PHILIPPINE

GASTRONOMY
• Filipino cuisine (Filipino: Lutuing Pilipino/Pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the
cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethno-linguistic groups found throughout
the Philippine archipelago. However, a majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that
compose Filipino cuisine are from the cuisines of the various ethnolinguistic groups
and tribes of the archipelago, including the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan,
Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan (Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray), Chavacano and
Maranao ethno-linguistic groups. The style of food making and the food associated
with it have evolved over many centuries from their Austronesian origins (shared
with Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines) to a mixed cuisine of Indian, Chinese, 
Spanish and American influences, in line with the major waves of influence that had
enriched the cultures of the archipelago, as well as others adapted to indigenous
ingredients and the local palate.[1]
• Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to fish curry,
chicken curry, complex paellas and cozidos of Iberian origin created for fiestas. Popular
dishes include: lechón[2] (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured
beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce,
or cooked until dry), dinuguan (pork blood stew), kaldereta (meat stewed in tomato sauce), 
mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), pochero (beef and bananas in tomato
sauce), afritada (chicken or pork and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce), kare-kare (
oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans,
okra, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's
leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour
broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls). Various food scholars have
noted that Filipino cuisine is multi-faceted and is the most representative in the culinary
world for food where 'East meets West'
 HISTORY AND INFLUENCES
During the pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines, the
preferred Austronesian methods for food preparation were
boiling, steaming and roasting. The ingredients for
common dishes were obtained from locally raised
livestock. These ranged from water buffalos/carabaos, 
chicken, and pigs to various kinds of fish and other 
seafood. In 3200 BCE, Austronesians from southern 
China (Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau) and Taiwan settled in
the region that is now called the Philippines. They brought
Lumpia is a spring roll of with them knowledge of rice cultivation and other farming
Chinese origin commonly practices which increased the number and variety of
edible dish ingredients available for cooking.[4]
found in the Philippines.
Direct trade and cultural exchange with Hokkien China in the Philippines in the 
Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) with porcelain, ceramics, and silk being traded for
spices and trepang in Luzon.[5] This early cultural contact with China introduced a
number of staple food into Filipino cuisine, most notably toyo (soy sauce; Chinese
:  豆油 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-yu), tokwa; (tofu; Chinese:  豆干 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), toge (
bean sprout; Chinese:  豆芽 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāu-koaⁿ), and patis (fish sauce), as well as
the method of stir frying and making savory soup bases. Many of these food items Rice is a staple food
and dishes retained their original Hokkien names, such as pancit (Chinese:  便 ê 食 ;  in Filipino cuisine
 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: piān-ê-si̍t)(Chinese:  扁食 ; pinyin: biǎn shí), and lumpia (Chinese:  潤餅 ;
 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ).[5] The Chinese food introduced during this period were
food of the workers and traders, which became a staple of the noodle shops (
panciterias), and can be seen in dishes like arroz caldo (congee), sinangag (
fried rice).
The Chinese had been trading with the Philippines since the early 9th or 10th
centuries. Soon after the Chinese began to immigrate there in the 16th century.
Chinese influence is best seen in pancit noodles and lumpia spring rolls. There are
also many ingredients such as soy sauce, black beans, tofu, pork, etc, that are
seen in Filipino cooking.
• Trade and shared cultures with various neighboring kingdoms of Malacca and Srivijaya in 
Malaya, and Java meant shared if not adopted foods and cooking methods, which remain
central to Filipino cuisine today. Some of these are the use of fish or shrimp-based
ingredients such as bagoong (Malay: belacan) and patis and variants. The most known
Philippine variant of the Malay ketupat, or rice packed in banana leaves, is the puso of Cebu
 (also called bugnoy in other parts of the Visayas), piyoso in Moro cultures (e.g. Meranao, 
Maguindanao, Iranun), and patupat in northern Luzon. Moro cuisine in particular is known
for sambal, and the rendang dish, although is more popularly associated with 
Indonesian cuisine. A tamarind-based Malay dish called singgang is also analogous to the
more widely-popular Filipino sinigang.
• Rice and coconuts as staples throughout the archipelago as in the rest of Southeast
Asia meant similar or adopted dishes and methods based on these crops. Some of
these are evident in the infusion of coconut milk particularly in the renowned laing
 and sinilihan (popularized as Bicol Express) of Bikol. Other regional variants of
stews or soups commonly tagged as ginataan(g) or "with coconut milk" also abound
Filipino kitchens and food establishments. A dish from the Visayas simmered in
coconut water, ideally in bamboo, is the binakol usually with chicken as the main
ingredient.
