Filipino cuisine

Philippine cuisine has evolved over several centuries from its Malay world roots, influenced by Arabian cuisine, Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Spanish and American cooking.

Filipinos traditionally eat three main meals a day - almusál (breakfast), tanghalían (lunch), and hapúnan (dinner) plus an afternoon snack called meriénda (another variant is minandál).

Dishes range from a simple meal of fried fish and rice to rich paellas and cocidos. Popular dishes include lechón (whole roasted pig), longanisa (native sausage), tapa (beef jerky), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar or cooked until dry for the Visayan variety), kaldereta (goat in tomato stew), mechado (beef or pork cooked in tomato sauce), pochero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken cooked in tomato sauce and vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's foot), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (pork, fish, or shrimp in tamarind stew), pancit (stir-fried noodles), lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls) and chopsuey.

History and influences

Malays during the pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines prepared food by boiling, steaming, or roasting. This ranged from the usual livestock such as carabao (water buffaloes), baka(cows), chickens and pigs to seafood from different kinds of fish, shrimps, prawns, crustaceans and shellfish. There are a few places in the country where the broad range in their diet extended to monitor lizards, dogs and locusts. Malays have been cultivating rice, an Asian staple since 3200 B.C.. Pre-Hispanic trade with China, Japan, India, the Middle-East and the rest of Southeast Asia introduced a number of staples into Filipino cuisine most notably toyo (soy sauce) and patis (fish sauce), as well as the method of stir-frying and making savory soup bases.

The arrival of Spanish settlers brought with them chili peppers, tomato sauces, corn and method of sauteeing with garlic and onions called guisado finding their way into Philippine cuisine. They also braised food with vinegar and spices to preserve the food due to no refrigeration. They had a variety of sources in their diet. Local adaptations of Spanish dishes then became common such as paella into its Pilipino version of arroz valenciana, Chorizo into its local version of Longganisa, escabeche and adobo [this is connected to the Spanish dish adobado] remain popular to this day.

During the nineteenth century, Chinese food became a staple of the panciterias or noodle shops around the country, although they were marketed with Spanish names. "Comida China" (Chinese food) includes arroz caldo (rice and chicken gruel) and morisqueta tostada (an obsolete term for sinangag or fried rice) and "chopsuey".

Today, Philippine cuisine continues to evolve as new techniques and styles of cooking finds their way into one of the most active melting pots of Asia.

Staples

As with most Asian countries, the staple food in the Philippines is rice. It is most often boiled and served during most main meals. Leftover rice is often fried with garlic and onions to make sinangag (fried rice), which is then served as breakfast staple together with fried eggs and tapa (Beef), tocino (sweetened cured meat), longanisa (local sausages) or bacon. Rice is often flavored by the diner with sauces or soup 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. Other staples derived from crops include corn and bread.

Food is often served with dipping sauces. Fried food is often dipped in vinegar, soy sauce, juice squeezed from kalamansi (Philippine lime), or a combination of all. Fish sauce may be mixed with kalamansi as dipping sauce for most seafood.

Fish sauce, fish paste (bagoong), shrimp paste (alamang) and crushed ginger root (luya) are condiments that are also often added to dishes during the cooking process or when served.

Native fruits are often used in cooking as well. Coconuts, coconut milk, coconut meat, tomato, tomato sauce, and bananas are usually added into meals.

Abundant harvest of root crops occurs all year round. Potatoes, carrots, taro (gabi), cassava (kamoteng kahoy), purple yam (ube), and sweet potato/yam (kamote) are examples. Kamote and a certain type of plantain called saba can be chopped, dusted with brown sugar, fried and skewered, yielding kamote-cue and banana-cue which are popular caramelized snacks.

Staples derived from meat include chicken, pork, beef, and fish. Seafood is popular as a result of the bodies of water surrounding the archipelago. Popular catches include Tilapia, milkfish (bangus), grouper (lapu-lapu), shrimp (hipon), prawns (sugpo), mackerel (galunggong), swordfish, oysters (talaba), mussels (tahong), clams (tulya), large and small crabs (alimango and alimasag respectively), game fish, gindara, tuna, cod, blue marlin, and squid/cuttlefish (both called pusit). Equally popular catches include seaweeds, abalone and eel.

