or squid skewers, hibe ukoy bao or dried shrimp fritter steamed bun, and kilawin isda sa ube at ampalaya or vinegar cured bitter gourd and fish.

For desserts, the menu has buko pandan, a cold dessert made of jelly cubes, coconut, and sweetened cream infused with pandan flavor, minatamis na saging con yelo or banana with caramel sauce, leche flan or creme caramel, pinipig lollipop, tupig, and fresh fruits.

The selection of dishes is available for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. every Saturday. For inquiries and reservations, dial (+632) 8888 8888 or visit solaireresort.com.