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The Tagalog word for ‘food’ is pagkain.
Learning about Filipino food involves understanding the cultural history and geography of the Philippines.
Originating from various cultures but displaying regional characteristics, the food throughout the islands was prepared by Malay settlers, spiced by commercial relations with Chinese traders, stewed in three centuries of Spanish rule, and hamburgered by American colonial influence on the nation’s way of life.
The multiracial features of the Filipino — a Chinese-Malayan face, a Spanish name, and an American nickname — thus inform Filipino food, producing dishes of Eastern and Western extraction.
Spelling variations: camias, kalamyas
kam·yás
fruit of the tree Averrhoa bilimbi
Kamias grows in clusters on trees. It’s been called “tree cucumber” in English.
The fruit is used as a souring agent in the Filipino dishes paksiw and sinigang.
Kamias is also dried and candied.
pinatuyong kamias
dried camias
minatamis na kamias
“sweetened” camias
= camias candy
Recently, kamias has even served as a juice flavor.
It is a question not easy to answer. Is it pork adobo, brown and rich, eaten with hot white rice? Is it siomai and siopao in the neighborhood merendero? Is it chicken relleno on a fiesta table, stuffed with olives and sausages? Is it sinigang na kanduli in a broth misty with miso? Is it a buko pie or a chicken salad? Is it all of the above?
Excerpted from LASA: A Guide to Dining in the Provinces (1990) by Doreen Fernandez and Edilberto Alegre.
It is a question not easy to answer. Is it pork adobo, brown and rich, eaten with hot white rice? Is it siomai and siopao in the neighborhood merendero? Is it chicken relleno on a fiesta table, stuffed with olives and sausages? Is it sinigang na kanduli in a broth misty with miso? Is it a buko pie or a chicken salad? Is it all of the above?
To help familiarize our website’s visitors with Filipino food in an easy way, we’ve drawn up a simple list of a few Philippine dishes and foodstuff commonly eaten in the Philippines. We’re still working on adding more pronunciation audio and photos. Remember to check back soon! 🙂
But our cuisine doesn’t merely reflect foreign influence — it of course showcases our local values as well. The enduring appeal of Filipino dishes like adobo, sinigang, and kare-kare is proof that our meals are focused on the ulam being traditionally served at the center of a table in sizes to share. This social, family- oriented approach to meals is truly Filipino.
Explore and discover the true Filipino goodness of the cuisine we call our own. Recreate classic recipes at home and find ingredients to bring your meals to life. 🙂
“You know you’re Filipino when you use a spoon and fork instead of a knife and fork.”
This is because the typical Filipino meal always has rice, which is spooned into the mouth. Spoon in the right hand, fork in the left.
Cooked rice (kanin) is the basis of almost every Filipino meal. The main dish that goes with the rice is called ulam. This can be a meat dish, fried fish or a vegetable stew.
The basic traditional Filipino meal consists of two essential things: kanin and ulam.
A widely grown plant in the Philippines, malunggay is a plant with the scientific name Moringa oleifera. It is simply called “moringa” by English speakers.
Moringa is a tree known as sajina in South Asian countries like India. In English, it is sometimes referred to as horseradish tree or horseradish plant, although it’s a different species from the horseradish that Westerners know. The tree grows fast and survives well in drought conditions.
Duhat is a local Philippine fruit that’s commonly referred to in English as Java plum. Continue reading “DUHAT”
Inasnan o binurong alamang o isda.
Bagoóng is an encompassing term for Philippine condiments made from fish or tiny shrimps that are salted and fermented for several weeks. The color varies from light pink to dark brown, the texture from firm to watery.
In general, the shrimps produce a firmer, more colorful paste, while bagoong made from fish is liquid and darker.