 Traditionally
prepared bibingka in Baliuag
, Bulacan

• Through the trade with the Malay-Indonesian kingdoms, cuisine from as far away as India
 and Arabia further enriched the palettes of the local Austronesians. Particularly in the
southern regions of Mindanao where there is more direct contact with cultures of Malaysia
and Indonesia, popular dishes include kurmah, satti (local satay), and biryani. Indian
influences can also be noted in rice-based delicacies such as bibingka (analogous to the
Indonesian bingka), puto, and puto bumbong, where the latter two are plausibly derived from
the south Indian puttu, which also has variants throughout Maritime Southeast Asia (e.g. kue
putu, putu mangkok). The kare-kare, more popular in Luzon, on the other hand could trace
its origins from the Seven Years' War when the British occupied Manila for 2 years mostly
with sepoys (Indian conscripts), who had to improvise Indian dishes given the lack of spices
in the Philippines to make curry. This is said to explain the name and its supposed thick,
yellow-to-orange annatto and peanut-based sauce, which alludes to a type of curry.
• The Spanish came to the Philippines in 1521 and controlled its islands by 1565. The Spanish
ruled until 1898. Filipinos began using the Spanish sofrito of tomatoes, onions, and garlic
 cooked in oil for their dishes. Many cooking customs and techniques were adapted as well
as various dishes.
• Since the Spanish ruled both Mexico and the Philippines, the two were inevitably connected.
During the years of 1565-1815 the Spanish transported various goods between the two
colonies. New crops were brought from the New World to the Philippines such as chocolate, 
corn, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, bell peppers, jicama, chayote, avocado, peanuts, and 
annatto. The Mexicans received rice, sugarcane, tamarind, coconuts, and mangoes from
Philippine soil.
• Spanish colonizers and friars in the 16th century brought with them produce from
the Americas like chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and the method of sautéing
 with garlic and onions. Chili leaves are frequently used as a cooking green.
Hispanic dishes were eventually incorporated into Filipino cuisine with the more
complex dishes usually being prepared for special occasions. Some dishes such as 
arroz a la valenciana remain largely the same in the Philippine context. Some have
been adapted or have come to take on a slightly or significantly different meaning. 
Arroz a la cubana served in the Philippines usually includes ground beef picadillo.
Philippine longganisa despite its name is more akin to chorizo than Spanish 
longaniza (in Visayan regions, it is still known as chorizo). Morcon is likely to refer
to a beef roulade dish not the bulbous specialty Spanish sausage.
• After the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States
controlled the Philippines due to the Treaty of Paris. The
soldiers of the US introduced Filipinos to hot dogs, hamburgers
, fried chicken, and ice cream. They also introduced convenient
foods such as spam, corned beef, instant coffee. and 
evaporated milk.
• Today, Filipino cuisine[6] continues to evolve as new techniques
and styles of cooking, and ingredients find their way into the
country. Traditional dishes both simple and elaborate,
indigenous and foreign-influenced, are seen as are more current
popular international dishes and fast food fare. However, the
Filipino diet is higher in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
than other Asian diets.[7]
• Filipino food is widely shaped by individual traditions and
customs. The same dish may and will differ between
households. One dished prepared by your mother for example,
may be completely different from your aunts.
• Filipino cuisine may be confusing to some people due to it being hard to determine
what is actually Filipino. Confusion occurs due to the consistent growing phases of
Filipino culture. Filipino culture has been constantly changing throughout history,
gaining influence from various cultures and inevitably has evolved. Filipino food
today has been shaped by history and society of many unique and affluent cultures.
Influences from China, India, Arabia, and many other countries are seen throughout
Filipino food and culture due to the agricultural trading of the times. Influences
from Spain and America are seen through past colonization of the country. The rest
of the world has influenced Filipinos due to global communication which is the basis
of connecting societies internationally. Filipino food can be studied and given a
definition through the process of indigenizing its people throughout centuries.
Instead of fighting its adaptations to specific cultures, they allowed its submersion
which in turn, influenced their cuisines, foods, and ingredients.  .