The most common way of serving fish is having it salted, deep fried, and eaten as a simple meal with rice and vegetables. It may also be cooked in sour broth, tomatoes, tamarind, and vegetables to make sinigang or simmered in vinegar and peppers to make paksiw or roasted over hot charcoal to make inihaw. Other preparations include escabeche (sweet and sour) or relleno (deboned and stuffed). Fish may also be preserved by processing it into tinapa (smoked), and daing (sun-dried).

Cooking methods

The Tagalog words for popular cooking methods are listed below:

• "Inadobo" - cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic
• "Guisado" - sauteed with garlic, onions and tomatoes
• "Pinirito" - fried or deep fried
• "Inihaw" - grilled over charcoals
• "Nilaga" - boiled, sometimes with onions and black peppers
• "Kinilaw" or "Kilawin" - cubes of raw fish pickled in a marinade of vinegar and/or kalamansi juice, usually along with garlic, onions, ginger, tomato, and/or hot/sweet peppers
• "Sinigang" - boiled with a tamarind base
• "Pinangat" - boiled in salted water with tomatoes
• "Pinaksiw" - cooked in vinegar and ginger or just add "all-purpose" sauce
• "Ginataan" - cooked with coconut milk

Breakfast

Traditional breakfast usually includes the following:

• Pan de sal - derived from Spanish words for "bread of salt". Contrary to its name, it contains relatively little salt and is actually a sweet bread roll which can be spread with butter, jam, marmalade, peanut butter or kesong puti.

• Kesong puti - a soft, white, fresh cheese made from carabao's (or more commonly, cow's) milk.

• Champorado - a type of sweetened rice porridge flavored with chocolate. It is not to be confused with Mexican champurrado which is a hot chocolate drink. Sometimes served with milk and dried fish (tuyo).

• Sinangag - fried garlic rice, often served with one or two meat dishes.

• Tapa - local variety of cured meat similar to jerky, served with fried eggs and sinangag.

• Longganisa - a local chorizo or sausage, served with fried eggs and sinangag.

• Tocino - sweetened cured meat, served with fried eggs and sinangag.

• Karne Norte - canned corned beef gisado (sauteed with any combination of onions, garlic and/or tomatoes)

• Daing na Bangus - means salted and dried milkfish. It is often served with sinangag and fried eggs as well as tomato slices, vinegar or achara.

• Itlog na Pula - salted duck eggs usually served with tomatoes, onions, and sinangag. Literally means "red egg" in reference to the fact that they are often dyed red to differentiate them from regular eggs.

• Kape barako - a variety of coffee produced in the mountains of Batangas. It is noted for having a strong flavor.

• Silog - a portmanteau used to refer to meat dishes that are most often served with sinangág (fried rice) and itlog (egg).

The three most commonly seen silogs are

• tapsilog having tapa as the meat portion;
• tocilog having tocino as the meat portion;
• longsilog having longganisa as a meat portion.

Other silogs are sometimes seen, including

• hotsilog, with a hot dog;
• bangsilog, with bangus/milkfish;
• dangsilog, with danggit/rabbitfish;
• spamsilog, with spam;
• adosilog, with adobo;
• chosilog, with chorizo;
• chiksilog, with chicken;
• cornsilog, with canned corned beef;
• litsilog, with lechon/litson.

Merienda

Puto in banana leaf liners

Merienda is a snack taken in the afternoons, similar to the concept of afternoon tea. Filipinos have a number of options to take with their traditional kape (coffee). Additionally, if the meal is taken close to dinner, it is called merienda cena, which may qualify as dinner itself.

