Dictionary of Food and Drink in Philippines
General Terms and Ingredients
Bread - tinapay
Bread rolls - pan de sal
Butter - mantikilya
Jam - no precise equivalent, though Palaman is used for anything spread on bread
Cheese - keso
Egg - itlog
Salt - asin
Pepper - paminta
Soy sauce- toyo
Sugar - asukal (both white and brown sugar are called Asukal)
Coconut milk - gata. Kakang gata refers to the first extract of grated mature coconut meat
Fermented fish/shrimp paste - Bagoong. Bagoong Isda (made from fish) and Bagoong Alamang (made from tiny shrimps called Alamang). There are other variations of Bagoong using different types/kinds of fish
Rice - Bigas (the uncooked grain) or Kanin (cooked rice)
Salted egg - Itlog na Maalat (hard to miss in supermarkets because the egg shells are bright red). Also called Itlog na Pula because the shell is red
Delicious - masarap
Hot (spicy) - Maanghang
Restaurant - Restoran; or Karinderia for a canteen-style place where you choose from dishes placed on the counter; or ihaw-ihaw for a grill restaurant
Breakfast - almusal also called Agahan
Fork - tinidor
Glass - baso
Knife - kutsilyo
Plate - plato
Spoon - kutsara
Food preparation
Adobo - adobo-style, stewed in soy sauce and vin-egar, with pepper and garlic
Binuro (Buro ) - covered in salt and cooked slowly, often sealed in leaves or foil
Dinaing (of fish) cut open like a Butterfly and fried or grilled
Ginataan - cooked in coconut milk
inadobo - sautéed in vinegar and soy sauce
Inasinan/Inasnan - salted
Inihaw - grilled over charcoal
Kinilaw - marinated in vinegar and spices
Pinais - wrapped in leaves and steamed
Pinaksiw (of fish) - cooked with vinegar and spices
prito - fried
Relleno - stuffed, often with sausage, egg, Cheese and raisins
sinigang - cooked with tamarind or any souring agent (kamatis, kamias, suka) to make a sour soup or stew
Atay - liver
Puso - Heart (Puso ng Saging is the heart of the banana which we also used as food)
Baboy - pork
Baka- beef
Kambing - goat
Kordero/Karnero - lamb
Lengua - tongue
Manok - chicken
Pata - pig's knuckle (trotters)
Pato - duck
Pugo - quail
Tenga ng Baboy - pig's ears
Balunbalunan - gizzard of chicken
Common dishes
Adobo - chicken and/or pork simmered in soy sauce and vinegar with pepper and garlic
Beef tapa - beef marinated in vinegar, sugar and garlic, then dried in the sun and fried
Bicol Express - fiery dish of pork ribs cooked in coconut milk, soy sauce, vinegar, bagoong and hot chillies
Bistek tagalog - beef tenderloin with calamansi and onion
Bulalo - beef shank in onion broth
dinuguan - pork cubes simmered in pig's blood with garlic, onion and laurel leaves
Ginisang monggo - any combination of pork,vegetables or shrimp sautéed with mung beans
Kaldereta - spicy mutton stew
Kare-Kare - rich oxtail stew with eggplant, peanut and puso ng Saging (see under "Vegetables (gulay )")
Lechon - (de leche) roast whole (suckling) pig, dipped in a liver paste sauce
Longganisa/longganiza - small beef or pork sausages, with a lot of garlic
longsilog- longganisa with garlic rice and fried egg
Mechado - braised beef
Pochero - boiled beef and vegetables
sisig - fried chopped pork, liver and onions
tapsilog - beef tapa with garlic rice and fried egg
Tinola - tangy soup with chicken, papaya and ginger
Tocino- marinated fried pork
tosilog - marinated fried pork with garlic rice and fried egg
daing na Bangus - butterflied milk fish marinated in vinegar and spices, then fried
Gambas - shrimps sautéed in chilli and garlic sauce
Pinaksiw na lapu-lapu - lapu-lapu marinated in vinegar and spices, served cold
Rellenong Bangus - stuffed bangus
escabeche - sweet and sour fried fish with julienned carrots and sweet peppers and pineapple pieces
Common dishes
adobong Kangkong kangkong cooked adobo-style, in vinegar and soy, with lots of garlic
