TOP 5 FILIPINO DISHES
WESTERNERS CRAVE FOR
The Philippines’ food culture is often overshadowed by Thailand and Vietnam, its northwestern neighbors. But on the global culinary level, the top 5 Filipino dishes can easily hold their own and even came in second in a 2015 CNN poll asking readers what country was their favorite destination for food.
Filipino cuisine is diverse and tasty, from the omnipresent adobo to the cringe-worthy Balut. Anthony Bourdain honestly said that the best pork he had ever eaten was in the Philippines.
Fusion food is Filipino cuisine and the ranks in the top 5 Filipino dishes! Filipino food is the melting pot over the last few thousand years of so many different cultures that have made their mark here.
The Philippines’ position in the South China Sea has always been strategically important, making it the hub of trade and migration dating back to about 3,000 BC for the Malayo-Polynesians. The first settlers here were the Malayo-Polynesians, who were also responsible for bringing to the Philippines the #1 staple ingredient: rice.
The Chinese, the Spanish, and the Americans were subsequent influential settlers who left their mark in the Philippines. The Chinese brought soy sauce, bean sprouts, tofu, and noodles with them. The Spanish introduced new cooking techniques such as sautéeing and braising and new ingredients such as corn, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, and onions. Finally, hot dogs, burgers, fried chicken (Jollibee anyone and the concept of “cooking with ease” were brought with it by the Americans.
For example, one of the top 5 Filipino dishes and a national dish is adobo. Adobo is heavily influenced by the Spanish adobo but embellished with soya sauce, an ingredient introduced by the Chinese, such as bay leaves and peppercorns, using herbs native to the Philippines.
In the Philippines, we noticed eating that it’s a joyful experience-an opportunity rather than just a quick meal. The Filipinos are an extremely sociable bunch of extroverts. The perfect excuse for meeting and socializing is mealtime.
POPULAR FILIPINO FOOD
CHICKEN ADOBO, A Top 5 FILIPINO DISH
The most famous and popular of all Filipino foods, known and loved by everyone, is chicken adobo. It’s also one of the best examples of how such a rich melting pot of various historical influences is the country. At its true nature, adobo is a protein (usually chicken, pork, or fish) braised in vinegar and combined with other herbs/spices.
The Spaniards were the first to “name” this dish-adobo from the Spanish verb “adobo,” which means “to marinate. They found locals using vinegar and salt to marinate their chicken, pork, and fish upon arrival.
They embellished this by adding ingredients like garlic and onions they brought with them. Over time, the salt was substituted with an ingredient introduced by the Chinese-soya sauce, and other ingredients added popular in the Philippines, such as bay leaves and peppercorns.
LECHON, A Top 5 FILIPINO DISH
One of the most popular dishes in the Philippines is Lechon, derived from a Spanish term for roasted suckling pig. Lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, onions, and chives are usually stuffed with the slowly-roasted suckling pig and are then roasted over an open fire on a large bamboo spit.
On a platter, at parties and holiday occasions such as weddings and Christmas, it is traditionally served whole. People prefer to eat any part of the pig once the meat is properly roasted and falls off the bone, and the crispy, reddish-brown, crackling skin is common.
A thick and rich liver sauce, cooked with sugar, fresh herbs, and vinegar, is often eaten with Lechon. If something is left after the feast, the leftovers are always made into Lechon slaw, slowly cooked with vinegar, garlic, and liver sauce for that extra bit of spice.
SISIG, A Top 5 FILIPINO DISH
Sisig is a popular Filipino dish made with salt, pepper, and vinegar by boiling, chopping, and grilling parts of the pig’s head, such as ears, cheeks, and jowls. The meat is combined with the liver of fried onions, chili, and chicken, and traditionally the whole concoction is topped with a raw egg.
For extra flavor, some cooks like to introduce mayonnaise or pork cracklings into the dish. Sisig had no meat in it originally and was first described by Fr. Diego Bergano; guava or green papaya as a salad.
It is believed that the name of the dish derives from the word sisigan, meaning to make sour. Because its sour taste was considered a vomit suppressant, it was used as an early remedy for nausea and hangovers, and that is why today, sisig is almost always paired on the side with an ice-cold beer.
SINIGANG, A Top 5 FILIPINO DISH
Sinigang is a sour soup usually made with pork and tamarind, although other sour fruits are often used instead, such as guava, green mango, or calamansi. The stew is finished with peppers, garlic, onion, and various other vegetables.
If you had a few Red Horses beers the night before, it’s delicious Filipino comfort food and makes for a hearty hangover meal.
A traditional sinigang is eaten with lots of vegetables such as okra, water spinach (Kang kong), daikon (labanos), onions, and aubergine (eggplants) as a stew or soup. The most common meat for sinigang is pork (sinigang baboy), but chicken (sinigang na manok), beef (sinigang na baka), and fish (sinigang na bangus) can also be used.
KARE KARE, A Top 5 FILIPINO DISH
Kare-Kare is a traditional Filipino stew that consists of meat flavored with annatto seeds, such as tripe, pork leg, oxtail, goat or chicken, vegetables, and a thick, savory peanut sauce. To intensify the dish’s flavors, shrimp paste (bagoong) is also served on the side. The best kare-kare is expected to come from Pampanga, just north of Manila, but you’ll find this dish served in the Philippines.
The dish has changed over the years, so some cooks like to add chilis or green papaya for an extra kick, while seasonings, spices, and chilis should preferably be devoid of conventional kare-kare sauce. It is still a favorite dish among natives, regardless of the origins of kare-kare.
In conclusion, just like any voracious culture, the Philippines and the Filipino culture has ample food and an endless tasting table. Foods are part of the culture as sharing food brings a family closer and closer as a family is what the Philippines and Filipino people are all about. Next time you’re looking to seek a little adventure, try something different and choose one of these 5 most popular Filipino foods.
Philippine influence hopes you’ve enjoyed this article.
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~Staff
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