Filipino Food is Super satisfying and There are a Few Dishes Not to be Missed!
Filipino
cuisine can be an adventure and if you can keep an open mind, you’ll find
dishes with intriguing flavours. Not all of it is that healthy, so you might
need to do a few workouts while you’re there, but this is the same in the most
of Asia – they love their sugar, rice and fried delights!
While there
are many classic Filipino recipes the majority of local people will eat, there
is an emerging foodie culture in some of the big cities, particularly Manilla
where you’ll find a host of modern eateries selling more recognisable foods
with a Filipino twist.
Adobo
Pork or
chicken adobo is the most popular version, but it can be made be made with
seafood or vegetables. It’s a super simple dish being made up of your chosen
meat and its marinade; soy sauce, vinegar and garlic.
Throw it
all in a pan, give it a bit of a stir-fry and let it simmer. Voila there’s your
adobo. Simple, satisfying Filipino comfort food at its best!
Bibingka
Great as a
snack or as a desert, you’ll find bibingka being sold at little local stalls or
in big shopping malls. A popular Filipino sweet treat, it’s basically a cake
baked with rice flour and coconut milk. It’s quite heavy and has a spongy like
texture. Served hot – sellers will usually provide a big splodge of butter to
melt onto the top!
Sinigang
If you’re a
fan of Thailand’s Tom Yum soup, you’ll love this hearty, flavourful Filipino
soup dish. It’s a tamarind based soup, usually paired with calamansi which
gives it a sour and tangy flavour.
Depending
on where you eat Sinigang in the Philippines, you’ll find it made with different
types of protein. You can usually choose from; chicken, pork or prawn then on
top of that you’ll find a myriad of vegetables like spinach, potatoes, okra,
long beans, onions, tomatoes and sometimes eggplants.
Turon
We are back
to the sweet treats again and turon won’t disappoint with it’s delicious sugar
and banana goodness. It’s basically the Filipino street food version of a
banana pancake, but just to make it even more unhealthy and delicious, they
wrap the pancake, sugar and sometimes jackfruit up in a spring roll wrapper and
deep fry it! Definitely wear baggy clothing if you plan on gorging on these!
Empanada
As you eat
your way through the Philippines, you’ll notice influences from China, other
parts of Asia and even a touch of the Americas and Spain. This is true of the
empanada, which originated in Spain, but Filipino street food sellers have put
their own twist on it.
They
basically roll out a spring roll type dough into a pancake shape, crack an egg
in the middle and add in sausage meat, young papaya and a splash of vinegar –
absolutely delicious! This is then deep fried. You’ll spot it a mile away in
any food market in the Philippines, as the dough used is bright orange!
