‘I didn’t want to give up my culture’: vegan chefs reimagine Filipino dishes

Trying to veganize food from a meat-adoring country might seem antithetical, but with the Philippines being one of the most climate-vulnerable nations, it makes sense

Bagnet is a savory Filipino treat that hails from the northern region of Ilocos, usually made by boiling and deep frying pork belly until it’s crispy and golden. But at Cosmic, a vegan restaurant in Manila, Philippines, it’s convincingly rendered using soy and starch to imitate the layers of fat and meat in the original. It’s so savory that even an omnivore might reach for seconds.

The bagnet is just one item on the Cosmic menu, which is full of vegan versions of what would otherwise be meat-centric Filipino favorites: the kare kare, a thick peanut-based stew, omits the oxtail and is packed with vegetables instead. The sinigang (a sour soup) and customer-favorite sizzling sisig feature tofu rather than fish or pork. And the “beanuguan”, Cosmic’s version of dinuguan, a stew customarily made with pork offal and blood, is instead made with black beans.