By LANZ CHRISTIAN BAÑES – Comfortable with the dishes they have made countless times over, Mel and Belle Orpilla easily demonstrated the creation of two Filipino dishes Sunday at Seafood City. “I don’t use a lot of measuring cups or measuring spoons — it’s all by feel or sight,” said Mel Orpilla to a rotating audience of about 20 in the lobby of grocery store Seafood City at 3495 Sonoma Blvd. (CA)
Orpilla, author of “Filipinos in Vallejo,” showed the audience how to cook steamed fish in banana leaves, a recipe he learned from his father. The fish in this case was pompano.
As he mixed the dipping sauce for the fish, he gave some background to some of the cultural significance of the ingredients.
“Filipinos are fond of using vinegar because vinegar is a preservative,” he said.
This is why many dishes, including the Philippines’ national dish adobo, have a strong vinegar base — families can leave it out for a while without fear of spoiling, he said.
As the pompano steamed over a butane burner, Belle Orpilla began to prepare lumpia sariwa, unfried vegetable versions of the meat-filled lumpia shanghai with which many are more familiar.
“A lot of (Filipino) food is deep fried, so we did two dishes that did not include frying,” Belle Orpilla said.
Cooking is in Belle Orpilla’s blood, as her father, Rafael Santos, owned Rafael Santos Catering Services in Vallejo.
She quickly sautéed the vegetable filling, which also included tofu, and wrapped it up in pastry
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wrappers, which she termed “Filipino crepes.”
Learning to cook Filipino dishes is a way to preserve and celebrate their culture, the Orpillas said. Mel Orpilla is a second-generation Filipino American, and Belle Orpilla is “1.5 generation” — she was born in the Philippines, but came to the United States at an early age.
The cooking demonstration is part of the regular community activities of Seafood City, said Belle Orpilla. Other activities include the Dec. 13 Pasko Expo, a celebration of Christmas Filipino-style. The Expo is still looking for more choirs to participate in its choir competition, said Maria Guevara, Seafood City community activities coordinator. For more information, visit www.paskoexpo.com.
The audience was served small samples of the two dishes and received a $5 shopping certificate from Seafood City.
Sunday’s cooking demo will likely be followed by another one in January, Belle Orpilla said.
E-mail Lanz Christian Bañes at lbanes@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6833.
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