Culinary Tour Part 1: A Must Try Filipino Food: Fusion of American, Spanish, and Oriental Cuisines

A Legacy of Original Filipino and Fusion Recipes

I have always been the eater in the family, the one who’s always served with good food. My parents and elder sisters cook for our family all the time and they’re the best at it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t cook! I just prefer to leave the cooking to the people who can do it better than me.

Being stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I tried to think of some new ideas for my blog. And then, I remembered my niece, Grace, and this new hobby that she has taken up. My young niece has started learning how to cook and she recently shared with me some of the Filipino dishes that she herself had made. Hence, this blog is the first part of a new series in which I’ll be featuring various cuisines. Let me start with the Filipino cuisine.

Grace's ready to steam Embotido

Let’s take a look at some of the interesting and delectable Filipino dishes that foreign tourists should never miss while touring in the Philippines. This valuable information will also help my kababayan (countrymen) to understand the origin of the local recipes that they love.

1. Adobo is a very popular and perhaps the most-loved Filipino dish. As I remember, this was the very first dish I learned to cook aside from boiled water and perfect rice without burnt crust, hahaha. 

Grace's Braise Adobong Paa ng Manok (Chicken Feet Adobo) with Egg

Apparently, adobo has many different versions. Aside from pork, chicken, and beef, which are extremely common, Filipinos also use vegetables (water spinach or kangkong; string beans or sitaw) or seafood (mussels; oysters; squid) as the main ingredient for this dish. Adobo with boiled egg or chicken or pork intestines are also well-loved by the locals.

Chicken Feet Adobo (Adobong Paa ng Manok) ready for braising

Its cooking process starts with marinating the meat with soy sauce, garlic, black pepper, vinegar and bay leaves. Then, the marinated meat is refrigerated overnight. Finally, it is cooked by sautéing or braising until the meat is well done. This part may be shortened or even skipped if cooking with vegetables and/or seafood.

Braise Chicken Feet Adobo by Grace Vernick

Adobo was originally a native dish of indigenous Filipinos, though its name was derived from the Spanish word adobar which means to marinade. The Spaniards had a similar way of marinating meat. Perhaps early Filipinos adapted such technique to create this favorite dish. 

Pork Ribs Adobo (Adobong Ribs ng Baboy) by Berna Lopes

Pork Intestine & Chicken Gizzard Adobo by Nolie Nario

2. Karekare is a classic Filipino dish characterized by its rich peanut sauce. It is made up of stewed beef oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks or pig’s trotters, or a combination of these along with the different varieties of vegetables like banana blossom, eggplant, cabbage, string beans. These various ingredients are cooked in a creamy and thick peanut sauce with annatto for coloring. Karekare is often served with bagoong (sautéed shrimp paste). 

Grace's Kare-kare garnished with fried eggplant

There are no exact and concrete details about where the dish came from. One story claims that it was an Indian who introduced the dish and derived its name from the word curry, although curry is not an ingredient of the Filipino karekare. Another says that it was a dish of the elite Moros who settled in Manila during the Spanish Era. And one more story claims that the Japanese people introduced karekare to the Filipinos.  

Kare-kare by Berna Lopes

3. Embutido. The ever-present dish on all special occasions, like birthdays, fiestas and Christmas, embutido or embotido is a Filipino version of meatloaf made of ground pork, chicken or beef, carrots, bell pepper, onions, pickle relish, and raisins. I always remember that my Tatay (father) would always add an egg to bind the mixture before rolling and wrapping it tightly in aluminum foil. Then, the meatloaf was put into a steamer to be cooked. Some innovations of the dish have boiled egg and sausage as fillings. Embotido can be served steamed or fried.  

Ready to steam Embotido

Grace's Filipino-American embotido version

Its recipe was adapted from that of Spanish cured sausages. Then, it continued to develop thanks to the Americans’ introduction of their canned beef during their occupation in the Philippines between 1898 to 1946. Thus, embotido is a fusion of Filipino, Spanish, and American cuisines and perfected as a Filipino traditional food. 

Grace's Filipino-American version of Embotido

4. Pork Binagoongan. Locally known as Binagoongang Baboy, it is one of the all-time favorite Filipino dishes. Pork is sautéed in bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste) and fresh tomatoes are added in to balance the saltiness. The fermented shrimp paste is its main ingredient alongside pork, and that’s probably why the dish is called Pork Binagoongan. Pork Binagoongan is perfect with fried eggplant and fresh green mangoes and of course, hot steamed rice. 

The little chef is cooking Pork Binagoongan 

According to My Filipino Recipes, "the idea of adding shrimp paste to a dish was brought by migrants and traders from the peninsulas in Southeast Asia - Borneo, Malaya, and Java in particular - before the coming of the Spaniards. The Malay, who once settled in Central Luzon, created Binagoogang Baboy, where the dish is most popular." 

Yummy Pork Binagoongan by Grace Vernick

Grace’s Filipino-American version of Pork Binagoongan

5. Pinapaitan. I grew up in the province of Isabela which is located in the northern regions of the Philippines, and one of the dishes I have known since I was young is the specialty dish of the locals called Pinapaitan. 

Grace’s Filipino-American version of Pinapaitan

Pinapaitan has a very distinct taste. It actually tastes strange to me. But as time went by, I learned to like the dish. The name itself literally means 'bitter' and its bitter and sour taste makes it unique. Papaitan is an Ilocano (of Ilocos region) dish made up of beef, goat, or water buffalo innards and meat flavored with bile, which creates the bitterness, vinegar or tamarind, which gives a sour taste, green chilis and ginger. 

Pinapaitan by Berna Lopes

Aurio's Kitchen Papaitan version made up of cow's innards

This locally-famous dish is believed to have originated in the Ilocos Region of the Philippines and indeed another classic Filipino dish.  

Stay tuned for the 2^nd part of the Culinary Tour, featuring Grace’s version of famous Filipino snacks.

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Author's Notes About Culinary Tour