Philippine Cuisine

Food is part of one's culture and lifestyle. Like I mentioned in my last blog we will have a series about the Philippines and today our topic is the country's cuisine.

Filipino food is basically one of the most delicious dishes in the world. The food has evolved over the centuries from its Malayo-Polynesian origins to a fusion of foreign cuisine: Spanish, Chinese, American and other Asian dishes. There is an abundance of tropical fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry and seafood.

Though sometimes the food can be greasy or unhealthy to Western standards it is still definitely a treat. A typical Filipino meal usually consists of rice and fried fish or sausages or cured meat and vegetables. The preparation of the meal takes about an hour.

Food with Spanish influence are the arroz valenciana, mechado or beef stew, fish escabeche, pescado al horno, ropa vieja, oso buco, chorizo or longanisa and adobo.

Food with Chinese influence are the stir fry noodles, the chopsuey, steamed fish, sweet and sour pork or fish, fried spring roll and lots of soup dishes. The Filipinos also learned to use black beans, tofu and soy sauce from the Chinese.

The native Filipino dishes are the pinakbet (all vegetable), dinuguan (cooked pork's blood), kare-kare (peanut base beef stew), paksiw (fish, bittermelon and vinegar base soup) to name a few.

According to Asia recipe.com here are the popular Filipino dishes: lechon (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar or cooked until dry), kaldereta (goat in tomato stew), mechado (beef or pork cooked in tomato sauce), pochero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken, pork or beef simmered in a tomato sauce with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (pork, fish, or shrimp in tamarind stew), pancit (stir-fried noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls).

Come let's eat!

Photo Credit: Philippine Food Photo Mosaic
Photographer: Flipped Out
Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenilio/