WATCH: Awesome Adobo! Filipino Teacher Cooks Up Traditional Meal While Praising Peaceful Malta
There’s truly nothing that brings people together more than food – especially when Dora is in the house.
In the latest – and possibly tastiest – episode of Lovin Malta’s Taħlita Perfetta, the delicious show showcasing the diverse and incredible cultures found on the Maltese islands, host Dora met up with Paige from the Philippines to try one of their most iconic dishes: adobo.
Dora went down to Fgura the meet the history and English teacher/writer-journalist who is now working in a thermal management company to fully embrace the Filipino culture. Having spent a month in the Philippines herself just this year, Dora’s already got a whole lotta love for the South East Asian country.
Giving some history on adobo, which actually means marinade, and how it can be used with chicken or pork – as well as a quick detour via the origin of karaoke – Paige then invites Dora to get cooking herself, and the pair laugh and hit it off big time.
Paige even impresses everyone in the room by whipping out a bit of Maltese that she’s picked up herself as well as her love for rabbit and horse meat.
Saying she loves Malta because it’s peaceful and laid-back, she also recounts an incident when she felt humiliated when she was first working in Malta as a cleaner.
Soon enough, they are digging into the delicious meal the pair cooked up adobo style, including a tasty-looking lecce flan for dessert.
The food is so good that Paige has to even ask Dora if she’s forgotten her name halfway through the meal in a hilarious moment.
This episode goes to show that people from absolutely different parts of the world can get along and hit it off when given a chance. In light of xenophobia and hatred of the other that can be seen both locally and abroad, seeing two strangers worlds apart sitting down and bonding over some good food is exactly what we need right now.
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And here’s Paige’s personal recipe if you’d like to cook up some pork adobo yourself.
Pork Adobo Recipe
Basic Filipino pork adobo with soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic. This delicious dish is perfect when served over newly cooked white rice
Ingredients
2 lbs pork belly
2 tablespoons garlic minced or crushed
5 pieces dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon peppercorn
2 cups water
Salt to taste
Instructions
Combine the pork belly, soy sauce, and garlic then marinade for at least 1 hour.
Heat the pot and put-in the marinated pork belly then cook for a few minutes.
Pour remaining marinade including garlic.
Add water, whole pepper corn, and dried bay leaves then bring to a boil. Simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
Put-in the vinegar and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes.
Add salt to taste.
Serve hot. Share and enjoy!
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Special thanks to MADUMA, Muscut Hairdressing and Danilo at the AV Clinic for Dora’s top, hair and makeup respectively.
Would you like to try adobo? Let us know in the comments below!
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