Exploring Maranao food around Metro Manila
The Maranao (also Maranaw or Meranaw) people have held a quiet if steady presence in Metro Manila following the Filipino Muslim migrations occurring at the tail end of nominal Spanish rule over the archipelago. Technically, the Sultanates and Lumad of Mindanao were never conquered by the Spanish Empire, and their descendants today take pride in that fact.
Regrettably, continued attempts at conquest by American, Japanese, and even Philippine governments have been a factor in these migrations. Today, simultaneous initiatives toward Muslim Mindanao self-determination occur alongside cooperation with the larger Filipino national project.
While the politics surrounding these goals have faced complexity, cultural exchange has nonetheless occurred between Muslim and Christian Filipinos living together in neighborhoods across Metropolitan Manila. In particular, Muslim Town, right across Quiapo Church, continues to be a site of friendship and cultural education.
But food is a central aspect of this exchange, and many Maranao restaurants around the metro, most notably in Greenhills and Cubao, serve not only local Muslims looking for halal options but any diner looking for a good meal, too.
For anyone looking to expand their understanding of Filipino food, celebrate regional cultures, or simply discover tasty eats that are also leaner than most Filipino staples, Maranao cuisine as served in Metro Manila eateries provides an accessible starting point.
Here are some key ingredients, dishes, and cooking techniques you may encounter when in Maranao enclaves around the metropolis.
Sakurab: The essential herb
Related to scallions and leeks, fields of sakurab dot sloped areas around Lake Lanao, the ancestral homeland of the Maranao people, whose name roughly translates to “people of the lake.” Grown on farms for profit, or in backyards for daily consumption, this allium is a staple in Maranao cuisine.
Through intrepid Maranao merchants, the distinctly aromatic vegetable has also made inroads into Visayan cooking, known thus as sibujing.
As a heritage ingredient and also a core ingredient in contemporary Maranaw cooking, many academic studies about sakurab have been published by the Mindanao State University and adjacent institutions. Scientists from the region have also developed improved methods to cultivate the vegetable, given its consistent demand.
In fact, sakurab is often mixed with chilies and other herbs into a paste, which forms the core of many Maranao dishes.
On the top floor of Farmer’s Plaza, Cubao, Quezon City, Nanay Myra, her daughter Maisa, Myra’s mother, and their extended family have for 13 years run the sole Maranao eatery on the floor, simply labeled “Halal Food.” Many Muslim mall staff and vendors, as well as faithful from nearby masjid, flock to their humble but busy stall, which serves dishes similar to those found in Muslim Town, Quiapo, at a more affordable price point.
Maisa even shares that their eatery sources their sakurab exclusively from Mindanao via contacts in Quiapo.
Palapa: Rounding out any meal
Similar in texture, consistency, and form to sambal chili paste from nearby Malaysia and Indonesia, Maranao palapa also carries the tartness found in bagoong. This shared flavor profile is no surprise, given that many Iranun people, who share a common ancestry with the Maranao, have communities in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The paste is made by combining crushed chili and sakurab and sautéing it in a large wok. Different cooks opt to add their own blend of additional herbs, but the two above form palapa’s core ingredients.
Palapa is often served as a condiment upon request in Maranaw restaurants. The paste also serves as the key ingredient in dishes like piaparan a manok and other variants of piaparan.
Maisa shares that Halal Food used to serve palapa in takeout bottles, but eventually found it too costly. Nonetheless, I was able to purchase a bottle from the halal food court in the Greenhills tiangge. My family and I continue to enjoy the paste with steamed vegetables like okra or squash, or with steamed fish.
In an episode of Featr focused on Maranao cuisine, host Datu Shariff Pendatun III interviewed a Muslim cook in Quiapo hawking palapa made from Taiwanese chilies, which resulted in a different taste as well as color from traditional palapa.
During this encounter, Pendatun commented that this was a “Manila version” of palapa, showing how substitution is not necessarily disrespectful, especially if people from the origin culture do it themselves.
Niyog never felt so good
Grated, desiccated coconut meat—or niyog—is a staple across Southeast Asia owing to shared climates and flora, and is particularly familiar to Filipinos as a garnish for dessert and kakanin like bibingka and kutsinta, and yes, “coconut mochi” (which ancients like me know as “palitaw”).
Equally abundant around Lake Lanao, Maranao people have applied niyog to savory dishes.
It can be found in the turmeric and chicken bone broth, often accompanying palapa as a free side in Maranao eateries. Maisa shares that Maranao people also have their own version of adobo, which heavily incorporates niyog. The coconut absorbs the vinegar, chicken juices, and soy sauce, adding a nutty counterpoint to the sour-savory dish.
Wasting nothing, coconut milk, of which niyog is often the byproduct of, also features prominently in Maranao kinilaw, which can be based on tuna or langka.
Piaparan: A multi-step technique for everyday eats and special occasions alike
This Maranao festival dish is arguably one of the most visible recipes representing Maranao cuisine. A popular condiment brand used in most Filipino households even has a piaparan recipe on its website.
While commonly served as piaparan a manok, it’s possible to describe piaparan as a cooking technique, as variants of piaparan have come to include langka and yellowfin tuna steak. Likewise, tuna is also common in Maranao cooking, and it’s specifically in Quiapo where tuna is grilled in the open air and sold skewered whole on sticks. This, alongside sakurab, is sold to Maranao eateries elsewhere in the metropolis.
Piaparan is usually prepared in two steps. The chicken is boiled and strained. While that’s happening, the sauce is prepared by mixing niyog, sakurab, turmeric, and palapa. Once the chicken (or langka or tuna) has been patted dry, it’s then mixed into the sauce.
Occasionally, you might find piaparan a dalag, which, according to Maisa, uses a ceremonial ocean fish traditionally served during Maranao festivals and celebrations. It often lies on the pricier side, but the rich, briny flesh mingling with palapa and niyog is worth every bite if you happen upon it.
Making a case for Maranao food
When visiting or passing through Greenhills, Cubao, and Quiapo, you might want to add Maranao food to your repertoire of options. To a non-Muslim audience already at home with Filipino cooking, the dishes are at once familiar and also innovative, given the ingredient (re)configurations.
Scientists have also made the case for halal chicken and beef being a leaner option, as shown in this preliminary study on non-Muslim consumers of halal meat. The study also noted that blood sugar levels, gut microbiome, and iron were not altered by consuming said meat. In fact, authentic halal meat even centers on grass-fed beef and avoids growth hormones and antibiotics, as the livestock are kept in more humane environments.
Just as with optometry and physics, it seems the Muslim world, now through cuisine, has much to share with the human family’s collective flourishing.
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