FILIPINA tennis star Alexandra Eala gave fans a glimpse of her food preferences after being asked to rank some of the Philippines’ most popular dishes.
Eala was presented with five choices: adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, lumpia and kaldereta.
Her least favorite of the group was kare-kare, although she made it clear that her ranking was based purely on personal taste.
“People are gonna hate me because I’m not a big kare-kare fan,” Eala said, referring to the peanut-based dish. “It’s great. A lot of people love it.”
She placed lumpia fourth, describing it as a staple Filipino food that can be particularly enjoyable when prepared well.
“A really good lumpia could be great finger food,” she said.
Adobo took the next spot, with Eala again emphasizing that a well-prepared version of the dish can be hard to beat.
“A really good adobo is really good,” she said.
The top two proved more difficult for Eala to separate, but she ultimately ranked kaldereta second and sinigang first.
“I love kaldereta. That’s just, I love kaldereta,” she said.
Sinigang earned the top spot because of its strong connection to Filipino identity and nostalgia.
“And sinigang is just, it’s the nation’s food. It’s the nostalgia,” Eala said.
Her final ranking was sinigang, kaldereta, adobo, lumpia and kare-kare, giving fans a clear look at the Filipino dishes that rank highest on the 21-year-old tennis star’s personal list. (Adrian Co)
