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I don't intend to cover all Filipino foods, just the ones I find familiar or interesting. At some point I want to list and photograph the foods that I often see am uncertain about the name or what it actually is. See also Chicago Restaurants.

The signature Filipino foods:

• Kanin = Rice. Almost every meal in the Philippines has some rice dish in it. White, fried, baked, gelled, etc., etc.
• Fish, lots. There are, after all, over 7000 islands.
• Fruits and vegetables, lots. Especially bananas and coconuts.
• Lechon. Whole roasted pig, esp. for big occassions.
• Lumpia. Fried egg rolls.
• Apritada (roasted) and asado (grilled) meats.
• Adobo. Meats marinated in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar.
• Pancit (stir-fried noodles)
• Halo-halo. Crushed ice, ice cream, medley of fruits and beans.

The Philippines has dozens of variations of adobo recipes for all sorts of meats. The soy sauce and vinegar help to preserve food. Supposedly it will make a dish last for several day even in the absence of refrigeration.

Adobong Manok (Chicken Adobo)

1 chicken, cut into serving pieces
½ c soy sauce
¾ c cider vinegar
½-2 heads of garlic, crushed (that's a lot!)
2 bay leaves
½ T peppercorns
1 T ketchup (optional)
salt to taste

Gently stir the ingredients together in a pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for an hour. Serve with rice. Don't eat the peppercorns!

The following recipe is scary and funny. It is from Favorite Filipino Dishes (J.F. Silverio. Manila, Philippines: Cacho Hermanos Inc., 984. ISBN 971-17-0603-2).

Frog Arpetada

2 segments of garlic, minced
2 T lard
½ c minced or chopped onions
½ c chopped tomatoes
1 bunch palaka (frogs from rice fields)
2 fresh peppers (bell variety, seeded and sliced)
½ c water
½ t salt-pepper mix

Sauté garlic in lard; add onions and tomatoes. Add live, freshly skinned frogs. Cover and cook 5 minutes until frogs no longer jump from pan. Stir, to cook sauce thoroughly. Add sliced green and red pepper. Season to taste.

The following recipe is from my mom for Tsamporado (chomp-o-rahd-o). This was a popular warm breakfast in our household when I was growing up.

Tsamporado

2½ c water
1 c sweet rice
½ c cocoa (or a little less)
½ c sugar

Mix ingredients in a saucepan. Bring ingredients to a boil, while stirring occasionally, and continue to stir until the rice is tender. Serve with milk. [I personally liked to add evaporated milk and sugar.]

Here's another recipe I got from my mom this weekend on my dad's birthday [2005-04-17]. It's for Linukay, a sweet rice recipe that can be served day or night.

Linukay

6 c sweet rice
6 c water
12 oz frozen pure coconut milk from the Philippines
2 c brown sugar
pinch of salt
½ c loosely chopped ginger (optional)

Bring the sweet rice to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. In a big wok, simmer the coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, and ginger for about 20 minutes until thick. Mix in the sweet rice.

Here are typical foods.

