What is a good native Philippine dish ?

Question

My wife is Pinoy and soon to arrive in the usa...we always ate out and aside from Isda I really dont know what she likes. I would like to exspress intrest in some of her native foods if the ingrediants are available here. I would also like to be able to request something I think i might like. I know she would get a kick out of me asking her for her traditional food. salamat !

Answer 1

There's a lot of Filipino dish that she may like, however, also put in consideration from what part of the Philippines is your wife from.

Popular Filipino dishes

Desserts and Snacks

* Balut - is essentially ducklings boiled before they hatch. Duck eggs that have been fertilized are allowed to develop until the embryo reaches a pre-determined size, then boiled.
* Bibingka - is a hot rice cake topped with a spread of butter, slices of kesong puti (white cheese), itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs), and sometimes grated coconut. Wiktionary Bibingka entry/photo
* Biko - are glutinous rice sweets creamed with sugar, butter, and coconut milk.
* Binatog - are corn kernels with shredded coconut.
* Halo-halo - is a dessert composed of shaved ice, milk, coconut sport, purple yam pudding, caramel custard, sweetened plantains, and jackfruit. Wiktionary Halo-halo entry/photos
* Kutsinta - is brown rice cake.
* Leche Flan - is caramel custard made with eggs and milk.
* Mamon - is a buttery sweet sponge cake that is softer than butter cake.
* Nata de coco - is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water.
* Palitaw - are rice patties with sesame seeds, sugar, and coconut.
* Peachy-peachy (or pitsi-pitsi) - are cassava patties with cheese or coconut.
* Penoy - are hard boiled duck eggs.
* Puto - are sweet steamed rice muffins.
* Sapin-sapin - are three-layered tricolored sweets made with rice flour, purple yam, and coconut milk.
* Sorbetes - is basically the same as regular ice cream, but it is made primarily with coconut milk. It is considered by many as "dirty ice cream."
* Suman - is a sticky rice or cassava sticks wrapped in banana or palm leaves. They are dipped in sugar and sometimes eaten with ripe mangoes.
* Taho - is a warm snack made of soft beancurd (the taho itself), dark syrup, and tapioca balls. Cold (dark syrup) flavored (chocolate/strawberry/etc.) taho is now available.

Wet dishes

* Stews
o Adobo - is a favorite dish consisting of pork and/or chicken stewed in a broth of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and peppercorns.
o Afritada - is made of pork or beef and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce.
o Dinengdeng - consists of malunggay leafs (horseradish tree leafs) and bittermelon similar presentation to pinakbet.
o Dinuguan - is a stew made from pig blood, entrails, and meat.
o Kaldereta - is beef or goat simmered in vinegar and tomato sauce.
o Kare-kare - also known as "Peanut Stew," is boiled oxtail and/or ox tripe in a peanut-based stew of mixed vegetables, served with alamang (fermented shrimp paste).
o Mechado - is pork cooked in tomato sauce, minced garlic and onions.
o Pinakbet - are vegetables stewed with bagoong.
o Pochero - is beef and banana simmered in tomato sauce.
* Soups
o Binacol - is warm chicken soup with coconut meat.
o La Paz Batchoy - is a noodle soup garnished with pork innards, crushed pork cracklings, chopped vegetables, and topped with a raw egg.
o Sinigang - is a tamarind-soured soup typically made with pork, beef, or seafood.
o Tinola - is traditional chicken ginger soup cooked with whole chicken pieces, green papaya with chili, spinach, or malunggay leaves.
* Porridges
o Arroz caldo - is a Spanish inspired rice porridge cooked with chicken and ginger, garnished with spring onions. This dish is also called lugaw.
o Goto - is rice porridge with ox tripe.
* Salads
o Kinilaw - is raw fish cooked only by steeping in local vinegar, sometimes with coconut milk, onions, spices and other local ingredients. It is comparable to ceviche.
* Mixed
o Arroz Valenciana - is a Filipino version of the Spanish paella.

Oily dishes

* Fried
o Crispy Pata - are pork knuckles (pata) marinated then deep fried until crispy golden brown. However, the knuckles are a small portion, thus it is the whole leg of pork that is usually served.
o Lumpia - are fried spring rolls filled with cooked ground beef and vegetables.
o Lumpiang shanghai - are tiny fried spring rolls filled with minced pork and shrimp and served with sweet and sour sauce.
o Ukoy - are shrimp and squash fritters.
* Sausages
o Longanisa - are sweet or spicy homemade sausages.
* Steaks
o Beef Steak - is thinly sliced beef marinated in soya sauce and kalamansi.
* Grilled
o Tocino - is sweetened cured meat. The meat either chicken or pork is marinated and aged for a number of days then grilled.

Street Foods

* Betamax - is a common street food, consisting of roasted dried chicken blood, served in little cubes. The origin of the name is quite funny because of its squared shape and black color, identical to a miniaturized electronic Betamax tape.
* Fishballs / Squidballs - is commonly sold frozen in stores and typically peddled by hawkers. They are skewered in bamboo sticks and sauces then are dripped over.
* Isaw - is seasoned hog and/or chicken intestines. It is a popular street food.
* Kwek-kwek - are boiled quail eggs dipped in batter then deep fried. It is another popular street delicacy.
* Tokneneng - is a bigger version of the kwek-kwek; boiled chicken eggs dipped in batter, which usually has food coloring. It is also a common street food.

Celebratory Food

* Lechón - is whole roasted suckling pig. Either a piglet (lechonillo) or cattle calf (lechong baka) is baked. Wiktionary Lechon entry/photo
* Puto Bumbong - are purpled-colored sweets cooked in tubes that are placed on a special steamer. When cooked, they are removed from the tubes, topped with butter, and sprinkled with sugar and niyog (grated coconut). They are then wrapped in banana leaves until they are ready to be eaten. Wiktionary Puto Bumbong entry/photos
* Lumpiang sariwa - are fresh spring rolls, served with a sweet sauce.

