Appetizer: Bicol Express

- Bicol express is a popular Filipino dish consisting of sliced pork that is doused in a creamy coconut-based sauce and seasoned with shrimp paste and spicy chili peppers. According to popular belief, Cely Kalaw invented the dish in her Manila restaurant. She was inspired by the traditional Bicolano coconut-infused dishes and named the new invention after a Filipino train service operating from Manila to the Bicol region. Creamy and spicy Bicol express is usually served with plain steamed rice on the side.

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Main: Crispy Kare-Kare

 

- The origin of this dish is a bit vague, most believe that it originated from Pampanga, known as the culinary center of the Philippines. It is a stew with meat, peanut sauce, and an assortment of vegetables.  It is always paired with bagoong or shrimp paste to give it that distinctive taste. Traditionally, oxtail and tripe are used for this recipe, boiled several hours to make it really tender. It also gets its yellow or orange color from ‘achuete’ or annatto and the thick sauce from the combination of peanut sauce and sticky or glutinous rice paste or flour.

 

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Dessert: Halo-Halo

- Halo-Halo, a staple Filipino dessert very famous especially during hot summer days. While it varies from region to region, it is usually made with shaved ice, evaporated milk, bananas,

macapuno, sago pearls, kidney beans, ube jam or ice cream, and other ingredients that can surely give you and your peers a very icy delight!