Growing up, I often grappled with the question: What Are The Filipino Foods that truly define the cuisine? It’s a question that many Filipinos, including myself, find surprisingly complex. The beauty of Filipino food lies in its diversity, a delicious tapestry woven from indigenous traditions and centuries of cultural exchange.
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The vibrant and varied flavors of popular Filipino cuisine
As Doreen Fernandez, a renowned food writer, aptly noted, this complexity stems from the Philippines’ rich history of absorbing and indigenizing various influences. From dishes with Spanish names like embutido and lechon to those with Chinese origins like lumpia and pancit, Filipino cuisine is a delicious melting pot. Add to this the archipelago’s diverse regions, each with unique ingredients and cooking styles, and you have a cuisine that’s as diverse as its people.
While defining Filipino food in a single sentence is nearly impossible, exploring its most popular dishes is an excellent starting point. Think of it as a journey through flavors, textures, and traditions.
Here’s a guide to some must-try Filipino foods, categorized by how they are typically enjoyed:
Rice: The Heart of the Filipino Table
Rice is more than just a staple; it’s the very essence of Filipino cuisine. It’s eaten at every meal, from breakfast to dinner, and even finds its way into snacks and desserts. Beyond sustenance, rice symbolizes prosperity and good fortune, often being the first item brought into a new home.
White rice, steamed to fluffy perfection, is the constant companion to every dish. It serves as the perfect canvas to soak up the flavorful sauces and stews that characterize Filipino cooking.
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Sinangag (garlic fried rice) and Arroz Caldo are two distinct and popular rice-based Filipino dishes.
Leftover rice transforms into sinangag, or garlic fried rice, a breakfast favorite. Pair it with a fried egg and your choice of protein – Spam (Spamsilog), cured beef (Tapsilog), or crispy bacon (Bacsilog) – and you have a silog, a complete and satisfying Filipino breakfast.
Arroz caldo, the Filipino version of congee, is a comforting chicken and rice porridge seasoned with garlic, ginger, and patis (fish sauce). It’s often enjoyed as a cold remedy or a hearty snack.
Soups and Stews: A Symphony of Flavors
Soups and stews are essential components of Filipino cuisine, enjoyed year-round. These range from light broths to rich, savory stews. The question “Do you want more sabaw?” (broth) is a common one at Filipino meals, reflecting the importance of flavorful liquid in enhancing the dining experience.
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A selection of the many flavorful soups and stews found in Filipino cuisine.
Adobo, often considered the national dish, is a testament to Filipino ingenuity. It’s both a dish and a cooking method: stewing meat (typically chicken or pork) in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Countless variations exist, with different regions and families adding their own twists – coconut milk, turmeric, even pineapple or potatoes. The vinegar acts as a natural preservative, making adobo even more flavorful the next day.
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Sinigang, a comforting and sour Filipino soup, is a national favorite.
Sinigang, a sour and savory soup, is another Filipino favorite. The sourness comes from tamarind, guava, calamansi, or other sour fruits. It’s typically made with pork, but chicken, salmon, or shrimp are also common. Vegetables like long beans, radishes, taro, eggplant, and okra add substance and flavor.
Dinuguan, a rich and slightly tangy pork stew, gets its distinctive flavor from pork blood, vinegar, garlic, onions, and chilies. While traditionally made with offal, modern versions often use pork belly, shoulder, or ribs. It’s often called “chocolate meat” to make it more appealing to children. Puto, a steamed rice cake, is the classic accompaniment to dinuguan.
Pinakbet is a flavorful vegetable stew seasoned with fermented seafood paste (bagoong) and often includes eggplant, long beans, bitter melon, okra, squash, and sweet potato. The type of bagoong used significantly impacts the flavor profile, with bagoong isda (anchovy paste) lending a deeper, funkier taste, while bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) adds a touch of sweetness.
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Kare-Kare, a Filipino stew with oxtail and a rich peanut sauce.
Kare-kare, translating to “curry-curry”, is a rich stew typically made with oxtail and tripe in a thick peanut sauce. Ground toasted rice and peanuts thicken the gravy, though peanut butter is often used for a smoother texture. Annatto gives the sauce its signature orange hue, while patis deepens the umami flavor. A dollop of bagoong alamang on the side is essential to balance the richness.
