ApuNena: 7 Unmissable Dishes You Have to Try

It's a whole grilled squid stuffed with tomato and spring onion, served with banana ketchup sauce and fresh herbs. "A typical dish from the Philippines; there, they grill it and usually serve it with a sweet and sour sauce. At ApuNena, I make one with ketchup and banana, which, although it's a typical condiment in the Philippines for grilling, isn't necessarily eaten with squid. But we chose to make that combination: a typical street food dish with a dressing used in any household there," describes Christina. And she clarifies that they make everything from scratch, using very ripe bananas that ferment and are almost bursting with sweetness.

Fun fact: "In the Philippines, when we didn't have tomatoes, we made ketchup with bananas, which originated in the Southeast, where there's an abundance of bananas," recounts Christina.

It's a steamed bun filled with minced pork, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms with Szechuan sauce. "A dish that I used to eat in the afternoon when I was a kid. In the Philippines, it's a typical snack. Now in Buenos Aires, baos have become popular, but in the Philippines, they're called paos, and with this filling, they're called Bola Bola," Sunae explains, adding that there are many other flavors.

Fun fact: if you're going vegan, your option is the Coli pao. As delicious as it is sophisticated, filled with cauliflower curry, massaman, and bean noodles, accompanied by a tofu-based herb sauce.

Yes, we continue with another bun because at ApuNena, they're a hit. The chicken pao consists of a steamed bun with fried chicken, kimchi mayonnaise, and umeboshi, a Japanese plum eaten pickled and salty. "Since they're steamed, they're very light, like a cloud of bread. I've been making the recipe for that bun since I was very young, at my mom's house. In this case, we use it open-faced. The chicken is marinated with lemongrass and ginger."

Fun fact: Kimchi is a Korean ferment made mainly from cabbage or cucumber. "We add daikon kimchi because beyond being trendy here, I'm also Korean. Kimchi was always in my house," recalls Sunae.

It's a classic, on the menu at ApuNena since day one. It consists of a chicken skewer with peanut curry, which gives it a "kick," as Flor Ravioli explains. Christina tells us: "The Satti is marinated grilled chicken served with rice and a peanut and annatto sauce, with all the ingredients of a curry in Thailand. But, actually, that sauce comes from a town called Zamboanga, located on the island of Mindanao. It's the southern Philippines, which has a lot of influence from Indonesia and Malaysia."

Fun fact: the striking color of Satti comes from its ingredients, mainly turmeric and ginger.

"With grilled fish, coconut milk, and green jalapeño curry, it really packs a punch," warns Flor. Christina tells us that it's a dish with Thai influence, a cuisine she knows well from working in a Thai restaurant in New York: "One of my favorite Thai dishes is green curry. By the way, here I'm known as 'the curry girl.' I was a judge on the culinary reality show 'MasterChef,' for the curry challenge."

Fun fact: at ApuNena, the green curry comes with seasonal vegetables and fresh fish from Mar del Plata, like grouper or white anchovy.

"Yes, there are empanadas in the Philippines!" assures Christina and explains: "It was a Spanish colony for 330 years, so there are many Spanish words they use, although the empanada probably existed before the conquest. Almost every country has a similar food, a dough with a filling." The Filipino version is called empanada de Ilocos, in honor of a province in northern Philippines known for its empanada made with rice flour and annatto, which is why it's so orange. "At ApuNena, we make an annatto oil and add it to the dough," she details.

Fun fact: Flor and Christina serve a variation of the Filipino empanada. There, it's filled with green papaya, mushrooms, and chorizo, but in Buenos Aires, they fill it with a red squid curry. However, they serve them with a spiced homemade vinegar, just like Asians do.

With peanut crunch and miso sauce. "It has a fan club. People sit down and ask you to reserve a portion in case it runs out, I swear," says Flor. "In the Philippines, there's a purple sweet potato called ube, used in all desserts. In fact, my favorite ice cream is ube. Since we don't have it in Argentina, we decided to go with sweet potato, and it's incredible," assures Christina, adding that they use coconut milk and make a miso syrup to give it a bit of a Japanese touch. They also add a peanut crunch.

Fun fact: Have you ever tried ice cream made from a tuber? Although this one isn't purple like the Filipino one, it's your chance to taste the local version of this oriental classic