crispy fried pork belly

Crisp-fried pork belly with sticky tomato shrimp paste sauce

Crisp-fried pork belly (Binagoongan)

Photography by Jana Liebenstein

In this collection of more than one hundred recipes, Yasmin Newman takes a culinary journey through the Philippines and uncovers an intriguing notion of 7,107 islands where the people’s love of eating is as big as their hearts.

Despite the Philippines’ location right in the middle of Southeast Asia, most people know very little about the country and even less about the cuisine. For Filipinos, food is more than a pleasurable pursuit; it is the cultural language. It can be seen through the prism of its unique and colourful history, with influences from Malaysia, Spain, China, Mexico, and the US adding to the cuisine’s rich texture. (more…)