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Philippine cuisine

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Title: Philippine cuisine  
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Subject: List of Philippine dishes, List of Asian cuisines, Maja blanca, Philippine literature, Max's of Manila
Collection: Philippine Cuisine
Publisher: World Heritage Encyclopedia

Philippine cuisine

Filipino cuisine
Barbecue and meat




  • History and influences 1
  • Characteristics 2
  • Common dishes 3
  • Breakfast 4
  • Merienda 5
  • Pulutan 6
  • Breads and pastries 7
  • Fiesta food 8
  • Regional specialties 9
    • Northern Philippine cuisine 9.1
    • Central Philippine cuisine 9.2
    • Southern Philippine cuisine 9.3
  • Main dishes 10
  • Side dishes and complements 11
  • Desserts 12
  • Street food and other snacks 13
  • Exotic dishes 14
  • Cooking methods 15
  • Beverage 16
    • Chilled drinks and shakes 16.1
      • Brewed Beverage 16.1.1
    • Alcoholic Beverage 16.2
  • See also 17
  • References 18
  • Further reading 19
  • External links 20

History and influences

Filipino arroz caldo

During the pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines, the preferred Austronesian methods for food preparation were boiling, steaming and roasting. The ingredients for common dishes were obtained from locally raised livestock. These ranged from kalabaw (water buffaloes), baka (cows), manok (chickens) and baboy (pigs) to various kinds of fish and seafood. In 3200 BCE, Austronesians from the southern China Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Taiwan settled in the region that is now called the Philippines. They brought with them knowledge of rice cultivation and other farming practices which increased the number and variety of edible dish ingredients available for cooking.[5]

Direct trade and cultural exchange with Hokkien China in the Philippines in the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) with porcelain, ceramics, and silk being traded for spices and trepang in Luzon.[6] This early cultural contact with China introduced a number of staple food into Philippine cuisine, most notably toyo (soy sauce; Chinese: 豆油; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-yu), tokwa; (tofu; Chinese: 豆干; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), toge (bean sprout; Chinese: 豆芽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), and patis (fish sauce), as well as the method of stir frying and making savory soup bases. Many of these food items and dishes retained their original Hokkien names, such as pancit (Chinese: 便ê食; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: piān-ê-si̍t)(Chinese: 扁食; pinyin: biǎn shí), and lumpia (Chinese: 潤餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ).[6] The Chinese food introduced during this period were food of the workers and traders, which became a staple of the noodle shops (panciterias), and can be seen in dishes like arroz caldo (congee), sinangag (fried rice), chopsuey.

Trade with the various neighboring kingdoms of Malacca and Srivijaya in Malaya and Java brought with it foods and cooking methods which are still commonly used in the Philippines today, such as Bagoong (Malay: Belacan), Patis, Puso (Malay: Ketupat), Rendang, Kare-kare and the infusion of coconut milk in condiments, such as laing and Ginataang Manok (chicken stewed in coconut milk). Through the trade with the Malay-Indonesian kingdoms, cuisine from as far away as India and Arabia enriched the palettes of the local Austronesians (particularly in the areas of southern Luzon, Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan, the Visayas and Bicol, where trade was strongest). These foods include various dishes eaten in areas of the southern part of the archipelago today, such as puto derived from Indian cuisine puttu, kurmah, satti and biryani.

Spanish colonizers and friars in the 16th century brought with them produce from the Americas like chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions. Chili leaves are frequently used as a cooking green. Spanish (and Mexican) dishes were eventually incorporated into Philippine cuisine with the more complex dishes usually being prepared for special occasions. Some dishes such as arroz a la valenciana remain largely the same in the Philippine context. Some have been adapted or have come to take on a slightly or significantly different meaning. Arroz a la cubana served in the Philippines usually includes ground beef picadillo. Philippine longganisa despite its name is more akin to chorizo than Spanish longaniza (in Visayan regions, it is still known as chorizo). Morcon is likely to refer to a beef roulade dish not the bulbous specialty Spanish sausage.

Today, Philippine cuisine continues to evolve as new techniques, styles of cooking, and ingredients find their way into the country. Traditional dishes both simple and elaborate, indigenous and foreign-influenced, are seen as are more current popular international viands and fast food fare. However, the Filipino diet is higher in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than other Asian cuisines.[7]


A large Bibingka topped with grated coconut


Counterpoint is a feature in Philippine cuisine which normally comes in a pairing of something sweet with something salty, and results in surprisingly pleasing combinations. Examples include: champorado (a sweet cocoa rice porridge), being paired with tuyo (salted, sun-dried fish); dinuguan (a savory stew made of pig's blood and innards), paired with puto (sweet, steamed rice cakes); unripe fruits such as mangoes (which are only slightly sweet but very sour), are eaten dipped in salt or bagoong; the use of cheese (which is salty) in sweetcakes (such as bibingka and puto), as well as an ice cream flavoring.


Cooking and eating in the Philippines has traditionally been an informal and communal affair centered around the family kitchen. Filipinos traditionally eat three main meals a day: agahan or almusal (breakfast), tanghalían (lunch), and hapunan (dinner) plus an afternoon snack called meriénda (also called minandál or minindál). Snacking is normal. Dinner, while still the main meal, is smaller than other countries. Usually, either breakfast or lunch is the largest meal. Food tends to be served all at once and not in courses. Unlike many of their Asian counterparts Filipinos do not eat with chopsticks. Due to Western influence, food is often eaten using flatware—forks, knives, spoons—but the primary pairing of utensils used at a Filipino dining table is that of spoon and fork not knife and fork. The traditional way of eating is with the hands, especially dry dishes such as inihaw or prito. The diner will take a bite of the main dish, then eat rice pressed together with his fingers. This practice, known as kamayan, is rarely seen in urbanized areas. However, Filipinos tend to feel the spirit of kamayan when eating amidst nature during out of town trips, beach vacations, and town fiestas.[8]

Common dishes

Rice is a staple food in Philippine cuisine

As with most Asian countries, the staple food in the Philippines is rice.[9] It is most often steamed and served during meals. Leftover rice is often fried with garlic to make sinangag, which is usually served at breakfast together with a fried egg and cured meat or sausages. Rice is often enjoyed with the sauce or broth from the main dishes. In some regions, rice is mixed with salt, condensed milk, cocoa, or coffee. Rice flour is used in making sweets, cakes and other pastries. While rice is the main staple food, bread is also a common staple.



