Taste your way through Filipino Heritage Month
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Ube chicken and waffles from Cebu. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
Chicago's Filipino food and drink scene keeps expanding with innovative new restaurants, bakeries, cafes and more.
Driving the news: October is Filipino American History Month, a great opportunity to check out cultural events and dishes from old and new spots representing the archipelago.
- I'm here to share some of my recent favorites and recommendations from local Filipino foodies.
Old school: Some of my favorite homestyle dishes — including taro leaves stewed in coconut milk called laing and bittermelon-studded pinakbet — come from Ruby's Fast Food in Albany Park, Uncle Mike's Place in West Town and the hot table at Ima's Kusina outside Seafood City in Mayfair.
- Standout: Bellychon — crispy roasted pork belly stuffed with celery — from Ima's ($14.95 per pound).
Bakeries: Chiffon cakes and pastries made with herbal pandan leaves and purple ube sweet potatoes shine at Jennivee's Bakery in its new Halsted/Lincoln Park location, Mayfair's Umaga Bakehouse and Cebu in Lakeview, where they also serve some of the tastiest breakfasts in the city.
- Standout: Ube waffles and chicken at Cebu.
Upscale: In addition to James Beard Award-winning bakery and restaurant Kasama, North Center's Bayan Ko and Boonie's Foods in Lincoln Square have also recently been recognized by Michelin for their innovative Filipino food.
- Standout: Deep-fried pork belly at Boonie's.
Plus: Don't miss the house-made ube twinkie, rice bowls, breakfast plates and ube- and pandan-infused coffee drinks at Mano Modern Cafe, helmed by Melvin Reyes.
Shopping: I recently asked chefs from Boonie's, Mano Modern and Cebu (Joe Fontelera, Reyes and Malvin Tan, respectively) what they buy at the giant Seafood City Filipino grocery store in Mayfair.
- Fontelera said he gets chicharon bulaklak, which means fried ruffle fat but is "actually pig uterus … and it's soooo good," from the frozen section or from Crispy City, in the food court.
- Tan recommended malunggay leaves (also known as the superfood moringa), milkfish, Filipino soy sauce and vinegar, and sour tangerine-like calamansi fruits.
- Reyes gets "ube and pandan extracts for our ube and pandan lattes. We also get as much calamansi as possible for our ranch dressing and an Arnold Palmer we make with it."