Breads like pan de sal, ensaymada, (buttery sweet rolls with cheese), and empanada (ground chicken-filled bread rolls) are served. Also, rice cakes (kakanin) like kutsinta, sapin-sapin, palitaw, biko, suman, bibingka, and pitsi-pitsi are served. Other sweets such as hopia (pastries similar to mooncakes filled with sweet bean paste, sometimes flavored) and bibingka (sweet hot rice cakes with salted eggs and cheese on top) are also favorites. Savory dishes such as 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-flavored soy sauce and vinegar sauce), puto (steamed rice flour cakes), and dinuguan (a spicy stew made with pork blood) can also be served during merienda.

Also, dimsum and dumplings brought over by the Fujianese people have been given Filipino touch and been made everyday Filipino merienda. These include siopao, siomai, etc. Also famous are the different balls: squid balls, fish balls and other street foods sold mostly skewered on bamboo sticks.

In recent years, snack served in between breakfast and lunch has been common during special occasions such as day long symposia and workshops. However, this does not qualify as traditional merienda as the term officially applies to afternoon snacks as traditionally practiced by Filipinos.

Pulutan

Main article: Beer snack

Pulutan (literally "something that is picked") is a word which means "finger food". It originally served to indicate a snack accompanied with liquor or beer but has found their way into Philippine cuisine as appetizers or, in some cases, main dishes, as in the case of sisig.

• Adidas - grilled or sautéed chicken feet.

• Chicharon - pork rinds that have been salted, fried, then dried.

• Chicharong Bituka or Chibab - pig intestines that have been deep fried to a crisp.

• Chicharong Bulaklak or Chilak - similar to chicharong bituka. Bulaklak translates to flower which aptly describes the appearance of the dish which is made from the deep fried mesenteries of pig intestines. It is also similar to fried chitlins seen in southern U.S. cuisine.

• Chicken Skin or Chink - chicken skin that has been deep fried until crispy.

• Barbecue Isaw - chicken or pig intestines marinated, skewered, then grilled.

• Barbecue Tenga - pig ears marinated, skewered, then grilled.

• Betamax - salted, solidified chicken blood which is either grilled or skewered.

• Mani - refers to peanuts, often sold in the Philippines by street vendors boiled in the shell, sometimes available salted or spiced; sometimes flavored with garlic.

• Pork Barbecue - a satay marinated in a special blend are often used in barbecue.

• Sisig - a popular pulutan made from the pork's cheek skin, ears and liver. Initially boiled, then grilled over charcoal, then minced and cooked with chopped onions, chillies, and spices. Usually served sizzling on a hot plate.

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

A typical meal

Filipino cuisine is distinguished by its bold combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste, though most dishes are not typically spicy. While other Asian cuisines (e.g. Cantonese) may be known for a more subtle delivery and presentation of food, Filipino palates prefer a sudden influx of flavor. It can be said that it is more flamboyant, as Filipino cuisine is often delivered in a single presentation, giving the participant a simultaneous visual feast, an aromatic bouquet, and a gustatory appetizer.

Snacking is normal, and it is possible that a Filipino could have eaten five meals in a day. Dinner, while still the main meal, is usually eaten in smaller quantities compared to other countries. Usually, either breakfast or lunch is the heftiest of all meals.

Main dishes include sinigang (pork, fish, or shrimp in tamarind soup and vegetables), bulalo (beef soup – commonly with marrow still in the beef bone – with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep fried hog hoofs with hock sometimes included), mechado (pork cooked in tomato sauce), pochero (beef or pork cooked in tomato sauce with bananas and vegetables), kaldereta (beef or goat cooked in tomato sauce), fried or grilled chicken/porkchops/fish/squid/cuttlefish. Dinner may be accompanied by stir-fried vegetables, atchara (shredded and pickled papaya), bagoong or alamang. Most popular desserts include leche flan, buco pandan (slivers of young coconut with cream and pandan flavor) or gulaman (jello).

Some dishes will rely on vinegar for flavoring. Adobo is popular not solely for its splendid flavor, but also for its ability to remain fresh for days, and even improves its flavor with a day or two of storage. Tinapa is a smoke-cured fish while Tuyo, daing, and dangit are corned sun-dried fishes popular for its ability not to spoil for weeks even without refrigeration.