CHARACTERISTICS
• Filipino cuisine centres around the combination of sweet (tamis), sour (asim), and
salty (alat),[2] although in Bicol, the Cordilleras and among Muslim Filipinos, spicy
(anghang) is a base of cooking flavor.
• Counterpoint is a feature in Filipino cuisine which normally comes in a pairing of
something sweet with something salty, and results in surprisingly pleasing
combinations. Examples include: champorado (a sweet cocoa rice porridge), being
paired with tuyo (salted, sun-dried fish); dinuguan (a savory stew made of pig's
blood and innards), paired with puto (sweet, steamed rice cakes); unripe fruits such
as green mangoes (which are only slightly sweet but very sour), are eaten dipped in
salt or bagoong; the use of cheese (which is salty-sweet) in sweetcakes (such as 
bibingka and puto), as well as an ice cream flavoring.
• Vinegar is a common ingredient. Adobo is popular[2] not solely
for its simplicity and ease of preparation, but also for its ability
to be stored for days without spoiling, and even improve in
flavor with a day or two of storage. Tinapa is a smoke-cured
fish while tuyo, daing, and dangit are corned, sun-dried fish
popular because they can last for weeks without spoiling, even
without refrigeration.
• Cooking and eating in the Philippines has traditionally been an informal and communal
affair centered around the family kitchen. Filipinos traditionally eat three main meals a
day: agahan or almusal (breakfast), tanghalían (lunch), and hapunan (dinner) plus an
afternoon snack called meriénda (also called minandál or minindál). Snacking is normal.
Dinner, while still the main meal, is smaller than other countries. Usually, either breakfast or
lunch is the largest meal. Food tends to be served all at once and not in courses. Unlike
many of their Asian counterparts Filipinos do not eat with chopsticks. Due to Western
influence, food is often eaten using flatware—forks, knives, spoons—but the primary
pairing of utensils used at a Filipino dining table is that of spoon and fork, not knife and
fork. The traditional way of eating is with the hands, especially dry dishes such
as inihaw or prito. The diner will take a bite of the main dish, then eat rice pressed together
with his fingers. 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.[8]
 COOKING METHODS
THE FILIPINO WORDS COMMONLY USED FOR COOKING METHODS AND TERMS ARE LISTED BELOW :

• Adobo (inadobo) − cooked in vinegar, oil, garlic and soy sauce.

• Afritada - braised in tomato sauce.
• Babad (binabad, ibinabad) − to marinate.
• Banli (binanlian, pabanli) − to blanch.
• Bagoong (binagoongan, sa bagoong) − fermented or cooked with fermented fish/shrimp paste (bagoong)
• Bibingka - baked cakes, traditionally glutinous rice.
• Binalot – literally "wrapped." This generally refers to dishes wrapped in banana leaves, pandan leaves, or
even aluminum foil. The wrapper is generally inedible (in contrast to lumpia — see below).
• Buro (binuro) − fermented, pickled, or preserved in salt or vinegar. Synonymous with tapay in other
Philippine languages when referring to fermented rice.
• Daing (dinaing, padaing) − salted and dried, usually fish or seafood. Synonymous
with tuyô, bulad or buwad in other Philippine languages
• Giniling - ground meat. Sometimes used as a synonym for picadillo, especially in arroz a la
cubana.
• Guinataan (sa gata) − cooked with coconut milk.
• Guisa (guisado, ginuisa) − sautéed with garlic, onions or tomatoes. Also
spelled gisa, gisado, ginisa.
• Hamonado (endulsado) - marinated or cooked in a sweet pineapple sauce. Sometimes
synonymous with pininyahan or minatamis
• Halabos (hinalabos) – mostly for shellfish. Steamed in their own juices and sometimes
carbonated soda.
• Hilaw (sariwa) – unripe (for fruits and vegetables), raw (for meats). Also used for uncooked
food in general (as in lumpiang sariwa).
• Hinurno – baked in an oven (pugon) or roasted.
• Ihaw (inihaw) − grilled over coals.
• Kinilaw or Kilawin − fish or seafood marinated in vinegar or calamansi juice along with 
garlic, onions, ginger, tomato, peppers. Also means to eat raw or fresh, cognate of Hilaw.
• Lechon (nilechon) − roasted on a spit. Also spelled litson.
• Lumpia – savory food wrapped with an edible wrapper.
