Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Filipino cuisine are from the food traditions of various ethnolinguistic groups and tribes of the archipelago, including the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan, Chavacano, and Maranao ethnolinguistic groups. The dishes associated with these groups evolved over the centuries from a largely indigenous base shared with maritime Southeast Asia with varied influences from Chinese, Spanish, and American cuisines, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, and adapted using indigenous ingredients to meet local preferences.
Bistek, also known as bistek tagalog or karne frita, is a Filipino dish consisting of thinly-sliced beefsteak braised in soy sauce, calamansi juice, garlic, ground black pepper, and onions cut into rings. It is a common staple in the Tagalog and Western Visayan regions of the Philippines. It is eaten over white rice.
Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savory taste. It is most often associated with tamarind, although it can use other sour fruits and leaves as the souring agent. It is one of the more popular dishes in Filipino cuisine. The soup is usually accompanied by rice. In 2021, sinigang was rated as the world's best vegetable soup by TasteAtlas. In December 2023, the website project's TasteAtlas Awards 2023/24 included sinigang among its "100 best dishes in the world".
Kare-kare is a Philippine stew that features a thick savory peanut sauce. It is generally made from a base of stewed oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks, calves' feet, pig's feet or trotters, various cuts of pork, beef stew meat, and occasionally offal. Vegetables, such as eggplant, Chinese cabbage, or other greens, daikon, green beans, okra, and asparagus beans, are added. The stew is flavored with ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, onions, and garlic. It is colored with annatto and can be thickened with toasted or plain ground rice. Variations of kare-kare can be made with seafood, such as prawns, squid, and mussels, or exclusively from vegetables.
Pancit, also spelled pansít, is a general term referring to various traditional noodle dishes in Filipino cuisine. There are numerous types of pancit, often named based on the noodles used, method of cooking, place of origin, equal and constant diameter or the ingredients. Most pancit dishes are characteristically served with calamansi, which adds a citrusy flavor profile.
Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is a common dish across East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan states of South Asia. Various types of noodles are used, such as rice noodles, wheat noodles and egg noodles.
Dinuguan is a Filipino savory stew usually of pork offal and/or meat simmered in a rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar.
Batchoy, alternatively spelled batsoy, is a Filipino noodle soup of pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin, and round noodles. The original and most popular variant, the La Paz batchoy, traces its roots to the Iloilo City district of La Paz, in the Philippines.
Pagpag is the Tagalog term for leftover food from restaurants scavenged from garbage sites and dumps. Pagpag food can also be expired frozen meat, fish, or vegetables discarded by supermarkets and scavenged in garbage trucks where this expired food is collected. The word in the Tagalog language literally means "to shake off the dust or dirt", and refers to the act of shaking the dirt off of the edible portion of the leftovers. Pagpag can be eaten immediately after it is found or can be cooked in variety of ways.
Paksiw is a Filipino style of cooking, whose name means "to cook and simmer in vinegar". Common dishes bearing the term, however, can vary substantially depending on what is being cooked.
Balbacua, also spelled balbakwa or balbakoa, is a Filipino beef stew made from beef, collagen-rich beef parts, and various spices cooked for several hours until very tender. It is typically served with white rice or misua or miki noodles. It originates from the Visayan regions of the Visayas and Mindanao islands.
Pancit Molo or Filipino pork dumpling soup, is a type of soup using wonton wrappers which originated from Molo district in Iloilo City, Philippines. It consists of a mixture of ground pork wrapped in molo or wonton wrapper, shredded chicken meat, and also shrimp. The piping-hot soup is often ladled into serving bowls, and garnished with green onions and fried garlic bits for another layer of flavor. Pancit, which loosely translates to "noodle" is a common cuisine in the Philippines. The "noodle" acting in this dish comes from the wonton wrappers added to this dish, which draws from Chinese cuisine. Under this influence, the wontons within the soup have been compared to "siomai dumplings."
Kinalas is a Bicol dish consisting of noodles (pancit) garnished by scraped meat from pork or beef's head and other parts, enhanced with a thick deep-brown sauce coming from the brains of a cow or pig. The dish is further flavored with spices and served in hot broth. Boiled egg added is optional.
Kamayan, also known as kinamot or kinamut in Visayan languages, is the traditional Filipino method of eating with the bare hands. It is also used to describe the Filipino communal feast where food is served on banana leaves and eaten without utensils.
Filipino American cuisine has been present in America ever since Filipinos moved there, but only recently has the Filipino food become more widely popular. Filipino food has gone through its evolution of adapting other cultures' food practices into their own, or borrowing the food concept into their own.
Pata tim, also spelled patatim, is a Filipino braised pork hock dish slow-cooked until very tender in soy sauce, black peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and star anise sweetened with muscovado sugar. It also commonly includes péchay and mushrooms. The dish is commonly served in regions in the Philippines with large Chinese Filipino populations, especially in the Binondo district of Manila.
Pancit buko, is a Filipino dish made from very thin strips of young coconut (buko) meat with various spices, vegetables, and meat or seafood. It is a type of Filipino noodle dish (pancit), even though it does not usually use actual noodles.
Maki mi, also known as pork maki or maki soup, is a Filipino thick pork tenderloin soup originating from the Chinese-Filipino community of Binondo, Manila. It is made from lean pork tenderized by a meat mallet. It is marinated in soy sauce, garlic, black pepper, rice wine or vinegar, and onions before being covered with egg whites or starch. It is then cooked in boiling beef stock, with beaten eggs dropped and stirred until they form strands. Egg noodles (mami) are also commonly added. The name "maki mi" takes its name from Hokkien Chinese, meaning meat soup noodles.
Kulawo is a Filipino salad made with either minced banana blossoms or grilled eggplants cooked in coconut milk that is distinctively extracted from grated coconut meat toasted on live coals. It is a pre-colonial dish that originates from the provinces of Laguna and Quezon. Kulawo is a type of kilawin and ginataan. It is fully vegan and has a unique smoky taste that has been compared to smoked meat or fish dishes.
Lauya is a Filipino stew. Its name is derived from the Spanish-Filipino term "la olla", likely referring to the native clay pots in which stews were made in. It is now often associated with the Ilocano stew typically made with pork or beef. The term is sometimes used in Ilonggo cuisine.