Food is eaten with a spoon and fork. Filipinos use their spoons to cut through meat instead of knives used in other western cultures. Another traditional way of eating is with the hands especially when meals consist mostly of dry dishes like inihaw or prito. The diner takes a bite at the dish and simultaneously stuff his mouth with rice pressed skillfully into a ball with his fingers. In some areas of the Philippines, diners are able to form balls of rice even if it is soaking in broth. 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.

Fiestas

A few Filipino women band together and tirelessly prepare more sophisticated dishes at festive occasions. Tables are often laden with expensive and labor-intensive treats requiring hours of preparation. Lechón, a whole roasted suckling pig, takes centerstage. Other sophisticated dishes prepared include hamonado (honey-cured beef, pork or chicken), relleno (stuffed chicken or milkfish), mechado, afritada, kaldereta, pochero, paella, arroz valenciana, morcon (variant of the Argentinian matambre), and pancit canton. The table may also be decorated with various sweets and pastries such as leche flan, ube, sapin-sapin, sorbetes (ice cream), and gulaman (jello).

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 season and serve as popular giveaways by Filipino companies in addition to red wine, brandy, groceries or pastries.

Regional specialties

The Philippine islands are home to various ethnic groups resulting in varied regional 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.
• The Igorots prefer roasted meats, particularly carabao's meat, goat's meat, and venison.
• Pampanga is the culinary center of the Philippines. Among the treats produced in Pampanga are longganisa (original sweet and spicy sausages), kalderetang kambing (savory goat stew), and tocino (sweetened-cured pork). Kapampangan cuisine makes use of every regional produce available to the native cook, combining pork cheeks and offal to make sisig. Kare-kare is also known to have been originated from Pampanga.
• Bulacan is popular for chicharon (pork rinds) and steamed rice and tuber cakes like puto, kutsinta, and cassava cakes.
• Cainta in Rizal, province east of Manila, is known for its Filipino rice cakes and puddings.
• Laguna is known for buko pie (coconut pie) and panutsa (molasses clustered peanuts).
• Batangas is home to Taal Lake, a body of water that surrounds Taal Volcano. The lake is home to 75 species of freshwater fish. And of these, the maliputo and tawilis are two of the world's rarest. Maliputos and tawilises are delicious native delicacies. Batangas is also known for its special coffee, kapeng barako.
• Iloilo is popular for La Paz batchoy, pancit molo, dinuguan, puto, and biskotso.
• Cebu is popular for lechón, sweets (like dried mangoes), mango, and caramel tarts.
• Further south, dishes are filled with the scents of Southeast Asia: coconut milk, turmeric, coriander, lemon grass, ginger, and chilies — an ingredient not present in other regional cuisine (except in the Bicol Region whose use of chilies is more liberal compared to others). Since southern regions are predominantly Islamic, pork dishes are hardly present. Popular crops such as cassava root, sweet potatoes (kamote), and yams are grown.

