Gastronomy in the Philippines: Famous Filipino Cuisines and Delicacies

Influences on Filipino Cuisine

  • Filipino food is a fusion of Asian and European ingredients, influenced by Chinese, Spanish, and American traditions (Sim, 2018).

Chinese Influence (11th Century)

  • Pansit: Noodles, derived from the Hokkien word for "something quickly cooked."

Spanish Influence (1521-1898)

  • 1521 Spanish Expedition
    • 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 –1898 Spanish Colonization
    • Introduction of Western cooking methods.
    • Import of Spanish ingredients like tomatoes, annatto seeds, corn, and avocados.
    • Introduction of Mexican delicacies like tamales and balbacoa through the Vice Royalty of Mexico.
      • Tamales: A dish made with a corn-based dough mixture filled with meats or beans and cheese.
      • Balbacoa: A meat dish traditionally slow-cooked (often in pits) with seasonings or a light broth until very tender.
    • Filipino cooks were taught to prepare Spanish dishes.
    • Renaming of local dishes into Spanish:
      • Adobo
      • Arroz Caldo (literally means warm rice): Congee usually enjoyed with boiled pork slices and fried tofu soaked in a vinegar mixture.
      • Morisqueta Tostada: A type of fried rice prepared with leftover cooked rice stir-fried with eggs, Chinese sausage, ham, shrimps, and spring onions.
    • Use of sofrito as a flavoring base: garlic, onion, and tomato.

American Influence (1898 - Start of American Colonization)

  • Introduction of processed food items.
  • Use of American products as superior to Filipino ingredients.
  • Hygienic and sanitary procedures in food preparation were taught in Home Economics Classes and practiced in Public Markets.

Other Influences

  • 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.

Regional Identity and Cuisine

  • The Philippines’ scattered islands created a sense of regional identity, leading to distinct cultures and cuisines.
  • As an archipelago, certain ingredients are endemic to specific areas; people naturally use what is available.
  • Food preparation and presentation vary significantly between regions, towns, and households.
  • Adobo Example
    • Most well-known variant: chicken-pork adobo, where chicken and pork are braised in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorn, and bay leaf.
    • Batangas: braises chicken, pork, and beef together.
    • Iloilo: uses kangkong (water spinach) for apan-apan.
    • Bicol region: uses gata (coconut milk) and green finger chilies, calling it “Adobo sa Gata” (Barretto et al., 2016).

Defining Filipino Food

  • To define Filipino food, one must understand the geography and history of the Philippines.
  • Filipino food is influenced by the ingredients in its islands, the history and society that introduced them, and the people who harmonize them to satisfy the Filipino palate, evolving into the Filipino cuisine known today.
  • Below are the famous Filipino cuisines and delicacies of each region in the Philippines as of December 2022:

Regional Cuisines and Delicacies

National Capital Region (NCR)

  • Diverse population from different provinces and foreigners.
  • Dishes from hometowns become part of Metro Manila’s culinary scene.
    • Sapin-Sapin: Layered glutinous rice cake from Malabon.
    • Pancit Malabon: Noodle dish made with thick rice noodles and shrimp broth, topped with shrimp, eggs, and crushed chicharon. Annatto oil gives the noodles a yellow color. Originated in Malabon City.
    • Hopia: Mooncake-like pastry filled with mung beans, red beans, or winter melon. Famous in Taguig and Binondo District in Manila.
    • Inutak: Sticky dessert from Pateros made from glutinous rice flour and coconut milk batter. The surface is burnt, resembling a brain (utak in Filipino).
    • Everlasting: Oval-shaped meatloaf made from pork, hard-boiled eggs, bell pepper, and chorizo. Originated in Marikina.

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

  • Famous for rice terraces.
  • Cooler climate allows the production of strawberries, cold-weather plants, and various rice grains.

Benguet

*   **Etag**: Smoked pork cured in salt, dried under the sun, or placed above steady smoke.
*   **Pinikpikan**: Soup made with chicken and etag. The chicken is gently beaten before cooking to create blood clots under its skin.
*   **Pinuneg**: Native sausage with pork blood, minced pork, innards, and cooked rice.

Ifugao

*   **Binakle**: Rice cake offered to their rice god, Bulol, as thanksgiving during harvest season.

Kalinga

*   **Binungor**: Exotic delicacy with agurong (stir-fried water shells), rabbong (bamboo shoots), and hot chili stewed in coconut milk.
*   **Inandila**: Rice dough made from rice flour and water, poached in simmering water. It is large, thick, and shaped like a tongue, topped with latik (curdled coconut cream) and crushed nuts.

Region I – Ilocos Region

  • Strong culinary traditions (Rouger, 2017).

Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur

*   **Dinengdeng**: Soupy vegetable dish with eggplants, sponge gourd, lima beans, Baguio beans, and malunggay pods stewed with bagoong.
*   **Poqui-poqui**: Eggplant dish with tomatoes and eggs.
*   **Papaitan**: Bitter soup containing innards and bile.
*   **Bagnet**: Deep-fried pork belly.
*   **Vigan Longganisa**: Recado-style longganisa with a strong garlic flavor.
*   **Empanada**: Contains eggs, bean sprouts, and longganisa wrapped in orange flour dough (colored with annatto seeds).
*   **Igado**: Pork innards mixed with green peas.
*   **Pinakbet**: Vegetable dish containing squash, bitter melon, eggplants, okra, and long beans sauteed with bagoong.

La Union

*   **Kilawing Kambing**: Goat skin and meat seasoned with vinegar or sukang Iloko.
*   **Inkiwar**: Glutinous rice cake native to the province.
*   **Tupig**: Glutinous rice batter wrapped in banana leaves, then roasted over charcoal.

Pangasinan

*   **Puto Calasiao**: Small, bite-sized rice cakes made from fermented semi-glutinous rice, named after the town of Calasiao.
*   **Pigar-pigar**: Street food in Dagupan made from thinly sliced sirloin beef, stir-fried with onions and cabbage.
*   **Binungey**: Glutinous rice with coconut extract cooked in bamboo over a fire.
*   **Burong Isda**: Side dish made with fermented freshwater fish and half-cooked rice.

Region II – Cagayan Valley

  • Numerous exotic and unique local dishes.

Batanes

*   **Luñis**: Pork confit dish (cooked and preserved in fat).
*   **Amay**: Ivatan delicacy made from mashed sweet potatoes and taro.
*   **Uved or Uvud**: Made of finely-grated corm (base of a banana plant’s trunk) mixed with ground meat (beef or pork) and minced fish. Ivatan’s version of meatballs.

Cagayan

*   **Pancit Batil Patong**: Miki and vermicelli noodles sautéed with vegetables, topped with scrambled eggs.
*   **Tuguegarao Longganisa**: Contains lean meat and garlic, flavored with vinegar (also known as Ybanag Longganisa).

Isabela

*   **Pansit Cabagan**: Stir-fried with soy sauce and topped with lechon carajay (deep-fried pork), vegetables, and quail eggs.
*   **Binalay**: Rice cake like suman, made from glutinous rice flour mixed with water, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed. Served with sweet latik sauce.
*   **Lechon Carnero**: Roasted lamb dish, roasted on a bamboo pole and served during fiestas.

Region III – Central Luzon

  • More elaborately prepared food compared to Northern Luzon.
  • Pampanga is the “Culinary Capital of the Philippines.”

Aurora

*   **Suman**: Sweet glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves before steaming.

Bataan

*   **Araro**: Cookies made from arrowroot.

Bulacan

*   **Pansit Marilao**: Noodle dish using thin rice noodles or bihon with palabok sauce and toppings including okoy and diced kamias.
*   **Bringhe**: Rice cooked with turmeric, coconut milk, and chicken.
*   **Lumlom**: Fresh fish buried in mud to ferment and then cooked as paksiw.

Nueva Ecija

*   **Sinampalukang Manok**: Simple chicken soup with tamarind broth.
*   **Batutay**: Longganisa from Cabanatuan, originally made from carabeef (buffalo meat).

Pampanga

*   **Begukan Babi**: Pork cooked in shrimp paste.
*   **Camaru**: Mole crickets cooked adobo-style and then fried.
*   **Buro**: Made from fermented rice and used as a side dish.
*   **Sisig**: Pork face sauteed with pork liver, onions, calamansi, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Region IV-A – CALABARZON

Cavite

*   **Pansit Puso ng Saging**: Noodle dish with miki and bihon noodles, topped with thinly sliced banana blossoms cooked in vinegar.
*   **Pansit Istasyon**: Dish with shrimp and tinapa sauce, kalamias/kamias fruit is added as a souring agent, and mung bean sprouts are used instead of noodles.

Laguna

*   **Kesong Puti**: Soft cheese made from carabao milk.
*   **Buko Pie**: Sweet pie filled with young coconut meat.
*   **Kinulob na Itik**: Duck boiled with garlic and spices for 4–5 hours, then fried.

Batangas

*   **Adobong Dilaw**: Pork or chicken stewed in garlic, vinegar, and turmeric.
*   **Bulalo**: Cow’s kneecap and shin bones boiled for long hours.
*   **Sinaing na Tulingan**: Small tuna simmered in pork lard and dried kamias.
*   **Gotong Batangas**: Beef innards and head stewed with annatto oil.

