Burnt Lumpia: Filipino Food | Filipino Recipes | Culinary Hijinks

Manila Manila Manila Manila Machiiiiiiiiiiine!

In case any (or probably all) of you haven't been checking in to my other website, I figured I'd share this video with everyone here. The video features some background information about the origins of my latest business venture: The Manila Machine–Southern California’s First Filipino food truck. The video also includes a dang-catchy theme song. Yes, The Manila Machine has a theme song!

The video was produced by A.J. Calomay of Xylophone Films, and the song you hear in the video was written and performed by the Los Angeles-based soul/funk/R&B band, Elson and the Soul Barkada.

So have a gander at the clip and enjoy. I must warn you though, The Manila Machine theme song will be stuck in your head for days.

Manila Manila Manila Manila Machiiiiiiiiiiiine!

Just Checking In...

Blogger in The Machine
(photo courtesy Let Me Eat Cake)

Hello everyone!

I know it's been quite a while since I've posted here on Burnt Lumpia, but it turns out that running a small business is somewhat time intensive (who the eff knew?).

But I did want to quickly check in with my readers (do I still have any left?) and provide a little rundown of what's been happening with me and The Manila Machine for the past few weeks.

We've been rolling for almost two months now, and while this is the hardest thing I've ever attempted, it's been fun (for the most part). Here are some highlights:

Here's The Filipino Food

Well folks, in spite of my best intentions to continue on my previous teaser post with a timely follow-up, more information, and answers to your questions, it turns out that I got sidetracked. Rolling hundreds of lumpia by hand, cooking hundreds of chicken thighs and legs for adobo, breaking down and butchering sides of beef and slabs of pork belly, and prepping who-knows-how-many-pounds of green papaya and carrots for homemade achara, takes up just a bit of time.

Actually, all of that takes up a GINORMOUS amount of time.

What's with all the cooking, you may be asking?

Well, if you haven't heard by now (from say here, here, here, here, or here), I've started a new venture outside the confines of this Filipino Food Blog of mine.

This new venture? It's called The Manila Machine: Los Angeles' First Filipino Food Truck. Crazy right?

For my international readers who might not be very familiar with L.A.'s mobile food culture, let's just say that serving different types of food out of a wandering restaurant on wheels is kind of a big deal. And for my local readers... Yup, another food truck.

But this food truck is different! Different, I say!

Along with my business partner, fellow Fil-Am, and fellow food blogger Nastassia Johnson (of Let Me Eat Cake fame) we are THE FIRST truck to bring Filipino food to the masses of Southern California. And besides being THE FIRST FILIPINO FOOD TRUCK in SoCal, Nastassia and I are also the first food bloggers to enter the crowded arena of mobile eateries.

So why did we choose to serve Filipino food? If you're a regular Burnt Lumpia reader, my reasons for doing anything with Filipino food should go without saying. But I'll say them anyway. I've spent the past few years researching, cooking, and writing about the food of my culture. It's been my mission to promote Filipino culture and cuisine via this blog in my own quirky ways. And although I'm not a professional chef, Filipino food is something I'm passionately passionate about (that's right, passionately passionate).

And besides my own personal and cultural reasons for starting a Filipino Food truck, you might have heard that Filipino food is hard to come by in Los Angeles. Thus, The Manila Machine is simply our vehicle (pun?) for making Filipino cuisine more accessible to the good people of L.A. and beyond.

With a menu that features adobo, pan de sal sliders, lumpia, and turon (among other Pinoy goodies), The Manila Machine officially opened to much fanfare on June 10, 2010 at the Downtown LA Artwalk.

How did we do?