Filipina was so homesick that she resorted to THIS!!!

One of our favorite things to do when home in the Philippines is cooking filipino dishes. So today to ease homesickness we cooked some filipino bistek tagalog. Dating a filipina definitely has its advantages when it comes to food.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro: Homesickness & Cravings
00:57 - The Supermarket Struggle: Finding Filipino Ingredients
02:51 - Calamansi Crisis: Can We Substitute It?
05:22 - Butcher Shop Blues: Finding the Right Cut
07:23 - Cooking Bistek Tagalog: Bringing the Philippines to Cape Town 🇿🇦🇵🇭
12:13 - Apartment Tour: Our Cozy South African Home
16:59 - The Final Verdict: Did Our Pinakbet Adventure Cure Homesickness?

Fixing the Calamansi Problem: We realized pretty quickly that finding calamansi in South Africa wasn't happening, so we figured out a clever mix of lime and orange juice to get that sour, citrus flavor. It wasn't perfect, but we made it work!
Hunting for the Right Meat: Pinakbet usually uses a specific cut of pork, but it was hard to find in South Africa. After some searching, we settled on a similar, fatty cut that would melt into the dish nicely.
Creating our South African Fusion: We started with the usual saute of onions, garlic, and tomatoes, then added our shrimp paste for that salty Pinakbet kick. Then came the fun part! We added in all the Filipino veggies we could find (eggplant, okra, etc.), but also tried some South African twists, like baby marrows and butternut squash. It was a real experiment!
Letting it all Simmer: We tossed in our vegetables, added our lime-orange calamansi substitute, and let the whole thing simmer down. The vegetables got nice and soft, but still had a bit of bite.
Serving up Home Away From Home: It wasn't the perfect Pinakbet we're used to in the Philippines, but it was delicious, comforting, and definitely hit that homesick spot with a unique South African touch! This is how nice life can be with a Filipina Dating a foreigner hehe.