• Minatamis (minatamisan) − sweetened. Similar to hamonado.
• Nilaga (laga, palaga) − boiled/braised.
• Nilasing − cooked with an alcoholic beverage like wine or beer.
• Paksiw (pinaksiw) − cooked in vinegar.
• Pancit (pansit, fideo) - noodle dishes, usually of Chinese Filipino origin.
• Pangat (pinangat) − boiled in salted water/brine with fruit such as tomatoes or ripe mangoes.
• Palaman (pinalaman, pinalamanan) − "filled" as in siopao, though "palaman" also refers to the filling in a
sandwich.
• Pinakbet (pakbet) − to cook with vegetables usually with sitaw (yardlong beans), calabaza
, talong (eggplant), and ampalaya (bitter melon) among others and bagoong.
• Pinakuluan – boiled.
• Pininyahan - marinated or cooked with pineapples. Sometimes synonymous with hamonado.
• Prito (pinirito) − fried or deep fried. From the Spanish frito.
• Puto - steamed cakes, traditionally glutinous rice.
• Relleno (relyeno) – stuffed.
• Sarza (sarciado) – cooked with a thick sauce.
• Sinangag – garlic fried rice.
• Sigang (sinigang) − boiled in a sour broth usually with a tamarind base. Other common souring agents
include guava, raw mangoes, calamansi also known as calamondin.
• Sugba (sinugba) - grilled over coals, synonymous with Tagalog Inihaw.
• Tapa or Tinapa – dried and smoked. Tapa refers to meat treated in this manner, mostly marinated and
then dried and fried afterwards. Tinapa meanwhile is almost exclusively associated with smoked fish.
• Tapay - fermented with yeast, usually rice, traditionally in tapayan jars. Synonymous with buro in
early phases. Can also refer to various products of fermented rice, including rice wines. A very briefly
fermented glutinous rice version is known as galapong, which is an essential ingredient in Filipino 
kakanin (rice cakes). Cognate of tinapay (leavened bread).
• Tosta (tinosta, tostado) – toasted.
• Torta (tinorta, patorta) – in the northern Philippines, to cook with eggs in the manner of an omelette.
In the southern Philippines, a general term for a small cake.
• Turon (turrones) - wrapped with an edible wrapper; dessert counterpart of lumpia.
 COMMON DISHES
• As in most Asian countries, the staple food in the Philippines is rice.[9] It
is most often steamed and always served with meat, fish and vegetable
dishes. Leftover rice is often fried with garlic to make sinangag, which
is usually served at breakfast together with a fried egg and cured meat or
sausages. Rice is often enjoyed with the sauce or broth 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.
Sticky rice with cocoa, also called champorado is also a common dish
served with tuyo or dried herring.
• A variety of fruits and vegetables are often used in cooking. Plantains
 (also called saba in Filipino), kalamansi, guavas (bayabas), mangoes, 
papayas, and pineapples lend a distinctly tropical flair in many dishes,
but mainstay green leafy vegetables like water spinach (kangkong),
Chinese cabbage (petsay), Napa cabbage (petsay wombok), cabbage
(repolyo) and other vegetables like eggplants (talong) and yard-long
beans (sitaw) are just as commonly used. Coconuts are ubiquitous.
Coconut meat is often used in desserts, coconut milk (kakang gata) in
sauces, and coconut oil for frying. Abundant harvests of root crops like
potatoes, carrots, taro (gabi), cassava (kamoteng kahoy), purple yam (
ube), and sweet potato (kamote) make them readily available. The
combination of tomatoes (kamatis), garlic (bawang), and onions
(sibuyas) is found in many dishes.
• Meat staples include chicken, pork, beef, and fish. Seafood is popular as
a result of the bodies of water surrounding the archipelago. Popular
catches include tilapia, catfish (hito), milkfish (bangus), grouper (lapu-
lapu), shrimp (hipon), prawns (sugpo), mackerel (galunggong, hasa-
hasa), swordfish (isdang-ispada), oysters (talaba), mussels (tahong), 
clams (halaan and tulya), large and small crabs
 (alimango and alimasag respectively), game fish, sablefish, tuna, cod
 (bakalaw), blue marlin, and squid/cuttlefish (both called pusit). Also
popular are seaweeds (damong dagat), abalone, and eel (igat).
