Try Filipino Food At The No Guts, No Glory Pop Up

By Melissa McEwen in Food on Jan 20, 2015 8:00PM

Chicago has a strong Filipino diaspora, but that hasn't translated over to a strong restaurant scene. With the demise of Laughing Bird, Isla Pilipina is one of the few accessible places that serves it up. But there are a couple of pop-ups like Maddy's Dumpling House and Filipino Kitchen that aim to enlighten Chicago taste buds to the glories of Filipino cuisine. This weekend Chef AC Boral is doing two dinners focusing on offal with plenty of broths, tripe, stews and street food snacks. Check out the menu below:

The Menu

STREET FOOD
(served family-style on skewers)
Walkman: Crispy pig ears & sawsawan (dipping sauce)
Adidas: BBQ chicken feet
Betamax: coagulated chicken blood

PAIRED WITH: "Pearls of Disorient" cocktail - Filipino tapioca pearls and agar agar, caramel, amaretto, dark rum

COMFORT FOOD
(served with mad rice, yo)
Bulalo: a hearty clear broth with beef bone marrow and vegetables
Kare kare: slow-braised beef tripe and oxtail with shaved asparagus, Chinese eggplant babaganoush, beef and peanut gravy
Sinigang: sour and savory fish head broth, head on shrimp, caramelized onion, garlic pechay (bok choy)

PAIRED WITH: an Albariño. A white wine varietal from northern Spain, Galicia.

SWEET
Champorado: dark chocolate from Katherine Anne's Confections, sweet rice, citrus zest, whipped cream cheese, sea salt

The popup dinners will be served on both Jan. 23 and Jan. 24 starting at 7 p.m. at Ampersand, the pop-up venue behind Kinmont. Get your tickets, which are $70 each, at Ampersand's website.