Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - 15 filippinska specialiteter

What do you eat in the Philippines? We spent three months in the Philippines, on 30 different islands. Here we have collected our experiences on Filipino food, as well as on specialities, desserts and drinks.

Table of contents

What do you eat in the Philippines?

If we have to answer very quickly the question of what to eat in the Philippines, the answer is rice and noodles, and preferably chicken and pork. And fruit of course! But we'll expand on that a bit more. Here is a list of 15 Filipino dishes and specialities.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat

1. rice

You can't talk about Filipino food without mentioning rice. Rice is the staple of Filipino cuisine and many families start the day by cooking a huge pot of rice to last all day. Rice is often eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and maybe even as a snack.

In restaurants you often pay for 'a cup' of rice, which is roughly equivalent to a portion. Some restaurants also offer "unlimited rice" for an additional fee, meaning you can eat as much rice as you want.

To flavour the rice, soy, chilli and the citrus fruit calamansi are often offered. By the way, rice can be eaten with just about anything, including noodles and French fries.

2nd Pancit

Noodles are also very common in the Philippines, especially the noodle dish pancit. This dish comes in lots of different local variations, but basically you can say that it is noodles together with small pieces of vegetables, often carrot and cabbage, and sometimes also small pieces of chicken.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - pancit

3. Chicken Adobo

Chicken is very popular in the Philippines and can be eaten, for example, in the form of the traditional stew Chicken Adobo. The dish is cooked with soy and garlic, among other ingredients, and is served with rice.

Adobo, by the way, is the name of a stew that can also be prepared with other main ingredients than chicken. For example, you can serve adobo made with pork or squid.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - chicken adobo

4. Chicken Inasal

Another popular chicken dish is 'Chicken Inasal', which basically means marinated and grilled chicken served (of course) with rice. The dish is available in many restaurants, including many fast food outlets.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - chicken inasal

5. lechon Baboy

Baboy means pig or pork and lechon means that the dish is grilled. The animal is grilled whole and then cut up for everyone to eat. Among local families, this is a festive food, prepared when there is a reason to celebrate. However, whole pigs are also grilled in restaurants, where you can buy a portion of the dish.

If it says "Lechon Manok" instead, then it is a whole grilled chicken instead of pork, which is also a very popular Filipino food.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - lechon baboy

6. sisig

Sisig is a Filipino dish that is relatively common in Filipino restaurants, resembling a kind of 'pot pie'. The dish includes pork, pork belly and chicken liver. We didn't think the ingredients sounded very good and never ordered this dish, but you might be braver!

7. lumpia

Lumpia, or spring rolls, are also a popular Filipino food. Spring rolls can be either vegetarian or contain meat and are often served with rice and a sweet and sour sauce.

8. Fish and seafood

The Philippines is an island nation and is surrounded by water and fishing boats everywhere. So it's only natural that seafood is plentiful. Many restaurants display the fresh produce on a bed of ice, and you can then choose what you want to have grilled.

There are usually many different types of fish, such as red snapper and tuna. There are also often squid, prawns, small crabs and different types of mussels. At private events we have also been offered marinated sea cucumber.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - sjögurka

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - krabba

9. Spaghetti with banana ketchup sauce

One of the foreign dishes that has gained a strong foothold in the Philippines is Italian pasta. However, Filipinos put their own spin on the dish, preferring a sweeter tomato sauce flavoured with banana ketchup.

We're not sure if this dish is available in restaurants, but if you're shopping in stores, you can choose Filipino pasta sauce instead of Italian pasta sauce to get the "right" flavour. This dish should also be extra popular at parties and birthdays.

10. Silog

Silog is a group of Filipino breakfast dishes that contain rice, eggs and some form of meat or fish. It is the type of meat or fish that gives the dish its full name. For example, 'hotsilog' contains hot dog, while 'longsilog' contains longganisa sausage and 'cornsilog' contains corned beef.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - silog

11. longganisa

Longganisa is a Spanish-style sausage that comes in many different flavours. The sausage can be bought in various simple food outlets and is sometimes included in the Filipino breakfast.

12. balot

One of the most famous specialities in the Philippines is the egg called balot or balut. This dish consists of an egg with a duck foetus inside, which can be 16 or 18 days old.

