Top 15 Best Filipino Food That You Should Try

Bicol Express (Bikol: Sinilihan) is a popular Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolano style.[1][2] It is a stew made from long chilies (siling mahaba in Tagalog, lada panjang in Malay/Indonesian), coconut milk, shrimp paste or stockfish, onion, pork, and garlic. It is said to have been inspired by the fiery Bicolano dish gulay na may lada, which is nowadays presented as one of the many variants of Bicol Express.

Bicol Express was named after the passenger train service[3] from Manila to the Bicol region,[4] a region in the Philippinesfamous for its spicy cuisine.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicol_Express

Pinakbet (also called pakbet or pinak bet) is an indigenous Filipino dish from the northern regions of the Philippines. Pinakbet is made from mixed vegetables steamed in fish or shrimp sauce.[1] The word is the contracted form of the Ilokano word pinakebbet, meaning "shrunk" or "shriveled."[2] The original Ilocano pinakbet uses bagoong of fermented monamon or other fish, for seasoning sauce, while further south, bagoong alamang is used. The dish usually includes bitter melon (ampalaya).[3] Other vegetables used include eggplant, tomato, okra, string beans, chili peppers, parda, winged beans, and others. Root crops and some beans like camote, patani, kadios are optionally added. The young pod of marunggay is added. It is usually spiced with ginger, onions, or garlic. A Tagalog version typically includes calabaza (kalabasa).

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinakbet

Tapa is dried or cured beef, mutton, venison or horse meat, although other meat or even fish may be used. Filipinos prepare tapa by using thin slices of meat and curing these with salt and spices as a preservation method.

Tapa is often cooked fried or grilled. When served with fried rice and fried egg, it is known as tapsilog (a portmanteau of the Filipino words tapa, sinangag and itlog egg). It sometimes comes with atchara (pickled papaya strips) or sliced tomatoes as side dish. Vinegar or ketchup is usually used as a condiment.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapa_(Filipino_cuisine)

Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savoury taste most often associated with tamarind(Filipino: sampalok). It is one of the more popular viands in Filipino cuisine, and is related to the Malaysian dish singgang.

While present nationwide, sinigang is seen to be culturally Tagalog in origin, thus the versions found in the Visayas and Mindanao may differ in taste (mainly ginger is an additional ingredient). Fish sauce is a common condiment for the stew.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinigang

An empanada (Spanish pronunciation: [empaˈnaða]) is a type of pasty baked or fried in many countries of the Americas and in Spain. The name comes from the Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.

Empanadas are made by folding dough over a stuffing, which may consist of meat, cheese, corn, or other ingredients.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada

Kare-kare is a Philippine stew complemented with a thick savory peanut sauce. It is made from a variation base of stewed oxtail, pork hocks, calves feet, pig feet, beef stew meat, and occasionally offal or tripe. Kare-kare can also be made with seafood (prawns, squid, and mussels) or vegetables. Vegetables, which include eggplant, Chinese cabbage, or other greens, daikon, green beans, okra, and asparagus beans are added—usually equaling or exceeding the amount of meat. The stew is flavored with ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, onions, and garlic. It is colored with annatto and can be thickened with toasted or plain ground rice.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kare-kare

Tinola in Tagalog or Visayan, or la uya in Ilocano is a soup-based dish served as an appetizer or main entrée in the Philippines.[1]

Traditionally, this dish is cooked with chicken, wedges of green papaya, and leaves of the siling labuyo chili pepper in broth flavored with ginger, onions and fish sauce. A common variant substitutes fish or pork for chicken, chayote or sayote (in Tagalog) instead of papaya, or with tomatoes and moringa leaves known as marungay or malunggay or kamunggay (in Cebuano), instead of pepper leaves.[2] However, an all-vegetable broth in Cebu with kamunggay in prominence is called utan kamunggay or utan bisayâ, while it is called law-oy in Mindanao and laswa in Hiligaynon. Another variation is Tinolang Tahong, a soup made with mussels, ginger, onion, garlic and bird's eye chili. The usage of sayote or papaya is heavily debated among Filipino scholars.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinola

