PINOY, WITH NO APOLOGIES
Chef Myke ‘Tatung’ Sarthou opens new restaurant to highlight proud, authentic Filipino flavors and cooking
How well do Filipinos really know their food? Believe it or not, the cuisine with which we associate our identity is not limited to adobo, sinigang, kilawin, and kare-kare. With 7,107 islands at our backyard, Filipino cuisine is more rich than most people think. There’s the sisig of Pampanga, the pinangat of Bicol, and the
inasal of Bacolod. But wait, there’s more!
Did you know that the Tausug of Mindanao makes a mean chicken dish called the
pianggang? It’s grilled chicken cooked in a special paste made of burnt coconut meat and spices. Thanks to chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou, who brought this delicious dish to Metro Manila, Filipinos get to experience the diversity of Pinoy food. Served at his new restaurant, Alab, he’s bringing regional dishes to this urban jungle but at the same time cooking up the classics.
“This new restaurant now clearly conveys my message for Filipino food. It’s a more refined version of what I’ve been doing in the past,” explains Tatung. “The way I see it, it’s a continuing narrative of my own journey. Who can definitely say what Filipino food is? I’ve been continuing my research, continue to refine not only the physical aspect of Filipino food but also its cooking techniques and methods. I’m attempting to bring back traditional cooking. What I do is really based on actual recipes people cook at home in certain regions that not all of us know about. I just elevate them a little. I elevate the cookery but the core ingredients are there.”
Tatung closed down his old restaurant in Taguig earlier this year to open up Alab in Tomas Morato, Quezon City. Known for his classic yet contemporary Filipino food, he retains old favorites in the new menu and adds dishes that are new to the palate but still originally Filipino. He also made the interiors of the new restaurant contemporary, none of the Filipino restaurant clichés like banana leaves, gi-
ant wooden spoon and fork, and capiz. Designed by interior designer Lisa Crespo, the 60-seater restaurant is indeed modern with Filipino touches like the Tagaytay-made wooden furniture, the reverse capiz window design feature of the bar (backlit wooden square tiles), and an homage to the giant wooden utensils in the form of a sculptural piece made of hundreds of spoons and forks. A mural of fire on the back wall, painted by college Art students, resonates with the restaurant’s passion in serving Pinoy eats.
Alab’s menu is divided into two sections: “Hinahanap-Hanap Kita” is composed of old favorites like sisig, morcon, sinigang, kare-kare, crispy pata, and adobong pula, among others; while “O, Lumapit Ka” features regional flavors—some unheard of— like the pianggang, tinumok (coconut meat and chopped shrimp wrapped in taro leaves and stewed in coconut cream), and penuneng (diniguang longganisa), just to name a few.
“Everybody is talking about heirloom recipes, but it’s always from the outside looking in. Rather than being theoretical or gimmicky, theme-driven, it’s a restaurant that is more connected to who we are as a people. That’s the objective of Alab,” the chef says.
For Tatung, it’s not enough to highlight dishes that are available in Metro Manila and close provinces but also from various regions. This time around, he would like food from Mindanao and coconut cookery to take centerstage.
“The most interesting cuisine is the food of the south. It’s very interesting to go deeper into indigenous and tribal cultures because they are the untouched. People don’t try their food because they don’t know them. Food becomes a barrier as well,” he says.
Southern food is actually a strong evidence of our Malay connections. Food from the Tausug are closely related to the food of Malaysia and Indonesia. While Filipinos identify more with the West because of our Spanish, American, and Mexican influences, our eating dynamics is still very Southeast Asian.
“The food that we ate prior to Spanish and American influences would be more like Indonesian and Malaysian. It’s very relevant in the age of ASEAN that we try to reconnect. I think we have more to gain than lose by acknowledging that. We cook recipes that are American, European but the dynamics of our eating—the sawsawan, eating with rice, and the mixing and matching of dishes—is very Southeast Asian,” says Tatung.
Aside from the regional dishes, diners should try Alab’s lechon crispy pata. The pata is stuffed with lechon flavoring (lemon grass, garlic, onion, etc.) and roasted in the oven, then it is deep fried until the skin crisps up. This is served with a special homemade liver sauce and vinegar and soy dip. The restaurant also serves pako (fern) and pomelo salad in coconut vinaigrette dressing. Filipino food has a lot to offer and now that it is getting more and more internationally recognized, it is about time our food made a big splash.
“We can make it our time.” Tatung says. “There is just a need to stop being superfluous, to remove the elements that are unnecessary. I call it apologetic Filipino cuisine because you don’t think it’s good enough on its own that you have to embellish it or you have to transform it to the point that it takes the character of French or Western cuisine. But we are already getting there. We just have to do it properly and to deliver on our promises.”
Alab, 67 Sct. Rallos St. corner Tomas Morato, Quezon City/ 02 962 1176, 02 364 9631/ www.alabcheftatung.com