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Filipino Thanksgiving
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20th Century Pilgrims & a Filipino-Inspired Thanksgiving
By: Jennifer Wheeler
Stepping on the shores of Plymouth Rock and surveying the new-found land, Pilgrims of the 17th century looked at this precious setting as a new hope to a freer life. Upon hearing this word, �??Pilgrims�??, some may think about these first settlers that came to the North American continent from long ago. I think about my parents�?? incredible journey from the Philippines to the United States and their hopes to capture the �??American dream�??. Their names are Jovencio and Zenen Politico. My parents�?? priceless baggage consisted of medical degrees, the usual essentials (toiletries, clothes, etc.), and treasured Filipino recipes. The newlyweds pilgrimage would lead into successful careers, a large family, and a twist on the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Pancit & Patients
In citing Eric Lai and Dennis Arguelles in their article, The Philippines and the U.S.: An Enduring Connection,
�??After the 1965 Immigration Act, Filipinos began arriving in the U.S. for education, work, and to escape the repressive political regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. This resulted in a significant brain drain of highly-educated Filipinos. Unlike earlier immigrants who were largely farm workers and military personnel, the new Filipino immigrants were professionals, many in the medical fields. Within a few years, less than a tenth of the Filipino immigrants were laborers; two-thirds were professional and technical workers,�??
My parents were included in that two-thirds statistic. Zenen Politico was born in the Pilippines in a part of town known as the �??barrio�?? or the �??ghetto�?? in American slang. She was a straight-A student with drive and a thirst for knowledge. Her desire to be a nurse was prevalent when she graduated from Bohol Nursing School located in the Philippines. My mother was the first to arrive in the United States in 1966 on a two-year exchange visitor work visa as a registered nurse. Jovencio Politico was born in Quezon City, Philippines in a somewhat middle-class type of neighborhood. He attended medical school at University of Santo Tomas. My father would soon follow after my mother in 1967 and complete his residency as an anesthesiologist. My parents dated throughout their schooling in the Philippines and could not be apart. He followed her. He loved her.
My mother, wanting to still have a taste-of-home in a land far away, would share her first recipe with a group of other Filipino nurses. They met once every week and it brought a sense of community to these ladies with the same aspirations of achieving their goals. Just like a potluck of today, these women would gather together and discuss events of their daily practice and they shared their savory meals of home. The first meal my mother prepared on American soil was pancit (pun-sit).
Pancit
Ingredients:
- ¼ head of cabbage, chopped
- ¼ of an onion, thinly sliced
-carrots, julienned
-Chinese sausage sliced
- ½ lb. of pork, cut into cubes
-Pancit canton noodles, Excellent brand
-¼ cup of soy sauce plus 2 tsp. of soy sauce
- ¼ cup of vegetable oil
-1 cup of water
-3 Tbsp. of hoisin sauce
Directions:
1.) Sauté cabbage, onion, and carrots together until cabbage softens and put them aside in a bowl.
2.) In a pan, fry the sliced Chinese sausages and once they are cooked, throw them together in the vegetable bowl that you set aside.
3.) Within the same pan, cook the pork and pour in 2 tsp. of soy sauce. Once the pork turns a grayish color, place them in the bowl that the vegetables and sausages are in.
4.) Next, pour a ¼ cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, and ¼ cup of soy sauce in a wok and have this mixture come to a boil. As soon as the water boils, pour the pancit canton noodles in the wok. Stir the noodles constantly so they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. The noodles are done once they reach a softened texture.
5.) Bring all cooked items (noodles, meat & vegetable mixture) and mix it all together with 3 Tbsp. of hoisin sauce.
6.) Finally, present this meal in a large serving dish and enjoy its goodness!
The other ladies of the group brought their treasured Filipino dishes as well. Some of the dishes that they brought were puto (rice cake), lumpia (egg roll), and dineguan (blood and pork meat stew) and many others.
Corny bathing Suits & Corned Beef With Rice
�??Filipino Americans came from a society where families, composed of paternal and maternal relatives, were the center of their lives. The family provided sustenance, social alliances, and political affiliations. Its social structure extended to include neighbors, fellow workers, and ritual or honorary kinsmen, called compadres.�??
-H. Brett Melendy
Familia. Pamilya. Rodina. Family. Any way you say this word, it all means the same to me: togetherness. Zenen and Jovencio would end up having a total of eight children to complete their family. Jeanette, Josie, Joan, Karen, Carl, Jeff, Shirley and me, Jennifer are all part of the Politico clan. One of my favorite days of the week as a kid, was Sunday. This day was church day, but it was also �??swim-in-the-sun�?? day. At church, our ten-person family would fill up the entire pew with no room for another person of the congregation to scoot in for a seat. I loved how we took up the entire seating arrangement; I would be passed around like a rag doll when it was time to say �??peace be with you�?? with fellow church goers and each other. After church, we�??d crawl out of the baking, orange-and-white Chevrolet van that my mom drove everywhere and us kids would race to the front door to get the first touch of air conditioning inside the house. There was something about that ice-cold air hitting your well-done face thanks to the sun.
My siblings and I practically swam in our backyard pool after church when we were all still interested in make believe. A rainbow striped bathing suit, Jimmy Z brand swimming trunks, sixteen Asian feet trying to reach them bottom and blown-up floaties on my tiny 5-year-old arms, filled the pool back then. My dad would sometimes join in on the swimming action and my mom would be inside the house cooking lunch for all of us. She is such a homemaker and always tries to make us happy and keep our bellies full of her amazing meals. The traditional Sunday meal would consist of corned beef with rice and orange flavored Kool-Aid that was individually poured into actual plastic Kool-Aid cups. She would lay out this prepared meal on a circular table that was out on the patio. Us kids would get out of the pool with excitement and enjoy her carefully made meal.