The most common way of having fish is to have it salted, pan-fried or deep-fried, and then eaten as a simple meal with rice and vegetables. It may also be cooked in a sour broth of tomatoes or tamarind as in pangat, prepared with vegetables and a souring agent to make sinigang, simmered in vinegar and peppers to make paksiw, or roasted over hot charcoal or wood (inihaw). Other preparations include escabeche (sweet and sour), relleno (deboned and stuffed), or "kinilaw" (similar to ceviche; marinated in vinegar or kalamansi). Fish can be preserved by being smoked (tinapa) or sun-dried (tuyo or daing).

Food is often served with various dipping sauces. Fried food is often dipped in vinegar, soy sauce, juice squeezed from Kalamansi (Philippine lime or calamansi), or a combination of two or all. Patis (fish sauce) may be mixed with kalamansi as dipping sauce for most seafood. Fish sauce, fish paste (bagoong), shrimp paste (bagoong alamang) and crushed ginger root (luya) are condiments that are often added to dishes during the cooking process or when served.






Puto in banana leaf liners


Filipinos have a number of options to take with kapé, which is the Filipino pronunciation of café (coffee): breads and pastries like pandesal, ensaymada (buttery brioche covered in grated cheese and sugar), hopia (pastries similar to mooncakes filled with mung bean paste) and empanada (savoury, meat-filled pasties). Also popular are kakanín, or traditional pastries made from sticky rice like kutsintâ, sapin-sapin (multicoloured, layered pastry), palitaw, bikò, suman, bibingka, and pitsi-pitsî (served with desiccated coconut).

Savoury dishes often eaten during merienda include pancit canton (stir-fried noodles), palabok (rice noodles with a shrimp-based sauce), tokwa't baboy (fried tofu with boiled pork ears in a garlic-flavoured soy sauce and vinegar dressing), and dinuguan (a spicy stew made of pork blood), which is often served with puto (steamed rice flour cakes).

Dim sum and dumplings, brought to the islands by Fujianese migrants, have been given a Filipino touch and are also popular merienda fare. Street food, such as squid balls and fish balls, are often skewered on bamboo sticks and consumed with soy sauce and the sour juice of the calamondin as condiments.


Pulutan[11] (from the Filipino word pulutin which literally means "something that is picked up") is a term roughly analogous to the English term "finger food" or Spanish Tapas. Originally, it was a snack accompanied with liquor or beer but has found its way into Philippine cuisine as appetizers or, in some cases, main dishes, as in the case of sisig.

Deep fried pulutan include chicharrón (also spelled chicharon or tsitsaron), pork rinds that have been boiled and then twice fried, the second frying gives the crunchiness and golden color; chicharong bituka, pig intestines that have been deep fried to a crisp; chicharong bulaklak, similar to chicharong bituka it is made from mesenteries of pig intestines and has a bulaklak or flower appearance; and chicharong manok, chicken skin that has been deep fried until crisp.

Some grilled foods include Isaw that is chicken or pig intestines skewered and then grilled; Inihaw na tenga, pig ears that have been skewered and then grilled; pork barbecue which is skewered pork marinated in a usually sweet soy-garlic blend then grilled; betamax, salted solidified pork or chicken blood which is skewered and lightly grilled; adidas which is grilled or sautéed chicken feet. And there is sisig a popular pulutan made from the pig's cheek skin, ears and liver that is initially boiled, then charcoal grilled and afterwards minced and cooked with chopped onions, chillies, and spices.

Smaller snacks such as mani (peanuts) are often sold boiled in the shell, salted, spiced or flavored with garlic by street vendors in the Philippines. Another snack is kropeck, which is fish crackers.

Tokwa't baboy is fried tofu with boiled pork marinated in a garlic-flavored soy sauce or vinegar dip. It is also served as a side dish to pancit luglog or pancit palabok.

Breads and pastries

A mille-feuille pastry

In a typical Filipino bakery, pandesal, monay and ensaymada are often sold. Pandesal comes from the Spanish pan de sal (literally, bread of salt), and is a ubiquitous breakfast fare, normally eaten with (and sometimes even dipped in) coffee. It typically takes the form of a bread roll, and is usually baked covered in bread crumbs. Contrary to what its name implies, pandesal is not particularly salty as very little salt is used in baking it. Monay is a firmer slightly denser heavier bread. Ensaymada, from the Spanish ensaimada, is a pastry made using butter and often topped with sugar and shredded cheese that is especially popular during Christmas. It is sometimes made with fillings such as ube (purple yam) and macapuno (a variety of coconut the meat of which is often cut into strings, sweetened, preserved, and served in desserts). Also commonly sold in Filipino bakeries is pan de coco, a sweet roll filled with shredded coconut mixed with molasses. Putok, which literally means "explode", refers to a small, hard bread roll whose cratered surface is glazed with sugar. Kababayan is a small, sweet gong-shaped muffin that has a moist consistency. Spanish bread refers to a rolled pastry which looks like a croissant prior to being given a crescent shape, and has a filling consisting of sugar and butter.

