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.
Halo-halo, also spelled haluhalo, Tagalog for "mixed", is a popular cold dessert in the Philippines made up of crushed ice, evaporated milk or coconut milk, and various ingredients including side dishes such as ube jam, sweetened kidney beans or garbanzo beans, coconut strips, sago, gulaman (agar), pinipig, boiled taro or soft yams in cubes, flan, slices or portions of fruit preserves and other root crop preserves. The dessert is topped with a scoop of ube ice cream. It is usually prepared in a tall clear glass and served with a long spoon. Halo-halo is considered to be the unofficial national dessert of the Philippines.
Kolak is an Indonesian sweet dessert based on palm sugar or coconut sugar, coconut milk, and pandanus leaf. A variation in which banana is added, is called kolak pisang or banana kolak. Other variations may add ingredients such as pumpkins, sweet potatoes, jackfruit, plantains, cassava, rice balls, tapioca pearls, and kolang-kaling. It is usually served warm or at room temperature, but some prefer it cold.
Cendol is an iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of pandan-flavoured green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It is commonly found in Southeast Asia and is popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and Myanmar. Next to the green jelly, additional toppings might be added, including diced jackfruit, sweetened red azuki beans, or durian.
Ginataan, alternatively spelled guinataan, is a Filipino term which refers to food cooked with gatâ. Literally translated, ginataan means "done with coconut milk". Due to the general nature of the term, it can refer to a number of different dishes, each called ginataan, but distinct from one another.
Maíz con hielo is a shaved ice dessert from the Philippines made with boiled corn kernels, sugar, and milk.
Sago pudding is a sweet pudding made by combining sago pearls with either water or milk and adding sugar and sometimes additional flavourings. It is made in many cultures with varying styles, and may be produced in a variety of ways. Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Malaysia, produces the majority of sago.
Binignit is a Visayan dessert soup from the central Philippines. The dish is traditionally made with glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk with various slices of sabá bananas, taro, ube, and sweet potato, among other ingredients. It is comparable to various dessert guinataán dishes found in other regions such as bilo-bilo. Among the Visayan people, the dish is traditionally served during Good Friday of Holy Week.
Es campur is an Indonesian cold and sweet dessert concoction of fruit cocktails, coconut, tapioca pearls, grass jellies, etc. served in shaved ice, syrup and condensed milk.
Ube halaya or halayang ube is a Philippine dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam. Ube halaya is the main base in ube/purple yam flavored-pastries and ube ice cream. It can also be incorporated in other desserts such as halo-halo. It is also commonly anglicized as ube jam, or called by its original native name, nilupak na ube.
Bua loi or bua loy is a Thai dessert. It consists of rice flour rolled into small balls, and cooked in coconut milk and sugar. Some Bua loi also adds sweet egg into the recipe. It was inspired by Tangyuan, a Chinese dessert that is traditionally eaten around the Lantern festival. Bua Loi is also traditionally eaten during the Dongzhi Festival in Thailand, which is a festival for the Chinese-Thai bloodline. There are a variety of versions of Bua loi such as ones that use food coloring instead of natural color, use soy milk instead of Coconut cream, add sliced pumpkin inside the rice balls, et cetera. There are other types of Bua loi from other countries such as China, Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Southern Vietnam and Malaysia. 1 cup of Bua Loy has total calories of 295.5 kilocalories, protein of 10.4 grams, carbohydrate of 6.3 grams, and fat of 25 grams.
A tapioca pearl, also known as tapioca ball, is an edible translucent sphere produced from tapioca, a starch made from the cassava root. They originated as a cheaper alternative to sago in Southeast Asian cuisine. When used as an ingredient in bubble tea, they are most commonly referred to as pearls or boba. The starch pearls are typically five to ten millimeters in diameter. By adding different ingredients, like water, sugar, or some other type of sweetener like honey, tapioca pearls can be made to vary in color and in texture. Various forms of tapioca pearls include black, flavored, popping, mini, and clear. Tapioca pearls are commonly soaked in sugar syrup to make them sweet and chewy. In teas, they are often added for their texture, with the flavor being provided by the drink itself.
Sago with coconut milk is a Burmese and Thai dessert. The main components of this recipe are sago and coconut milk. The dish can be decorated with many toppings; including taro, sweet potato, coconut, yellow corn, banana, and others. It is similar to various forms of Vietnamese chè.
Coconut soup is a fruit soup prepared using coconut milk or coconut fruit as a main ingredient. Many varieties of coconut soups exist in the world, including ginataan, laksa, sayur lodeh, soto, and tom kha kai, and myriad ingredients are used. They can be served hot or cold. While most coconut soups are savoury dishes, some varieties—such as binignit and kolak—are sweet dessert soups.
Samalamig, also known as palamig, is a collective term for various Filipino sweet chilled beverages that usually include jelly-like ingredients. They come in various flavors, and are commonly sold by street vendors as refreshments. Typical ingredients of the drinks include gulaman (agar), sago pearls, kaong, tapioca pearls, nata de coco, and coconut. They are usually anglicized as pearl coolers or pearl and jelly coolers.
Minatamis na saging is a Filipino dessert made with chopped saba bananas cooked in a sweet syrup (arnibal) made with muscovado sugar and water. Some recipes also add a little bit of salt and pandan leaf or vanilla extract. Other ingredients can also be added like sweet potato, sago, or other fruits like jackfruit. It can be eaten on its own or added as an ingredient to other desserts. Adding the dessert over milk and shaved ice also results in another dessert known as saba con yelo.
Buko salad, usually anglicized as young coconut salad, is a Filipino fruit salad dessert made from strips of fresh young coconut (buko) with sweetened milk or cream and various other ingredients. It is one of the most popular and ubiquitous Filipino desserts served during celebrations and fiestas.
Ube ice cream is a Filipino ice cream flavor prepared using ube as the main ingredient. This ice cream is often used in making the dessert halo-halo.
Ginataang saba is a Filipino dessert made from ripe saba or cardaba bananas stewed in sweetened coconut milk. It is traditionally eaten warm, but it can also be eaten chilled. It is a type of ginataan. It is also known as saba sa gata, ginataang saging, sareala, among other names. Sago pearls are also commonly added to the dish, in which case it becomes ginataang saging at sago.