• Fruits and Vegetables
  • Buko = coconut.
  • Bulaklak Ng Saging = Banana blossoms. Dried lily buds NOT from the banana plant. Famous ingredient for Kare Kare.
  • Calamansi = Ping pong-sized round lemons.
  • Gata = Coconut milk.
  • Kalabasa = Filipino squash. A root?
  • Langka = Jackfruit.
  • Malagkit Na Bigas = Glutinous rice.
  • Mango. The Filipino mango is a yellow breed.
  • Mongo = Mung beans.
  • Pili = A native nut. Served in many forms.
  • Puson Ng Saging = Heart of the banana. Looks like a smallish football.
  • Saba = Plantain banana.
    • Turon. Deep-fried caramelized banana eggroll, langka.
    • Maruya. Deep-fried, batter-covered banana fritters.
    • Banana Q = Banana Que. Banana fried with brown sugar on a stick.
    • Boiled with water and brown sugar.
  • Sampalok = Tamarind = A grape-sized fruit with a large pit, that comes in brown "pea pods". Often served sugared and salted.
  • Tokwa = Tofu = Bean curd.
  • Upo = Bottle gourd. Small to huge long gourds. My grand father grew these as tall as himself.
• Meats and Seafood.
  • Baboy = Pork
  • Bangus = Milkfish.
  • Galunggong = Mackerel scad.
  • Goto = Beef tripe.
  • Halaan = Clams.
  • Hipon = Shrimp or prawn
  • Itlog = Egg.
  • Kuhol = Snails.
  • Lapu lapu = Grouper.
  • Longganisa = Filipino sausage.
  • Manok = Chicken
  • Pusit = Squid.
  • Tahong = Mussels.
  • Tapa = Cured beef.
  • Tocino = Cured and sweetened pork.
• Other Ingredients
  • Leche = Milk. Milk is rare in the Philippines so evaporated, powdered, or condensed varieties are used.
  • Patis = Fermented fish sauce. Very salty.
• Concepts and Methods
  • Adobong. Vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce. Preserves food in a hot climate. Chicken and pork are the most common varieties.
  • Apritada. Meat simmered in a tomato sauce.
  • Asado. Grilled.
  • Escabeche. Sweet and sour.
  • Guinataang. Dishes with a thick coconut milk sauce. Common varieties:
    • Guinatang Bilo Bilo. Sweet potato, plantain in coconut milk.
    • Guinatang Maiz. Corn in coconut milk.
  • Inihaw. Roasted over a fire.
  • Lugaw. A congee or rice porridge with meat broth.
  • Merienda = Snacks between meals.
  • Pica Pica = finger foods.
  • Sinigang. A sour, tamarind soup.
  • Singangang. Fried rice. Since rice is used in almost every meal, there is also a lot of leftover rice to deal with. Common varieties:
    • Bansilog. Fried rice with bangus and egg.
    • Loonsilog. Fried rice with skinless sausage and egg.
    • Tapsilog. Fried rice with pork and egg.
    • Tosilog. A contraction of Tosilog, Singangag At Itlog. Sausage and fried rice with a fied egg. A common breakfast akin to bacon, eggs, and toast.
    • Singangag At Itlog. Fried rice with egg.
• Appetizers
  • Barbeque Pork
  • Chicken Wings.
  • Lumpia = eggroll. Many varieties, but the default is little deep fried eggrolls.
  • Shaumai.
• Entree
  • Beef
    • Beef Kaldereta. Beef stew with carrots, olives, potatoes, green pepper.
    • Beef Steak. Marinated with onions.
    • Kare Kare. Ox tail, trip, vegetable, peanut butter sauce.
  • Baboy = Pork
    • Adobong Baboy. Pork, garlic, black pepper, vinegar, soy sauce.
    • Barbeque Pork. Marinated.
    • Crispy Pata. Deep fried hocks.
    • Dinuguan. Pork and tripe with "chocolate" sauce (actually cow blood). Signature recipe. Frightening for some but
    • Guinatang Manok Menudo. Diced pork, liver, vegetables, tomato sauce.
    • Inahaw Na Baboy. Grilled marinated pork.
    • Lechon Baboy. Usually half or a whole sucking pig. Almost all big Filipino events will have lechon.
    • Lechon Kawali. Crispy fried pork.
    • Paksiw Na Lechon. Roasted pork, vinegar.
    • Pork Steak. Marinated, onions, potatoes.
    • Sinigang Na Baboy. Pork ribs, vegetables, tamarind soup.
  • Kanin = Rice. Almost every meal in the Philippines has some rice dish in it.
  • Manok = Chicken
    • Adobong Chicken. Chicken, garlic, black pepper, vinegar, soy sauce.
    • Barbeque Chicken.
    • Fried Chicken.
    • Tinolang Manok. Chicken, ginger, garlic, spinach, chicken broth.
    • Teriyaki Chicken.
  • Seafood. More varieties than I could ever list.
    • Daing Na Bangus. Grilled or marinated milkfish.
    • Pinakbet. Mixed vegetables, shrimp fry sauce.
    • Pusit. Grilled squid.
    • Sinigang Na Hipon/Bangus. Tamarind soup with shrimp/milkfish.
    • Tilapia. Grilled or fried.
  • Pancit = Noodles
    • Pancit Bihon. Rice noodles, pork, shrimp, vegetables.
    • Pancit Guisado. Noodles, pork, shrimp, vegetables.
    • Pancit Palabok. Filipino noodles, shrimp sauce.
    • Pancit Sotanghon. Vermicelli noodles, chicken, shrimp, vegetables.
  • Other
    • Binagoongan. Pork, shrimp fry, green onions.
    • Caldereta. A rich goat stew.
    • Okoy. Pancake-like with vegetable and meat (usually shrimp).
    • Mungo Guisado. Mung beans, pork, shrimp.
    • Relyenong Talong. Eggplant omelet with sautéed ground pork.
• Drinks. Including the usual such as Water, Soda, Coffee, Tea, Orange Juice, but not Milk.
  • Buco
  • Calamansi Juice. Little round lemons.
  • Guayabano Juice.
  • Gulaman.
  • Mango Juice
  • Sago
  • San Miguel. This is the most common brand of Filipino beer.
• Merienda = Snacks between meals. Some are sweeter and some are more like little meals.
  • Arroz Caldo. Chicken rice gumbo.
  • Balut . Hard boiled embryonic duck eggs. Frightening for some and I'm not accustomed to it. See also Penoy.
  • Bibingka. A sweet, pudding like pancake made of rice, eggs, sugar, and coconut milk. Often topped with grated cheese.
  • Carioca (aka Linukay in Bikol). Sweet rice caramelized with coconut milk.
  • Empananda. Fried breading filled with meat and vegetables.
  • Guinatang Bilo Bilo. Sweet potato, plantain in coconut milk. My mom served this often.
  • Guinatang Maiz. Corn in coconut milk.
  • Halo Halo. Crushed ice, ice cream, medley of fruits and beans.
  • Jalea. Purple yam with coconut milk.
  • Leche Flan. Milk custard with caramel syrup.
  • Lugaw. A congee or rice porridge with meat broth. Common varieties include Chicken, pork, and tripe.
  • Maiz Con Yelo = Mais Con Hielo. Crushed ice, sweet corn, sugar, milk.
  • Mami. Chicken noodle soup.
  • Palitaw. Gummy patties of rice flour, often covered.
  • Pan De Sal. A hardy bread for traveling.
  • Pan De Leche. A sweet bread.
  • Pastillaa De Leche. Candy sticks made of milk and sugar.
  • Penoy. Hard boiled duck egg but not quite as embryonic. See also Balut.
  • Polvoron. A powdered candy made out of flour, sugar, and butter.
  • Puto . Steamed gelatinous rice cakes.
  • Siopao. Steamed bun filled with pork or chicken.
  • Suman. Steamed glutinous rice wrapped in oiled coconut or banana leaves. Travels well. Many varieties.
  • Tokwat Baboy. Tofu, pork, onion with soy sauce and vinegar.

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2007-10-25 01:55:36Z) (Auto noted: 2007-11-17 06:21:14Z)