There are also rolls like pianono, which is a chiffon roll flavored with different fillings. Brazo de mercedes, a rolled cake or jelly roll, is made from a sheet of meringue rolled around a custard filling. Similar to the previous dessert, it takes on a layered presentation instead of being rolled and typically features caramelized sugar and nuts for sans rival. Silvañas are large, oval-shaped, cookie-sized desserts, with a thin meringue on either side of a buttercream filling and dusted with crumbed cookies. Not overly sweet, they are rich, crisp, chewy, and buttery all at the same time. Barquillos use sweet thin crunchy wafers rolled into tubes that can be sold hollow or filled with polvoron (sweetened and toasted flour mixed with ground nuts). Meringues are also present in the Philippines, due to the Spanish influence, but they are called merengue – with all the vowels pronounced. Leche flan is a type of caramel custard made with eggs and milk similar to the French creme caramel. Leche flan (the local term for the originally Spanish flan de leche, literally "milk flan"), which is a heavier version of the Spanish flan made with condensed milk and more egg yolks. Leche flan is usually steamed over an open flame or stove top, although rarely it can also be seen baked. Leche flan is a staple in celebratory feasts.


Bag of pandesal

The egg pie with a very rich egg custard filling is a mainstay in local bakeries. It is typically baked so that the exposed custard on top is browned. Buko pie is made with a filling made from young coconut meat and dairy. Mini pastries like turrones de casuy are made up of cashew marzipan wrapped with a wafer made to resemble a candy wrapper but take on a miniature look of a pie in a size of about a quarter. There is also napoleones – again with all the vowels pronounced – a mille-feuille pastry stuffed with a sweet milk-based filling.

There are hard pastries like biskotso a crunchy, sweet, twice-baked bread. Another baked goody is sinipit which is a sweet pastry covered in a crunchy sugar glaze, made to resemble a length of rope. Similar to sinipit is a snack eaten on roadsides colloquially called shingaling. It is hollow but crunchy with a salty flavor.

For a softer treat there is mamon a chiffon-type cake sprinkled with sugar, its name derived from a slang Spanish term for breast. There's also crema de fruta, which is an elaborate sponge cake topped in succeeding layers of cream, custard, candied fruit, and gelatine. Similar to a sponge cake is mamoncillo which generally refers to slices taken from a large mamon cake, but it is unrelated to the fruit of the same name. Sandwich pastries like inipit are made with two thin layers of chiffon sandwiching a filling of custard that is topped with butter and sugar. Another mamon variant is mamon tostada, basically mamoncillo toasted to a crunchy texture.

Stuffed pastries of both Western and Eastern influence are common. One can find empanadas, turnover-type pastry filled with a savory-sweet meat filling. Typically made with ground meat and raisins, it can be deep fried or baked. Siopao is the local version of Chinese baozi. Buchi is another snack probably of Chinese origin. Bite-sized, buchi is made of deep-fried dough balls (often from rice flour) filled with a sweet mung bean paste, and coated on the outside with sesame seeds, some variants have ube as the filling. There are also many varieties of the mooncake-like hopia, which come in different shapes (from a flat, circular stuffed form, to cubes), and have different textures (predominantly using flaky pastry, but sometimes like the ones in mooncakes) and fillings.

Fiesta food

Lechón being roasted in Cadiz City, Philippines.

For festive occasions, people band together and prepare more sophisticated dishes. Tables are often laden with expensive and labor-intensive treats requiring hours of preparation. In Filipino celebrations, lechón (also spelled litson)[12] serves as the centerpiece of the dinner table. It is usually a whole roasted pig, but suckling pigs (lechonillo, or lechon de leche) or cattle calves (lechong baka) can also be prepared in place of the popular adult pig. It is typically served with lechon sauce. Other dishes include hamonado (honey-cured beef, pork or chicken), relleno (stuffed chicken or milkfish), mechado, afritada, caldereta, puchero, paella, menudo, morcon, embutido (referring to a meatloaf dish, not a sausage as understood elsewhere), suman (a savory rice and coconut milk concoction steamed in leaves such as banana), and pancit canton. The table may also be have various sweets and pastries such as leche flan, ube, sapin-sapin, sorbetes (ice creams), totong (a rice, coconut milk and mongo bean pudding), ginataan (a coconut milk pudding with various root vegetables and tapioca pearls), and gulaman (an agar jello-like ingredient or dessert).

Christmas Eve, known as Noche Buena, is the most important feast. During this evening, the star of the table is the Christmas ham and Edam cheese (queso de bola). Supermarkets are laden with these treats during the Christmas season and are popular giveaways by Filipino companies in addition to red wine, brandy, groceries, or pastries. Available mostly during the Christmas season and sold in front of churches along with bibingka, puto bumbong is a purple yam-flavored puto.

More common at celebrations than in everyday home meals, lumpiang sariwa, sometimes referred to as fresh lumpia, is a fresh spring roll that consists of a soft crepe wrapped around a filling that can include strips of kamote (sweet potato), singkamas (jicama), bean sprouts, green beans, cabbage, carrots and meat (often pork). It can be served warm or cold and typically with a sweet peanut and garlic sauce. Ukoy is shredded papaya combined with small shrimp (and occasionally bean sprouts) and fried to make shrimp patties. It is often eaten with vinegar seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. Both lumpiang sariwa and ukoy are often accompanied together in Filipino parties. Lumpiang sariwa has Chinese origins, having been derived from popiah.

Regional specialties

Pinakbet with shrimp
Sapin-sapin, a Filipino rice-based delicacy
Filipino Cuisine prepared in Baliuag, Bulacan.

The Philippine islands are home to various ethnic groups resulting in varied regional cuisines.

