Growing Up Filipino in the U.S.
One of the ways that immigrants can and do impart the Filipino culture to their foreign-born children is through language and of course, food. Our home is no exception.
Tonight, we had longaniza for dinner. It’s one of my son’s favorite dishes. There is no problem getting him to eat rice. In fact, there are times when he’d eat just rice, if he had his way. And yes, he does want to eat with his hands, foregoing the more cumbersome spoon.
I know someone whose kids are so used to eating Pinoy food that they even ask for sinigang and rice as their school lunch.
Our kids will eat more than their fair share of burgers and fries, but I’m glad that eating rice will not be something alien to them.
Tags: Filipino food, Filipino culture, Filipino immigrants
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POSTED IN: Home and Family, Lifestyle, Food and Transportation, Personal Experiences
November 30th, 2006 at 10:10 am
lucky girl..you have to cook for your kids and they can appreciate it. it is only me and my wife and my dog at home. the two boys already went on their own. they come to visit and they will call ahead of time to ask me to cook such fare as: Nilagang baka (Boston boil) with plenty of veggies, or mechado w/plenty of potatoes, or kalderetta or shanghai roll. we have travelled a lot when the boys are still young. we have been to so many places because of the incentives from my job and then i have worked for an airline, the more we were able to travel for free. one thing i noticed from my two boys, anywhere we go, the first thing they visit abroad is McDonalds. but i stopped them when we were in Tokyo and Copenhagen. no way will i buy burgers that is costing me an arm and a leg.
November 30th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Whenever I go camping with my two boys(8 and 14) we take along a big bag of tuyo (clears the neighboring campsites in no time!)daing na bangus, adobo and of course the pinoy staple…RICE! As much as I am encouraging my kids to eat healthy they still crave the all american hamburgers at Mickey D’s, pancakes and waffles in the morning. Munggo(mung beans) with spinach(pinoy/american version), sinigang na hito are common staple meals for my family. They introduce their friends to our food such as lumpia, garlic fried rice, adobo and these are only a few of the popular ones among the diverse culture of kids that come in and out of our house on weekends.
November 30th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Mel - that’s the best thing though, when your kids come home to you asking for some homemade cooking… (i didn’t know nilagang baka is called Boston boil?!)
NoyPetes - funny about that camping; don’t the other woodland animals run towards you though, sniffing the air for some really good cooking. heheh
oh, and where do you get hito?!
December 1st, 2006 at 11:24 am
Being a true pinoy, if a woodland animal comes close to me, may pang rekado din ako pang halo sa kanya..heheheh! Maraming cultured hito dito sa California! Go to any Pinoy or Vietnamese grocery store at libre linis at deep frying pa kung gusto mo!
December 1st, 2006 at 7:42 pm
well, of course you’re in California. That’s why you can easily get puto bungbong/bibingka ingredients. I’m at the other coast, where asian stores are mostly korean, and i mean korean labels on everything too (and i don’t read/speak/know a word of it).