• The most common way of having fish is to have it salted, pan-
fried or deep-fried, and then eaten as a simple meal with rice
and vegetables. It may also be cooked in a sour broth of
tomatoes or tamarind as in pangat, prepared with vegetables
and a souring agent to make sinigang, simmered in vinegar and
peppers to make paksiw, or roasted over hot charcoal or wood (
inihaw). Other preparations include escabeche (sweet and
sour), relleno (deboned and stuffed), or "kinilaw" (similar to
ceviche; marinated in vinegar or kalamansi). Fish can be
preserved by being smoked (tinapa) or sun-dried
(tuyo or daing).
• Food is often served with various dipping sauces. Fried food is
often dipped either in vinegar with onions, soy sauce with juice
squeezed from Kalamansi (Philippine lime
or calamansi). Patis (fish sauce) may be mixed
with kalamansi as dipping sauce for most seafood or mixed
with a stew called nilaga. Fish sauce, fish paste (bagoong), 
shrimp paste (bagoong alamang) and crushed ginger root
(luya) are condiments that are often added to dishes during the
cooking process or when served.
 BREAKFAST
• A traditional Filipino breakfast might include pandesal (small bread
rolls), kesong puti (fresh, unripened, white Filipino cheese, traditionally
made from carabao's milk) champorado (chocolate rice porridge), silog
 which is sinangag (garlic fried rice) or sinaing, with fried egg and meat
—such as tapa, longganisa, tocino, karne norte (corned beef), or fish
such as daing na bangus (salted and dried milkfish)—or itlog na pula (
salted duck eggs). Coffee is also commonly served particularly kapeng
barako, a variety of coffee produced in the mountains of Batangas noted
for having a strong flavor.
• Certain portmanteaus in Filipino have come into use to describe popular combinations of
items in a Filipino breakfast. An example of such a combination order is kankamtuy: an
order of kanin (rice), kamatis (tomatoes) and tuyo (dried fish). Another is tapsi: an order
of tapa and sinangág or sinaing. Other examples include variations using a silog suffix,
usually some kind of meat served with sinangág or sinaing, and itlog (egg). The three most
commonly seen silogs are tapsilog (having tapa as the meat portion), tocilog (having tocino
as the meat portion), and longsilog (having longganisa as the meat portion).
Other silogs include hotsilog (with a hot dog), bangsilog (with bangus (milkfish)
), dangsilog (with danggit (rabbitfish)), spamsilog (with spam), adosilog (with
adobo), chosilog (with chorizo), chiksilog (with chicken), cornsilog (with corned beef),
and litsilog (with lechon/litson). Pankaplog is slang for a breakfast consisting of pandesal, 
kape (coffee), and itlog (egg), it is also a double entendre meaning to fondle breasts.[10] An
establishment that specializes in such meals is called a tapsihan or tapsilugan.
 MERIENDA
• Merienda is taken from the Spanish, and is a light meal or snack especially in the afternoon,
similar to the concept of afternoon tea.[11] If the meal is taken close to dinner, it is called merienda
cena, and may be served instead of dinner.[12]
• Filipinos have a number of options to take with kapé, which is the Filipino pronunciation of café (
coffee): breads and pastries like pandesal, ensaymada (buttery brioche covered in grated cheese
and sugar), hopia (pastries similar to mooncakes filled with mung bean paste) and empanada
 (savoury, meat-filled pasties). Also popular are kakanín, or traditional pastries made from sticky
rice like kutsinta, sapin-sapin (multicoloured, layered pastry), palitaw, biko, suman, Bibingka, and 
pitsi-pitsî (served with desiccated coconut).
• Savoury dishes often eaten during merienda include 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 dressing), and dinuguan (a spicy stew made of pork blood),
which is often served with puto (steamed rice flour cakes).
• Dim sum and dumplings, brought to the islands by Fujianese migrants, have been given a Filipino
touch and are also popular merienda fare. Street food, such as squid balls and fish balls, are often
skewered on bamboo sticks and consumed with soy sauce and the sour juice of the calamondin as
condiments.
 PULUTAN
• Pulutan[13] (from the Filipino word pulutin which literally means "to pick something up")
is a term roughly analogous to the English term "finger food" or Spanish Tapas. Originally,
it was a snack accompanied with liquor or beer but has found its way into Filipino cuisine
as appetizers or, in some cases, main dishes, as in the case of sisig.
• Deep fried pulutan include chicharrón (also spelled chicharon or tsitsaron), pork rinds that
have been boiled and then twice fried, the second frying gives the crunchiness and golden
color; chicharong bituka, pig intestines that have been deep fried to a crisp; chicharong
bulaklak, similar to chicharong bituka it is made from mesenteries of pig intestines and
has an appearance roughly resembling a flower, hence the bulaklak name; and chicharong
manok, chicken skin that has been deep fried until crisp. Other examples of deep fried
pulutan are crispy crablets, crispy frog legs, chicharong isda or fish skin cracklings,
and tugnas or deep fried pork fat (also known as pinaigi).
• Examples of grilled foods include: isaw, or chicken or pig intestines skewered and then
grilled; Inihaw na tenga, pig ears that have been skewered and then grilled; pork
barbecue, skewered pork marinated in a sweet soy-garlic blend and then grilled; betamax, salted
solidified pork or chicken blood which is then skewered and lightly grilled; adidas which is grilled
 or sautéed chicken feet. There is also sisig[14], a popular pulutan made from the pig's cheek skin,
ears and liver that is initially boiled, then charcoal grilled and afterwards minced and cooked with
chopped onions, chillies, and spices.
• Smaller snacks such as mani (peanuts) are often sold steamed in the shell, salted, spiced or
flavored with garlic by street vendors in the Philippines. Another snack is kropeck, which is fish
crackers.
• Tokwa't baboy is fried tofu with boiled pork marinated in a garlic-flavored soy sauce or vinegar
dip. It is also served as a side dish to pancit luglog or pancit palabok.
• You can also find tuhog-tuhog accompanied by sweet or spicy sauce. This include Fish balls,
Kikiam, Squid balls etc., these are commonly served during a small gathering or in local bars.
 BREAD AND PASTRIES
• In a typical Filipino bakery, pandesal, monay and ensaymada are often sold. Pandesal comes
from the Spanish pan de sal (literally, bread of salt), and is a ubiquitous breakfast fare, normally
eaten with (and sometimes even dipped in) coffee. It typically takes the form of a bread roll, and
is usually baked covered in bread crumbs. Contrary to what its name implies, pandesal is not
particularly salty as very little salt is used in baking it. Monay is a firmer slightly denser heavier
bread. Ensaymada, from the Spanish ensaimada, is a pastry made using butter and often topped
with sugar and shredded cheese that is especially popular during Christmas. It is sometimes made
with fillings such as ube (purple yam) and macapuno (a variety of coconut the meat of which is
often cut into strings, sweetened, preserved, and served in desserts). Also commonly sold in
Filipino bakeries is pan de coco, a sweet roll filled with shredded coconut mixed with
molasses. Putok, which literally means "explode", refers to a small, hard bread roll whose
cratered surface is glazed with sugar. Kababayan is a small, sweet gong-shaped muffin that has a
moist consistency. Spanish bread refers to a rolled pastry which looks like a croissant prior to
being given a crescent shape, and has a filling consisting of sugar and butter.
• There are also rolls like pianono, which is a chiffon roll
flavored with different fillings. Brazo de mercedes, a rolled
cake or jelly roll, is made from a sheet of meringue rolled
around a custard filling. Similar to the previous dessert, it takes
on a layered presentation instead of being rolled and typically
features caramelized sugar and nuts for sans rival. Silvañas are
large, oval-shaped, cookie-sized desserts, with a thin meringue
on either side of a buttercream filling and dusted with crumbed
cookies. Not overly sweet, they are rich, crisp, chewy, and
buttery all at the same time. Barquillos use sweet thin crunchy
wafers rolled into tubes that can be sold hollow or filled
• with polvoron (sweetened and toasted flour mixed with ground nuts). Meringues are also
present in the Philippines, due to the Spanish influence, but they are called merengue – with
all the vowels pronounced. Leche flan is a type of caramel custard made with eggs and milk
similar to the French creme caramel. Leche flan (the local term for the original Spanish flan
de leche, literally "milk flan") is a heavier version of the Spanish flan made with condensed
milk and more egg yolks. Leche flan is usually steamed over an open flame or stove top,
although on rare occasions it can also be seen baked. Leche flan is a staple in celebratory
feasts.
• A heavier version of leche flan, tocino del cielo, is similar, but has significantly more egg
yolks and sugar.