Side dishes

* Broiled
o Itlog na Pula - are duck eggs that are cured in brine or mixture of clay and salt for couple of weeks and then are hard boiled. Their shells are often dyed with red food coloring to distinguish them from chicken eggs. This is eaten as a side dish and it is very salty.

Cheezes

* Kesong puti - is a soft white cheese made from carabao's milk.

[edit] Exotic dishes

* Balut - is a partially-developed duck embryo, boiled then served in the shell.
* Camaro - are field crickets cooked in soy sauce, salt, and vinegar. It is popular in Pampanga.
* Papaitan - is goat inards stew.
* Dog meat - is especially popular in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
* Pinikpikan chicken - is chicken which is beaten while alive to tenderize the meat and infuse it with blood, then killed, then burned in a fire to remove feathers, then boiled with salt pork. [1][2][3] The beating of the chicken which is done in preparing this dish apparently violates the Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998.[4]

Also see: Igorot Food Exotica

[edit] Filipino drinks and cocktails

The climate of the Philippines is characterized by having relatively high temperature, high humidity and abundant rainfall. This is a reason why chilled drinks are popular.

Alcoholic

* Brandy - brandy
* Brandy-Iced Tea Powder - is a popular cocktail and a part of several cocktails of liqueurs and juice powders.
* Brandy-Grape Juice Powder
* Cervesa - beer
* Gin-Bulag - Literally "gin-blind," it is said that consuming copious amounts will make one blind.
* Gin-Pineapple Juice Powder
* Gin-Pomelo Juice Powder - contains a certain type of citrus popular to its pink color.
* Lambanog - is a type of hard liquor made from distilled coconut extract.
* Tuba (or toddy) - is a type of hard liquor made from fresh drippings extracted from a cut young stem of palm. The cutting of the palm stem is done by a mananguete — a person whose profession involves climbing palm trees and extracting the "tuba" to supply to customers later in the day — and is usually done early in the morning. The morning's accumulated palm juice or drippings from a cut stem is then harvested by noon and brought to buyers and is ready for consumption. Sometimes this is being done twice a day so that there are two harvests of tuba in a day; one at noon time and another in late afternoon. Normally, tuba has to be consumed right after the mananguete brings it over or it becomes too sour to be consumed as a drink so that any remaining unconsumed tuba in the day is being stored in jars for several days to become vinegar.

Shakes

* Fresh Mango Shake - consists of ripe mangoes blended with milk, ice and sugar.
* Fruit Shakes - are similar to a milkshake but only contain fruit or flavoring (like chocolate malt drink powder or chocolate cookies), milk (except in some fruits), crushed ice, water and sugar. There are unusual flavors like durian.
* Green Mango Shake - consists of green mangoes blended with syrup.
* Kamias Shake - consists of kamias, a tropical sour fruit, that is blended with sugar, white syrup, and crushed ice.
* Palamig or Samalamig - pearl shakes, cold powder - are flavored shakes with large tapioca pearls (sago) and syrup that come in a wide assortment of flavors including mango, ube, halo-halo, corn, pandan, buko, etc.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Hi, there! When I arrived in Canada eleven years ago, the first foods I craved were pan de sal (filipino dinner roll) and tocino (cured pork that is salty & sweet). Make sure that you have a rice cooker & a bag of jasmin rice ready, you can get this in your local Asian or Korean store. She will be grateful & you will get all the loving! :)

Answer 4

Oh, where to start... there are so many great Filipino dishes, but here are some that most Filipinos love and crave for specially when they have to live in other countries:

Sinigang (varieties: pork, beef, prawns, fish)
Pancit (varieties: palabok, bihon, canton, malabon, lomi)
Beef Caldereta
Lumpia (varieties: sariwa, shanghai, ubod, bean sprouts)
Tinolang Manok
Adobo (pork, chicken, squid)
Pinakbet
Laing
Beef Bulalo

Many ingredients can now be found in Asian stores. I suggest you refer to this website: www.marketmanila.com. It contains loads of info and pictures regarding local produce and dishes. Browse on and enjoy! =)

Answer 5

How about a simple Tortilla (omelet).
You can vary this dish to however you like it.
Adding your favourite, meat (shredded or sliced)
Or vegetables for colour.

Alternatively, the authentic tortilla.
Grill a large eggplant or aubergine. (prick it first with a fork at each side).
Skin it and thread through with a fork, keeping the stalk in tact.
Season.
Swirl it in beaten eggs.
Fry and voila.

Serve with chopped tomato and onion salsa and of course with rice.

Kain na.

Walang anuman!

Answer 6

Crispy Pata (a marinated pork leg & deep fried),
Kare-kare,
Chop suey,
Adobo Chicken/pork,
Sinigang Isda/ pork,
Pancit Canton,
Lechon Kawali,
Pinakbet,
& so much more! (- -,)

Answer 7

Kare kare was not mentioned but Chicken or Pork adobo, for sure pancit and lumpia. Caldereta!

Answer 8

Banana Lumpia! It looks like a piece of that stuff that shows up on your lawn after your neighbor's dog is there, but it tastes really good. Make alot. She will bring 136578136409 relatives.

Answer 9

sinigang (its a sour soup but super yummy), lechon kawali (thats pork that is roasted, i think), liempo (grilled/barbecued pork), adobo, daing na bangus (its smoked milkfish), beef tapa, crispy pata (i think its fried pork knuckles/joints)... a few pinoy favorites...

Answer 10

Lumpia. MMMmmmm. Its like an egg roll.

Answer 11

chicken adobo, pancit along with lumpia with garlic rice and jufran banana sauce