Corned Beef (Filipino Style)
Ingredients:
-Onions, diced
-Tomatoes, diced
-Potatoes, diced
-Canned Corned Beef (any brand is good)
Directions:
1.) Sautee onions and tomatoes, then add the potatoes.
2.) When the potatoes are done, you add the corned beef.
3.) Lay a scoop of corned beef on top of a bed of rice.
A Special Birthday Meal
My family celebrates a birthday nine months out of the year. The only months that we do not celebrate a birthday is June, August, and September. My mother would invite all of us to gather at their home in hopes for Filipino home cooking and of course, birthday cake. She would make one of the most traditional Filipino meal for us, adobo chicken. I remember being fascinated how she prepared the dish because she made it without directions or measuring spoons/cups. It�??s like magic as she puts in a little of this, a little of that, and you wonder how the finished product came out so amazing and I would catch myself asking, �??how�??d she do that?�??
Adobo Chicken
Ingredients
-6 cloves of garlic
-¼ cup of vinegar
-¼ cup of soy sauce plus an 1/8 c soy sauce
-½ c water
-chicken (chicken wings or chicken breasts or thighs)
-5 small potatoes, quartered
Steps:
1.) Put all of the vinegar, garlic, and soy sauce in a pot
2.) Then, place the chicken in the pot.
3.) Put the potatoes on top of the chicken.
4.) Drizzle soy sauce on top of the potatoes.
5.) Stove is set on Medium.
6.) When the chicken seems thawed, keep stirring the mixture or else the chicken sticks to the bottom.
7.) Constantly keep checking on the mixture.
8.) Once the chicken is done, turn the stove on simmer and serve.
A Filipino-Inspired Thanksgiving
From the History.com website they define the traditional Thanksgiving meal as follows:
�??For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The holiday feast dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, an event regarded as America�??s �??first Thanksgiving.�??
Holidays and family occasions are the events that keep my family together. My parents always enticed us with making great dinners in order for us to come over as we got older and started having our own spouses and families. Our family was getting larger by the year and my siblings were moving around all over the United States. Nieces and nephews now permeate throughout most of the house that I used to call, �??home�?? when these events happen. Their laughter and energy fills the air and bring excitement to our lives.
For Thanksgiving, my mother pulls out all of the showstopper dishes. My mother definitely puts her own flair to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Not only would she prepare the traditional �??Thanksgiving Feast�??, but she�??d include the beloved Filipino dishes as well. She included pancit, chicken adobo, and lumpia. Lumpia is considered as an eggroll in America and it is made differently in each Filipino household. It�??s a time consuming and particular process to make these hand-held bites of Heaven, but it�??s worth it. My mom made it look so simple when she made lumpia. I�??ve tried making them with her on one occasion and I would still be making my first one whereas, she had already made ten! This lumpia making process can be in comparison to the Wampanoag Indians teaching the Pilgrims how to harvest. It was both mind-blowing and tedious at the same time.
Lumpia
Ingredients:
-a half onion, minced
-6 pieces of minced garlic
-2 carrots chopped in little cubes
-1 potato finely cut into little pieces
-12 green beans finely cut
-1 lb. of ground beef
-1 egg
-1 package of lumpia wrapper
-2 cups of vegetable oil
Directions:
1.) Bring all ingredients together except for the lumpia wrapper and egg in a large pot. Brown the meat and don�??t take this mixture out of the pot until the potatoes and carrots are done being cooked.
2.) Next, place the meat mixture into a strainer over the sink. Do this so that the oil from the meat can drain. Set the strainer aside when draining is finished.
3.) Take one egg and scramble it in a bowl. You will use this scrambled egg as a �??bond�?? to keep the lumpia wrapper from falling apart.
4.) Carefully draw out the lumpia wrappers from the packaging and cut them into halves with a pair of kitchen scissors.
5.) Now, take a teaspoon of the meat mixture and place it close to the straight-edge side of the wrapper. Roll the wrapper over the mixture until you get to the middle of the wrapper. Use a finger to dip into the scrambled egg and wipe it along the edges of the wrapper. Fold in the sides of the wrapper on opposite ends and close it by continuing the rolling until it looks like a burrito fold.
6.) Repeat this process until all of the lumpia wrappers are gone or until the meat mixture is gone.
7.) Put the lumpia in the freezer over night.
8.) For the frying of lumpia, pour two cups of vegetable oil in a frying pan and set the heat on high. Once the oil is hot enough, place the lumpia into the pan and fry each side of the lumpia for 4 minutes each or until both sides are golden brown.
Not an Ending, But a Continual Journey
The Pilgrims of 1621 were brought together by a need for change or a better life. My family was brought together by Filipino tradition, love, and of course food. My parents�?? journey to the United States was a success! They had achieved the �??American dream�?? with perseverance, pride, and a family to show for it. They made sure that they assimilated into American culture, but upheld their Filipino roots with their carefully packed, priceless baggage of treasured Filipino recipes. I hope to show my future family of my own these dishes so dear to my heart. It�??s now up to me to carry on my mother�??s legacy of awe-inspiring meals.
Whether you are coming from or going to a land far away, there will always be a table, a chair, and a meal awaiting you. It is completely up to you to bask in the food ambiance and to explore the cuisine around you because in my family, food is where the heart is.
References:
http://www.asian-nation.org/filipino.shtml
http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Filipino-Americans.html
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/first-thanksgiving-meal