There’s no denying that we Filipinos love to eat. If you need proof, consider that the first thing we ask when we see each other is “have you eaten?” At the same time, we love to cook. Filipinos can whip up the most delightful meals using only a few ingredients. Hello, adobong sitaw?
Josh Arcilla is one of the best examples of a good Filipino chef. Just recently, he won in an episode of Chopped, an American reality cooking show hosted by Ted Allen.
Chopped pits four contestants against each other to create three courses using pre-determined mystery items. In Arcilla’s episode, which aired last week, the chefs were asked to use the following ingredients:
- Appetizer: pork secreto, asparagus, kefir, truffle flavored potato chips
- Entrée: black sea bass, yuca, flat runner beans, blueberry grappa
- Dessert: knafeh, passion fruit, pistachio paste, brown bread in a can
For his entrée, Arcilla created a Filipino-style sea bass with runner bean salad using black sea bass, yuca, flat runner beans, and blueberry grappa.
The dish impressed Geoffrey Zakarian, Amanda Freitag, and Giorgio Rapicavoli. Rapicavoli, who served as a special judge, was a contestant for Chopped and won twice.
According to Rapicavoli, “The presentation is really beautiful in this dish and it works well when you eat it, get a little bit of everything in every bite.”
As part of his win, Arcilla will receive $10,000.
Arcilla is currently a a corporate line chef. He graduated from the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Manila.
He also posted snippets of the episode on his Facebook page:
What’s your favorite Filipino dish? Share it below!
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