Philippine food is one of the region’s most underrated cuisines. Robyn Eckhardt gives the lowdown on the country’s most cherished dishes.
Photograph by David Hagerman
SINIGANG
Filipinos prize sourness, and they celebrate it in the form of sinigang, a tom yam–like soup of fish, chicken or meat tarted up with sour leaves or fruit.
LECHON
For the country’s Christian majority, pork reigns supreme—an ardor embodied in lechon, or whole spit-roasted pig. Lechon actually describes the cooking process, but pig is so ubiquitous on the spit that the term has come to mean pork.
ADOBO
If pressed to name a national dish, most Filipinos would probably choose pork adobo, a comforting braise made with vinegar, plenty of garlic and black pepper.
PANSIT
As with elsewhere in East Asia, Philippine meals generally revolve around rice, but pansit, or noodle dishes, figure prominently in the country’s snack repertoire. Pansit luglug, round rice noodles smothered with a smooth shrimp-flavored sauce tinted orange from annatto seeds, is often eaten for merienda, the late afternoon mini-meal meant to tide one over between lunch and dinner.
TSOKOLATE
Filipinos love sweets and whip up a localized version of Spanish chocolate—thick enough to stand a spoon in—with homegrown cacao that rivals Barcelona’s best.
Read Robyn's full article HERE...
