Not your average bistek (beef steak)
It turns out some guy named Jay-Ar Isagani Pugao has been mastering the art of taking Filipino dishes and making vegetarian renditions of them here in the Bay Area. I was able to try his kare-kare, chicken afritada, mungo, and his bistek.
All of these dishes were great, but it was his chicken afritada (and I use the word “chicken” loosely here) and bistek (Filipino-ized word for “beef steak”) that stuck out to me the most, mainly because of his ability to turn soy-protein into something beautiful.
Before I bit into the strips of soy in his bistek, I assumed they would be “tofu-ey” and nothing like beef. However the flavors were deeply infused into the soy meat, and somehow Jay-Ar harnessed a certain texture to it so that it competed very well with the traditional beef strips found in this Filipino dish.
His chicken afritada had these white “meat” pieces in it that looked liked chicken, but were much softer. Plus, chicken afritada I usually get in restaurants and in birthday parties is usually wet/soupy, full of tomato skins, and/or the chicken meat is too dry. Jay-Ar’s however was well-balanced and despite the lack of “real” chicken, it was the best chicken afritada I ever had.
“Filipino vegetarian food” isn’t new. Despite the influence of meats from both Philippine marine life and colonial influence, many renditions of non-meat dishes can be found up and down the islands. Being a meat-eater myself, i’ve only had the priviledge of sampling one or two dishes like fried ampalaya (without eggs), kang kong (adobo or crispy), mungo, and sinigang stews.
But in the meantime, while Stateside, i’ll be looking out for Jay-Ar’s new concoctions when he opens his restaurant this year. So if you’re in the area and need some interesting and innovative dishes for your party, hit up Jay-Ar.