Popular Filipino dishes

Desserts and Snacks

• Balut - essentially boiled pre-hatched ducklings. These fertilized duck eggs are allowed to develop until the embryo reaches a pre-determined size to be boiled.
• Bibingka - hot rice cake topped with a spread of butter, slices of kesong puti (white cheese), itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs), and sometimes grated coconut. (See also Wiktionary.)
• Biko - glutinous rice sweets creamed with sugar, butter, and coconut milk.
• Binatog - corn kernels with shredded coconut.
• Halo-halo - composed of shaved ice, milk, coconut sport, purple yam pudding, caramel custard, sweetened plantains, and jackfruit. (See also Wiktionary.)
• Kutsinta - brown rice cake.
• Leche Flan - caramel custard made with eggs and milk. Similar to the Spanish flan.
• Mamon - a buttery sweet sponge cake that is softer than butter cake.
• Nata de coco - a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water.
• Palitaw - rice patties with sesame seeds, sugar, and coconut.
• Pitsi-pitsi - cassava patties with cheese or coconut.
• Penoy - hard boiled slightly fertilized duck eggs.
• Puto - sweet steamed rice muffins.
• Sapin-sapin - three-layered tricolored sweets made with rice flour, purple yam, and coconut milk.
• Siomai - dumplings similar to the Chinese shaomai. Served with calamansi juice and soy sauce.
• Siopao - steamed bun similar to the Chinese baozi, but larger. Served with a brownish sauce.
• Sorbetes - similar to ice cream but made primarily with coconut milk instead of a dairy products. It is considered by many as "dirty ice cream."
• Suman - sticky rice or cassava sticks wrapped in banana or palm leaves. They are then dipped in sugar or supplied syrup and sometimes eaten with ripe mangoes.
• Taho - warm snack made of soft beancurd (the taho itself), dark syrup, and tapioca balls. Cold (dark syrup) flavored (chocolate/strawberry/etc.) taho is now available.
• Turon - fried plantain bananas with jackfruit and sugar in an eggroll wrapper.

Wet dishes

• Stews
  • Adobo - consists of pork and/or chicken stewed in a broth of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and peppercorns, a favorite dish among many.
  • Afritada - made of pork or beef and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce.
  • Dinengdeng - consists of malunggay leafs and bittermelon similar presentation to pinakbet.
  • Dinuguan - a stew made from pig blood, entrails, and meat.
  • Kaldereta - beef or goat simmered in vinegar and tomato sauce. There is a variant that uses dog meat.
  • Kare-kare - also known as "peanut stew," boiled oxtail and/or ox tripe in a peanut-based stew of mixed vegetables, served with alamang (fermented shrimp paste).
  • Mechado - pork cooked in tomato sauce, minced garlic, and onions.
  • Paksiw - variants include milkfish (Paksiw na isda), pork hocks (Paksiw na pata), leftover lechon (Paksiw na lechon).
  • Pinakbet - vegetables stewed with bagoong.
  • Pochero - beef and banana simmered in tomato sauce. Derived from the Spanish cocido.
• Soups
  • Binacol - warm chicken soup with coconut meat.
  • La Paz Batchoy - noodle soup garnished with pork innards, crushed pork cracklings, chopped vegetables, and topped with a raw egg. This is the most familiar version, but there is one similarly named batchoy using misua, heart, kidneys and intestines. No egg or vegetables is used in this variant.
  • Mami - Variant of noodle soup. The main ingredient can be either chicken, beef, pork, wonton dumplings, or intestines (called laman-loob). Invented by Ma Mon Luk. Served in some Chinese restaurants and "tea houses".
  • Sinigang - tamarind-soured soup typically made with pork, beef, or seafood. But tamarind is not the only souring ingredient used: Variants include guava and miso, but these are only used on seafood. The chicken variant is called sinampalukan.
  • Tinola - traditional chicken ginger soup cooked with whole chicken pieces, green papaya with chili, spinach, or malunggay leaves.
  • Sotanghon - the Filipino version of chicken noodle soup, consisting of cellophane noodles, chicken, and sometimes mushrooms.
• Porridges
  • Arroz caldo - a Spanish inspired rice porridge cooked with chicken, ginger and cheap saffron, garnished with spring onions (chives).
  • Goto - Arroz Caldo with ox tripe.
  • Lugaw - variant of the Chinese congee.
  • Champorado - chocolate rice porridge
• Salads
  • Kinilaw - raw fish cooked only by steeping in local vinegar, sometimes with coconut milk, onions, spices and other local ingredients. It is comparable to ceviche.
• Noodles
  • Pancit - a dish primarily consisting of noodles, vegetables, and a bit of meat or shrimp with variations primarily distinguished by the type of noodles used.
  • Spaghetti Bolognese - the difference here is that sugar is added, and there is no oregano. At times, cheap hotdog is added to the mix.
• Rice casserole
  • Arroz Valenciana - a Filipino version of the Spanish paella.
  • Kiampong - a kind of fried rice brown in color, with some pork pieces, and sprinkled with chives and peanuts. Found in Chinese restaurants in Binondo, Manila.

