What is Filipino Food?
1989 - Start of American Colonization
While it defies any singular
characterization, Filipino food is
sometimes identified by the way it fuses
Asian and European ingredients.
Filipino food combines Eastern and
Western ideas and is strongly influenced
by Chinese, Spanish, and American
traditions (Sim, 2018)
● The following shows how foreign
culture influenced Filipino cuisine
-Chinese trade in 11th century-
o Pansit - noodles; Hokkien word for
"something quickly cooked"
• Lumpia - meat and vegetable mixture
rolled in an edible flour wrapper.
• Siopao - steamed buns filled with meat
• Siomai - a type of dumpling; meat in
small wrappers and then steamed.
-1521 Spanish expedition-
o Led by Ferdinand Magellan, with
Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta
*First account of Filipino food:
"pork in its sauce served in
porcelain platters... roasted fish
with freshly gathered ginger and
rice, turtle eggs, chicken, and
peacock."
-1565-1989 Spanish colonization-
*Introduction of Western cooking
methods
*Import of Spanish ingredients like
tomatoes, annatto seeds, corn, and
avocados
*Introduction of Mexican delicacies like
tamales, pipian, and balbacoa through the
Vice Royalty of Mexico
• Filipino cooks were taught to prepare
Spanish dishes
• Renaming of local dishes into Spanish:
Adobo, Arroz Caldo, and morisqueta
tostada.
•Use of sofrito as a flavoring base - garlic,
onion, and tomato.
• Introduction of processed foods
• Use of American products as more
superior than Filipino ingredients
• Hygienic and sanitary procedures in
food preparation were taught in Home
Economics Classes and were practiced in
Public Markets.
The Philippines' scattered islands created
a sense of regional identity. These
regions have distinct cultures and
cuisines. As an archipelago, certain
ingredients are endemic to its own
region. Naturally, people would use what
is available to them. This led them to
creating dishes of their own or creating a
variation of an already existing dish.
Therefore, food preparation and
presentation vary greatly between
regions, towns, and even households in
the Philippines.
An example of this is the adobo. The most
well-known variant is the chicken-pork
adobo where chicken and pork are braised
in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorn,
and bay leaf. In Batangas, they would
braise chicken, pork, and beef together. In
Iloilo, they would use kangkong (water
spinach) for apan-apan adobado. While in
the Bicol region, they would use gata
(coconut milk) and green finger chilies
(Barretto, et al., 2016).
To define Filipino food, one must
understand the geography and history of
the Philippines. Filipino food is not only
the ingredients found in its islands but also
the history and society that introduced
them and the people who harmonize them
to satisfy the Filipino palette, evolving into
the cuisine that we love today (Fernandez,
2005).
Ingredients in Filipino Cuisine
RICE - Aside from being an
accompaniment to viands during
mealtime, rice can be used in a variety of
ways. It may be flavored with salt for
duldul or with chocolate for
champorado. It is made into wine called
tapuy in Cordillera. Rice is fermented
with fish called balo-balo, or it can also
be made into different types of rice cakes
or kakanin.
Thawing and Reheating
All cooked food should reach an internal
temperature of 74°C/165°F in less than
two (2) hours from thawing or removal
from storage. After removing from the
freezer, frozen food can be thawed in
three (3) ways: leaving it in the
refrigerator overnight, running it under
cold water at 4°C/40°F in a sealed
container, or using a microwave. These
methods will help food to reach a safe
internal temperature and prevent
bacterial growth.
__________________________________
Features
The Ilocos Region is made up of four (4)
provinces, namely: llocos Norte, Ilocos
Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan Majority
of the population speaks the local
language Ilocano (Philippine Information
Agency PIA, n.d.).
*Ilocos Norte's and llocos Sur's climate is
very hot and dry. They sparingly eat
meat and a bulk of their diet is mostlv
made up of vegetables and rice (Fenix.
2014)
La Union is famous as a surfing
destination. The province's agriculture
industry produces rice, corn, fish, fruits,
fruit vegetables, leafy vegetables, root
crops, legumes, and livestock. The locals
also export pure honey from dried fish
and sugar cane wine. Majority of the
inhabitants in the province are Ilocanos
who migrated there during the 1700’s.
That is why La Union's cuisine is very
similar to its neighboring provinces,
Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur (PIA, n.d.).
• Pangasinan is among the earliest
political and administrative units in the
Philippines. One of their best import
products are carabao mangoes and
bangus milkfish. The agriculture
industry in the province is very important
to the locals that they celebrate a couple of
festivals dedicated to good harvest like the
Pista'y Dayat Festival, Bangus Festival,
Mango-Bamboo Festival, and the Sigay
Festival.
-Distinct Food Products-
Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur
Dinenadena - It is a soupy vegetable disn
that contains eggplants, sponge goura, lima
beans, baguio beans, and malunggay pods,
then stewed with bagoong.
*Poqui-poqui - It is an eggplant dish with
tomatoes and eggs.
*Miki - This is a soup with thick egg
noodles called miki in a shrimp, beef,
and chicken broth. Annatto seed extract
is added to add some color. Kutsav. or
garlic chives. is added at the end to
enhance the aroma.
*Dinardaraan or Dinuguan - This is a
blood stew with pork innards and fried
chicharon bulaklak. Bulaklak is a part of
the pig's intestines.
*Papaitan - It is a very bitter soup that
contains innards and bile, which are
responsible for the bitter
*Bagnet - It is a deep fried pork belly.
*Vigan Longganisa - This is a very
popular recado-style longganisa in Ilocos
and has a very strong garlic flavor.
*Empanada - Similar to the spanish
empanada, this contains eggs, bean
sprouts, and longganisa wrapped in an
orange flour dough. The dough gets its
orange pigment from annatto seeds
*Insarabasab - This is made with pork
loin or shoulder butt (kasim) marinated in
calamansi, garlic, and salt before grilling.
*Igado - This dish is made with pork
innards and mixed with green peas.
*Dinakdakan -This is chopped grilled
pork meat and face mixed with onion,
vinegar, and mashed brains for a creamy
texture.
•La Union
*Pinakbet or Pakbet - It is a vegetable
dish that contains sauasn. bitter melon.
eggplants. okra. and one
beans. it is sauteed witn bagoona
*Kilawind kambina - This dish contains
goat skin and meat with seasoned vinegar
or sukana loko.
*Ar arosep - These are grape-like
seaweeds, known by Tagalogs as lato.
Inkiwar - This is a type of glutinous rice
cake native in La Union
• Tupig - This is made from glutinous rice
batter, wrapped in banana leaves, then
roasted over charcoal in Pangasinan.
• Puto Calasiao - These are small,
bite-sized rice cakes made from
fermented semi-glutinous rice. These are
named after the town of Calasiao.
• Pigar-pigar - This is a very popular
street food in Dagupan. It is made from
thinly sliced sirloin beef, stir-fried with
onions and cabbage.
• Binungey - This is made from glutinous
rice cooked inside bamboo.
• Baguisen - This dish is made from pork
liver and lungs cooked in vinegar and
sugar.
• Inutakan - This dish is made up of
boiled pork face pieces with thinly sliced
poached pig brains and flavored with
vinegar sauce.
*Alaminos longganisa - This is a
recado-style longganisa with lots of
garlic. Its segments are separated by
toothpicks.
• Burong Isda - This is a side dish made
with fermented freshwater fish and half
cooked rice.