Bicol Express vegetables cooked with coconut milk, soy sauce, vinegar, hot chilli and a dash of bagoong
ginataang ng puso ng Saging banana heart cooked in coconut milk, some-times with shrimp or fish added
laing taro leaves cooked in coconut milk
pechay Chinese cabbage, some-times spelled petsay or pitsay; also known as bok choi or pak choy
pinakbet vegetable stew with bagoong, cooked in broth, often with small pieces of meat added
* Noodles and miscellaneous dishes
kilawing puso ng Saging noodles fried with ground beef or pork and banana heart
lumpia egg rolls, filled with vegetables and sometimes meat
lumpia Ubod egg rolls filled with hearts of palm
mami noodle soup
pancit noodles
pancit bihon thin vermicelli rice noodles with shrimp and vegetable
pancit canton thick rice noodles with shrimp and vegetable
sotanghon thin translucent rice noodles
torta (de cangrejo) (crab) omelette
Fish (isda ) and seafood (lamang dagat)
Alimango - mud crab
Alimasag - blue crab
Bangus - milkfish
galunggong - round scad , also called slang as GG
Hipon - shrimps
Lapu-lapu - grouper
Pusit - squid
Pugita - octopus
Tahong - mussels
Talaba - oysters
Tanguingue - popular and affordable sea fish, not unlike Tuna in flavour
Vegetables (gulay)
labong -bamboo shoots
alogbati - red-stemmed plant with heart-shaped leaves, added to salads and stews
ampalaya - bitter melon or bitter gourd, a rough-skinned vegetable used to add a slightly bitter taste to stews; the leaves are used, steamed, in salads, and medicinally
bawang - garlic
camote/kamote - sweet potato
dahon ng Sili - chilli pepper leaves, added to soups and stews
gabi - taro, a versatile root crop whose leaves, stalks and tuber can all be cooked and eaten
kamatis - tomato
kangkong - convolvulus leaves; also called swamp cabbage or water spinach
labanos - white radish, added to soups or in a tangy salad with tomato, vinegar, olive oil and sugar
monggo - beans mung beans
puso ng Saging - banana heart, the rust-coloured pod that forms on the banana tree and contains the flowers; it's chopped up and added to dishes such as Bicol Express
sibuyas - onion
sili - chillies ; Siling Labuyo - the small fiery variety of chili
sitaw - string beans
taogue/Toge - beansprouts (pronounced ta-o-gay)
ube - purple yam
upo - winter melon or gourd
Snacks (merienda) and street food
Adidas chicken's feet; named after the sports-shoe manufacturer, they're served on a stick with a choice of sauces for dipping
Arroz caldo rice porridge with chicken
Balut raw, half-formed duck embryo
Camote/Kamote - sweet potato fried with brown sugar, or boiled and served with a pat of butter
Chicharon fried pork skin, served with a vinegar dip
dilis dried anchovies, eaten whole and dipped in vinegar as a bar snack or added to vegetable stews
Ensaimada/Ensaymada - sweet Cheese rolls with margarine drizzeled with sugar as toppings
Fish balls/Squid balls mashed fish or squid blended with wheat flour and deep fried; served on a stick with a sweet , semi-sweet and hot sauces
Goto - rice porridge containing almost anything, including tripe, entrails, ears and pieces of snout; the fried garlic floating on top is delicious and a splash of Calamansi juice adds some tang
Isaw grilled chicken or pig's intestines dyed a funky orange to make even more appetizing; it's served with a cup of vinegar for dipping
lugaw plain rice porridge, traditionally thought of as food for the convalescent; it can be enriched with boiled tripe, green onions, fried garlic and egg
Niagang Mais - steamed corn-on-the-cob
Pugo /Itlog ng Pugo - hard-boiled quail's eggs, sold in packets of fifteen to twenty
Puto - rice muffins, available in a range of funky colours, including yellow, green and baby pink
siopao Chinese buns filled with spicy pork
Sorbetes ice cream ; the term is used mainly of the home-made varieties sold from colourful handcarts
Sumsumon - pig's ear
