Phil-Am offers an amazing variety of packaged and freshly prepared Filipino food.
I find something new and interesting on every visit, like the items below (not all of them with photos), obtained at locations in Jersey City (now closed) and Woodside:
Royal brand dalandan soda (330 ml.; 79 cents), made from the citrus fruit of that name, tastes like smooth lime; when ripe, the fruit itself is a greenish variety of orange.
Aling Conching brand polvoron pinipig with ube ("toasted wheat cake with purple yam and crispies young rice"; 10 pieces, 6 oz. total; $1.19). The "crispies," though small, make this version my favorite; plain old ube comes in at No. 2. (The boxed, multi-flavor variety pack is shown below.)
Profood brand dried guyabano, also known as soursop or corossol (100 g.; 99 cents).
Unwrapped from its paper sheath, espasol (3 oz.; $1.10) was a four-inch-long, light brown roll of rice flour, sugar, milk, and "coconut string." Rice is the dominant component, so not too sweet; more chewy than glutinous. A good walkaround snack.
Suman malagkit (5 oz.; $1) was a log of sticky rice sweetened (but not too much) with sugar and coconut milk. Though wrapped in banana leaves, it's wet enough to be shrinkwrapped in saran, too.
At first blush, Magnolia brand corn and cheese ice cream (quart; $4.99) had the color and sweetness of peaches, but after a moment, I detected the flavor of a small-kerneled, unsweet ear of corn slathered in margarine. Cheddar — the cheese in question, according to the list of ingredients — may be the single most popular cheese in the world, but not around here, sir.
A smooth, firm, whitish cassava cake ("made by Erwin"; 10 oz.; $2.50) had little flavor, except from coconut milk that had been blended in; the eggs, butter, and sugar baked on top transformed it into an unsubtle, overly sweet dessert.
Maja mais ($3) was a very firm, cloying corn pudding topped with sliced coconut and carrying a few whole kernels within.
Pitsi-pitsi (half-dozen; 4 oz.; $1.65) were balls of grated cassava mingled with chopped jackfruit, surrounded by grated coconut — something like cassava-jackfruit jellies.
Phil-Am Foodmart
685 Newark Ave. (near Summit Ave.), Jersey City
201-963-0455
70-02 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, Queens
718-899-1797
