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Filipino food is on the run with The Manila Machine


From random street corners in Manila to the central business district's so-called jollyjeeps, the distinct flavors of Pinoy fare are now being served from a sunny orange mobile food joint in Los Angeles, California. The Manila Machine first rolled out seven months ago, and has since satisfied homesick Filipinos as well as other curious customers at different schools, concerts and events. Today, The Manila Machine will be at Chiat Day Playa Del Rey for lunch and OC DinDin AGoGo in Irvine for dinner.

LA's first food truck, The Manila Machine, offers well - loved Pinoy dishes including adobo and sisig. Photo from The Manila Machine blog
Given Filipinos' love affair with food and LA's vibrant mobile food culture, The Manila Machine seems like a no-brainer business idea. But apart from coming up with the nifty idea, the brains behind the first Filipino food truck have an edge in terms of experience. The owners, food bloggers Marvin Gapultos and Nastassia Johnson are well-versed when it comes to cooking, eating and writing about food. Of course, The Manila Machine comes with a blog, where they post their schedule and other announcements. But the best part of the blog is the menu, which, as expected, begins with the famous adobo. The Manila Machine serves the classic chicken adobo and pork belly and pineapple adobo. Based on a Gapultos family recipe from Ilocos Norte, the fruit and meat dish was mentioned by Rene Lynch in the Los Angeles Times, and was first runner-up for Best Nouveau Food at the L.A. Street Food Fest. The Manila Machine also serves sisig over rice - "spicy calamansi-marinated pork cheeks, onions and chicharon" - and fans can purchase their Sisig T-shirts that proclaim "I eat pig face." In honor of Manny Pacquiao, they had a "devastatingly delicious" special dubbed "The Southpaw" - their signature sisig with sriracha mayonnaise, a fried egg and a drizzle of banana ketchup served open face on a toasted pan de sal roll.
The Manila Machine special inspired by Manny Pacquiao: The Southpaw. Photo from The Manila Machine blog
On the other hand, non-meat-eaters can have their vegetable lumpia - carrots, cabbage, onions, garlic and mung bean sprouts wrapped in thin eggroll skins and deep-fried. You can't say Pinoy food without thinking about breakfast, and The Manila Machine knows this. Apart from their pan de sal french toast, they serve tapsilog, spamsilog and longsilog for the expectant Filipino diner. Those unaccustomed to rice can have the same tasty experience on bread with their pan de sal sliders served with homemade achara (pickled vegetables). The Manila Machine also addresses the Pinoy sweet tooth with their caramel-drizzled turon, leche flan and ube cupcakes. In between bites, customers can quench their thirst with mango juice or calamansi-ade. "We both noticed how Los Angeles had a lack of accessible Filipino restaurants and we figured, what better way of bringing Filipino food to the masses of Los Angeles than a food truck?" asked Gapultos in their video, which customers can watch while waiting for their orders.
"I think we hit a lot of markets, because we're mobile. We can get different cities, different age groups, we've gotten a lot of Filipino support as well as non-Filipino support. It's really exciting for us when people come up and say 'Oh, what is this? I've never had Filipino food before,' and to introduce them to adobo or lumpia and open their eyes to what Filipino food is and the culture and the cuisine, it's definitely reaching out," said Johnson. Like most Pinoy endeavors, what begins as a small effort eventually attracts help from others. The Manila Machine is no different, and has gotten lots of help from people carrying the spirit of bayanihan. Customers-turned-collaborators contribute to The Manila Machine's success, from holding parking spots to suggesting new ones, and referring them to contacts for private events. In fact, their official video was created by a couple of loyal customers. Produced by A.J. Calomay of Xylophone Films, the video tells The Manila Machine's history with the theme song by L.A.-based band Elson and the Soul Barkada playing in the background.
People patiently line up and wait to get their hands on some good old Pinoy cooking. Photo from The Manila Machine blog
But it isn't all praise for The Manila Machine. Someone on their website says that although she loves the video, she wishes the owners would learn to pronounce the Pinoy food names properly. "It's not “a-dow-bow" nor “loom-pyuh". Non-Filipinos are just learning this cuisine, and its wonderful that you’re introducing it to the world, just you know, introduce it right," said internet user Kitty. The Manila Machine replied on the defensive, saying they're "fairly confident that Team Manila Machine knows how to pronounce the names of different Pinoy dishes." Judging by the mouthwatering menu, it's unlikely that customers will worry about the pronunciation. Tomato, tomahto, as George and Ira Gershwin put it. If it's as delicious as it sounds, it looks like The Manila Machine has a forecast as sunny as its bright orange truck. - GMANews.TV
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