Philippine cuisine consists of the food, preparation methods and eating customs found in the Philippines.
The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from its Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine with many Malay, Indian, Arab, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, American, and other Asian and Latin influences adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.
Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to the elaborate paellas and cocidos created for fiestas. Popular dishes include: lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce, or cooked until dry), kaldereta (meat in tomato sauce stew), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), puchero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken and/or pork simmered in a tomato sauce with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep-fried pig’s leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls).
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Filipino Food – Filipino Pinoy Recipe Overview
Take a look below, it will help you get your head around many common types of food.
Adobo / Inadobo − cooked in vinegar, oil, garlic and soy sauce.
Babad / Binabad/Ibinabad − to marinate.
Banli / Binanlian/Pabanli − blanched.
Bagoong / Binagoongan / – sa Bagoong − cooked with fermented fish paste bagoong.
Binalot – literally “wrapped.” This generally refers to dishes wrapped in banana leaves, pandan leaves, or even aluminum foil. The wrapper is generally inedible.
Buro / Binuro − fermented.
Daing / Dinaing / Padaing − marinated with garlic, vinegar, and black peppers. Sometimes dried and usually fried before eating.
Guinataan / sa Gata − cooked with coconut milk.
Guisa / Guisado / Ginisa or Gisado − sautéed with garlic, onions and/or tomatoes.
Halabos / Hinalabos – mostly for shellfish. Steamed in their own juices and sometimes carbonated soda.
Hilaw / Sariwa – unripe (for fruits and vegetables), raw (for meats). Also used for uncooked food in general (as in lumpiang sariwa).
Hinurno – baked in an oven or roasted.
Ihaw / Inihaw − grilled over coals.
Kinilaw or Kilawin − fish or seafood marinated in vinegar or calamansi juice along with garlic, onions, ginger, tomato, peppers.
Laga / Nilaga / Palaga − boiled/braised.
Nilasing − cooked with an alcoholic beverage like wine or beer.
Lechon / Litson / Nilechon − roasted on a spit.
Lumpia – wrapped with an edible wrapper.
Minatamis − sweetened.
Pinakbet − to cook with vegetables usually with sitaw (yardlong beans), calabaza, talong (eggplant), and ampalaya (bitter melon) among others and bagoong.
Paksiw / Pinaksiw − cooked in vinegar.
Pangat / Pinangat − boiled in salted water with fruit such as tomatoes or ripe mangoes.
Palaman / Pinalaman − “filled” as in siopao, though palaman also refers to the filling in a sandwich.
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.
Sigang / Sinigang − boiled in a sour broth usually with a tamarind base. Other common souring agents include guava, raw mangoes, calamansi also known as calamondin.
Tosta / Tinosta /Tostado – toasted.
Torta / Tinorta / Patorta – to cook with eggs in the manner of an omelette.