Northern Philippine cuisine

Ilocanos, from the rugged Ilocos region, boast of a diet heavy in boiled or steamed vegetables and freshwater fish, but they are particularly fond of dishes flavored with bagoong, fermented fish that is often used instead of salt. Ilocanos often season boiled vegetables with bagoong monamon (fermented anchovy paste) to produce pinakbet. Local specialties include the soft white larvae of ants and "jumping salad" of tiny live shrimp.




Kapampangan cuisine makes use of all the produce in the region available to the native cook. Among the treats produced in Pampanga are longganisa (original sweet and spicy sausages), calderetang kambing (savory goat stew), and tocino (sweetened cured pork). Combining pork cheeks and offal, Kapampangans make sisig.

Bulacan is popular for chicharon (pork rinds) and steamed rice and tuber cakes like puto. It is a center for panghimagas or desserts, like brown rice cake or kutsinta, sapin-sapin, suman, cassava cake, halaya ube and the king of sweets, in San Miguel, Bulacan, the famous carabao milk candy pastillas de leche, with its pabalat wrapper.[13]

Isabela is known for Pancit Cabagan of Cabagan, Inatata & Binallay of Ilagan City are rice cakes prepared year-round in the city and both famous delicacies specially during the lenten season. Cagayan for its famous Carabao Milk Candy in the town Alcala and Tuguegarao City for Pancit Batil Patung and Buko Roll.





Central Philippine cuisine

Bicol is noted for its gastronomic appetite for the fiery or chili-hot dishes.[14] Perhaps the most well-known Bicolano dish is the very spicy Bicol express. The region is also the well-known home of natong also known as laing or pinangat (a pork or fish stew in taro leaves).


Iloilo is home of the Batchoy, derived from “Ba-chui” meaning pieces of meat in Chinese. The authentic Batchoy contains fresh egg noodles called miki, buto-buto broth slow-cooked for hours, and beef, pork and bulalo mixed with the local guinamos (shrimp paste). Toppings include generous amounts of fried garlic, crushed chicharon,scallions, slices of pork intestines and liver.[16] Iloilo, is also famous for its two kadios or pigeon pea-based soups. The first is KBL or "Kadios Baboy Langka". As the name implies, the three main ingredients of this dish are kadyos, baboy (pork), and langka (unripe jackfruit is used here).[17] Another one is KMU or "Kadios Manok Ubad". This dish is composed mainly of kadyos, manok (preferably free range chicken called Bisaya nga Manok in Iloilo), and ubad(thinly cut white core of the banana stalk/trunk).[18] Both of these dishes utilize another Ilonggo ingredient as a souring agent. This ingredient is batwan or Garcinia binucao, a fruit closely related to mangosteen, which is very popular in Western Visayas but is generally unknown to other parts of the Philippines.[19]

Roxas City is another food destination in Western Visayas aside from Iloilo and Bacolod Cities. This seaside city that's about two to three hours by bus from Iloilo City is the hailed as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines due to its bountiful seas. rivers, and estuaries. Numerous seafood dishes are served in the city's Baybay area from mussels, oysters, scallops, prawns, seaweeds, clams, fish and many more.


Southern Philippine cuisine

The Southern Philippine dish Satti, served with Ta'mu (ketupat) rice cakes.


Well-known dishes from the region include Satti (satay) and ginataang manok (chicken cooked in spiced coconut milk). Certain parts of Mindanao are predominantly Muslim, where pork is rarely consumed.

Rendang, is an often spicy beef curry whose origins derive from the Minangkabau people of Sumatra; biryani and kiyoning (pilaf) are dishes originally from the Middle East, that were given a Mindanaoan touch and served on special occasions.

Pyanggang is a Tausug dish made from barbecued chicken marinaded in spices, and served with coconut milk infused with toasted coconut meat.


Sambal, a spicy sauce made with belacan, tamarind, aromatic spices and chillies, is a popular base of many dishes in the region.


Lamaw (Buko salad), is a mixture of young coconut, its juice, milk and/or orange juice, with ice.

Main dishes

Crispy Pata
Chicken adobo
Bistek Tagalog, strips of sirloin beef slowly cooked in soy sauce, calamansi juice, and onions.


Some well-known stews are kare-kare and dinuguan. In kare-kare, also known as "peanut stew", oxtail or ox tripe is the main ingredient and is cooked with vegetables in a peanut-based preparation. It is typically served with bagoong (fermented shrimp paste). In dinuguan, pig's blood, entrails, and meat are cooked with vinegar and seasoned with chili peppers, usually siling mahaba.

Paksiw refers to different vinegar-based stews that differ greatly from one another based on the type of meat used. Paksiw na isda uses fish and usually includes the addition of ginger, fish sauce, and maybe siling mahaba and vegetables. Paksiw na baboy is a paksiw using pork, usually pork hocks, and often sees the addition of sugar, banana blossoms, and water so that the meat is stewed in a sweet sauce. A similar Visayan dish called humba adds fermented black beans. Both dishes are probably related to pata tim which is of Chinese origin. Paksiw na lechon is made from lechon meat and features the addition of ground liver or liver spread. This adds flavor and thickens the sauce so that it starts to caramelize around the meat by the time dish is finished cooking. Although some versions of paksiw dishes are made using the same basic ingredients as adobo, they are prepared differently, with other ingredients added and the proportions of ingredients and water being different.

In crispy pata, pork knuckles (the pata) are marinated in garlic-flavored vinegar then deep fried until crisp and golden brown, with other parts of the pork leg prepared in the same way. Lechon manok is the Filipino take on rotisserie chicken. Available in many hole-in-the-wall stands or restaurant chains (e.g. Andok's, Baliwag, Toto's, Sr. Pedro's, G.S. Pagtakhan's), it is typically a specially seasoned chicken roasted over a charcoal flame served with "sarsa" or lechon sauce made from mashed pork liver, starch, sugar, and spices.

