The National Dishes
Filipino cuisine is a unique blend of Malay, Chinese, Spanish, and American influences — hearty, sour, sweet, and outrageously good if you know the right places.
The Must-Eat List
- Adobo — THE national dish. Chicken or pork (or both) stewed in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and bay leaves. Every family has its own recipe. Simple ingredients, complex flavor. From 80 PHP.
- Sinigang — Sour soup with tamarind, pork or shrimp, and vegetables. The perfect comfort food on rainy days. For Filipinos, the ultimate soul food.
- Lechon — Whole roast pig, grilled for hours over charcoal until the skin is glassy and crispy. Cebu has the best Lechon (Zubuchon, praised by Anthony Bourdain as "best pig ever"). A pound from 400 PHP.
- Sisig — Chopped pork (face, ears, belly) with egg and chili on a sizzling hot plate. Invented in Pampanga, now everywhere. The perfect beer companion dish. From 120 PHP.
- Lumpia — Filipino spring rolls. Fresh (Lumpia Sariwa, with vegetable filling and sweet sauce) or fried (Lumpia Shanghai, with meat filling). From 10 PHP per piece.
- Kare-Kare — Oxtail stew in thick peanut sauce with vegetables. Served with Bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) — a top-notch taste experience.
- Pancit — Noodles in every conceivable form: Pancit Canton (fried egg noodles), Pancit Bihon (rice noodles), Pancit Palabok (thick rice noodles in shrimp sauce). A must-order at any fiesta meal.
Desserts & Snacks
- Halo-Halo — Literally: "Mix-Mix". Crushed ice with beans, Nata de Coco, coconut gel, Leche Flan, Ube ice cream (purple yam), milk, and everything sweet and colorful. Filipinos' best dessert. From 60 PHP.
- Ube — Purple yam, transformed into ice cream, cakes, bread, and jam. The purple color is iconic.
- Balut — A fertilized duck egg with a visible embryo (14–21 days). The ultimate test of courage for travelers. Filipinos eat it as a protein snack with salt and vinegar. It tastes better than it looks — promised. 20 PHP at street stalls.
