And while I'm big advocate of celebrating Filipino culture year-round (👋), I'll never pass up an opportunity to highlight one of its finest features: the food!
So whether you're already a total pro when it comes to Filipino cuisine, or you're just getting started, here are some favorites to feast on — from dinners, to desserts, to drinks. Kain tayo!
Traditionally, kare kare is a rich stew made with slow-simmered oxtail and savory peanut sauce. But this version swaps oxtail for easier-to-find beef chunks — then tosses everything into the Instant Pot so you can get all the same flavors in much less time.
Roast pig is a party favorite, but the traditional spit-roasted preparation takes a *ton* of work. If you want all the best things about lechon — shatteringly crispy skin, tender and juicy meat inside — try this clever weeknight-friendly version, which starts in a Crock Pot and finishes in the oven.
Hopia are little moon-shaped pastries with sweet, paste-like fillings like ube or mung bean. Fair warning that they're a bit of work when you make them from scratch. (But they're worth it!)
With a marinade that includes soy sauce, vinegar, chili peppers, and (low-key Filipino pantry favorite 🚨) 7Up, these are equal parts salty, sweet, and spicy.
Sisig — or chopped pork that's been boiled, grilled, and fried — is a staple of the cuisine. And here, Amelia Rampe shares the breakfast version she makes every year for Christmas. She uses pork belly (instead of pork bits), streamlines the cooking method, and tops it all with fried eggs.
Ginataan translates to "done [or cooked] with coconut milk." This version spikes shrimp with garlic and chili —but you can swap in any protein or vegetable you'd like.
Tapsilog is a popular Filipino breakfast that includes beef, garlic fried rice, and fried eggs. Serve it with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, or a lime or vinegar dipping sauce.
Like many dishes on this list, you can find cross-cultural variations everywhere — and steamed buns are no exception. The Filipino version is siopao, often filled with pork.
Think of this as a Filipino variation on cinnamon rolls or even babka. A sweet paste of coconut and purple yam is swirled into flaky dough, then baked.
Filipino spaghetti is sweeter than what you're used to. That's because the sauce often contains banana ketchup, a favorite condiment of the cuisine. (If you want to go real homestyle, you gotta add sliced hot dogs, too.)
Often called Filipino bacon, tocino is pork that sits for several hours (or days) in a mixture of sugar, salt, garlic, and oil. Then it's fried up in a hot pan until the coating caramelizes.
Halo-halo means "mix mix" in Tagalog, and that's exactly what you're supposed to do with it. The dessert is a hodgepodge of ingredients, including shaved ice, sweet beans, fruit, and ube ice cream.
Main dishes. Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes and is considered unofficially by many as the national dish. It usually consists of pork or chicken, sometimes both, stewed or braised in a sauce usually made from vinegar, cooking oil, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, and soy sauce.
In the Philippines, adobo is considered the unofficial national dish, taking many forms across the country, but the base ingredients for the stew are typically the same: vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and bay leaves, along with some kind of marinated meat or vegetables.
Much of the daily Filipino diet consists of soups and stews, and sinigang is a traditional favorite Filipino food, perfect for warming up on a chilly day. Sinigang is a category of sour stews that can be made with pork, fish, shrimp or beef and a variety of vegetables like taro, green beans, tomatoes, onions and more.
The most popular beverage in the Philippines besides water is coffee. Filipinos love their coffee, and it is a staple of many people's daily routine. Coffee is typically consumed in the morning and after meals.
Tamales. Introduced to the Philippines via Mexico, tamales likely caught on in the archipelago because they strongly resemble a pre-colonial food called soman, which involved boiled glutinous rice wrapped in leaves (via South China Morning Post).
The Philippines boasts an array of beverages that encapsulate the country's spirit. If one were to be singled out, San Miguel Beer, known for its rich flavor and widespread popularity, could arguably be considered the Philippines' national beverage.
In the Philippines, tuslob buwa is a popular street food in the regional capital of Cebu City made from fried pig brain. In Cuban cuisine, "brain fritters" are made by coating pieces of brain with bread crumbs and then frying them.
Balut. As the sun sets, vendors carrying wicker baskets covered in cloth appear on the Philippine streets and sell one of the weirdest yet most popular Filipino foods: balut. ...
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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