Mechado, kaldereta, and afritada are Spanish influenced tomato sauce-based dishes that are somewhat similar to one another. In these dishes meat is cooked in tomato sauce, minced garlic, and onions. Mechado gets its name from the pork fat that is inserted in a slab of beef making it look like a wick (mitsa) coming out of a beef "candle". The larded meat is then cooked in a seasoned tomato sauce and later sliced and served with the sauce it was cooked in. Kaldereta can be beef but is also associated with goat. Chunks of meat are cooked in tomato sauce, minced garlic, chopped onions, peas, carrots, bell peppers and potatoes to make a stew with some recipes calling for the addition of soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, chilies, ground liver or some combination thereof. Afritada tends to be the name given to the dish when chicken and pork is used. Another similar dish said to originate from the Rizal area is waknatoy. Pork or beef sirloin is combined with potatoes and cut sausages and cooked in a tomato-based sauce sweetened with pickles. Puchero is derived from the Spanish cocido; it is a sweeter stew that has beef and banana or plantain slices simmered in tomato sauce.

Pancit luglug topped with hardboiled eggs, shrimp, and chorizo.

Filipinos also eat tocino and longganisa. Tocino is a sweetened cured meat made with either chicken or pork and is marinated and cured for a number of days before being fried. Longganisa is a sweet or spicy sausage, typically made from pork though other meats can also be used, and are often colored red traditionally through the use of the anatto seed but also artificial food coloring.

Sinigang na baboy (Pork tamarind soup)

Filipino soups tend to be very hearty and stew-like containing large chunks of meat and vegetables or noodles. They are usually intended to be filling and not meant to be a light preparatory introduction for the main course. They tend to be served with the rest of the meal and eaten with rice when they are not meals unto themselves. They are often referred to on local menus under the heading sabaw (broth). Sinigang is a popular dish in this category distinguished by its sourness that often vies with adobo for consideration as the national dish. It is typically made with either pork, beef, chicken or seafood and made sour with tamarind or other suitable souring ingredients. Some seafood variants for example can be made sour by the use of guava fruit or miso. Another dish is tinola. It has large chicken pieces and green papaya slices cooked with chili, spinach, and moringa leaves in a ginger-flavored broth. Nilagang baka is a beef stew made with cabbages and other vegetables. Binacol is a warm chicken soup cooked with coconut water and served with strips of coconut meat. La Paz batchoy is a noodle soup garnished with pork innards, crushed pork cracklings, chopped vegetables, and topped with a raw egg. Another dish with the same name uses misua, beef heart, kidneys and intestines, but does not contain eggs or vegetables. Mami is a noodle soup made from chicken, beef, pork, wonton dumplings, or intestines (called laman-loob). Ma Mon Luk was known for it. Another chicken noodle soup is sotanghon, consisting of cellophane noodles (also called sotanghon and from whence the name of the dish is derived), chicken, and sometimes mushrooms.

Noodle dishes are generally called pancit. Pancit recipes primarily consist of noodles, vegetables, and slices of meat or shrimp with variations often distinguished by the type of noodles used. Some pancit, such as mami and La Paz-styled batchoy, are noodle soups while the "dry" varieties are comparable to chow mein in preparation. Then there is spaghetti or ispageti in the local parlance that is a modified version of spaghetti bolognese. It is sometimes made with banana ketchup instead of tomato sauce, sweetened with sugar and topped with hot dog slices.

There are several rice porridges that are popular in the Philippines. One is arroz caldo which is a rice porridge cooked with chicken, ginger and sometimes saffron, garnished with spring onions (chives), toasted garlic, and coconut milk to make a type of gruel. Another variant is goto which is an arroz caldo made with ox tripe. There is also another much different rice porridge called champorado which is sweet and flavored with chocolate and often served at breakfast paired with tuyo or daing.

Another rice-based dish is arroz a la valenciana, a Spanish paella named after the Spanish region Valencia that has been incorporated into the local cuisine. Bringhe is a local rice dish with some similarities to paella but using glutinous rice, coconut milk, and turmeric. Kiampong a type of fried rice topped with pork pieces, chives and peanuts. It can be found in Chinese restaurants in Binondo and Manila.

For vegetarians, there is dinengdeng, a dish consisting of moringa leaves (malunggay) and slices of bittermelon. There is also pinakbet, stewed vegetables heavily flavored with bagoong. A type of seafood salad known as kinilaw is made up of raw seafood such as fish or shrimp cooked only by steeping in local vinegar, sometimes with coconut milk, onions, spices and other local ingredients. It is comparable to the Peruvian ceviche.

Side dishes and complements




As a tropical oriental country it should come as no surprise there are many treats made from rice and coconuts. One often seen dessert is bibingka, a hot rice cake optionally topped with a pat of butter, slices of kesong puti (white cheese), itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs), and sometimes grated coconut. There are also glutinous rice sweets called biko made with sugar, butter, and coconut milk. There is also Karioka, made from glutinous rice flour, coconut, and coconut milk, fried and put on skewers with a brown sugar glaze. Another brown rice cake is kutsinta. Puto is another well known example of sweet steamed rice cakes prepared in many different sizes and colors. Sapin-sapin are three-layered, tri-colored sweets made with rice flour, purple yam, and coconut milk with its gelatinous appearance. Palitaw are rice patties covered with sesame seeds, sugar, and coconut; pitsi-pitsi which are cassava patties coated with cheese or coconut; and tibok-tibok is based on carabao milk as a de leche (similar to maja blanca). As a snack, binatog is created with corn kernels with shredded coconut. Packaged snacks wrapped in banana or palm leaves then steamed, suman are made from sticky rice.


