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Janine Barican, the owner of Filipino restaurant Chibog in West Footscray, Melbourne, tells SBS Food, "It's crazy how there's an abundance of Filipinos here, but many people have never had Filipino food. We want to put Filipino food out there."
Barican grew up on her grandma's cooking in Metro Manila until she moved to Melbourne at 17.
"I go [back to Manila] almost every year to visit, and every time I come back, I crave Filipino food, but there aren't many Filipino restaurants around," she says.
So she quit her nursing career and took the matter into her own hands with the help of a chef friend, Alex Yin.
Yin, a Chinese-Australian, fell in love with Filipino food at a music festival after trying , a hearty pig's blood stew.
Over the last year and a half, Barican and Yin have perfected their favourite Filipino recipes.
Meet Janine Barican (right) and Alex Yin. Source: Audrey Bourget
Since late February, they serve them at (a Filipino slang word meaning "to eat"), in the inner-west suburb of West Footscray.
"We try to keep it as traditional as possible, but we modernised the presentation and the experience," explains Yin.
We try to keep it as traditional as possible, but we modernised the presentation and the experience.
Start your meal with something small like , fresh tuna ceviche with cane vinegar and coconut milk.
Another option is the rich , a boiled duck embryo still in the shell.
Chibog's kilinaw is packed with flavour. Source: Chibog
"You eat it with salt or vinegar," says Yin. "We use a spiced vinegar called pinakurat, which has ginger and chilli in it. It's a popular condiment."
Main dishes include (a peanut butter and oxtail stew with bok choy, snake beans, eggplant and – a fermented shrimp paste) and Chibog's signature, .
"Traditionally, it's made of pig's head, but we decided to tone it down a bit and use cuts that are the right ratio of skin, fat and lean meat. We drizzle the meat with our special sauce made of liver pate, and serve it on a sizzling plate," says Yin.
If you're not sure where to start, the bilao boodle is your best bet.
"Usually, Filipinos eat with their hands," says Barican. "The [a Filipino feast that revolves around eating with your hands] originated with the military. After they did the training, they would sit down at big tables and put banana leaves on top and chuck all the food there.
"Instead of that, we made a 'bilao boodle'. A bilao is a woven basket or plate, so we put the banana leaves in it and cover them with things like grilled chicken, sweet potato fritters, crab fried rice, jasmine rice, stuffed squid, sauces and grilled pork."
Barican is also a queen of desserts, like the waffles and ice cream, which have that distinctive colour. She puts a twist on the classic by deep-frying it inside crunchy spring rolls.
While she takes liberty with some dishes, Chibog is resolutely Filipino. "We try to use the same ingredients as in the Philippines...so when Filipinos, or even people who travelled there, come in, they recognise the flavours," says Barican.
Almost too pretty to eat. Source: Chibog
This also translates to the cocktail list, which features ingredients like calamansi, ube and macapuno (coconut 'sport').
After just a few months, Chibog already has repeat customers, indicating there's a growing appetite for Filipino food in Melbourne.
Tue – Sat 11 am – 3 pm and 5 – 10 pm
Sun 11 am – 3 pm and 5 – 9 pm
ALL THE FILIPINO FOOD
Customers drive 3.5 hours to eat at this Filipino grocer
