Christmas gift from Mama Sita
January 4, 2006
Filed under Mailbox
More than a year ago, I wrote about how my sister-in-law brought my food blog to the attention of the owners of Mama Sita food company. They sent me bags of their products twice as a show of support for my efforts in this food blog. Mama Sita is not a sponsor nor an advertiser but the bosses are just as aghast as I am at the hotdog culture, if you know what I mean.
I am not all that much of a ready-mix-sauce user. But I have used Mama Sita marinades and I liked them, especially the barbeque marinade. There is a wide variety of vinegars to choose from as well.
Last Christmas, Mama Sita sent me another bagful of goodies through my sister-in-law.
The first thing that caught my eye was the cashew wine vinegar. That’s the tall bottle beside the bag in the photo. I haven’t used it yet but, my gosh! I love the idea of not being content at simply making the usual kind of vinegar widely available in supermarkets. I love the idea of using non-traditional and abundant fresh produce in making, well… in making just about anything. It’s creative, productive and supportive of the Philippine economy and local food industry. It’s like saying why use imported red wine vinegar or Chinese rice wine vinegar when we can make our own wine vinegar using cashew that grows so abundantly in the country?
For me, it is this attitude of constantly searching for better uses for our local produce that leads to the development of Philippine cuisine. I mean, didn’t Italian cooking become globally famous because of the olive oil and pasta that the Italians make from produce that they have abundant supplies of?
I think that Mama Sita is on the right track. So, kudos and thanks. 
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In focus
At my school there is someone on the staff from the Phillipines and she gave me a package of this brand of Adobo sauce to try. I loved it, but now I am wondering if I can buy it in the U.S., specifically Utah. I’m hoping to find it.
hi connie,
no expat’s pantry is complete w/o a mama sita product.
i am not a ready-mix- sauce user myself but it pays to have some
ready just in case an instant craving for native food comes.
im leaving in iceland and i never used any of ready mix sauces but u know when i saw mama sitas´products on asian store i was so curious to try one. so i bought menudo mix and tried it. the next thing is when i go to the shop, i never forget to buy menudo mix. i just love it! esp. my bf who just like to eat asian food.:D
ano kaya lahat ng filipino food bloggers padalhan nila
dream on !!
Try Mama Sita’s tocino marinade. Really good.
I’m weird. I used the lumpiang shanghai mix for my fried rice and it was wonderful!
Connie, I have several friends with Marigold Industries (the makers of Mama Sita’s) and I am glad to know that you like their products. My favorite Mama Sita product is their Caldereta Mix. I am not very partial with their Menudo mix (they know it) kasi masyadong mahanghang… I also like their Hot Sauce.
Hi Alma, yeh, I like some but not all. The adobo marinade is too sour (my kids were complaining). Most of the time, when I use their ready mixes, I still add my seasonings and spices, mostly to kill the MSG taste. What I love are their bottled products–the vinegars, yeah, the hot sauce, the bbq marinade, the tapa marinade… But there’s really nothing like starting from scratch. From the crushing of the garlic to choosing the herbs and the spices…:lol:
I have in my pantry the Mama Sita’s Lechon Sauce.. and prepared paksiw na litson last New Year for my Pinay friends. Just got dissapointed because the sauce lacks the liver flavor and no same texture of thickness of the bread crumbs as Mang Thomas sauce.
Well then i just added more crumbs and vinegar to adjust the taste and texture. I hope they’ll improve the product.
Hi relly!
The best lechon sauce is still the kind made from scratch, ‘no? With finely minced pork liver.
I agree! Nothing like freshly-made lechon sauce; it’s actually the only thing I like about lechon ^^;;
I use Mama Sita’s kaldereta mix, but that’s about it. Is their vinegar really good? Can the bbq marinade be used as is, without any ‘retoke’?
Chevee, I always do ‘retoke’
I add lemon or kalamansi juice to the bbq sauce.
When I was in Singapore, I always use these Mama Cita’s sinigang and kare-kare mix for cooking. Astig. Kaya nga every Saturday, the barkadas were always in my place. Kala nila orig ang timpla.
Another one I like is Mama Cita’s oyster sauce. Hindi mayadong mahal.
Di ba masyado maasim yung sinigang mix nila?
Pag mga barako ang kumakain mas gusto yung maasim. My wife also says that maasim nga.
I’m fascinated by PI food products because I SUSPECT that there are treasures that aren’t widely promoted like everything from PI - low profile is the standard unfortunately. I’m interested in your coconut jam, your ube desserts and your coco de nato(?). What do you think is special and lucky for PIers but not available outside of PI?
Trosp, kasi pang pulutan?
You probably mean nata de coco, JJ.
Special… ummm… the list is long
But I’d go with coconut products and the numerous varities of rice cakes, expecially the ones topped with sweetened and thicked coconut cream. 
[...] I had a small piece of tuna belly, a cake of firm tofu and some vegetables. I also had two choices. Stir fry everything without adding any sauce and, after they have been transferred on a serving platter, pour over them a sauce similar to tempura sauce. Or, I could stir fry them the usual way, adding an oyster-based sauce thickened with a little tapioca starch. I ended up doing neither. See, I was dying to open the bottle of cashew wine vinegar from the Christmas gift bag of Mama Sita products. That was what brought on the idea of pouring tempura sauce over the fish and veggies. But my kids like saucy stir fries. The easiest choice was to make some kind of sweet and sour stir fry. I could use the vinegar and the kids could have all the sauce they wanted. But, alas, we ran out of sugar. So, should the lack of sugar prevent me from cooking a sweet and sour dish? Of course not! Why should it when there’s a bottle of honey in the pantry? [...]
i always get mama sita’s sampalok sinigang mix, it taste so natural and super asim which compliments our taste.:wink:
“everyone eats and drinks and only few savour the flavour”-
Confuscius
ohhh my god.i love mama sita thats the one thing i use every time i cook.i cant cook without mama sita product.even im here in u.s.im looking for that even its to far to find a store to buy that product. i mostly like the oyster sauce oh oh oh ….i real like it.thnk you guys!!!!!
noressa case:cool:
never tried Mama Cita but after reading the posts, might as well give it a try…. for ready mix sauces, I always use McCormick, esp the spicy stew and menudo mix… for lechon sause, nasanay na ako dito sa Cebu na suka at toyo with calamansi and sawsawan.. but I like Mang Tomas
hindi nawawala ang bbq marinade and calderta mix sa grocery list!
fave ng kids ko anything with the bbq marinade… (mahirap pakainin ang panganay ko, pero panalo ito for him)
even before i got married. sa taiwan pa ako dati, yan na ang mga gamit ko.:) dala dala ko na hanggang ngayon
wala lang
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