The Aguirre Family’s Filipino Feast

Halo Halo (literally translated, means mix-mix) - sweetened white beans, sweetened red kidney beans, sweetened garbanzo beans , tapioca pearls (sago), agar-agar (gulaman), coconut gel (nata de coco), layered with shaved ice, and evaporated milk

Guinataan - yams, plantains, tapioca, jack fruit, and mochico flour balls in coconut milk served warm or cold

Puto - steamed cakes to serve with Dinuguan

Dinuguan - pork stomach and blood

Pancit Palabok - rice noodles (bihon) with ground pork, shrimp, tofu, green onions, hard boiled eggs, and crispy pork rinds

Paksiw na Lechon - Roast Pork Stew

Kilawin - Pig Stomach, Tripe, and Pork Fillet

Pinakbet - Vegetable Stew with Shrimp: string beans, okra, bitter melon, eggplant, and squash

Embutido - Stuffed Pork Sausage: ground pork, Chinese sausage, raisins, carrots, sweet relish, and whole hard boiled eggs

Rellenong Bangus - Whole Milkfish stuffed with a mixture of fish meat, ground pork, carrots and tomatoes

Rellenong Bangus - stuffed milkfish baked in banana leaves

Fresh Mango Salad with Vinegarette Dressing

Shanghai Lumpia with Ground Pork and Shrimp

Ukoy-Shrimp Fritters with Sweet Potato

Eden Canyon Vineyards, believed to be the only Filipino owned estate winery - Suerte meaning "luck" in many languages including Tagalog.

Chicken Adobo

Ground Pork and Vegetable Lumpia and Shanghai Lumpia with Ground Pork and Shrimp.

3 Types of San Miguel Beer Were Served

Barbecue Pork Sate marinated in mafran sauce (banana ketchup), soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and salt & pepper.

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We recently had the good fortune of being last minute fill-ins at a Filipino Feast for six guests here in San Francisco. Our friends Robert Aguirre and Lisa Fung had put together this meal as an auction item for our kids’ school and Robert recruited his mom to do all of the cooking (14 courses!) and his dad to hang out with us and teach us about Filipino traditions and history. Many of the foods that I tried at this meal were new to me and I was blown away by the variety, quality and quantity of what we were served. Thanks to Robert and Lisa and their family for an unforgettable night. To my memory, this was the most full that I’ve ever felt both during and after a meal…and that’s saying something!