sawsawan – Jellybeans in the City

Want to jazz up your home-cooked meals or adjust the taste of your restaurant-bought meal according to your personal taste?

We Pinoys have a ready solution for it: our condiments!

Whether in the form of dipping sauces (“sawsawan”) or marinades (“pinagbabaran”), we are firm believers of further improving the flavor of our food with the addition of condiments.

One condiment that I think does not get enough credit – not being celebrated as much in the local food scene as the ubiquitous patis, toyomansi and sukang pinakurat – is the liquid seasoning. A soy-based sauce that imparts a unique blend of saltiness, sweetness and umami (savory and meaty taste), liquid seasoning imparts the flavors that appeal to the Filipino palate to various foodstuffs. It is usually sold in small bottles or containers that are easy to store and retrieve from our pantries whenever we need to add some flavor to our viands.

Add to the rub and use a extra seasoning for Baked Pork Ribs

Ellie Liquid Seasoning, marketed and distributed by Benby Group of Companies, deserves some of the limelight in the Filipino kitchen.

Here are reasons why it deserves the title of #BidaSaKusina:

It’s very versatile. It can be used in a variety of dishes, whether as a marinade for meat and seafood, as a condiment for rice, noodles, and vegetables, and as a flavoring agent for soups, stews, and sauces.
It has low-fat content. Ellie Liquid Seasoning is low in fat, making it a healthier alternative to other flavorings that are high in fat and sodium that can lead to risks with your heart health.
It imparts that umami flavor. It is primarily characterized by that distinct umami flavor that adds depth and richness to dishes – that delicate balance between sweetness and saltiness that brings out the flavors of many of our favorite Filipino dishes.
It’s an affordable and easily accessible way to enhance the flavor of food. Priced affordably at Php79 (SRP) per 280ml bottle and widely available in leading retail outlets and online stores, Ellie Liquid Seasoning is very accessible, providing Filipino households with an inexpensive way to add flavor to dishes without breaking the bank.
It’s so easy to use. Need to imbue that umami flavor into your food? Just drizzle a bit of Ellie Liquid Seasoning into cooked food or pour into the marinade.
It’s proudly Philippine-made. Get your Pinoy Pride on and support this locally-made product, thereby supporting the country’s economy and the growth of its food industry.
It’s part of what makes the Pinoy dining experience unique. Filipino meals are usually served family style so condiments come into play to allow each family member to customize his meal according to his preferences. Ellie Liquid Seasoning is part of a long-standing tradition of being inclusive towards various personal tastes and preferences in every hapag-kainan.

Add to braising sauce for Beef Salpicao

So let’s give our very own liquid seasoning some love by exploring more ways to incorporate it into our cooking and by stocking our pantries with Ellie Liquid Seasoning.

It is available at leading retail outlets and online stores.

Know more about Ellie Liquid Seasoning and other Ellie PH products by following it on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate this feature story.

One significant feature of Filipino cuisine is the abundance of condiments.

We don’t consider a viand complete when it leaves the kitchen and is served on our dining tables. Nope, we still keep the option of further enhance its flavor or add some spice, zing or texture to it, through the use of condiments.

In his article The Psychology of Condiments: A Review, food scholar Charles Pence posits that “the existence of condiments is probably also an acknowledgement of the very different worlds of taste in which we all live.^”

After all, condiments allow us to personalize our food, adjusting its taste according to our individual preferences.

There’s little wonder then, that we Pinoys developed a wealth of condiments and dipping sauces that make our dining experiences all the richer.

Husband-and-wife team Juan Carlos Lontoc and Louwina Ann Balboa Lontoc grew their small enterprise of making and bottling sinamak into a fast-growing business they called Casa Lontoc.

Sinamak is the spiced vinegar which is aged with spices and aromatics, making it very flavorful. It is a perfect complement for the Ilonggo delicacy chicken inasal, as well as grilled and fried dishes such as liempo and seafood. Plus, it can also be used as a marinade for various dishes or as the acid in the local version of ceviche, such as the tuna kinilaw.

Casa Lontoc’s Mild Sinamak is the best bet for those who want a distinct Ilonggo flair for their grilled dishes. It is made from all-natural distilled cane vinegar and spices, inspired by a Lontoc heirloom recipe.

Similarly, the Spicy Sinamak, is made from the same recipe but has more heat to it, not only enhancing the flavor of the dishes it accompanies, but also bringing a lot more spice to them.

Casa Lontoc’s Sweet and Spicy Cane Vinegar, on the other hand, is quite distinctive thanks to its sweetness. This makes it quite a match to the Filipino penchant for sweetness and is a great salad dressing or vinaigrette for ensaladas, or a dipping sauce for finger foods.