We are recovering well from my sister's visit. Her first night here the girls and I went a bit crazy on our night out on the town. And I mean crazy for a 30 year-old, not crazy for a 21 year-old college student. My sister's friend put it aptly when she said, "After college it is just considered alcoholism."
We decided cupcake needed a day out at the park and attended the 6th Filipino Day in Ireland which coincided with the 111th Philippine Independence Day commemoration. The sun wasn't exactly shining but members of the Filipino community were out in full force. There were all sorts of different community groups there, lots of singing, dancing, some martial arts and general merriment. One of my best friends, a Filipina/Thai American, who shall hence forth be known as Disa, was trying to get people to sign up for the Filipino community network. It was really cool to have Disa explain a bit more to us about her heritage, and of course, point out all the great food to eat. The food booth that we practically raided was run by a woman who travelled down from Belfast with her goodies. First we tried the pork siomai, which are chinese-influenced steamed dumplings. DELICIOUS. They were served with soy sauce and a homemade chili sauce. I happen to be obsessed with chili sauce, so I was in heaven. We also tried the lumpia which is a flaky pastry-like spring roll. They can be filled with vegetables, pork or banana. The banana ones were the lumpia on offer and I thought they were great. I love fried bananas and this was a similar sticky-sweet flavour. Himself wasn't too keen but I think it is because he complains if things are too sweet. On our second trip back we tried the siopao which is a steamed hot bun filled with some kind of meat. The bun is actually made from rice dough. I found it a bit too much like white bread for my liking. The filling however, was gorgeous and made from bola-bola which was some kind of pork. We had another large plate of siomai and had a bite of Disa's rich leche flan. Disa explained that Filipino food is a cross between chinese and hispanic influences. I have noticed that pork appears to be the favourite meat and if these tasty morsels were anything to go by they sure know how to cook it.