• The egg pie with a very rich egg custard filling is a mainstay in local bakeries. It is typically
baked so that the exposed custard on top is browned. Buko pie is made with a filling made
from young coconut meat and dairy. Mini pastries like turrones de casuy are made up of
cashew marzipan wrapped with a wafer made to resemble a candy wrapper but take on a
miniature look of a pie in a size of about a quarter. There is also napoleones – again with all
the vowels pronounced – a mille-feuille pastry stuffed with a sweet milk-based filling.
• There are hard pastries like biskotso a crunchy, sweet, twice-baked bread.
Another baked goody is sinipit which is a sweet pastry covered in a crunchy
sugar glaze, made to resemble a length of rope. Similar to sinipit is a snack
eaten on roadsides colloquially called shingaling. It is hollow but crunchy with
a salty flavor.
• For a softer treat there is mamon a chiffon-type cake sprinkled with sugar, its
name derived from a slang Spanish term for breast. There's also crema de fruta,
which is an elaborate sponge cake topped in succeeding layers of cream,
custard, candied fruit, and gelatine. Similar to a sponge cake
is mamoncillo which generally refers to slices taken from a large mamon cake,
but it is unrelated to the fruit of the same name. Sandwich pastries like inipit
 are made with two thin layers of chiffon sandwiching a filling of custard that is
topped with butter and sugar. Another mamon variant is mamon tostada,
basically mamoncillo toasted to a crunchy texture.
• Stuffed pastries that reflect both Western and Eastern influence are
common. One can find empanadas, a turnover-type pastry filled with a
savory-sweet meat filling. Typically filled with ground meat and raisins,
it can be deep fried or baked. Siopao is the local version of Chinese 
baozi. Buchi is another snack that is likely of Chinese origin. Bite-
sized, buchi is made of deep-fried dough balls (often from rice flour)
filled with a sweet mung bean paste, and coated on the outside with
sesame seeds; some variants also have ube as the filling. There are also
many varieties of the mooncake-like hopia, which come in different
shapes (from a flat, circular stuffed form, to cubes), and have different
textures (predominantly using flaky pastry, but sometimes like the ones
in mooncakes) and fillings.
 FIESTA FOOD
• For festive occasions, people band together and prepare more sophisticated dishes. Tables are
often laden with expensive and labor-intensive treats requiring hours of preparation. In Filipino
celebrations, lechón (also spelled litson)[15] serves as the centerpiece of the dinner table. It is
usually a whole roasted pig, but suckling pigs (lechonillo, or lechon de leche) or cattle calves
(lechong baka) can also be prepared in place of the popular adult pig. It is typically served
with lechon sauce, which is traditionally made from the roasted pig's liver. Other dishes
include hamonado (honey-cured beef, pork or chicken), relleno (stuffed chicken or milkfish), 
mechado, afritada, caldereta, puchero, paella, menudo, morcon, embutido (referring to a
meatloaf dish, not a sausage as understood elsewhere), suman (a savory rice and coconut milk
 concoction steamed in leaves such as banana), and pancit canton. The table may also be have
various sweets and pastries such as leche flan, ube, sapin-sapin, sorbetes (ice
creams), totong or sinukmani (a rice, coconut milk and mongo bean pudding), ginataan (a
coconut milk pudding with various root vegetables and tapioca pearls), and gulaman (an agar 
jello-like ingredient or dessert).
• 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 Christmas season and are popular giveaways by Filipino
companies in addition to red wine, brandy, groceries, or pastries. Available mostly during the
Christmas season and sold in front of churches along with bibingka, puto bumbong is purple
colored ground sticky rice steamed vertically in small bamboo tubes.
• More common at celebrations than in everyday home meals, lumpiang sariwa, or fresh
lumpia, is a fresh spring roll that consists of a soft crepe wrapped around a filling that can
include strips of kamote (sweet potato), singkamas (jicama), bean sprouts, green beans,
cabbage, carrots and meat (often pork). It can be served warm or cold and typically with a
sweet peanut and garlic sauce. Ukoy is shredded papaya combined with small shrimp (and
occasionally bean sprouts) and fried to make shrimp patties. It is often eaten with vinegar
seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. Both lumpiang sariwa and ukoy are often served
together in Filipino parties. Lumpiang sariwa has Chinese origins, having been derived
from popiah.[16]