Top Ten Filipino Foods You Must Try

Filipinos are known for being really cheerful, creative and resourceful and these traits are reflected in their cooking. The Filipino cuisine is really something of great interest among the many impressive Asian cuisines. Filipino cooking is a mixture of different cultures resulted from the colonization of the country years back. So, this blog entry gives you a brief list of the most delicious and mouth-watering delicacies of the Filipinos and the recipes for them. Enjoy!

1.Adobo

Anyone who’s been in the Philippines who had not tasted this would be dying in regret. This is the Philippines’ National Dish. It’s main ingredient may be pork or chicken meat. The meat is stewed on vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaf and a lot of garlic. The thing is reduced until the meat is oh so tender. Some native shellfish and vegetables (e.g., stringbeans)  may be cooked this way too.

click on this link for the complete adobo recipe and some techniques: http://notecook.com/main-course/meat/adobo-recipe-stewed-pork-chicken-pinoy-style/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4ccfb99043a83298,0

2.Sinigang

Sinigang is a dish made of variety of meats, fish and shellfish cooked in a sour broth with kamote tops, kangkong, sitaw (string beans), okra, wing beans, banana hearts, taro roots, sliced eggplants and radish. The acidity can come from tamarind, green mangoes, guavas, santol, kamias, young tamarind leaves. Miso and mustard leaves are used for fish sinigang. There are comercially available PANG-ASIMs in the market for your convenience. 

click on this link for the complete sinigang recipe and some techniques: http://notecook.com/main-course/fish/sinigang-recipe/

3. Lechon

Lechon ( litson as spelled in tagalog) is a staple food in Filipino feasts. Visitors are always looking after this dish. Lechon is a suckling pig is skewered in a bamboo pole and roasted manually by natives over hot coals until the skin turns reddish brown and crisp and until  the meat is tender. It is traditionally served in a thick tasty dipping sauce made from chicken and pork livers, vinegar, sugar and natural spices. La Loma in Quezon City is known as the lechon capital of the Philippines.

click on this link for the complete lechon recipe and some techniques:

4. Kare Kare
Kare-kare is a Filipino stew made from native beef chunks, tripe, oxtail and a variety of vegetables. The meat is boiled until tender then mixed with roasted peanuts and traditional rice/sticky rice, ground to a fine powder that thickens the sauce and gives kare kare it’s unique flavor. Nowadays, peanut butter is used in place of the ground peanuts and rice for convinience. The saltiness is derived from the sautéed shrimp paste (bagoong) that is served with it. 

click on this link for the complete kare kare recipe and some techniques:

5. Menudo

Menudo is a dish usually served in family dinners. The Filipino version is a mix of diced pork liver, pork, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, red and green bell peppers and raisins. The rich sauce is thickened with tomato sauce/paste. Cubed chorizo de bilbao and chickpeas can be added for a richer flavor. 

click on this link for the complete menudo recipe and some techniques: