Top 6 Filipino Dishes that You Must Try – Marvellous Culinary Creations for the Visitor

Adobo happens to be one of the best-known and most popular Filipino dishes that visitors to the Philippines should undoubtedly savour. The primary ingredient in this dish would be pork or chicken, or perhaps both; the meat will be cooked in a flavoursome marinade containing soy sauce, vinegar and a mixture of spices such as garlic, black pepper and laurel leaves. The resulting mixture is cooked under moderate heat till the meat becomes tender. Adobo is typically served with steamed rice as well as a cool drink.

This classic Filipino dish may be described as a hearty broth containing a variety of vegetables and meat. The special ingredient that provides sinigang with its distinctive flavour is tamarind, although today, different seasonings and flavoured bouillon are often used instead of natural tamarind. Sinigang is made with meat – which could be pork, beef, fish or shrimp – and vegetables like tomato, radish, eggplant and river spinach. Garlic and onion are also vital ingredients when preparing this dish.

Another typical Filipino dish would be pinakbet, which originates from the northern Ilocos region of the Philippines. You will find that pinakbet happens to be a mixture of different vegetables which are cooked in flavourful shrimp paste. This dish will often include vegetables like squash, okra, eggplant and string beans. Some chefs also add some crispy pork over the cooked vegetables for added flavour. Pinakbet offers a medley of tastes that will appeal to the food lover.

In the local language, the name of this dish means 'roasted pig' and that is exactly what this much-loved dish in the Philippines is. In fact, lechon is primarily a whole roasted pig with a special stuffing. However, each stage in the preparation of this dish must be handled meticulously, from the slaughtering of the pig to its thorough cleansing, stuffing and final roasting. Lechon is customarily served at significant Filipino gatherings and festivals. A choice of accommodation to consider where you could base yourself as you try out such Filipino foods would be Somerset Millennium Makati which offers pleasingly located Manila serviced apartments.

A rather different Filipino dish would be kare-kare which is often prepared for festive occasions. Traditionally, the meat used for this hearty stew would be oxtail, but more meaty beef cuts are also frequently used. To make kare-kare, the beef is boiled till tender, after which the dish is slowly cooked further with peanut butter sauce as well as vegetables. To complete the dining experience, Filipinos will also expect an accompaniment of fermented seafood paste (bagoong) along with the kare-kare.

To round off your experience of Filipino dishes, take the opportunity to try out the distinctive laing. Fundamentally, this is a relatively simple dish, consisting of taro leaves (its main ingredient) cooked within coconut milk, sometimes along with seafood or meat. The dish gains its distinctive flavour from the combination of spices and seasonings used in it, including labuyo chilli, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and shallots, in addition to the shrimp paste. Interestingly, laing was originally prepared in the Philippines' Bicol region which is known for its spicy foods.