Last year was a breakthrough year for the Ang Sariling Atin (ASA) which would lead the way to preserving not only the  culinary heritage of the Philippines but will seek to re-discover the true palate of the Filipinos.  Below is the overview of the Institute and what we seek to achieve.  Since I am mostly [...]

Today, December 21, 2011,  Nick Fox, Deputy Food Editor of the Dining Section of the New York Times, gave his favorite recipe for Noche Buena.  It is the beef shortrib adobo adapted from our cookbook, Memories of Philippine Kitchens.
The article called Dining Writers on their Memories of Holiday Eating celebrates Noche Buena because Nick Fox’s [...]

Puto Bumbong: Rice Cakes in Bamboo Tubes for Noche Buena at Purple Yam

December 14, 2011

Filipinos Celebrate Christmas with Native Kakanin (rice delicacies)
The tradition of celebrating Christmas in the Philippines embraces all the major culinary influences that have come to our shores especially those festive dishes from Spain (ham, rellenos, ensaimadas, turrones, etc.) and China (pancit, Chinese ham, tikoy).  This is the time we bring out the most treasured dishes [...]

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Food brings Philippines and NYC closer during the holidays

December 22, 2010

Christmas brought us another gift in the form of a lovely article by Bea Zobel, Jr. in the Philippine Star about Purple Yam.
This year, I have indeed grown closer to the home country.  I went home to the Philippines twice –in Feb and then in October first to celebrate my mother’s birthday and then my [...]

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Purple Yam’s Filipino Food featured in NY1 Chow.com

December 8, 2010

We are thrilled that Alex Van Buren of NY1’s Chow.Com decided to check out Purple Yam after seeing several positive posts by Chowhounds about us.  Here is her feature on Filipino food which she believes is getting to be one hot cuisine coming up in NYC. (It’s about time because we have been doing this [...]

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Asian goodness and warmth in mungbean pancakes at Purple Yam

December 6, 2010

Haegeen Kim is our miracle Korean chef at Purple Yam.  She started working for us at Cendrillon as a waitress about 4 or 5 years ago.  She was also a full time artist at the time engrossed in developing her art doing exhibitions in NYC and in Seoul.  In 2009 as we closed Cendrillon and [...]

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Amazing new research on pioneer Filipino restaurant in Brooklyn

October 8, 2010

There was a Filipino restaurant called Manila Karihan Restaurant at 47 Sands St, Brooklyn as early as 1927.  The proprietor, E.G. Lopez, placed an ad in a Philippine newspaper ca 1927.  This is the same location as the Manila Restaurant showed in a 1938 photo we had discovered earlier from the NYC photo archives.
A week [...]

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A Filipino restaurant in Brooklyn in 1938

September 29, 2010

A Restaurant Legacy Uncovered
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/gallery/html/details.shtml?cat=wpa&imgname=wpa_3471-4.jpg
The other day, Liena Zagare of the Ditmas Park Blog sent me a link to a NYC photo archive showing a 1938 photo of Filipinos enjoying themselves at Manila Restaurant located on 47 Sands St., Brooklyn, NY.  I was flabbergasted to find such a document showing not only a thriving Filipino community [...]

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Who is the keeper of the culinary flame of our culture?

September 25, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/world/asia/25chef.html?hpw
David Thompson, an Australian chef renowned for his passion for Thai food and whose cookbooks on Thai food have been our bible has opened up a restaurant in Bangkok named Nahm.  A cat fight (some have predictably called it a food fight) has ensued between him and certain offended sectors of the Thai food world.  [...]

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First Cooking Class at Purple Yam

August 24, 2010

Sour Flavors of the Philippines: sinigang and adobo
How does Philippine cooking  differ from other Southeast Asian cuisines?  Sourness is at the heart of Philippine cooking:  sinigang (soups soured by sour fruits like tamarind, guava, kamias); adobos (natural vinegars) and kinilaw (citrus juices, sour fruits or vinegars).
Sinigang or Philippine sour soup
Sinigang is a sour soup that [...]

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