Rechazador de Disparates wrote:
> On Jun 26, 10:07?am, Dirty Sick Pig > wrote:
>
>> Adobo and palapas are reputedly of Philippine origin;
>> adobo is the unofficial national food of Filipinos.
>
> http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.net/adobo.htm
>
> Filipino style adobo can be spiced up with ginger, but ginger just
> doesn't taste the same as a chile pepper.?
Filipinos for some reason are wary of ginger but do make good ginger
tea. It's used sparingly, and there's a deep yellow-gold variety used
for presentation and food coloring. But when it comes to garlic, Emeril
Lagasse will approve and applaud. We use TONS of the stuff!
As for spicing it up, we have a small chile pepper called "labuyo" which
is common in Southeast Asia and is used in everything. All other
peppers are decorative. Labuyo is so nasty that a breed of fighting
cock was named after it. The little bomblet is featured as well in lots
of old folks' sayings and modern smartypants insults.
I will compare its heat to the bigger Thai and Chinese Schezuan
pepper--which must be roasted like habanero. The labuyo pepper is never
grilled nor roasted because that will be like discharging pepper spray
into a closed room. It is crushed or chopped and used fresh. It can
also be pickled in cane vinegar. Some people boil it in sweet coconut
milk but I've never had the courage to try it. My labuyo pepper for
each mouthful is literally the size of a pinhead, cut from as far
forward towards the tip as possible.