Siopao is a well-liked Philippine stuffed buns that is full of many ingredients like meat, seafoods, greens and hardboiled eggs. It is available in its signature white color, round shape, and soft consistency. It is often eaten with hot and sweet sauces. It is a favorite Filipino morning snack or merienda because it is often had on-the-go and munched sans the utensils.
Foundation of Philippine Siopao
Siopao and its varieties are actually found across Asia. In Thailand, the version of siopao is known as salapao. Both siopao and salapao come from baozi, a Chinese stuffed buns that the Chinese people distributed to its Asian neighbors in their old positions across the nation.
Two Popular Siopao Tastes in the Philippines
In the Philippines, siopao frequently is available in two flavors -- asado and bola-bola.A sado siopao is filled with diced meat -- chicken or beef -- that's cooked in soy sauce and seasoned with salt and sugar. Bola-bola siopao, on the other hand, is stuffed with finely ground meat -- again either pork or beef -- mixed with flour and egg.
Asado siopao has a large texture like that of the popular Filipino dish adobo while bola-bola siopao has a smooth texture that like of another popular Filipino dish embutido.
Embutido is a Filipino-style meatloaf shaped like sausages and packed on with plenty of meaty goodness -- slices of hardboiled eggs, chunks of hotdogs or sausages, and ground pork.
In the Philippines, embutido is both served as appetizers for drinking beer or as a primary program that goes rather well with warm steamed white rice.
It's usually dropped in special kinds of sauce like sweet chili sauce or even in common banana ketchup, financing a sweet taste to embutido that hardly fails to please the Filipino tastebuds.
Embutido in the Philippines - the Look
While the term 'embutido' generally conjures images of packaging in pig's abdominal skin, in the Philippines, embutido is conveniently packed in silver aluminum foil. The packaging allows Filipinos freeze untouched embutido and eat it for the next day. It also allows Filipino ideally pack it for lunch or out-of-town trips.
Embutido in other Parts of the World
In several areas of the entire world that were inspired by Spain and Portugal, the definition of embutido usually describes hashed meat seasoned with herbs and spices. Embutido in those areas are packed in your skin of a pig's intestines. This type of embutido can be present in the Philippines. Local areas just like the Filipino longganisa are put under this general embutido sorting.
Nevertheless, embutido -- the main one packed in aluminum foil -- should not be confused with longganisa and other embutido packed in pig's abdominal skin.
They have different flavors, ways of ways of preparations, and presentation.