The Philippine community in Switzerland celebrated the 126th Independence Day in Zurich from June 7-9, 2024. We attended the festivities on Saturday, and upon entering, we were warmly welcomed by the sight of the Swiss and Philippine flags. The event took place in Kloten Stadtpark, an open-air venue with stalls arranged around the perimeter and a few in the middle, leading to a large stage at the end of the park.
Throughout the day, we enjoyed performances by various Filipino artists living in Switzerland. We were entertained by a musician playing the guitar, a lady singing show tunes, and a rock group, although the latter was a bit too loud for my kids’ liking.
We explored the park to see the various offerings. Sarah opted for pork BBQ from Anne Yummy Tummy’s stall, while I bought a thick slice of lechon belly to take home. Tobi took Becca to line up at Papa Oro’s stall, where she got lumpiang Shanghai and he got a bowl of beef tapa for me. With the help of Jing, a friend who was there as well, I managed to get a mango shake from Mildred’s Delight and Tobi eventually got a sushi burrito with sisig from Kamote Creations.
Although I couldn’t take a photo of my rice bowl, as I was eating it while in line for the pork BBQ, it was beautifully plated, with the rice at the bottom, a generous serving of tapa, and steamed vegetables to round out the meal.
After squeezing in with friends at their table and finishing our food, the girls and I visited the non-food stalls. Tinda Tinda by the Grateful Tita caught our eye. I realized that the proprietor of this stall was an Instagram friend who lived in our area, but I had never met her in person. I quickly introduced myself, and we chatted for a bit while the girls surveyed her wares. They were all handmade and hand-sewn totes (with cheeky Filipino phrases on them), sling and toiletry bags, hair scrunchies, and ribbons, among other items. She generously gifted the girls a hair ribbon each, and they each got a toiletry bag. I purchased a tote bag with “PSST, HOY” printed on it. Why this bag? Because this is how Tobi gets my attention, and it cracks him up every single time I turn around to acknowledge the “psst.” So annoying.
I also made my way to the stall of Kabayan Corner and left with some frozen steamed saba bananas, a big bag of banana chips, some crispy fry chicken mixes, and a pack of atsuete powder for inasal.
I didn’t want to calculate how much we spent, as the prices for these Filipino goodies are high due to the importation costs. However, as I have learned to make do, and cook Filipino food from the ingredients I can find here, I can surely splurge once in a while. The only thing that I need authentic ingredients for to get the taste right is adobo; I need either cane or coconut vinegar and Silver Swan soy sauce to get that taste of home.
To stay in line with the Filipino theme, I recently made these Kamote ukoy, and I loved how crunchy they were!
Kamote Ukoy
Ingredients:
I large sweet potato, grated or sliced into small strips (around 3 to 4 cups)
1 large onion, julienned
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Batter:
1/3 c flour
¼ c cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ c cold water
Cooking oil, for frying
Method:
1. In a large bowl, mix the sweet potato, onion and garlic. Sprinkle the flour, salt and pepper then toss to coat.
2. In another bowl, mix the ingredients for the batter then pour over the vegetables. Mix well.
3. Heat some oil (at least 1 cm deep) in a frying pan, then drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil. Press the top with your spoon to spread it out thinly. Pan fry for around 3 minutes on each side until brown and crispy.
4. Transfer to a metal rack to drain the excess oil.
5. Serve with a dipping sauce of choice – I like vinegar with sliced shallots and garlic.*