Street food and other snacks

A hawker selling fish balls in the Philippines
An example of street foods in Manila, Philippines

Aside from pastries and desserts, there are heartier snacks for merienda that can also serve as an appetizer or side dish for a meal.Siomai is the local version of Chinese shaomai. Lumpia are spring rolls that can be either fresh or fried. Fresh lumpia (lumpiang sariwa) is usually made for fiestas or special occasions as it can be labor-intensive to prepare, while one version of fried lumpia (lumpiang prito), lumpiang shanghai is usually filled with ground pork and a combination of vegetables, and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.[20] Other variations are filled with minced pork and shrimp and accompanied by a vinegar-based dipping sauce. Lumpia has been commercialized in frozen food form.

There's a distinct range of street foods available in the Philippines. Some of these are skewered on sticks in the manner of a kebab. One such example is banana-cue which is a whole banana or plantain skewered on a short thin bamboo stick, rolled in brown sugar, and fried. Kamote-cue is a peeled sweet potato skewered on a stick, covered in brown sugar and then fried. Fish balls or squid balls are skewered on bamboo sticks then dipped in a sweet or savory sauce to be commonly sold frozen in markets and peddled by street vendors.

Turon, a kind of fried lumpia consisting of an eggroll or phyllo wrapper filled with plantain and jackfruit and sprinkled with sugar can also be found sold in streets.

Taho is a warm treat made up of soft beancurd which is the taho itself, dark caramel syrup called arnibal, and tapioca pearls. It is often sold in neighborhoods by street vendors who yell out "taho" in a manner like vendors in the stands at sporting events yell out "hotdogs" or "peanuts". Sometimes taho is served chilled or flavors have been added such as chocolate or strawberry. Taho is derived from the original Chinese snack food known as douhua.

There is also iskrambol (from the English "to scramble"), that is a kind of iced-based treat like a sorbet combined with various flavorings and usually topped with chocolate syrup. It is eaten by "scrambling" the contents or mixing them, then drinking with a large straw. It was later modified into ice scramble, or simply scramble, but with added skim milk, chocolate and/or strawberry syrup, and a choice of toppings such as marshmallows, chocolate or candy sprinkles, rice crispies, or tapioca pearls.

Street food featuring eggs include kwek-kwek which are hard-boiled quail eggs dipped in orange-dyed batter and then deep fried similar to tempura. Tokneneng is a larger version of kwek-kwek using chicken or duck eggs. Another Filipino egg snack is balut, essentially a boiled pre-hatched poultry egg, usually duck or chicken. These fertilized eggs are allowed to develop until the embryo reaches a pre-determined size and are then boiled. There is also another egg dish called penoy which is basically hard-boiled unfertilized duck eggs. Like taho, balut is advertised by street hawkers calling out their product.

Okoy also spelled as ukoy is another batter-covered, deep-fried street food in the Philippines. Along with the batter, it normally includes bean sprouts, shredded pumpkin and very small shrimps, shells and all. It is commonly dipped in a combination of vinegar and chilli.

Among other street food are already mentioned pulutan like isaw, seasoned hog or chicken intestines; betamax, roasted dried chicken blood served cut into and served as small cubes for which it received its name in resemblance to a Betamax tape; Adidas, chicken feet named after the popular shoe brand; and proven, the proventriculus of a chicken coated in cornstarch and deep-fried. There is also pinoy fries which are fries made from sweet potatoes.

Exotic dishes

Some exotic dishes in the Filipino diet are camaro, which are field crickets cooked in soy sauce, salt, and vinegar as it is popular in Pampanga; papaitan which is goat or beef innards stew flavored with bile that gives it a bitter (pait) taste; Soup No. 5 (Also spelled as "Soup #5") which is a soup made out of bull's testes,[21][22] and can be found in restaurants in Ongpin St., Binondo, Manila; and pinikpikan na manok that involves having a chicken beaten to death to tenderize the meat and to infuse it with blood. It is then burned in fire to remove its feathers then boiled with salt and itag (salt/smoke cured pork).[23][24] The act of beating the chicken in preparation of the dish apparently violates the Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998.[25]

Cooking methods


  • "Babad/Binabad/Ibinabad" − to marinate.
  • "Banli/Binanlian/Pabanli" − to blanch.
  • "Bagoong/Binagoongan/ – sa Bagoong" − cooked with fermented fish/shrimp paste bagoong.
  • "Buro/Binuro" − fermented.
  • "Guinataan/sa Gata" − cooked with coconut milk.
  • "Hinurno" – baked in an oven or roasted.
  • "Ihaw/Inihaw" − grilled over coals.
  • "Laga/Nilaga/Palaga" − boiled/braised.
  • "Nilasing" − cooked with an alcoholic beverage like wine or beer.
  • "Lechon/Litson/Nilechon" − roasted on a spit.
  • "Lumpia" – savory food wrapped with an edible wrapper.
  • "Minatamis" − sweetened.
  • "Paksiw/Pinaksiw" − cooked in vinegar.
  • "Pinakuluan" – boiled.
  • "Prito/Pinirito" − fried or deep fried. From the Spanish frito.
  • "Relleno/Relyeno" – stuffed.
  • "Tapa/Tinapa" – dried and smoked. Tapa refers to meat treated in this manner, mostly marinated and then dried and fried afterwards. Tinapa meanwhile is almost exclusively associated with smoked fish.
  • "Sarza/Sarciado" – cooked with a thick sauce.
  • "Sinangag" – garlic fried rice.
  • "Tosta/Tinosta/Tostado" – toasted.
  • "Turon/Turrones" - wrapped with an edible wrapper; dessert counterpart of lumpia.


Chilled drinks and shakes

Sago't Gulaman

Chilled drinks are popular due to the tropical climate. Stands selling cold fruit drinks and fruit shakes are common in many of the city areas, where some are based on green mandarin orange (dalandan or dalanghita), pomelo (suha), pineapple (pinya), banana (saging), and soursop (guyabano). The shakes usually contain crushed ice, evaporated or condensed milk, and fruits like the perennially popular mango. Other fruit flavors are melon, papaya, avocado, watermelon, strawberry, and durian to name a few.

