DINE IN THE FILIPINO WAY
Filipino food is characterized by Chinese, Spanish, American,
and Japanese influences. A variety of delicious dishes have evolved from such influences
to suit the local palate.
- Rice is the staple food in the Philippines. It
is almost always an important part of each meal, whether breakfast, lunch,
or dinner. There are various ways of cooking rice, but the most common
is boiled rice, served steaming hot either on traditional banana leaves, in plates,
or in more aromatic bamboo tubes. Rice may also be transformed into various
local delicacies such as puto, a sweet cake wrapped in banana leaves;
pinipig, rice crisps; and ampaw, a caramelized rice bar.
- Buko(young coconut) -- Its juice is drunk, or fermented
into intoxicating wines called tuba and lambanog, or made
into gelatinous dessert called nata de coco. Its meat can be eaten
as is, mixed with tropical fruits for a delicious buko salad, squeezed for
milk used to enhance the flavor of various dishes, or as a topping for
sweets.
- Adobo, the national dish of the Philippines, is
a mixture of pork and chicken sauteed in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and
black pepper.
- Pancit is a very popular noodle dish influenced influenced by the Chinese. It has been
transformed into various regional varieties such as pancit Malabon(mixed with seafood); pancit Marilao
(made with rice crisps); pancit bihon; pancit luglog; pancit palabok; pancit
Canton; and sotanghon.
- Bagnet or pork belly is partly fried, smoked over
firewood, dried out on the sides of a clay pot, and then eaten with plenty
of vinegar and chilli pepper. It originated from the mountainous Cordillera
region.
- Pinakbet, a mainstay in the Ilocos region, is
sauteed mixture of fresh vegetables cooked with shrimp paste(bagoong).
- Lechon or roast pig is one of the most popular
dishes in the Philippines. Similar dishes are Lechon Manok(roast chicken)
and Lechon Baka (roast calf). These are served with a sauce of liver,vinegar,
and peppercorn.
- Laing the most popular dish from the Bicol region,
is made with coconut milk and homegrown gabi leaves.
- Sizzling Sisig, comprised of grilled pig's cheeks
and ears, chopped with chicken liver, onions, chilli, and pepper, is served
on a sizzling plate.
- Sinugba, grilled mixed platters, came from Cebu.
- Native sweets and pastries such as puto and kutchinta
(rice cakes); pudding like the multicolored sapin-sapin; pastillas(carabao's
or goat's milk candies); jams like the local yam(ube); fruit preserves;
nougats and nutty candies(pili and kasuy).
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