IT’S EARLY MORNING when I arrive at FOB Kitchen in Oakland, California, where chef/owner Janice Dulce is already hard at work searing ribs in a wide, high-sided rondeau stretched across two burners on the stove. The ribs, cut crosswise through the bones and separated into smaller sections, will form the base for sinigang, a savory/sour soup rich with ginger and tamarind. Sinigang is a cornerstone of Filipino cuisine and a popular dish at Janice’s bright, welcoming restaurant.
Janice works quickly: talking, cooking, flipping the ribs, setting the browned ones aside to make room for another batch. Her mise en place is set up on a nearby butcher block, and when the ribs are sufficiently browned, she adds sliced onions and handfuls of julienned ginger to the pot where they just begin to soften. Next a few minced Thai chiles; fresh tomato puree; fish sauce; and lemon juice, which she uses instead of calamansi, a sour fruit commonly used in Filipino cooking. As the mixture begins to boil, she returns the ribs to the pot, along
