lei ann
Well, I at last had the perfect opportunity to haul it all the way to Quincy to go to JNJ Turo Turo...when my parents came to visit me! Yup, that's right. Who better to take to Filipino food than Filipino parents? I'll admit, at first, I was skeptical. I thought the last thing they would want to eat is food they could cook themselves...after all, doesn't every Filipino cook think their adobo is the best? I thought they would skoff at me. Much to my surprise, they were quite willing to go. They were in fact, looking forward to it. Honestly, I think they just didn't like my other options for their last dinner here with me...Italian? Middle Eastern? Nah. We just had Vietnamese the other day. My parents aren't that worldly. If it doesn't come accompanied with white rice, they usually don't want it.
As soon as we sat down in the little dining area which was bright and clean and familiarly happy...as my mom perused the menu and her voice started speeding up in excitement over the dishes she was going to order...as plates with wicker chargers under them were placed in front of us (which I hadn't seen since I was a kid)...as all of this happened, I knew we made the right choice :)
So, of course ordering family style (because really, isn't there really anyway else to eat?), we all agreed on the following dishes. The afritada...oh, that's one of my absolute favorites that my dad cooks. The tomato sauce was soooo savory, the chunks of pork and potato cooked tender to perfection. I would have eaten more if MDH hadn't poured the rest of the sauce all over his rice and ate it like a big ol' porridge. The pinakbet...I'll be honest, not one of my favorites as a kid, but again, the vegetables were cooked perfectly (especially the eggplant and string beans), not too crisp, not soggy and the familiar taste of salty shrimp paste that I hadn't had for a long time, was a flavor I didn't realize I missed. It was wonderful and my mom wholeheartedly enjoyed it.
The pork skewers were also to die for. So moist and plenty of sauce...I wonder if it was beer tenderized as I watched my dad do it all these years. Must be. The pancit bihon was light, simple...a great addition to the more heavily flavored foods. I personally like bihon (the thinner, vermicilli-like noodles) instead of canton (the thicker egg noodles) much better...gee what a surprise I like thin better than thick...so this was a nice accompaniment.
Finally, it came down to dessert. My mother and I at this point were the only ones still eating...so of course we had none other than the most popular of Filipino sweets...HALO HALO! Now, I'm usually very particular about my halo halo. I like to put in the mixes myself because I usually like heavier on the bananas and tapioca, but less so on the sweet beans. I tell you what though...there are 2 things about JNJ Turo Turo's halo halo that made me want to stick my whole face in the cup and lick up the whole darn thing...they covered it a vividly purple taro ice cream (not all halo halo have ice cream on it, so this was GREAT and the taro flavor was sweet, but not too much) aaaaaaaand...they had small chunks of lecheflan in the halo halo!!! Oh it was brilliant...BRILLIANT I tell you. I can't believe I never thought of that before! I mean, the halo halo was already so creamy from the condensed milk and ice cream, but throw in the chunks of sweet custard, I was giddier than I had ever been as a kid again.
So, sorry Dad...while in my heart of hearts, you know I will love your cooking till the end of days. However, until you move into my house and be my own personal chef, at least I have someplace a little closer to me to get some fine Filipino food!
143 Water Street, Quincy, MA 02169
617.471.8876
technorati tags: Filipino, food, pancit, pinakbet, afritada, JNJ, Turo
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