Rizal

*   **Dinilawang Kanduli sa Alagaw**: Tangy catfish soup colored with annatto seeds and alagaw as a souring agent.
*   **Bibingka**: Rice cake served with latik.
*   **Minaluto**: Rizal local version of paella. It has lechon kawali, fried chicken, crispy squid, fish, salted eggs, broiled and fried veggies, and choice rice (sticky, binagoongan, garlic, seafood, black, and plain).

Quezon

*   **Longganisang Lucban**: Small sausages reddish with paminton or pimiento powder and flavored with oregano.
*   **Pansit Habhab**: Noodle dish drizzled with sugarcane vinegar, eaten by slurping the noodles from a banana leaf.
*   **Budin**: Cassava cake made of baked cassava, coconut, sugar, and margarine, topped with cheese.

Region IV-B – MIMAROPA

  • Top producer of rice, banana, coconut, mango, cashew, papaya, and cassava.

Marinduque

*   **Uraro**: Cookies made from arrowroots.
*   **Kari-Kari**: Pork innards stewed in pork blood.
*   **Pansit Miki**: Noodle dish made from thick yellow noodles called miki, served with warm pan de sal.

Romblon

*   **Sarsa na Ulang**: Small shrimp mixed with coconut milk and chilies, wrapped in coconut leaves before being boiled.
*   **Balitsaw**: Fermented shrimp paste cooked in coconut milk.

Palawan

*   **Guinamos**: Fermented fish mixed with toasted powdered rice and langkawas, cooked in oil.
*   **Kinilaw na Tamilok**: Raw woodworms marinated in calamansi, vinegar, ginger, and onion.

Region V – Bicol Region

  • Known for heavy use of coconut milk, chilies, and taro.

Albay

*   **Ukoy**: Fish fritters using local fish called sinarapan.
*   **Pinangat**: Pork, shrimp, or crab meat mixed with chilies and coconut meat, wrapped in taro leaves, boiled in coconut milk.

Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur

*   **Laing**: Similar to pinangat, but taro leaves are chopped.
*   **Kinunot**: Shark or stingray cooked in coconut milk, chilies, and moringa leaves.
*   **Pansit Bato**: Named after the town of Bato, the yellow noodles are made from eggs and flour cooked guisado or sinabawan.
*   **Gulay na Lada**: Vegetables stewed in chilies and coconut milk, commonly known as “Bicol express.”

Masbate

*   **Pansit Buko**: Shredded young coconut is used as noodles.
*   **Dinuguan**: Blood stew cooked with coconut milk.

Sorsogon

*   **Conserva**: Pili nut covered in panutsa and wrapped on a leaf.
*   **Kurakding**: Mushroom cooked in coconut milk and shrimp paste.

Region VI – Western Visayas

  • Dishes are indigenous and greatly influenced by Chinese and Spanish cuisine.

Aklan

*   **Inubarang Manok**: Chicken dish cooked in coconut milk with ubad (banana pith).
*   **Sinigang sa Batuan**: Sour meat and vegetable soup with batuan as the souring agent.

Capiz

*   **Chicken Binakol**: Chicken boiled in coconut water with lemongrass, cooked with or without coconut meat or milk.
*   **Ibos**: Cooked sticky rice wrapped in coconut leaves.

Iloilo

*   **Batchoy**: Noodle soup dish made from pork broth, guinamos, and miki noodles, with sliced pork, intestines, and liver, topped with crushed chicharon.
*   **Tinuom na Manok**: Chicken, tomato, lemongrass, and onion wrapped in saba leaf and steamed.
*   **Laswa**: Vegetable soup containing okra, saluyot, string beans, squash, winged beans, alugbati, moringa, and tomato simmered in shrimp broth.
*   **Pansit Molo**: Soup with dumplings, named after the town of Molo, containing ground pork, salted soybean curd called tajure, and spring onions.

Negros Occidental

*   **Lumpiang Ubod**: Ubod, shrimp, pork, and garlic inside a soft flour wrapper.
*   **Pitaw**: Adobo dish prepared with quail hens, shredded and fried.
*   **Inasal na Manok**: Chicken marinated in calamansi, soy sauce, and garlic, grilled and basted with annatto oil.

Region VII – Central Visayas

  • Melding of creativity in the use of fresh, tropical ingredients coupled with bits of Spanish and Chinese influence.

Negros Oriental

*   **Budbod Kabog**: Suman made with millet cereal, paired with hot chocolate and ripe mango slices.
*   **Silvanas**: Frozen dessert made from cashew meringue cookies filled with buttercream.
*   **Sans Rival**: Cashew-meringue cake with buttercream and chopped cashew nuts. It is similar to the French dacquoise but made with cashews instead of almonds and walnuts.

