Anna Swan of Ulam Dallas shares the food that makes her happy using self-taught techniques and old family recipes according to a Dallas Morning News article. They say,
“When Swann moved to Texas in 2006, she found herself missing old family recipes. When the pandemic opened up a hole in the world, she filled it with the food that makes her happy. She taught herself more techniques and hosted live streams and recipes for dishes that friends could replicate at home during the worst of times. Spamsilog is one of those soul-warmer favorites: It’s a Filipino breakfast iconoclast of pan-seared Spam, very garlicky rice and a forkful of eggs. It’s a home meal.
In the past year, she’s brought this precise feeling to her food through Ulam. Whenever possible, she sends up big, torch-bright twists on Filipino comfort foods. Recently, she fired dishes streetside at Sandwich Hag’s night market. She’s also been known to do musubi-themed offerings, including a Spamsilog musubi. Panes of Spam, each lacquered with a sweet-sticky-sour glaze, are combined with a scrambled egg struck with furikake seasoning and plenty of garlicky rice.”
One of the Filipino dishes that fill the Filipino food void Anna Swann felt was the turon:deep-fried banana and jackfruit lumpia.She shares the recipe of her favorite dessert according to a DMagazine article which reports,
“Ever since I was little, turon has been my favorite dessert. With my nickname being “Anna Banana,” I guess it was meant to be. Bonus: It was one of my late lolo’s favorite desserts, too. As he got older and was not supposed to eat them, my grandfather would get the younger great-grandchildren to sneak him some sweets. Try as we might, there was no resisting the temptation of turon. Banana wrapped in a fried crispy wrapper— what’s not to love? Traditionally, turon has the caramelized sugar coating on the outside of it. That was not always my favorite part. When I started making it myself, I chose to omit it. However, in my version, I add a touch of warmth by mixing cinnamon into the filling.”
Anna’s pop-up Ulam is named one of the best places to eat Filipino food in Dallas according to a Dallas Morning News article. In it they say,
“Ulam Dallas and its chef, Anna Swann, are popping up in more than just their monthly appearances at local breweries and bakeries. The Filipino pop-up was recently featured in Food & Wine magazine as the “best place to eat Filipino food” in Texas.
The article, which included the best Filipino food in each state, called Swann’s Tipsy Pancit dish “a symbolic tour de force,” and stated that Swann is part of a “new wave of entrepreneurial Filipinas using food to claim their identities and assert their ambition, talent and business prowess.”
Ever since the article was published, her online following grew. She even has people from across the country asking her about her food and events.
