How a Cuisine Migrated From the Philippines to Winnipeg
Filipino restaurants are thriving
I’ve finally found the dish that’s made me fall in love with Filipino food.
The cast iron plate of sisig, chopped pork simmered in chile, vinegar and onions, is still sizzling when it hits the table. A wedge of calamansi — like a Philippine lime that’s a citrus-kumquat hybrid — rests on top. Squeezing a few drops of juice, and taking a bite that is equal parts soft flesh, creamy fat, and skin as chewy as butterscotch, my eyes flutter. It is that good.
The journey to find sisig started a few years ago, with a burger.
It was December 2016. I was visiting my in-laws and curious about why the popular Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee was opening its first Canadian outpost in the neighborhood of Garden City, a 15-minute drive north of downtown Winnipeg. I’d never seen a restaurant launch like it.
When we stopped by that evening, every seat was filled. In between tables, patrons stood, eating Aloha Yumburgers topped with pineapple and honey mustard. The queue of customers in front of the cashiers snaked back and forth like in a bank…
