Filipino Spaghetti

I haven’t blogged about a Filipino dish recently, so I thought it was about time.  Since the last time I blogged about my Filipino cooking adventures I have tried a few more dishes, but just didn't take the time to blog about them.  (I really enjoyed the Tuna Sisig I made, perhaps I will make it again so I can share it with you all here.) But this time I decided to make Filipino style spaghetti.  The first time I tried it I was warned that although it looks just like spaghetti, it was sweeter.  The taste immediately reminded me of Chef Boyardee's spaghetti O’s with franks that I ate so many times from a can growing up.  So of course I liked it.  My husband tells me that it is a common food that you would find at a children’s birthday party in the Philippines.  He said it was one of his favorite dishes as a kid

The main differences between the spaghetti you are probably familiar with and the Filipino version is that the Filipino version has banana ketchup, hot dogs and a little sugar added.  Banana ketchup is just like it sounds, made from bananas and colored red to resemble ketchup.  It even comes in a glass bottle, the same shape as a Heinz bottle.  I read on one of the food blogs I follow that it came about during World War 2 when tomatoes were hard to find.  Not sure how true that is, but makes a good story.

The recipe I followed came from the Panlasang Pinoy blog.  Over time I have come to recognize which recipes are the more authentic Filipino recipes, and which recipes have been altered to the preferences of Amercians.  I do have a couple cook books, but for a lot of the Filipino dishes I make I get the recipe from the internet.  I found it helpful looking at a few different recipes of the same dish so I can learn the variations and compare.  If it is an authentic recipe than usually about 1-3 ingredients will not have any measures indicated.  Instead it will list the ingredient and later under the instructions it will simply say “add such-and-such”.  It can be quite frustrating, but at the same time forces me to learn by taste and compare other recipes to deceiver the puzzle.  Another sign that the recipe is authentic is some of the ingredients will be impossible to find at your local grocery store.  And third, the YouTube video showing the step by step process will be in Tagalog (in part or in whole) if you are using an authentic recipe.

Here are my ingredients and I was ready to go.

The process was very similar to my mom’s spaghetti, with just a few extra ingredients to throw in.  I came to a hick up when it told me to add the brown sugar.  There was no indication anywhere how much to add.  I searched for other recipes to see how much sugar they added.  I found one recipe that added 1 TBSP and another recipe that added ½ cup!  Ha ha… so I figured it must go by prefence and taste?  I decided to add ¼ cup.  I think that was too much and I should have started slow and tasted, then added more.  Next time.  

The other hick up was it said “A big bottle of banana ketchup”.  Walmart actually had banana ketchup so I bought mine there.  But I didn’t notice any size differences.  So I assumed mine was “big”.  But just to make sure I added 1/3 more from another bottle I already had on hand.  Ha ha... mistake number 2.

Oh one more thing.  It said to make 2 lbs. of spaghetti.  That sounded like a lot to me.  But from the other 4 recipes I found online, they all called for 2 lbs of spaghetti.  Filipinos eat with family and friends in large groups, so perhaps making anything less than 2 lbs isn't worth the effort?  

Here is a picture of the end product.  It turned out okay.  It is edible.  But it is a little too sweet.  So I think the ¼ cup of brown sugar was too much.  I should have added less.  And the second thing is that it was hot and spicy!  Crazy, where did that come from?  Then I looked at the bottle of banana ketchup I used and it said “Hot”.  Ha ha… oh no I got the hot version?!  I didn’t even know it came in a hot version. 

But if like sweet and spicy spaghetti, come on over to my house!  I have a big dish of freshly made Filipino spaghetti waiting to be eaten.  Not sure how much of my white family will eat the dish, but I have a feeling my husband will love it! ... And in the end that is what matters most for my Filipino cooking adventures.