Philippines Guide
For Travelers, Expats and Pinoys
Philippine “Pochero”
The heavy-weight nutrients of beef, vegetables, and fruit; or, the delicate taste of tender beef, crunchiness of vegetables, and the sweet flavor of fruit—these are mouth-watering features of the native cuisine Philippine “pochero.” It is considered a luxury native dish served mostly only to the elite or in very special occasions.
Pochero dates back to Spanish times, a time when native dishes cooked were sure to be nothing less than top quality. Spanish landlords were mostly very discriminating in taste and preferences. They were often very strict masters. So this native cuisine was birthed at such a time when everything was made “primera clase” or first class.
This native cuisine, pochero, is cooked in this manner. For a kilo of pork or beef (or a mix) these are the ingredients: a small ball of cabbage sliced in big pieces, 5 pieces sweet potatoes sliced into 4 each, 7 pieces pared native “saba” bananas sliced into halves, a bundle of Baguio beans cut into halves, a bundle of pechay leaves sliced into halves, a can of pork and beans, a teaspoon of salt, and 5 cups of water. Make sure all the veggies have been kept in the fridge the night before for a crunchy quality. Now we’re ready to cook this native dish.
Simmer the meat and sweet potatoes in 5 cups of water for one to two hours for a super tender native cuisine of pochero. If the water has dwindled too much, add enough to soak meat in it. When the meat of this native cuisine gets tender enough the sweet potato should have become very soft and thickened the beef stew. Pour in all the others (cabbage, pechay, bananas, salt, and Baguio beans) except the pork and beans. Put to medium fire for half a minute, pour in pork and beans, and cook for another half a minute, then the native dish is ready to serve. Make sure not to over do the vegetables to keep their crunchiness.
Native cuisine, Pochero, has an aroma and taste that blends the pungent qualities of meaty richness and fruity sweetness. Its thick stew captures in all the abundant goodness of beef, vegetables, root crop, and fruit for a tangy native dish flavor unmistakably Filipino-Spanish in orientation.
A super balanced native cuisine complete with meat, veggies, root crop, and fruit is the Philipine pochero. Balanced meals seldom come as delicious and nutritious as this native dish does—not to mention its rich and thick stew.
Philippine Cuisine Spiced Up the Ilocano Way
Choice and tender pork cuts mixed in a delicately spiced stew of native, crunchy vegetables cooked fast and easy as one, two, and three.
Sound good?
Pinakbet is a popular dish in the Philippines. In fact, almost every region in the country has its own version of this native cuisine. But nothing beats an original, especially an original recipe. And there’s no Pinakbet like the original Ilocano Pinakbet. Beware of imitations—they’re well-intentioned concoctions, but they fall short of being fully representative of the real McCoy, the popular dish of Ilocanos.
This native cuisine is a display of small but terrible Ilocano fresh vegetables ranging from small eggplants to small ampalaya or biter melon to small okra and small flat string beans or “patani.” We need a small bunch of all these, plus a fourth of a small squash, ten small peeled unchopped onions, 6 pieces small and ripe tomatoes, a bunch of “kangkong” leaves (an inch of the stems from the leaves included), about a half-fist of peeled ginger (or smaller), 3 pieces long native chili (“sili” for “sinigang”), 5 cups water, and 5 spoonfuls of Ilocano-style preserved small fish. Almost everything small but one can get a big kick out of this popular dish.
A kilo of tender choice cut pork is needed for this native cuisine, cut into small cubes—about 3X3 inches. Tender loin pork may be used. What Filipinos call “liempo” is often the favorite. After chopping the pork, put 5 cups of water in a pot and throw in everything else: pork, vegetables tomatoes, onion, preserved fish, and all. Boil on medium fire. Once in full boil bring immediately to a gentle simmer until pork is tenderly cooked. Do not overcook. Once the pork is cooked enough (about 20 minutes or so), everything’s ready for serving. Serves 5 persons. This popular dish is better eaten when dipped in a sauce of fish sauce (“patis”) with crushed long chili from the cooked dish.
The stew of this special native cuisine, pinakbet, is the result of a delicate mix of succulent flavors oozed from the subtle taste of pork and the sweetness of fresh vegetables plus the qualities of melted tomatoes. The tangy features of ginger and long native chili add a “kick” to the overall pungent taste of this popular dish.
Pinakbet in its original Ilocano form is a native cuisine that can satisfy discriminating taste buds and health aficionados. Among Filipino popular dishes this rates an “A” in overall aspects.
