3rd Quarter | Week 2 | Discussion

 1. Enumerate the different Filipino food and snacks in the 2 videos.

 The first video consists of Filipino snacks: boy bawang, mocca cake, choc nut, salted tamarind, and halo-halo. Meanwhile, the second video consists of palabok, sinigang, kare-kare, pork chicharron, and cassava cake. 

2. How do you feel when other nationalities:

a. Appreciate/like our food

Every time I see other nationalities like my country’s food, my Filipino ego gets stroked. A small sense of pride burns inside me despite not liking the food itself. It makes me feel warm and bubbly to see other people appreciate it in a way that I don’t. At the same time, it makes me feel ashamed because I don’t appreciate it as much as I should. These are the times where mixed feelings dwell inside me.

b. Dislike or say bad things about the food we eat

Despite agreeing with some of their opinions, I still can’t help but feel indignation for my culture. Call me a hypocrite, but only Filipinos can food-shame my country. Also, there are times where I would see them eat the food incorrectly and say that they don’t like it. This makes furious and offended due to the lack of research and open-mindedness before trying out the food. I know it’s not their fault due to the culture gap, but it can be a bit offensive when that happens.

3. What is your FAVORITE Filipino food? Why? (Tell us more about the food).

I am a picky and fickle eater so I don’t have a favorite per se. If I were to pick one Filipino food that I can eat for a week, fried tofu comes to mind. It is not of Filipino descent, but it has been integrated into our food culture by the Chinese. It is made from crushed soybeans to form solid blocks which can be eaten raw. I prefer mine deep-fried. Also, it is often eaten with fried pork as “pulutan” when Filipinos drink with their friends due to its crunchy texture. However, I don’t like pork so I just dip my fried tofu in my “sawsawan” of choice. Fried tofu is a blank canvas so I can use any sauce to go with it. The choices are limitless from soy sauce with calamansi juice and onion, vinegar with garlic, to even ketchup with hot sauce. You can never go wrong with fried tofu.