We talk a lot about food on the podcast (and in life) partly because it’s fun, but also because it creates discussion about recipes, deliciousness, and creativity. Filipino cuisine continues to evolve. Creative home cooks and chefs alike are more mindful about available ingredients relative to their geography and health benefits of delicious alternatives.

If you ask most Filipinos of what popular Filipino dishes look like, the majority will likely have meat in them (lechon, adobo, dinuguan).  Clearly, none of those are vegan, but are you able to imagine kare kare that’s completely vegan? Or having bagoong (shrimp paste), that’s completely made without any shrimp?  What would our health be like if we removed (even a little bit) the meat from our favorite Filipino dishes?

That’s exactly what chef RG Enriquez from the blog, Astig Vegan, talks about on this episode as she talks to the TFAL crew from San Francisco. RG is a vegan Filipina who re-imagines and creates vegan Filipino dishes. RG believes that Filipino food can be vegan, healthy and delicious without losing its soul!  Find out which is our favorite spice, why some of us have changed our eating habits; and join us in discovering with RG some Filipino dishes that are traditionally vegan and we just didn’t even think about it.

And, let’s face it – we just want our food to taste delicious, right? But we also want them to be healthy and nutritious as well!  Hopefully, you’re flexible enough to try vegan Filipino dishes and check out RG’s YouTube channel for some awesome recipes.

Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Do you want to eat healthier?  Are you vegan?  Tell us your story!  Call us and leave a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL (8325), or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.