Enliven Christmas With Puto Bumbong and Bibingka
Christmas is the most celebrated season of the year. Filipinos start to spread the spirit of Christmas as early as September. And with Christmas, comes the favorite Christmas specialties. The two favorite Christmas dishes in Philippine cuisine are Puto Bumbong and Bibingka.
Puto Bumbong is a part of Philippine cuisine that is based on rice. This is how to cook Puto Bumbong. For one hour, soak a kilo of glutinous (a special type of rice) and 125 grams of ordinary rice mixture in salted water. If you want you can add some food coloring. Dry the Puto Bumbong mixture overnight inside a clean flour sack. Squeeze out the excess water. The following morning, the Puto Bumbong mixture is ready for cooking.
Use a steamer to cook the Puto Bumbong mixture. Pour in a small measure of Puto Bumbong mixture in bamboo tubes (locally known as “bumbong”). Place the bamboo tubes in a steamer.
You’ll know when Puto Bumbong is cooked when steam rise out of the bamboo tubes. Push out the cooked Puto Bumbong from the bamboo tubes. Serve the cooked Puto Bumbong with grated coconut and sugar on top.
The other favorite Christmas delicacy is Bibingka or rice cakes. Here’s how to make them. Soak 250 grams of glutinous rice in water for six hours then grind it. Beat one egg. Have 25 grams goat milk’s cheese sliced into desired thickness (you can try other cheese if you like).
In a saucepan, boil a half-liter of thin coconut milk. Continue boiling while adding in the ground rice, beaten egg, and one-fourth teaspoon salt. Lower the flame, then add 100 grams of sugar. Stir thoroughly to blend.
Put some banana leaves on small cake molds and pour the rice mixture in. Add in sliced cheese and 100 ml thick coconut milk. Sprinkle some anise powder on the top and cover the mixture to add to the aroma. Cook the Bibingka with live charcoal on the lid and below the cake mold for 15-20 minutes.
Unfortunately, there are no instant mixes of Puto Bumbong and Bibingka. There are no substitutes for these delicious Christmas rice specialties of the Philippines.
When you visit the Philippines for the holidays, you’ll be enchanted with the sweet smell of freshly cooked Puto Bumbong and Bibingka that blends well with the cold early mornings and nights. Though these rice specialties come in different sizes and shapes, having Puto Bumbong and Bibingka during the Christmas season helps make the Christmas spirit livelier.
Sweet and Sour Adobo Pork and Chicken
A sweetened and all spiced up pork and chicken adobo is another variation of the general native cuisine adobo. This native recipe caters well to those who prefer a subtle blend of sweet, sour, and spicy pork and chicken.
To cook this native cuisine, here are the ingredients we need: half a kilo of Pork Kasim chopped for adobo, half a kilo of fresh chicken chopped into serving pieces, four pieces of sliced hotdog, three tablespoons minced garlic, one tablespoon ground pepper corns, two tablespoons sugar, one piece laurel leaf, half cup of soy sauce, three-fourth cup of cane vinegar, 2 cups of boiled water, and a dozen hard quail eggs. With these ingredients ready, we’re all set to cook this native recipe.
To cook this native cuisine we first combine all ingredients in a saucepan (except the quail eggs and hotdogs). Then boil the mixture on high fire. On boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with the lid for some forty five minutes. Then, remove the lid cover and simmer again for some five minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. Check the tenderness of the pork. If the meat and skin of the pork is tender enough, the rest of the ingredients should follow. Check also the sweetness and sourness of the sauce. Aim for a balanced sweet and sour flavor. Lessen the taste by adding a little water. Add to the taste by adding either more sugar or more vinegar. Finally, when everything is balanced, add the quail eggs and hotdogs for another two to three minutes. This native recipe serves 5 people.
This recipe is a favorite native cuisine in picnics and outdoor potlucks, as well as in elegant dinner meals for the family and guests. Because of the introduction of vinegar into this native recipe, sweet and sour pork and chicken adobo lasts longer than other native cuisine. Hence, it is suitable as a picnic viand for a packed dinner when traveling far to eat out. It goes well with sliced and salted tomatoes on the side, coupled with some sliced preserved eggs with chopped onions and tomatoes. This native recipe is also partnered with chopped green mangoes and onions with a dash of native preserved fish or “bagoong.”
