I went to my nearby Whole Foods (@San Mateo) and I was utterly blown away when I saw Filipino food in the hot food section. Being Filipino, I was both excited and curious.
Of the Asian delicacies, Filipino dishes have not made it popular in mainstream America like Chinese, Japanese, or Thai. So, to see Filipino food at Whole Foods made me jump for joy. Interesting as well, there isn't a large Filipino or even Asian population where I live so that adds to my glee.
The other surprising thing was to see vegetarian versions of two popular Filipino foods: Adobo and Fresh Lumpia which is basically something very similar to a vegetable + pork, shrimp, or chicken burrito except that wrapper is really thin. Whole Foods created a "Naked Vegetable Lumpia" that resembles the PF Changs Lettuce Cup appetizer where you put stuff into a lettuce leaf. The stuff that WF made for the lumpia contained: garlic, carrots, celery, cabbage, snow peas, green beans, baby corn, jicama, and scallions. On top of the lumpia there is a peanut sauce you drizzle on top. Whole Foods did a pretty good job with this vegetarian fresh lumpia.
For the Adobo, Whole Foods created a Chicken and an Eggplant Tofu version. The Chicken version was pretty darn good. I got it twice this week. It needed a tad bit more vinegar for that kick that Adobo is known for but other than that, I was impressed. The Eggplant Tofu version was okay but not so great because I'm using my mom's Filipino point of view. If you have never had Adobo, then you wouldn't notice a thing, and probably would like it. The dish tasted like something you'd get at a Chinese restaurant.
Lastly, there was also Garlic Rice, and a Mung Bean Soup. The Mung Bean Soup (which I wasn't able to get a pic of) was made out of mung beans, garlic, yellow onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves, vegetable stock, and fish sauce. The Whole Foods version was surprisingly tasty although a bit non-traditional. When my mom makes it she adds pork.
Again, I was so excited to see some of my favorite Filipino foods at Whole Foods. If you have a chance to try it, please do!