You can sometimes see locals selling these eggs in small boxes, and one of our Filipino friends bought one to eat and to show us. We like to try exotic things, but this was our limit. Both the look and the smell made us gag. However, we understand that the dish is very popular among many Filipinos.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - balot

13. calamansi

Calamansi is a delicious and fresh small citrus fruit that is very common in the Philippines, instead of lemon or lime. The fruit can be served as calamansi juice or as a flavouring for tea. It is also common to have the fruit with chilli and soy, as a flavouring for food.

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - calamansi

14. Fresh fruit

One of the things you can enjoy in the Philippines is fantastic fresh fruit. Some common fruits are coconut, mango, small bananas and melon of different varieties. The fruit can be served for breakfast, as a dessert or in the form of juice.

färsk frukt - mango, banan och vattenmelon

15. Halo-Halo

If you want to try a typical Filipino dessert, try halo halo. This all in one dessert can be bought in special halo halo stands, but also in restaurants and fast food restaurants.

The ingredients of this colourful dessert can vary, but usually include ice cream, ice, jelly, fresh fruit and beans. The dish tastes sweet and not bad!

Vad äter man i Filippinerna? - filippinsk mat - halo-halo

Filipino food in restaurants - food from around the world

Here we have presented a number of Filipino specialities, but what do you eat in the Philippines - in a restaurant? You can have Filipino food, of course, but there is also often a relatively wide range of other Asian food as well as Western food. During our three months in the country, we often saw the following international dishes on menus.

Asian food

Chicken Curry
Chicken/pork in sweet and sour sauce
Lemon chicken
Fried chicken/pork
Fried rice
Sushi and sashimi
Yakiniku and other Japanese dishes
Sizzling chicken/pork

Western food

American Breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, butter and jam)
Pizza
Spaghetti Carbonara and other pasta dishes
Hamburgers
French fries
Chicken Cordon Bleu

Filipino drinks

So, what do you drink in the Philippines? Firstly, you'll need to drink a lot of things like water, soft drinks and iced tea because it's so hot. Here are some other common drinks that might be worth mentioning.

Oil in the Philippines

Beer is a popular drink in the Philippines and there are three main varieties, all brewed by the Philippine San Miguel Brewery: San Miguel Pilsen, San Miguel Light and Red Horse. We liked both San Miguel Pilsen and Red Horse but usually chose the first one, as the second one has an extra high alcohol content.

Rum and gin

Both rum and gin are produced locally in the Philippines, making these spirits very affordable compared to other spirits.

Coconut wine

If you want to try a local festive drink, try coconut wine. This is drunk by locals when celebrating, and is sometimes mixed with coca cola.

Fruit juice

When in the Philippines, you'll also want to take the opportunity to drink freshly squeezed fruit juice, which can be delicious here. Perhaps the best known are buko juice, which is coconut juice, and mango juice. Our favourite was watermelon juice - absolutely delicious!

What are your experiences with Filipino food?

Have you been to the Philippines? What are your experiences with Filipino food? Do you like Asian food in general?

13 Comments

Add yours →

Anna Nilsson Spets says:

Interesting.... Always fun to see what the local cuisine looks like and find new favourites or the opposite... A lot of strange things have been eaten during your travels, bull's tongue and bushrat are different ? I don't think sea cucumber was a favourite and thankfully I don't eat eggs in any form. Calamansi, good. Called Kalamondin in Swedish.

18 May 2023 - 6:38

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Bull's tongue and bushrat, that definitely qualifies as different! How did it taste? The sea cucumber was served in a good marinade, but we had some difficulty with the texture. And thank you for the Swedish name of calamansi, had no idea!!!
  
  18 May 2023 - 11:38
  
- Anna Nilsson Spets says:
  
  The bull's tongue was cooked in a strong sauce (Algeria) with the skin remaining... knotty haha. In Algeria I also ate some goat which eventually gave me dysentery and I was admitted to the liberation front Polisario hospital (read mud house with tin roof). Bushrat... it was in southern Nigeria, nothing special, like chicken. Sea cucumber has a crappy texture, like slime.
  
