MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos overseas find themselves out of their natural element, like fish out of water,” chef Peter Ayson says, “and yet, they’ve managed to shine and make our country proud.”
Fish Out of Water , the modern Filipino restaurant, recently honored Filipinos who have made it abroad by gathering their stories. These well-know Pinoys include Jose Aruego, well-loved children’s book illustrator; Byron Alcohido and Alex Tizon, Pulitzer Prize- winning journalists; Lilia Clemente, “wonder woman” on Wall Street; and Cristeta Comerford, the first Filipino chef to serve in the US White House; Ian Luna of Rizzoli publishers in New York; Chito Sta. Romana, Beijing bureau chief of ABC; and Singapore-based Rico Hizon of BBC World News.
At the launch of Fish Out of Water’s newest ala carte menu, Rico Hizon, who was also celebrating his birthday, was the special honoree. Family and friends came to the double celebration, among them, Rico’s wife Melanie Syquia and their five-year-old-son Migo, his parents, important people he worked with in the past such as his mentor in the industry, TV public affairs host, media executive, newspaper columnist and lawyer Dong Puno, as well as journalist friends from his early days in media, and National Artist BenCab, who was instrumental in getting him started as an art collector, leading to his current advocacy of promoting Filipino artists in Singapore.
Music was provided by two rising names from the UP College of Music, soprano Mia Ariana P. Tangcionco and guitarist Solaiman Jamisolamin, while the dishes prepared by chef Peter were served. The appetizers consisted of a triad of stuffed kalabasa flowers, crispy female kippling, and smoked fish samosas.
“The female kippling or asuhos, which was deep fried, is packed with fish eggs,” chef Peter explains.
The chicken inasal salad had the distinct inasal taste since inasal drippings were also used in the dressing. A fresh twist to the sinigang was the use of pineapple with tamarind as the souring ingredient in the Vietnamese ulang lemongrass sinigang soup. The lemongrass adds to its tangy flavor.
For the main course, the twice-cooked pork belly was cooked in its own marinade for four hours. “Another variation of a familiar dish, the seafood pochero boullabaise, used seafood instead of the usual chicken, pork or beef, but still with the requisite saging and chickpeas,” chef Peter explains.
A personal favorite of Raymond Magdaluyo, the innovative restaurateur behind several themed restaurants including Fish Out of Water, is the Typhoon Shelter Crab, which was served on a bed of spaghettini with generous topping of fried garlic.
“It is deconstructed chocolate turon,” chef Peter explains. “I used dark and white chocolate, caramelized saba and frozen yogurt with langka flavor infused with mint.”
Chef Peter himself is like a “fish out of water.” With an American mother and a Filipino father who worked as an expat in Indonesia where he grew up, chef Peter got his culinary training in the US, where he worked as sous chef at a popular breakfast place in Chicago. More at home with regional American cuisine, nonetheless, he has learned to prepare and innovate with traditional Filipino dishes, using locally available ingredients while applying French cooking techniques.
“My goal is for the customer to walk out of our restaurant with a full belly and a smile on their face,” he says. “I want to make sure they come back.”
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Fish Out of Water is at the third level, Greenbelt 5, Makati. For information, call 729-3858.