Other chilled drinks include sago't gulaman a flavored iced-drink of pre-hispanic Malay origin (Malay: gula melaka) with sago and agar gelatin with banana extract sometimes added to the accompanying syrup; fresh buko or coconut juice, the water or juice straight out of a young coconut via an inserted straw, a less fresh variation of which is made out of bottled coconut juice, scraped coconut flesh, sugar, and water; and kalamansi juice, the juice of kalamansi or Philippine limes usually sweetened with honey, syrup or sugar.

Brewed Beverage

The Philippines is a predominantly coffee drinking country. Coffee from the cool mountains of

  • Philippine cuisine at DMOZ
  • McGeown, Kate (12 September 2012). "Philippine chefs look to take national cuisine mainstream".  

External links

  • Alcuaz, N.T. (2005). Banana Leaves: Filipino Cooking and Much More. Victoria: Trafford.  
  • Alejandro, Reynaldo. (1985). The Philippine Cookbook. New York: Perigee Books. p. 13.  
  • Aleson, Susana, Alice Gratil, Lota Ignacio, Mhila Baiyon, Gladys Moya, and Virginia Zarate. (1998). Cocina Filipina (in Spanish). Barcelona: Icaria.  
  • Arroyo, Patricia T. (1974). The Science of Philippine food. Quezon City: Abaniko Enterprises.
  • Barreto, Glenda R. (2007). Flavors of the Philippines – A Culinary Guide to the Best of the Islands. Manila: Anvil.  
  • Barreto, Glenda R., Conrad Calalang, Margarita Fores, Myrna Segismundo, Jessie Sincioco, and Claude Tayag. (2008). Kulinarya – A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine (Michaela Fenix, Ed.). Manila: Asia Society. ISBN 971-27-2108-6.
  • Bernardino, Minnie. (September 27, 1990). "Breakfast – 8 Places Off the Beaten-Egg Track – Ethnic fare: Breakfast is many things to many peoples, as L.A.'s restaurants prove. A sampling from the variety available to a.m. adventurers. – Filipino". Los Angeles Times.
  • Bayhon-Yrastorza, Caren. (December 16, 2010). Recipe: Chicken relleno for Noche Buena. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  • Classic, fail-safe 'Noche Buena' recipes. (December 24, 2009). ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  • Davidson, Alan and Tom Jaine. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Food (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 600–601. ISBN 0-19-280681-5.
  • DuJunco, Mercedes. (2006). "Luzon, Philippines". In Sean Williams. The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook: Complete Meals from Around the World. New York: Routledge. p. 85.  
  • Fernandez, Doreen. (1988). "Culture Ingested: On the Indigenization of Philippine Food". In E.N. Alegre & D. G. Fernandez (Eds.) Sarap: Essays on Philippine Food. Manila: Mr. & Ms. Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  • Gelle, Gerry G. (2008). Filipino Cuisine: Recipes from the Islands (3rd ed.). Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-89013-513-4.
  • Halili, Maria Christine N. (2004). Philippine History. Rex Bookstore. pp. 42–50.  
  • International Business Publications, USA. (2008). Philippines Country Study Guide (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications, USA. pp. 111–113.  
  • Nolan, James L. (1996). Philippines Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business with the Philippines. San Rafael: World Trade Press. p. 143.  
  • Orosa, Maria Y. and Helen Orosa del Rosario. (1970). Maria Y. Orosa, Her Life and Work (Helen Orosa del Rosario, Ed.). [Quezon City:] R. P. Garcia Pub. Co.
  • Philippine Cuisine. (n.d.). Tagalog at NIU. Retrieved 2011-01-17 from the Northern Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, SEAsite Project.
  • Rodell, Paul A. (2002). Culture and Customs of the Philippines. Westport: Greenwood. p. 102.  
  • Rowthorn, Chris and Greg Bloom. (2006). Philippines (9th ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 47.  
  • Solomon, Charmaine. (2002). The Complete Asian Cookbook (2nd ed.). Turtle Publishing. pp. 347–366.  
  • Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente. (2006). The Governor-General's Kitchen – Philippine Culinary Vignettes and Period Recipes – 1521–1935. Manila: Anvil.  
  • Zibart, Eve. (2001). The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: Understanding the Cuisines of the World. Menasha Ridge Press. pp. 266–280.  
  • Zibart, Eve. (2000-09-08). "Fare Minded – Sam's II: Philippine Soul Food".  