Oily dishes

• Fried
  • Crispy Pata - pork knuckles (pata) marinated then deep fried until crispy golden brown. However, the knuckles are a small portion, thus it is the whole leg of pork that is usually served.
  • Lumpia - fried spring rolls filled with cooked ground beef and vegetables.
  • Lumpiang shanghai - tiny fried spring rolls filled with minced pork and shrimp and served with sweet and sour sauce.
  • Tocino - sweetened cured meat. The meat either chicken or pork is marinated and aged for a number of days then fried.
  • Ukoy - shrimp and squash fritters. Also spelled okoy.
• Sausages
  • Longanisa - sweet or spicy homemade sausages.
• Steak
  • Bistek - also known as Philippine Beef Steak, thinly sliced beef marinated in soya sauce and kalamansi.
• Grilled
  • Inihaw - various meats and seafood are grilled, among them tilapia, milkfish, squid, mussels, spare ribs, lean pork, cut-up chicken.
  • Lechon Manok a variant of rotisserie chicken. Available in major supermarkets, hole-in-the-wall stands, or chains (Andok's, Baliwag, Toto's).

Street Foods

• Banana-cue - plantain skewered on a stick, dipped in brown sugar, and fried. The Philippine plantain is of a thick and smallish size.
• Betamax - roasted dried chicken blood served as little cubes. The origin of the name is quite funny because of its squared shape and black color, which is identical in appearance to a miniaturized electronic Betamax tape.
• Kamote-cue - sweet potato skewered on a stick, dipped in brown sugar, and fried.
• Fishballs/Squidballs - skewered in bamboo sticks and sauces are then dripped over them. It is commonly sold frozen in stores and typically peddled by hawkers.
• Isaw - seasoned hog and/or chicken intestines.
• Kwek-kwek - boiled quail eggs dipped in batter then deep fried, a popular delicacy.
• Tokneneng - boiled chicken eggs dipped in batter usually marked with food coloring. It is a bigger version of the kwek-kwek.

Celebratory Food

• Lechón - whole roasted suckling pig. Sometimes, either a piglet (lechonillo, or lechon de leche) or cattle calf (lechong baka) is baked instead. (See also Wiktionary.)
• Puto Bumbong - purple-yam flavored puto. Available mostly during Christmas season, served in front of churches together with bibingka. See also Wiktionary.
• Lumpiang sariwa - fresh spring rolls, served with a sweet sauce.

Side dishes

• Itlog na Pula - salty duck eggs that have been cured in brine or mixture of clay-and-salt for couple of weeks and then are hard boiled. Their shells are often dyed with red food coloring to distinguish them from chicken eggs before they are sold over the shelves. Usually served with cut-up tomatoes.
• Atchara - pickled papaya.

Cheeses

• Kesong puti - soft white cheese made from carabao's milk. Cow's milk is also used in most commercial variants.

Exotic dishes

• Balut - is a partially-developed duck embryo boiled then served in its shell.
• Camaro - are field crickets cooked in soy sauce, salt, and vinegar. It is popular in Pampanga.
• Papaitan - is goat or beef innards stew flavored with bile, which gives is bitter (pait) taste.
• Soup No. 5 (Also spelled as "Soup #5") - a soup made out of testicles. Found in restaurants in Ongpin St., Binondo, Manila.
• Dog meat or Asocena - is especially popular in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
• Pinikpikan chicken - chicken which has been beaten to death. Cooks do this 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 pork. [1][2][3] The act of beating the chicken while done in preparation of the dish apparently violates the Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998.

See also: Igorot Food Exotica

Filipino drinks and cocktails

The climate of the Philippines is characterized by having relatively high temperature, high humidity and abundant rainfall. This is a reason why chilled drinks are popular.