  18 May 2023 - 20:41
  
  - Comment by post author
    
    Helena says:
    
    Interesting! Didn't get super hungry for bull tongue though 😉 Dysentery sounded tough, especially under those circumstances!!! I ate sea cucumber in China once and remember it a bit like you describe. In the Philippines we were offered it twice and then the texture was a bit hard and chewy type ...
    
    19 May 2023 - 7:12
    
Monica says:

I understand that you went to McDonald's after this! Feels like very one-sided food with all this rice with different accessories. But lovely with all the fruit and good juices! Another question about drinks. We often see you in pictures with a beer bottle without a glass, so you have to neck the beer then? How common is it in the different countries you've been to - do you not get glasses in the restaurants? I can't recall that this is even the case in Germany, but maybe we have missed something here?

18 May 2023 - 10:07

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes indeed, a bit one-sided. Then, if you're in tourist resorts, you can vary with Japanese and Italian and other things. And as I said, very good fruit! Good question about the beer! In the Philippines you almost never get a glass, not even in tourist restaurants. The beer is served in a bottle, with a small paper napkin, so you can wipe the bottle before drinking. In Europe, however, you almost always get a glass with your beer!
  
  18 May 2023 - 11:43
  
  - Anna Nilsson Spets says:
    
    Living in beer country Belgium, it would be unthinkable without the right glass for the right beer. A mortal sin of sorts. But actually, in Asia, I've mostly had a bottle.
    
    18 May 2023 - 20:43
    
Lena in Wales and a bit everywhere says:

Interesting post.
Oh, what a lot of lovely food!
Coconut wine, sounds exciting. Is it good?
Have a nice weekend!

18 May 2023 - 10:29

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  The coconut wine was not exactly a "gourmet delicacy", but it tasted quite ok (we got it mixed with coca cola). From what I understand, it is a very cheap local alcoholic drink.
  
  18 May 2023 - 11:45
  
Aboro says:

It's interesting how you make an effort to serve varied food, when a huge % of the world's population eats the same or similar food all the time. Perhaps it is a bit pretentious of us to do these variations. Interesting to read about this food you experienced. I would probably starve in the Philippines.....

18 May 2023 - 15:07

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes, the range and variety is much greater in Sweden and other European countries. We, who were tourists, could vary with foreign restaurants sometimes, otherwise it would have been very monotonous. We used to eat simpler and more monotonous food in Sweden, didn't we? Travelling gives perspective!
  
  19 May 2023 - 7:15
  
BP says:

I think the food, apart from the duck breast and banana ketchup, is perfectly acceptable. Yummy! The seafood dishes you show are the dream:-) Serving fries with rice is also done in Greece and Cyprus. That combo does not really go together in my world. Funny that San Miguel, which is originally Spanish, has breweries in the Philippines. Love that beer. Rum and cola - is not so bad either. Guess the cola is more expensive than the rum, at least it was in Barbados.

18 May 2023 - 20:07

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  The Filipino food is usually good, if not as varied as we might be used to, but when it comes to beer, I think it's actually the opposite. San Miguel Brewery is Filipino, but you can read online that the brand also started producing in Spain in the 1950s (although I didn't understand all the details of that story).
  
  19 May 2023 - 7:22

What do you eat in the Philippines? - 15 Filipino specialities

What do you eat in the Philippines?

1. rice

2nd Pancit

3. Chicken Adobo

4. Chicken Inasal

5. lechon Baboy

6. sisig

7. lumpia

8. Fish and seafood

9. Spaghetti with banana ketchup sauce

10. Silog

11. longganisa

12. balot

13. calamansi

14. Fresh fruit

15. Halo-Halo

Filipino food in restaurants - food from around the world

Asian food

Western food

Filipino drinks

Oil in the Philippines

Rum and gin

Coconut wine

Fruit juice

What are your experiences with Filipino food?

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13 Comments

Anna Nilsson Spets says:

Helena says:

Anna Nilsson Spets says:

Helena says:

Monica says:

Helena says:

Anna Nilsson Spets says:

Lena in Wales and a bit everywhere says:

Helena says:

Aboro says:

Helena says:

BP says:

Helena says:

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