Filipinos love to eat that is why there are so many celebrations for them to have a reason to satisfy their palate. The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from its Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine of Malay, Spanish, Chinese, and American, as well as other Asian and Latin influences adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.
TravelGuidePH have compiled a list of Filipino cuisine that a visitor must try:
Adidas – This chicken feet adobo recipe is one of the delicacies of Pinoys.
Adobo– chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce, or cooked until dry.
Afritada – chicken and/or pork simmered in a tomato sauce with vegetables
Almondigas – a soup dish that has two main ingredients: meatballs and patola(this is also known as loofa or Chinese okra).
Arroz Caldo – a ginger flavored rice-chicken soup.
BBQ – marinated slices of pork speared in bamboo skewers and grilled to perfection.
Bagnet – a deep fried crispy pork belly dish that is similar to lechon kawali. It originated from Ilocos and is considered to be a top favorite among Filipinos.
Balut – is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly developed embryo inside that is boiled, shelled, and eaten as is or dipped in salt or spicy vinegar.
Batchoy – soup dish composed of sliced pork, pig’s innards, and miki noodles. This dish originated from the district of La Paz in Iloilo City.
Bicol Express can be described as pork cooked in coconut milk with shrimp paste and chilies. No wonder the name of this dish was derived from a Philippine region (Bicol) wherein Coconuts are abundant and the use of chilies is emphasized in most local meals.
Bistik Tagalog – Strips of sirloin beef slowly cooked in soy sauce, calamansi juice and onions.
Bulalo – beef shank stew.
Chicharon or Pork Crackling – a popular finger food in the Philippines. It is made of deep fried pork rind which is crispy and delicious.
Chicharon Bulaklak – a deep-fried ruffled fat and popular Filipino appetizer.
Chicken Curry – a chicken spicy dish with curry, coconut milk, and other condiments.
Cocido – a broth pot of chickpeas, with lots of meat and vegetables … In any variation; however, it is the luscious Spanish garbanzos that are the soul of the dish.
Crispy Pata – is pig’s leg deeply fried.
Dinuguan – a type of stew made from pork and pig blood. This Filipino dish might not be for everyone, but those who developed an acquired taste for this dish will agree that they enjoy eating it; some would even recommend to eat dinuguan with puto. Puto is a type of steamed rice cake in Philippine cuisine and believed to be derived from Indian puttu of Tamil origin.
Dinakdakan – an appetizer dish that originated from the Ilocos Region, in the Philippines. This interesting dish is made-up of boiled and grilled pig parts – in which ears, liver, and face (mascara) are the most commonly used; other parts such as stomach and intestines can also be utilized.
Dinengding – a bagoong soup based dish similar to Pinakbet. It contains fewer vegetables and contains more bagoong soup base.
Embutido – a type of meatloaf prepared Filipino style. It is a well-known dish for the holidays; embutido can be enjoyed every day without any hassle. Several meat processing companies now produce this meatloaf for commercial purposes.
Empanada – pastry shell turnovers made by folding dough over a filling, sealing it, and cooking it, either by baking or frying. Just about every Caribbean island hasa recipe for sweet or savory fillings,
Estofado -a sweet stew composed of pork belly (liempo) or chicken, saba banana, and carrots. The components are cooked in mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. This estofado recipe is a mild version similar to humba and adobo.
Gambas – sauteed shrimps in garlic chili oil is a very tasty appetizer and a viand too.
Hamonado – pork sweetened in pineapple sauce deep-fried pig’s leg.
Humba – sweet pork dish that resembles the famous pork adobo in terms of appearance. This is popular in the southern parts of the Philippines and is considered as one of the delicacies of the region. Pork belly, pork hocks, and pork ham are the 3 most common pig parts used to make this delightful masterpiece.
Kaldereta – goat or beef meat in tomato sauce stew.
Kare-Kare – oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce.
Leche Flan – known as crème caramel and caramel custard served as a dessert made-up of eggs and milk with a soft caramel on top.
Lechón – the whole roasted pig.
Lechon kawali or Pan-Roasted pork – to some is different from Lechon, the well-known Filipino dish which is also the national dish of the Philippines. While lechon is cooked in a pit filled with flamed charcoal, Lechon kawali is cooked by boiling then later deep frying a portion of the pig (pork belly usually).
Liempo Estofado – a sweet stew composed of pork belly (liempo), saba banana, and carrots. The components are cooked in mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
Longganisa – the Philippine sausage.
Lumpiang Shanghai or Spring Rolls – a dish made-up of ground pork or beef, minced onion, carrots, and spices with the mixture held together by beaten egg. It is of Chinese origin (originally called lumpia) and was brought to the Philippines by Chinese.
Mechado – a meat dish where the larded beef is cooked, sliced, and served in the seasoned tomato sauce it is cooked in.
Menudo – composed of a stew of pork meat and liver cubes with potatoes, carrots and tomato sauce. But we can also use Chicken meat instead of pork meat and add chickpeas (garbansos) in your vegetable mixture.
Morcon – a Filipino meat roll stuffed with sausage or hotdogs, carrots, pickles, cheese, and egg. This is considered as a holiday dish and is usually served during Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Paella – an authentic rice dish studded with chicken, chorizo, clams, shrimp and lobster.
Pancit Bijon Guisado – stir-fried vermicelli noodles with vegetables and pork or chicken.
Papaitan na Kambing – bitter goat stew or goat innard stew is a popular Ilocano dish composed of goat’s innards such ad tripe, lungs, intestines, kidneys and of course the bile. The bile is used to make the stew bitter but the authentic Ilocano papaitan uses the green enzymes from the small intestines.
Pesang Tilapia – stewed tilapia in miso, tomato sauce rice washing and spices. This recipe is a variation of the original pesang dalag which does not have miso and tomato sauce.
Pinakbet – a popular Ilocano dish made of different vegetables like okra, eggplant and bitter gourd cooked in fish sauce.
Puso – a type of rice cake from South East Asia made from rice that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch or banana leaves then boiled.
Sisig – a popular appetizer (pulutan) turned main dish that originated from the culinary capital of the Philippines.
Pancit Molo – a soup dish that uses either wonton, soimai or molo wrappers.
Pancit Palabok – a noodle dish with shrimp sauce and topped with several ingredients such as cooked shrimp, boiled pork, crushed chicharon, tinapa flakes, fried tofu, scallions, and fried garlic.
Puchero – a beef dish with bananas and tomato sauce.
Rellenong Talong – a delicious eggplant recipe. It is sort of a mixture of dry pork giniling and tortang talong.
Sinigang – a meat or seafood dish with a sour broth.
Tapa -cured beef.
Tocino – A cured meat product native to the Philippines. It is usually made out of pork although beef is also used and is cured using sugar which gives it its “ham-like” glaze.
Torta – omelette with ground pork.
For more information about Philippine cuisine, click HERE.