Pulutan: The Perfect Accompaniment to Drinks
Pulutan refers to a wide array of savory snacks enjoyed during inuman sessions, or drinking gatherings. These snacks are typically crunchy, salty, and fatty, designed to complement alcoholic beverages. The term pulutan comes from the verb pulutin, meaning “to pick up,” reflecting the snackable nature of these dishes.
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A delicious array of Filipino pulutan, perfect for sharing with friends.
Ukoy are deep-fried shrimp and vegetable fritters, offering a satisfying crunch. These fritters can be large or small and contain a variety of vegetables like sweet potato, cabbage, squash, and bean sprouts. Dipping them in spiced vinegar with garlic and chilies elevates the experience.
Sizzling sisig, a favorite of the late Anthony Bourdain, is a chopped dish of pork ears, cheeks, snout, and organs seasoned with soy sauce, calamansi juice, and chilies. Mayonnaise is often added for creaminess, and a fried egg on top adds richness. It’s also a popular hangover remedy when served with rice.
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Sizzling Sisig, a flavorful and texturally diverse Filipino dish.
Lechon kawali is crispy, deep-fried pork belly, considered by many to be the ultimate pulutan. The pork belly is parboiled with garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf, then dried and fried until golden and crispy. It’s served with vinegar or lechon sauce, a pork liver-based sauce often referred to as “Filipino gravy.”
Kinilaw is a Filipino-style marinated raw fish dish, similar to ceviche. The fish is “cooked” in vinegar or citrus juice. Variations can include coconut, tabon-tabon (a bitter fruit), sweet mango, or sugar to balance the acidity. Kilawin applies the same method to grilled meats like goat, beef, or pork.
Fiesta Food: Celebratory Dishes for Special Occasions
Fiestas, Spanish-influenced celebrations, are integral to Filipino culture. These gatherings bring people together to celebrate holidays, birthdays, or simply to reconnect with loved ones.
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A collection of Filipino fiesta foods, perfect for festive occasions.
Lechon, a whole spit-roasted suckling pig, is the undisputed centerpiece of any Filipino fiesta. These dishes, largely Spanish in origin, have become deeply ingrained in Filipino culinary traditions. Guests often receive pabaon, a package of food to take home, symbolizing friendship and ensuring a delicious meal the next day.
Embutido is a Filipino-style meatloaf, similar to the American dish but with a Spanish name. Made with ground pork, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, and ham or sausage, embutido is traditionally steamed, though baked versions are also common. It’s served cold, warm, or fried, with a sweet and sour sauce and banana ketchup.
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Embutido, a Filipino-style meatloaf, is a staple at fiestas and celebrations.
Lumpiang Shanghai are tightly wound egg rolls filled with pork and vegetables, a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Making lumpia is a labor-intensive process, often involving a family assembly line. These crispy, fried snacks are easy to eat and quick to disappear.
Pancit, or noodles, symbolizes prosperity, long life, and good luck. Two of the most popular pancit dishes are pancit bihon and pancit palabok. Pancit bihon is made with rice vermicelli noodles, shredded chicken, shrimp, carrots, and cabbage in a savory soy sauce-based sauce. Pancit palabok features rice noodles topped with an orange-tinted shrimp sauce and garnished with shrimp, crushed chicharron, hard-boiled egg slices, scallions, and calamansi.
Sweets: A Treat for Any Time of Day
Sweets in Filipino cuisine aren’t strictly desserts; they’re enjoyed any time of day, as breakfast, snacks, or part of a larger meal.
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A tempting assortment of Filipino sweets.
Filipino sweets can be categorized as native sweets, Spanish sweets, and American sweets, each adapted and Filipinized over time.
Native sweets largely consist of kakanin, or rice cakes. Biko is a sticky rice cake topped with latik (crispy coconut curds or creamy coconut caramel), while bibingka is a fluffy rice cake decorated with cheese and salted duck egg.
Leche flan, a rich custard, is a Spanish influence. Buko pandan, a refreshing salad with pandan jelly, young coconut, cream, and condensed milk, is a Filipino take on American fruit salad.
And finally, there’s halo-halo, the iconic Filipino shaved ice dessert, topped with leche flan and ube ice cream.
Exploring Filipino food is a journey through history, culture, and a vibrant tapestry of flavors. From savory stews to sweet treats, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in this diverse and delicious cuisine.
