I always chuckle when I see packaging list itself as eco-friendly or when companies make efforts in “going green.” One of the reasons why I laugh is because people in the Philippines have been doing this for years with what they call binalot. Binalot is a method of wrapping and serving food in the Philippines using banana leaves. This method has been around since ever since or at least since bananas have been around. The banana leaf has many purposes but it really does make for a good container or plate when you’re out and about. When you’re done eating, just throw the leaf into your compost pile or let it decompose with the rest of the foliage.
Now, what can you put in it? Pretty much anything that doesn’t have a lot of broth (but depends on who’s doing the wrapping). The general contents of a binalot would be rice, egg, vegetable, tomato, and some kind of meat.
Here we have a Chicken/Pork Adobo, hard-boiled egg, and cherry tomatoes on top of rice…while eating on the beach!
This binalot was made at one of my favorite restaurants – Plaza Rizal in Daly City, California.