Alcoholic

• Brandy. Fundador and Emperador are the local favorites.
• Brandy-Iced Tea Powder - is a popular cocktail and a part of several cocktails of liqueurs and juice powders.
• Brandy-Grape Juice Powder
• Cervesa - is a translation for beer.
• Gin - both local varieties like Ginebra San Miguel and Gin Bulag, and the "London Dry" local and imported types like Gilbey's, are consumed.
• Gin-Bulag - literally translates to "gin-blind." It is said that consuming a cup amounts will make one blind.
• Gin-Pineapple Juice Powder- any kind of gin mixed with pineapple juice
• Gin-Pomelo Juice Powder - contains a certain type of citrus popular to its pink color.
• Lambanog - is a type of hard liquor made from distilled coconut extract.
• Rum - Tanduay is the local favorite.
• Tuba (or 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 is done by a mananguete — a person whose profession involves climbing palm trees and extracting the "tuba" to supply to customers later in the day — and is usually done early in the morning. 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 being done twice a day so that there are two harvests of tuba in a day — 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 so that any remaining unconsumed tuba in the day is being stored in jars for several days to become vinegar.

Shakes

• Fresh Mango Shake - consists of ripe mangoes blended with milk, ice, and sugar.
• Fruit Shakes - are similar to milkshakes but only contain fruit or flavoring (like chocolate malt drink powder or chocolate cookies or unusual flavors like durian), milk (except in some fruits), crushed ice, water and sugar.
• Green Mango Shake - consists of green mangoes blended with syrup.
• Kamias Shake - consists of kamias, a tropical sour fruit, that is blended with sugar, white syrup, and crushed ice.
• Palamig or Samalamig - pearl shakes or cold powder respectively - are flavored shakes with large tapioca pearls (sago) and syrup that come in a wide assortment of flavors including mango, ube, halo-halo, corn, pandan, buko, etc.

Chilled Drinks

• Gulaman at Sago - is a flavored iced-drink with agar gelatin and sago balls/pearls. Banana extract is added to the accompanying syrup.
• Fresh Buko Juice - is a fresh drink from a young green (not mature) coconut where the coconut is penetrated to allow straw into the membrane allowing a person to drink its juice. On option, the coconut can be opened afterwards to scrape and eat its flesh. A variation of this is made out of coconut juice, scraped coconut flesh, and water.
• Kalamansi Juice - consists of Philippine limes, particularly the kalamansi itself, that are squeezed and sweetened with honey, syrup or sugar.
• Other Tropical Fruit Drinks - includes dalandan (green mandarin), suha (pomelo), piña (pineapple), banana, and guyabano (soursop).

Teas

• Pandan Iced Tea - is tea made with pandan leaves and lemon grass.
• Salabat - sometimes called ginger tea, is a hot drink brewed from ginger root.

Coffees

• Kape Barako - is a premium brewed coffee from the cool mountains of Batangas.

Other food

The Philippines doesn't only possess its traditional cuisine. Popular worldwide cuisine and restaurant and fastfood chains are also available around the archipelago. Furthermore, the Chinese populace (especially in Manila) is famous for establishing Chinese districts, in which predominantly Chinese and Chinese fusion food can be found. These are especially prevalent in urban areas where large influxes of expatriates are located.

See also

• Filipino cuisine
• Culture of the Philippines
• Max's of Manila

External links

• Killing Me Softly Chicken recipe
• Sutukil: fresh seafood dining by the sea
• Collection of free Filipino Foods Recipes
• Market Manila
• The Pilgrim's Pots and Pans
• Pinoy Cook
• WOW Philippines: Culture : Food
• World Class Cuiscene
• Filipinofood.com Exchange
• Filipino recipes
• Lafang
• Foodfor2.com Manila Restaurant Guide
• Filipino Vegetarian Recipe- easy Filipino vegetarian recipes as well as educational vegetarian diets information.
• Lasang Pinoy: Filipino Food Blogging Event
• Traditional Filipino Recipes
• All Meat Filipino Recipes - online all meat Filipino recipe resource
• Variety of Filipino recipes - RecipeSpin.com