Tofu is rich in high-quality protein. It is also a good source of B-vitamins and iron. When the curdling agent used to make tofu is calcium salt, the tofu is an excellent source of calcium. While 50 percent of the calories in tofu come from fat, a 4-ounce serving of tofu contains just 6 grams of fat. It is low in saturated fat and contains no cholesterol.Generally, the softer the tofu, the lower the fat content. Tofu is also very low in sodium, making it a perfect food for people on sodium-restricted diets. (from www.tofu.com)

The Filipino's Taste Buds

         Filipino cuisine has a knack for imitating and improving on foods from the many countries that have influenced this international nation. Look through restaurant menus and through cookbooks and you can see the flavors of Spain, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, China, France, Italy, and many Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

       Many traditional Filipino flavors are reflected in "fiesta" food. Most towns have a long history of a yearly fiesta with foods made from local and internationally traded ingredients. According to Leonard Belmonte, writing in Philipine Fiesta Recipes (National Bookstore, Manila, 1987), "Filipinos have a passion for good food. The early Filipinos used simple cooking methods, such as broiling over an open fire, boiling, and roasting. With frequent trade, herbs and spices were introduced, as were different cooking techniques. This gives us the unique Filipino cuisine that we have today."

         A basic Filipino food taste is that of offering sweet and sour in one dish. The sour can come from cooking with vinegar, tamarind, or kamias (a sour native fruit). If foods aren't cooked with these, then condiments, such as chili-spiked vinegar, lime or lemon juice, or sour fruit (green mango, guava) are often served as accompaniments to prepared items. Adobo, probably the most popularly known Filipino dish, is made by marinating meat or fish in a mixture of palm vinegar, garlic, and cracked peppercorns. (We've tried it with seitan and it works!) The sweet taste can come from palm, white, or brown sugar; fruit juice (pineapple, sweet mango, papaya, rambutan a cousin of the lychee--and oranges); or from home-prepared syrups.

        Saltiness is another characteristic of Filipino cuisine. The traditional ingredient used is bagoong, a fermented fish sauce. Salt, pickles, MSG, kimchi (borrowed from Korean cuisine), and miso can be used instead of bagoong for salty accents. Pancit luglug (pancit are Filipino noodles, resembling rice vermicelli; the "luglug" is said to be the sound the noodles make when drained in a bamboo strainer) is another famous dish, flavored with patis (patis is the liquid strained from bagoong). Pancit is a stir-fry of rice noodles, hard-cooked eggs, and pork that is flavored with patis, shrimp sauce, calamansi (a tart, native lemon), pepper, and garlic. We have made a close replica using hot sauce, soy sauce, fresh lemon juice, pepper, and garlic as flavoring and grilled tofu as an ingredient. 

        There are more than 7,000 islands in the Philippine Archipelago, some of which have traded with Malaysia, China, India, and Arabic countries, and some that have been colonized at one time or another by Japan, the United States, and Spain. For this reason, regional cuisine is extremely diverse.