Two of the best-loved Filipino dishes are prepared extremely well in an unsuspecting hole in the wall. Foods Pa serves the best kare-kare and sinigang in Baler. Know the secrets behind Foods Pa’s bestsellers.
Kare-kare is a beef stew made with oxtail, ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter sauce, and vegetables. It is served with bagoong, a Filipino condiment made of fermented shrimp.
Restaurant owner, Jennifer Mercado, proudly revealed why their kare-kare is sought-after. Even though many take shortcuts by using peanut butter or ready-mix packs for kare-kare, she prefers to roast the peanuts herself, grind them to a sticky paste and mix this with the stew. She boils the meat for hours to make sure it’s tender.
I enjoyed the taste of real peanuts in their kare-kare because it’s not the sweet kare-kare made of peanut butter. The oxtail was indeed tender. I’ve eaten kare-kare prepared in different ways, and theirs, I could say, is really a labor of love. No shortcuts.
Sinigang has already taken so many forms, but traditionally, the pork sinigang is prepared with tamarind broth, making this pork and vegetable soup, sour.
When I tasted the broth, it was sour, flavorful, and thick. The broth will definitely make me come back for more. Usually, sinigang’s broth is just broth. I asked Jennifer what made her broth thicker and tastier. She revealed her secret. She cooks sinigang with ground taro resulting in a thicker texture and added flavor.
Foods Pa opened in 2012 and Jennifer explained the name of their restaurant means “more food please.” She wants her guests to ask for more once they taste their dishes created with her secret ingredient, love.
Here’s a partial pricelist from their menu:
Kare-Kare – Php 225 (good for 5), Php 45 (single serving)
Pork Sinigang – Php 225 (good for 5), Php 45 (single serving)
Tapsilog – Php 75
Tocilog – Php 75
Hotsilog – Php 75
Hamsilog – Php 75
Porksilog – Php 75
Longsilog – Php 75
Laing – Php 150 (good for 5), Php 30 (single serving)
Bulanglang – Php 150 (good for 5), Php 30 (single serving)
Tapang Kalabaw – Php150
Lumpiang Shanghai – Php 60
Palabok – Php 60
Halo-Halo – Php 49
Lomi – Php 60 (small), Php 100 (medium), Php 150 (large)
FOODS PA! Fastfood and Restaurant
Address: Quezon St. Brgy Suklayin, Baler, Aurora
Mobile: 0927-7580929
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FoodsPaUnlimited
Fan-ventilated, no air-conditioning
Operating Hours: Daily 6:30am-9:30pm
They allow take-out orders until 10pm
More pictures? Click Foods Pa photo album.
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