San Miguel Beer redefines ‘inuman, pulutan’ with beer-infused dishes

MANILA, Philippines — Which beer tastes better with what food?

To give one an idea, Filipino beverage label San Miguel Beer recently unveiled new dishes infused or paired with beer as new staples in the menu of Draft Restaurant & Brewery in Makati City.

A popular watering hole in Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Draft Restaurant & Brewery pitched and presented the dishes to San Miguel, which then made some suggestions on the pairing, said San Miguel Beer Brew Master Alan Sienes.

According to Sienes, the restaurant replaced some of the beers in some dishes with San Miguel.

“When you talk about a food pair, you have to take a systematic approach so that you come up with the desired flavor. You look at the taste and also the aroma,” he explained. “Aroma is something suggestive; it’s coming from the brain. Even if it something that is just smell, you can actually taste the aroma. It’s coming from the nose and when you take the food, it suggests to the brain that this is the impression. It is something that we feel that we tasted. You can’t taste, for example, the pineapple, but you can sense the pineapple because of the aroma.”

Apart from taste and aroma, the food and the beer’s textures should complement, he noted. He suggested downing food with beer after tasting the food for better appreciation.

“(Beer) enhances the food. You get to appreciate the food more… Take the food and while it’s still in your mouth, take the beer. Like how tuyo or dried fish complements with vinegar, beer is like seasoning, umami,” he said.

For starters, there is Spicy Blanca Shrimp with a fiery kick and a zesty infusion of San Miguel Cerveza Blanca.

Draft Restaurant & Brewery Head Chef Bernadette Unigo is particularly proud of Spicy Blanca Shrimp, her own invention and take on the Filipino dish Nilasing na Hipon.

“Before, ang ginagamit namin is ‘yung imported na brand. So ngayon, since nakipag-collaborate sa’min si San Miguel, ginamit na namin ‘yung brand ni San Miguel instead of ‘yung dati naming ginagamit. Pero ‘yung kay Blanca, special dish ko… Sa’kin nanggaling ‘yung (recipe),” she told select press, including Philstar.com.

“‘S’ya ‘yung local version ko ng Nilasing na Hipon,” she said of