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.[1]. 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
Merienda
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.
In recent years, snack served in between breakfast and lunch has been common during special occasions such as day long symposiums and workshops. However, this does not qualify as traditional merienda as the term officially applies to afternoon snacks as traditionally practiced by Filipinos.
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, nata de coco (coconut jello) 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.
