Best Ever Food Review Show Tries Philippines’ (So-Called) “Worst-Rated Foods”
"Worst-rated" label aside, the episode was a fun showcase of some of the unique gems of Filipino cuisine.
(SPOT.ph) How many times do we need to see lumpia and sinigang hailed as Filipino food’s poster children, while balut and dinuguan get dragged through the mud in worst-food listicles? It’s the same old story, often told through the lens of baffled foreigners (usually white men)? Often, these dishes are ranked from an outsider's perspective, but for American content creator Sonny (William Sonbuchner) of Best Ever Food Review Show, these lists aren't the end-all and be-all of these foods' overall value.
Together with chef and restaurateur Calvin Bui and Carl Chuidian of The Chui Show, the trio tried five Filipino dishes that had the worst ratings based on the show's audience. The big question: do they truly deserve their low rankings? Or are these foods perhaps unfairly misunderstood?
Filipino dishes recently featured on the Best Ever Food Review Show
First off the list of worst-rated Filipino food is the macaroni salad—a Filipino noodle dish that's on the sweeter side, and feels more like a dessert than the main course. The macaroni salad featured on the show is from Ely's Graham Cake which makes use of al dente elbow macaroni tossed with fruit cocktail, nata de coco, green kaong, raisins, condensed milk, mayonnaise, and the most important ingredient, cubes of cheese for a contrasting saltiness. While Sonny and Calvin admit to liking the texture of the dish, Carl, on the other hand, still isn't a fan of the dish.
The second dish is the comfort food of most Filipinos, especially on rainy days: champorado with dried fish. The trio made their way over to Kanto Freestyle Breakfast to try the all-day breakfast joint's sweet chocolate porridge topped with a drizzle of cream, dollops of chocolate ganache, crushed Choc Nut, and, finally, fried tuyo (dried herring) before it's garnished with edible flowers and mint. For this dish, it's only Calvin and Carl who like the sweet-salty contrast of the champorado-dried fish pairing.
Then there's the tiyula itum or the black beef soup, a dish from the Tausug tribe of the Sulu Archipelago. At Palm Grill, the Muslim dish is made with the key ingredient of burnt coconut meat blended with turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, galangal, red onion, garlic, pepper, and salt. This black mixture is rubbed onto the meat and left overnight before frying in more of the burnt coconut mixture and red onions, water is then added and simmered until the meat becomes fork-tender, once it's cooked, is topped with lemongrass and torched bone marrow. This is the first dish that the three liked unanimously—especially when they got the "ultimate bite" of the soup, meat, bone marrow, and fluffy white rice.
The fourth worst-rated Filipino dish (condiment is the more apt term in this case) is sisi or bagoong sisi which is fermented oyster meat in salt and calamansi. It's salty as most bagoong goes, by definition being fermented with salt, but it also has what might be perceived as a foul stench depending on the base seafood. Sonny describes the bagoong sisi as if he were smelling the ocean, while Calvin says has... well, less positive remarks (we'll leave it to you to watch and decide on your verdict, dear reader).
They served a generous amount of this fermented seafood on top of white rice, which, if you've ever tried bagoong at least once in your life, you would know is a recipe for disaster. Although they rightfully added a squeeze of calamansi for balance, the thing is, bagoong sisi is a condiment that is typically served in small quantities because of its saltiness. It's also commonly paired with vegetables and sweet fruits like yellow mango and saba banana, which is what Sonny should do as he's the only one who's willing to try it again, should he find the right food to pair it with.
Balut is already polarizing as it is—both for locals and foreigners—but abnoy eggs? It's a totally different ball game as this delicacy is made from unhatched incubated duck eggs that are rotting from the inside. Cracking one of these eggs reveals a murky liquid consistency with grayed or blacked egg parts, and yes, a pungent odor to top it all off.
The fifth and last worst-rated Filipino dish, it's the bibingkang abnoy, an omelet made with abnoy eggs—scrambled with sauteed garlic, onion, tomatoes, black pepper, salt, and then chopped parsley. Sonny, Calvin, and Carl were joined by Wil Dasovich when they tried this delicacy at Theresa Flores Balut and Salted Egg Store in Pateros. Wil gave this an easy yes, describing it as an overcooked omelet with bagoong (fermented shrimp) mixed in.
As for the best of the worst, Calvin liked the champorado with tuyo the best, while Sonny chose the tiyula itum or the black beef soup; he even went as far as saying it's one of the best dishes he's ever had in the Philippines—twice!
Where to try these Filipino eats:
We'll leave it to you to decide on your verdict on the admittedly polarizing dishes featured on the show—either way, we say give them a chance as they're a great illustration of the diversity of Filipino cuisine, and the creativity and innovation of Filipinos through history. Curious where you can try them? Here's a quick guide to help you out:
- Macaroni Salad: While we do think macaroni salad is easy to make on your own, you can macaroni salad featured on the Best Ever Food Review Show from Ely's Graham Cake. You can place an order by contacting them at 0960-439-9004.
- Champorado with dried fish: Kanto Freestyle Breakfast has the Chocnut Champorado with Tuyo available at their branches across Metro Manila. You can also try other variations of this well-loved combination at Friends & Family, Manam, and The Bistro by LeBlanc.
- Tiyula Itum or Black Beef Soup: The exact Tiyula Itum—the one with the torched bone marrow—is from Palm Grill at 175 Tomas Morato Avenue corner Scout Castor Street, Diliman, Quezon City.
- Bagoong Sisi: This is available in most wet markets in provinces in the Visayas, but luckily, you can buy from online shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada.
- Bibingkang Abnoy: You can try Bibingkang Abnoy at Theresa Flores Balut, 67 P. Rosales, Pateros, and at Bibingkang Abnoy ni Kuya sa Pateros, 10 F.Tibay, Subdivision P. Rosales, Pateros.
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