The generic term for condiments in the Filipino cuisine is sawsawan (Philippine Spanish: sarsa). Unlike sauces in other Southeast Asian regions, most sawsawan are not prepared beforehand, but are assembled on the table according to the preferences of the diner. [1]
In the Philippines, the common condiments aside from salt and pepper are vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi, and patis . The combination and different regional variations of these simple sauces make up the various common dipping sauces in the region.
The most common type of sawsawan is the toyomansi (or toyo't kalamansi), which is a mixture of soy sauce, calamansi, and native Siling labuyo. It can also be seasoned with vinegar and patis (fish sauce). This sauce is typically served with roasted meat dishes. [1]
A similar dipping sauce used for grilled meats like inihaw is toyo, suka, at sili (literally "soy sauce, vinegar, and chili"). It is made of soy sauce, vinegar, and siling labuyo with some opting to add diced onions and/or garlic and a seasoning of sugar and/or black pepper. [2] For serving with grilled fish, it is typically garnished with diced tomatoes, patis (fish sauce), or more rarely, bagoong (fermented shrimp or fish). [3]
The simplest dipping sauce, for example, is vinegar mixed with another ingredient like siling labuyo (sukang may sili), garlic (suka't bawang), soy sauce (sukang may toyo), and so on. This can be elaborated further by adding a range of spices and even fruits, resulting in dipping sauces like sinamak (spiced vinegar). Suka Pinakurat is a popular brand of spiced vinegar in the Philippines. [4] [1] [5]
All of these do not have set recipes, however, and can use ingredients and proportions interchangeably according to what is available and to the preference of the diner.
Other notable ingredients added to these kinds of sawsawan include shallots, whole black peppercorns, sugar, siling haba , wansoy (cilantro), ginger, and so on. Sawsawan are also unique in that they can function as marinades. [3] [6] [7]
Some sauces need to be prepared beforehand like the traditional Filipino sweet and sour sauce agre dulce (or agri dulci) which is made from cornstarch, salt, sugar, and tomato or banana ketchup. When made with hot peppers like siling labuyo, it becomes a sweet chili sauce. It is the traditional dipping sauces of fried dishes like lumpia or okoy . [8] [9] [10] A similar sauce used for fried street food appetizers is known simply as "manong's sauce". It is made with flour or cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, chilis, ground pepper, and muscovado or brown sugar. [11] [12] [13] [14]
Another spicy condiment used for street food is the "chili garlic sauce" made from minced chilis, especially siling labuyo, and fried garlic. Some add powdered dried shrimp or finely minced meat to the sauce. It is usually consumed with siomai as a sauce made with soy sauce and typically spritzed with calamansi. [15]
Among the Maranao people, another notable condiment is the palapa , a very spicy condiment made from sakurab (native scallions), ginger, turmeric, and chilis. It is an ubiquitous accompaniment to Maranao meals. [16] [17]
For seafood dishes, another common condiment is taba ng talangka (also called aligue, "roe", colloquially). This is a savory paste derived from crab roe or fat preserved in garlic and oil, with other ingredients like calamansi, vinegar, and others. It is typically sauteed and eaten as is with rice, with shellfish or over fried garlic rice. [18] [19]
The following is a list of condiments used in Filipino cuisine.
| Name | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Agre dulce |  | A sweet and sour sauce made from cornstarch, salt, sugar, and tomato or banana ketchup. |
| Asado sauce | A sauce made from the leftover boiling liquid of asado. Commercial brands use a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce, and sugar with cornstarch as a thickener. Served as a sauce for siopao. | |
| Banana ketchup |  | A sweet, red condiment made primarily of bananas. Has a sweet, tangy taste without the sourness of tomato ketchup. |
| Chili garlic sauce |  | Similar to Chinese chili oil, a condiment of minced siling labuyo and garlic simmered in water and then fried in oil. Can be made with powdered dried shrimp or finely minced meat and can also be made omitting the simmering in water. It is commonly served as an accompaniment for siomai; typically served with soy sauce spritzed with calamansi. [15] |
| Ketchup and mayonnaise sauce | A combination of mayonnaise and banana ketchup. Similar to fry sauce but uses banana ketchup instead of tomato ketchup. | |
| Lechon sauce |  | Also known as liver sauce, breadcrumb sauce, and all-around sauce. A sweet, tangy, light-brown sauce used as dipping sauce for roasted and fried dishes, especially lechon and lechon kawali. Made from ground liver or liver pâté, vinegar, sugar, and spices. |
| Manong's sauce/Fishball sauce |  | Literally 'Mister's sauce'. A dipping sauce made from sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and muscovado or brown sugar. Can be seasoned with black pepper and labuyo chilis to make a spicy variant. Some vendors use lime- or lemon-flavored carbonated soft drinks. Used as a dipping sauce for deep-fried street foods like fishball and fried isaw |
| Palapa |  | A spicy Maranao condiment consisting of finely chopped sakurab (white scallions), ginger, chilis like siling labuyo , and grated coconut cooked briefly and stored. It can also be dried. It is usually sautéed before using, or added as an ingredient to other dishes. [20] |
| Suka Pinakurat | A popular brand of spiced natural coconut sap vinegar from Iligan City, Mindanao. It is a natural vinegar of fermented coconut sap (tubâ) blended with siling labuyo (kulikot) and other spices. | |
| Sarsang miso/Miso guisado | A sauce made from miso stir-fried with minced garlic, diced tomatoes, vinegar, and ground black pepper. [10] | |
| Sarsang talong | Literally 'eggplant sauce'. A sour condiment made from grilled eggplants, garlic and vinegar. Used as an accompaniment to cocidos. [10] | |
| Sinamak | Vinegar of Visayan origin. Made with chilis (commonly siling labuyo), langkawas , garlic, peppercorns, and white onion pickled for at least three days. [21] | |
| Sukang may sili | Cane or coconut vinegar spiced with labuyo peppers. Usually served as an accompaniment to grilled dishes, especially barbecue on a stick. | |
| Suka at toyo | Cane or coconut vinegar with soy sauce. This can also contain very hot labuyo peppers or diced onions, especially as an accompaniment to grilled meats ( inihaw ) and crispy pata. [2] | |
| Toyo't kalamansi | | Sometimes referred to simply as toyomansi ; soy sauce with kalamansi lime juice. |
Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Some garum-related fish sauces have been used in the West since the Roman times.
Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fried rice is a popular component of East Asian, Southeast Asian and certain South Asian cuisines, as well as a staple national dish of Indonesia. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with ingredients left over from other dishes, leading to countless variations. Fried rice first developed during the Sui Dynasty in China.
A dip or dip sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, falafel, and sometimes even whole sandwiches in the case of jus. Unlike other sauces, instead of applying the sauce to the food, the food is typically placed or dipped into the sauce.
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, as its freshly-squeezed juice may be used for additional seasoning.
Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. They are either sold in their wet form or are sun-dried and either cut into rectangular blocks or sold in bulk. It is an essential ingredient in many curries, sauces and sambal. Shrimp paste can be found in many meals in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is often an ingredient in dip for fish or vegetables.
Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers.
Nước chấm is a common name for a variety of Vietnamese "dipping sauces" that are served quite frequently as condiments. It is commonly a sweet, sour, salty, savoury and/or spicy sauce.
Siling labuyo is a small chili pepper cultivar that developed in the Philippines after the Columbian Exchange. It belongs to the species Capsicum frutescens and is characterized by triangular fruits which grow pointing upwards. The fruits and leaves are used in traditional Philippine cuisine. The fruit is pungent, ranking at 80,000 to 100,000 heat units in the Scoville Scale.
Bicol Express, known natively in Bikol as sinilihan, is a popular Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolano style. It is a stew made from long chili peppers or small chili peppers, coconut milk/coconut cream, shrimp paste or stockfish, onion, pork, ginger and garlic. The dish was termed by Laguna resident, Cely Kalaw, during a cooking competition in the 1970s in Malate, Manila. The name of the dish was inspired by the Bicol Express railway train that operated from Tutuban, Manila to Legazpi, Albay. The widely-known name for this dish in the Bicol Region of the Philippines was identified as gulay na may lada, which is currently one of the vegetarian variants of the Bicol Express dish. As time progressed, variants of the Bicol Express dish expanded with seafood, beef, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, and other versions. The preparations for these dishes vary according to the meat present within the dish. In terms of nutritional value, the original version of the Bicol Express dish is beneficial in protein but unhealthy in regards to its high levels of saturated fats and cholesterol. The dish has moved into food processing and commercial production so that it can be sold conveniently and stored for a longer period of time.
Stir-fried water spinach is a common Asian vegetable dish, known by various names in Asian languages. Water spinach is stir-fried with a variety of vegetables, spices, and sometimes meats. It is commonly found throughout East, South and Southeast Asia; from Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine in China, to Indonesian, Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Malaysian, Singaporean, and Vietnamese cuisine in Southeast Asia; to Sri Lankan cuisine and Bengali cuisine in South Asia.
Ikan goreng is a hot dish consisting of deep fried fish or other forms of seafood. Ikan goreng literally means "fried fish" in Indonesian and Malay languages.
Sambal is an Indonesian chilli sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. Sambal is an Indonesian loanword of Javanese origin. It originated from the culinary traditions of Indonesia and is also an integral part of the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Sri Lanka. It has also spread through overseas Indonesian populations to the Netherlands and Suriname.
Ginataang langka, is a Filipino vegetable stew made from unripe jackfruit in coconut milk and spices. The dish includes a wide variety of secondary ingredients like seafood, meat, and other vegetables. The dish also commonly adds bagoong alamang and may be spiced with chilis or soured with vinegar. Notable variants of the dish are ginataang kamansi and ginataang rimas which use breadnut and breadfruit, respectively. Ginataang langka is a type of ginataan.
Ginataang isda is a Filipino fish stew made from fish and leafy vegetables in coconut milk with garlic, ginger, onion, patis or bagoong alamang, and salt and pepper. It is a type of ginataan. A common version of the dish, known as ginataang paksiw na isda or paksiw na isda sa gata, is additionally soured with vinegar. Ginataang isda is a type of ginataan.
Ginataang manok is a Filipino chicken soup made from chicken in coconut milk with green papaya and other vegetables, garlic, ginger, onion, patis or bagoong alamang, and salt and pepper. It is a type of ginataan. A common variant of the dish adds curry powder or non-native Indian spices and is known as Filipino chicken curry.
Sinanglay is a Filipino dish made from stuffed fish wrapped in leafy vegetables and lemongrass or pandan leaves cooked in a spicy coconut milk sauce. It is a type of ginataan and originates from the Bicol Region.
| Sauces |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Dips | ||
| Pickles and preserves | ||
| Spreads and pastes | ||
| Oils and liquids | ||
| Spices and powders | ||
| Salads | ||
| Dressings | ||
| Ketchups | ||
| Mustards | ||
| Vinegars | ||
| List articles | ||
| Accoutrements | ||