Lugaw (pronounced [ˈluÉ¡aw]) is the Tagalog name for congee.[a][36] Otherwise similar to Cantonese-style congee, lúgaw is typically thicker, retaining the shape of the rice, but with a similar texture. It is boiled with strips of fresh ginger. Other flavors may be added according to taste. Most often it is topped with scallions and served with crispy fried garlic. Dried red safflower (kasubha) may also be used as a topping, mainly as a visual garnish and to impart a more appealing yellow tinge to the dish. As with Japanese okayu, fish or chicken stock may be used to flavor the broth. Lúgaw can also be served with tokwa't baboy (diced tofu and pork), goto (beef tripe), utak (brain [of pig]), dilà (tongue [of pig]), litid ([beef] ligaments), and with calamansi, patís, and soy sauce. It is often served to the ill and the elderly, and is favoured among Filipinos living in colder climates because it is warm, soft, and easy to digest.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee#Philippines

Bulalô is a beef dish from the Philippines. It is a light colored soup that is made by cooking beef shanks and marrow bones until the collagen and fat has melted into the clear broth. Bulalo is native to the Southern Luzon region of the Philippines.

It is also called Kansi in Hiligaynon/Ilonggo while it is called Pochero in Cebu (not to be confused with the Tagalogs' version of pochero).

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulalo

In Filipino cuisine, pancit are noodles. Noodles were introduced into the Philippines early on by Chinese Filipino settlers in the archipelago, and over the centuries have been fully adopted into local cuisine, of which there are now numerous variants and types. The term pancit is derived from the Hokkien pian i sit (Chinese: 便ê食; Pe̍h-ōe-jÄ«: piān-ê-si̍t or Chinese: 便食; pinyin: biàn shí) which literally means "convenient food."[1] Different kinds of noodles can be found in Filipino supermarkets which can then be cooked at home. Noodle dishes are also standard fare in local restaurants. Food establishments specializing in noodles are often referred to as panciterias.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancit#Luglug_and_Palabok

Chicken inasal, commonly known simply as inasal, is a Filipino variant of roast chicken, marinated in a mixture of Calamansi - a Filipino citrus reminiscent of lemon, orange and lime, pepper, coconut vinegar and annato, then grilled over hot coals while basted with the marinade. It is served with rice, calamansi, soy sauce, chicken oil and vinegar (often "sinamak" vinegar, a palm vinegar infused with garlic, chili peppers and langkawas, or greater galangal, a kind of ginger). A common dish in the Visayas, especially the Negros, it is a popular specialty in the city of Bacolod, where an entire street market is dedicated to local dishes, particularly inasal. A sign in the heart of the market reads "Manokan Country" [1] which is the Ilonggo word for chicken. Many restaurant chains are famous for serving inasal, like Bacolod Chicken Inasal and Mang Inasal, which originated in Iloilo City.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_inasal

Crispy pata is a Filipino dish consisting of deep fried pig trotters or knuckles[1] served with a soy-vinegar dip.[2] It can be served as party fare or an everyday dish. Many restaurants serve boneless pata as a specialty. The dish is quite similar to the German Schweinshaxe.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispy_pata

Sisig is a Filipino dish made from parts of pig head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers.

Sisig was first mentioned in a Kapampangan dictionary in the 17th Century meaning "to snack on something sour" and "salad". It usually refers to fruits, often unripe or half-ripe, sometimes dipped in salt and vinegar. It also refers to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork, which is marinated in a sour liquid such as lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig

Lechón in Spanish or Leitão in Portuguese is a pork dish in several regions of the world, most specifically in Bairrada, Portugal and Spain and its former colonial possessions throughout the world. Lechón is a Spanish word referring to a roasted suckling pig. Lechón is a popular food in the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, other Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America, and Spain.[1] The dish features a whole roasted pig cooked over charcoal. Additionally, it is a national dish of the Philippines[2] with Cebu being acknowledged by American chef Anthony Bourdain as having the best pig.[3] It is also the national dish of Puerto Rico.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechon

Philippine adobo (from Spanish adobar: "marinade," "sauce" or "seasoning") is a popular Ilocano dish and cooking process in Filipino cuisine that involves meat, seafood, or vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black peppercorns, which is browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade. It has sometimes been considered as the unofficial national dish in the Philippines.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_adobo