Cebu

*   **Lechon**: Spit-roasted pig stuffed with lemongrass, taro, saba banana, and aromatic spices.
*   **Kilawin**: Raw Spanish mackerel marinated in vinegar, onion, and coconut milk.
*   **Tinowa or Tola**: Slightly soured clear fish soup.
*   **Pansit Bami**: Noodle dish with peanuts and Chinese sausage.

Bohol

*   **Halang-halang**: Chicken soup cooked in coconut milk with ginger and lemongrass.
*   **Balbacoa**: Ox tripe boiled with star anise, ginger, and turmeric.

Region VIII – Eastern Visayas

  • Known to export rice, corn, and sugar.

Samar

*   **Tamalos**: Version of tamales made by steaming rice dough and pork wrapped in banana leaves, served with pipian.
*   **Moron**: Similar to suman, but made from rice with cocoa.

Leyte

*   **Humba**: Adobo dish in Leyte, pork is cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and fermented black beans (tausi).
*   **Chuletas**: Baby back ribs marinated in soy sauce and calamansi, then fried.
*   **Hinatukan nga Langka**: Semi-ripe jackfruit stewed in coconut milk.

Region IX – Zamboanga Peninsula

  • Melting pot of cultures, from fresh seafood to Filipino-Spanish-infused dishes.

Zamboanga del Norte

*   **Caldo de Marisco**: Soup made with clams and other seafood.
*   **Endulsao de Puerco**: Sweet pork ham, ham hocks braised in sugar, soy sauce, and fat sauce.

Zamboanga del Sur

*   **Tamal**: Local tamales with mung bean noodles or sotanghon.
*   **Paklay**: Stew made with beef organs, bamboo shoots, ginger, and chilies, with annatto seeds.
*   **Pinakbet Chavacano**: Same as pinakbet from Ilocos, but stir-fried (guisado) and uses fermented krill (bagoong alamang).

Zamboanga Sibugay

*   **Satti**: Skewered chicken or beef marinated in spices, vinegar, calamansi, and lemongrass.
*   **Lokot-Lokot**: Sweet snack made of strands of sweetened rice batter shaped into cylinders.
*   **Cocido**: Slow-cooked beef shanks, chorizo, cabbage, green beans, chickpeas, and plantains.

Region X – Northern Mindanao

  • Influenced by Spanish and Malay flavors.

Camiguin

*   **Kiping**: Crisp crepes made from grated cassava and fried on banana leaves, eaten with latik sauce.
*   **Sorol**: Chicken cooked in coconut milk with ginger, oregano, lemongrass, chili, and tomatoes.

Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental

*   **Kinutil or Kutil**: Beverage mixing tuba (coconut wine) and chocolate.
*   **Sinuglaw**: Pork sinugba (charcoal-broiled) and kinilaw (ceviche) with coconut milk.

Region XI – Davao Region

  • Dubbed the ”Durian Capital of the Philippines.”

    • Tuna Pakfry: Marine equivalent of crispy pata, tuna tail cooked as paksiw and then deep fried.
    • Crocodile Sisig: Version of sisig using chopped crocodile meat.
    • Ginisang Bihod ng Bariles: Sack of tuna roe, sliced and then sautéed in onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
    • Durian Candies: Bestselling pasalubong from Davao, hard or soft durian yema.

Region XII – SOCCSKSARGEN

*   **Baye-bayeh**: Ground pinipig mixed with coconut and sugar, wrapped in banana leaves.
*   **Pastil**: Steamed rice with shredded chicken wrapped in a banana leaf.
*   **Nilagpang**: Charcoal-broiled tilapia, dalag, or bangus mixed in a sauce made of coconut milk and fish paste.
*   **Adobong Bihod and Bagaybay**: Tuna roe and tuna milt cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic.

Region XIII – Caraga

*   **Adobong Sahang**: Sea snail cooked in garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and bell pepper.
*   **Sayongsong**: Kakanin made from deep purple glutinous rice, brown sugar, calamansi, peanuts, and coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves and served with latik.
*   **Palagsing**: Kakanin made from the starch of sago palm, coconut, and brown sugar, served with hot chocolate or coffee.

BARMM – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

*   **Kuning**: Rice cooked in turmeric and coconut milk.
*   **Rendang**: Spicy stew made with carabeef and coconut milk.
*   **Pyanggang Manok**: Blackened chicken curry dish made by burning coconut on charcoal.
*   **Tiyula Itum**: Tausug soup-stew dish of goat or beef, blackened by using burnt coconut.