Taho - mushy confection of mashed bean curd, caramel and tapioca; a popular breakfast on-the-move, it's sold by vendors who carry it in canisters over their shoulders
Tokneneng - hard-boiled balut covered in orange dough and deep-fried while you wait
Binatog - boiled corn kernels with freshly grated coconut and salt traditionally. Some prefers with sugar though
Fruit (Prutas)
atis custard apple
balimbing starfruit (aka carambola)
buko coconut
calamansi lime
chico sapodilla (roughly the size of an egg with brown skin and sticky, soft flesh)
guayabano soursop (large, oval fruit with knobbly spines outside and fragrant flesh inside)
kaimito star apple (plum -coloured and round, about the size of a tennis ball, with leathery skin and soft white pulp inside)
lanzones outside the size and colour of a small potato; inside there's sweet, translucent flesh with a bitter seed
mangga Mango (available in sweet and sour varieties)
mangosteen round, with a shiny dark purple skin and soft white flesh inside
pakwan watermelon
papaya papaya
piña pineapple
saging banana (there are dozens of varieties, from the cooking banana sabo to finger-like senoritas and red-skinned morado)
bibingka cake made of ground rice, sugar and coconut milk, baked in a clay stove and served hot with fresh, salted duck's eggs on top
bilo-bilo glutinous rice and small pieces of tapioca in coconut milk
brazos meringues, often with cashew-nut filling
cassava cake sticky, dark cake with a fudge-like consistency
Champorado - chocolate rice pudding made or ordinary rice, bur preferably glutinous rice or Malagkit
Guinatan/Ginatan - assorted fruits pudding cooked in coconut milk and served with lashings of coconut cream for a sweet version. Savory versions are also available made from meat, fish, vegetables
halo-halo sweet concoction made from ice cream, shaved ice, jelly, beans and tinned milk; the name literally means "mix-mix"
Kutsinta brown rice cake with coconut shavings
Maja blanca - blancmange of corn and coconut cream
Polvoron/Pulboron- sweets made from butter, sugar and toasted flour, pale in colour with a crumbly texture
Puto bumbong - glutinous rice steamed in a bamboo tube, infusing it with a delicate, woody taste; lilac colouring gives it a distinctive purple sheen
Sago at nata de coco Blend of Sago and coconut served cold in a glass
suman sweet and sticky rice cake served inside a banana leaf (siman sa ibus; etc.)
Drinks (Inumin/Samalamig)
merong/walang yelo/asukal with/without ice/sugar
Alak wine (in practice, everyone just says "wine")
Beer - the famous brands are San Miguel and Red Horse
Buko juice - coconut water plain or some with slivers of fresh young coconut
Calamansi juice/soda calamansi juice made into a cold drink by adding soda or a hot one with boiled water and a touch of honey
Chocolate-eh thick hot chocolate
gatas milk
Gin - a popular gin in the Philippines is Ginebra
Juice is juice for us: Any kind of juice in powder form is also available in all supermarkets in the Philipines, we name it, we have it (Pineapple, Guyabano, Mango, Apple, Melon, Watermelon, etc)
Kape - coffee with or without milk
lambanog alcoholic drink made from fermented fruit and available in a range of flavours
Mineral water - filtered water which everyone thought is the cleanest water for drinking
Rum - (the cheap, popular Tanduay has become almost synonymous with rum, so you could just ask for Tanduay and Coke)
Tsa/Tsaa - tea. Filipinos are never tea-drinkers though except in present time where Iced Teas are already available in pet bottles in every supermarkets
Tubig is water. Usually tap water or water from the tap is enough, but nowadays everyone wants Mineral Water for health purposes
tubo - is sugar care and Tubo juice sugar-cane juice, not so popular , but available in some places.
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