Top Five Filipino Foods I Love To Eat

Filipino cuisine has been influenced by many cultures, including Chinese, Japanese, American, and Spanish. Nonetheless, some of the dishes prepared in the Philippines are quite unique to the country. In addition, some of the most popular ones are usually cooked and consumed oversees by many oversees working Filipinos who yearn for a taste of home. Here are my top 5 Filipino foods:

 

Lechon Baboy

 

More commonly known as litson in the Philippines, lechon baboy (roast pig) is a highly sought-after delicacy, especially during occasions like birthdays, family reunions, graduation celebrations, Christmas and New Year. The tender young pig is roasted manually over scorching hot charcoal for hours until the skin turns into a crisp reddish brown color. The soft meat underneath oozes with an amazing aroma that can only be described as mesmerizing.

 

Adobo

 

Adobo is nothing more than chicken or pork stew cooked in soy sauce added with onions, garlic, bay leaf and a bit of vinegar. However, when the meat is cooked until it is tender, the taste of awesomeness springs out of every bite. Sometimes the eagerness to eat adobo may fade easily thanks to the unending choice of most Filipinos to serve the dish on every occasion they can think of. Nonetheless, abstain from eating adobo for about 3 months and you’ll definitely realize you are missing something.

 

Sinigang

 

Sinigang is a term used to describe a dish made of any meat (usually fish) cooked in sour broth.  It is usually cooked with kamote tops (sweet potato leaves), kangkong (water spinach), radish, eggplants, and sometimes banana hearts. The sourness of the broth can be produced by adding tamarind or green mangoes. However, most Filipinos today usually use processed sinigang seasoning mix. Although seafood is usually the main ingredient for sinigang, pork can also be used. Sinigang is the perfect mouth-watering dish during really cold weather.

 

Pinakbet

 

Pinakbet is an Ilokano dish comprising of a mixture of vegetables, a bit of pork, and some really tasty shrimp paste (alamang) or bagoong (fish sauce).  The vegetables mix usually includes okra, tomatoes, eggplants, bitter melons, beans, and chili peppers. Due to the diversity of vegetable ingredients in the dish, you can have all the necessary vegetable servings you need in a day, perfect when you have grown tired of eating too much meat.

 

Bicol Express

 

The very mention of Bicol Express often elicits a fiery response from anyone who knows why the dish is so popular. Famed for being one of the spiciest foods in the Philippines, Bicol Express is an interesting dish to add to this list. The reason I like it very much does not have anything do to with how spicy it is, but because of the rich variety of taste it produces. The mixture of salty shrimp paste, sweet coconut milk, bitter melon, tender pork, and red hot chilies is sure to activate every nerve ending in the tongue to produce a sort of taste climax. Only the best Bicol catering services and restaurants have what it takes to produce the right blend of taste for Bicol Express. Hence, to truly taste this Bicolano delicacy, you may have to hire the best catering services in Bicol or eat at a restaurant that employs a chef worthy of cooking the dish.

 

There are definitely plenty more dishes in the Philippines fit to be added to this list. However, the five mentioned above are personal favorites selected according to my Epicurean judgment. What are your top 5 favorite foods? Leave your comments below.