Further reading

  2. ^ Civitello, Linda (2011). Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People. John Wiley and Sons. p. 263.  
  3. ^ Philippines Country Study Guide. Int'l Business Publications. 2007. p. 111.  
  4. ^ "Philippine Cuisine." Accessed July 2011.
  5. ^ Knuuttila, Kyle. (c. 2006). Rice in the Philippines. Retrieved 2010-10-03 from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University.
  6. ^ a b Wu, David Y.H.; Cheung, Sidney C.H. (2002), The globalization of Chinese food, Curzon 
  7. ^ Goyan Kittler, Pamela; Sucher, Kathryn (2007). Food and Culture.  
  8. ^ "Philippines – Eating Habits & Hospitality". The Global Gourmet. Retrieved 2006-11-21. 
  9. ^ "Rice in the Philippines". International Rice Research Institute. 
  10. ^ "Pakaplog". Pinoy Slang. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
  11. ^ "Philippines: Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern". Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
  13. ^ "100% Pinoy: Pinoy Panghimagas". (2008-07-04). [Online video clip.] GMA News. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  14. ^ "Bicol Native Cuisine". Camarines Sur Provincial Government. 
  15. ^ "Foods You Shouldn’t Miss When Visiting Bacolod". Islands of the Philippines. Retrieved 26 June 2013. 
  16. ^ Diaz, Anton. "Ilo-ilo Food Trip". Our Awesome Planet. Retrieved 27 June 2013. 
  17. ^ Flavors of Iloilo
  18. ^ Flavors of Iloilo
  19. ^ Bureau of Agricultural Research Chronicle
  20. ^ Besa, Amy and Romy Dorotan. (2006). Memories of Philippine Kitchens. Stewart, Tabori & Chang.  
  21. ^ "Bizarre food with Andrew Zimmern – Philippines". Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
  22. ^ Sutherland, Matthew. (2000-02-06). "All a matter of taste". The Filipino Express. Retrieved 2010-10-03 from
  23. ^ Fenix, Mickey. (2006-06-07). "Ringside view of pinikpikan process". The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2009-12-14. 
  24. ^ Johnson, Jody. (2006-05-28). "Killing me softly". [Weblog Entry.] Jody's Peace Corp Experience. Retrieved 2009-12-13. 
  25. ^ Republic of the Philippines. "The Animal Welfare Act 1998". Retrieved 2006-12-04. In all the above mentioned cases, including those of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles the killing of the animals shall be done through humane procedures at all times. 
  26. ^ "Garcia's Pure Coffee". Garcia's Kape, Tinapay Atbp. Retrieved March 21, 2013. 
  27. ^ "Starbucks in the Philippines". 
  28. ^ "Tea in the Philippines". 
  29. ^ "Philippine Medicinal Plants - Tsaang Gubat". 
  30. ^ Consunji, Bianca. "The Mad Tea Party". Inquirer. 
  31. ^ "Tablea Chocolate Cafe". 


See also

Tapuy is a traditional Philippine alcoholic drink made from fermented glutinous rice. It is a clear wine of luxurious alcoholic taste, moderate sweetness and lingering finish. Its average alcohol content is 14% or 28 proof, and does not contain any preservatives or sugar. To increase the awareness of tapuy, the Philippine Rice Research Institute created a cookbook containing recipes and cocktails from famous Philippine chefs and bartenders, featuring tapuy as one of the ingredients.

Lambanog is an alcoholic beverage most commonly described as coconut wine or coconut vodka. The drink is distilled from the sap of the unopened coconut flower, and is known for its potency and high alcohol content (80 and 90 proof). Most of the Lambanog distilleries are in the Quezon province of Luzon, Philippines. Constant efforts at standardizing lambanog production led to its better quality. The Lambanog now is already being exported to other countries and continues to win foreign customers due to its non-chemical ingredients as well as its potency.

Tuba (toddy) is a type of hard liquor made from fresh drippings extracted from a cut young stem of palm. The cutting of the palm stem usually done early in the morning by a mananguete, a person whose profession involves climbing palm trees and extracting the tuba to supply to customers later in the day. The morning accumulated palm juice or drippings from a cut stem is then harvested by noon then brought to buyers then prepared for consumption. Sometimes this is done twice a day so that there are two harvests of tuba in a day occurring first at noon-time and later in the late-afternoon. Normally, tuba has to be consumed right after the mananguete brings it over or it becomes too sour to be consumed as a drink. Any remaining unconsumed tuba is then often stored in jars for several days to become palm vinegar. Tuba can be distilled to produce lambanog (arrack), a neutral liquor often noted for its relatively high alcohol content.

Several gins, both local varieties like Ginebra San Miguel (as well as GSM Blue and GSM Premium Gin) and imported brands like Gilbey's, are commonly found. Some people refer to gin by the shape of the bottle: bilog for a circular bottle and kwatro kantos (literally meaning four corners) for a square or rectangular bottle. Gin is sometimes combined with other ingredients to come up with variations.

Rum is often associated with Tanduay. For serbesa (beer), the most popular choices in restaurants and bars are San Miguel Beer, Red Horse Beer and San Miguel Light.

Beer or serbesa is the most preferred alcoholic drink in the Philippines. San Miguel Pale Pilsen is the most popular and widely known brand with Beer na Beer a close second. San Mig Light is preferred mostly by yuppies and the young drinkers. Gold Eagle Beer is more common in the rural areas of the Philippines. Colt 45 and Red Horse beer with its high alcohol content is favored by hard drinkers. Other beer labels include Lone Star, Lone Star Light, Lone Star Ultra, Carlsberg, Coors Light, San Miguel Superdry, San Mig Strong Ice, and just recently, Manila Beer. Several bars in the urban areas also serve international brands.

There are a wide variety of alcoholic drinks in the Philippines manufactured by local breweries and distilleries.

A bubblegum-flavored lambanog

Alcoholic Beverage

Tsokolate is the Filipino take on hot chocolate. It is traditionally made with tablea, which are pure cacao beans that are dried, roasted, ground and then formed into tablets.[31]

Late 2010 saw the opening of tea shops around the metro and with a glass of milk tea being more affordable than the usual cold designer coffee, it paved the way into making tea a food trend. Among the top players in the Philippine tea scene are Happy Lemon, Chatime, Serenitea and Moonleaf Tea Shop.[30]

Tea consumption in the Philippines is driven primarily by the growing health consciousness among middle to high income consumers.[28] Tea is commonly prepared using Philippine wild tea or tea tree.[29] There are several known variations of tea using different additives. Pandan iced tea made is one of these, made with pandan leaves and lemongrass. Salabat, sometimes called ginger tea, is brewed from ginger root and usually served during the cold months.

Even before the establishment of coffeehouses in the Philippines, coffee has been part of the Filipino meal. Carinderias would often serve them along with its meals. The opening of Starbucks in 1997 paved the way for other coffee shops.[27]