Sweet and sour pork and chicken adobo is a popular native cuisine almost always present in every Filipino dinner table, at home or in native restaurants. It is one of the Filipinos’ culinary legacies.
Philippine Milkfish Sinigang
How about a super healthy, super yummy native cuisine of stewed milkfish? This one’s stacked with vegetables loaded with fibers, Vitamin A, antioxidants and lycopene that can only do one’s health good. And then the fish meat is cooked just right to get all its juicy, flavorsome quality all intact. This native dish is an all-time favorite in Filipino dinner tables.
“Sinigang” has several variants and they always come a bit sour. The origin of this native dish is not exactly known and one of the versions says it was accidentally discovered in a hasty preparation. A mix of ingredients was there but what to do about them was the problem. So the stuffs were all poured into a pot, boiled, and out came the native cuisine “sinigang.”
Cooking this native dish: for a kilo of milk fish (choose a single piece weighing a kilo, with gills, bile, and scales taken off) prepare the following: a bundle of “kangkong” leaves picked off from branch, 3 pieces eggplant sliced into 3 each, one piece peeled and chopped radish, a bundle of okra chopped in halves, 2 pieces long chili or “siling pula,” 7 pieces “kalamansi” or lemon squeezed in a cup (seeds taken out), sliced tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt or fish sauce (“patis”), and 4 cups water. Now we’re readu for this native cuisine.
After washing the fish, put it into a pot with the 4 cups of water, eggplants, radish, tomatoes, long chili, and boil. When boiling, watch if the fish’s eyes have popped out. If so, bring this native dish into a simmer. Add lemon, okra, “kangkong,” and teaspoon of salt or fish sauce. After half a minute, serve while hot. This native cuisine serves 4 to 5 people.
This native cuisine is best served with a small saucer of fish sauce where the long chili from the milkfish stew is sliced. This makes for an excellent dip for the Philippine milkfish “sinigang.” This menu also comes with pork or beef. But for the longer hours of boiling to tenderize the meat, everything in the procedure stays the same. Philippine milkfish “sinigang” is superb with its traditional partner, “tortang giniling” or ground pork (or beef) omelet. Eaten together, the chemistry of the native dishes bring out a subtle taste that is contrasting yet complementary.
Philippine milkfish “sinigang” has been a proven native cuisine that continues to satisfy discriminating gourmets. For decades it has been a reliable native dish in spur of the moment dinner preparations because it’s easy to cook.
Chicken Cuisine Binakol Wonder
Chicken Binakol Wonder is a unique native cuisine that brings out the charged-up taste of an all-spiced up chicken, and then everything presented on the dinner table in a very indigenous way. This native recipe has the potential to drive the appetite and imagination crazy. Here’s how this native cuisine is cooked and presented.
For this native recipe, we need the following ingredients: one kilo chicken chopped into small pieces, two chicken broths or cubes, two cups water used in washing rice, or”pinaghugasan ng bigas”, three cloves of minced garlic, two teaspoons of sliced ginger, three cups of water, a half cup of green peas, one medium sliced onion, one potato cut in six, and two tomatoes sliced thinly. Now, for a little variation and unique savor, we add into this native recipe about a half cup diced sift meat of coconut. This addition perks up the flavor of the dish sauce and the cuisine presentation. With these ingredients prepared, we’re ready to cook this native cuisine.
Here’s the procedure in cooking this native recipe: First, we combine all the ingredients in a small pot, stir a little to even up the cooking, and bring everything to a boil on high fire. Then once boiling add the chicken broths or cubes for that extra zing, boosting further the flavor of chicken. Then set the fire low as soon as the cubes dissolve. Then, to further achieve a subtle blend and thickness in the sauce, this native recipe needs to continue simmering until the chicken is completely tender and cooked. The sauce is perfected by the continuous but slow action of low-heat simmering. Check the tenderness of the chicken meat occasionally with a fork. When the chicken meat is done, serve this native cuisine while hot. This chicken “binakol” cuisine serves 5 people. An optional food presentation is to give it an exotic twist by serving it in clean coconut shells.
This native cuisine, chicken “binakol” wonder, goes perfectly with a dip of native preserved fish sauce or “patis” and a piece or two of crushed native chili pepper. It also combines well with a sauce of preserved (“buro”) mangoes or onions on the side. Also as an option, and to avoid wastage, mix the coconut juice with some water and sugar. Then chill and serve in glasses.
Chicken “binakol” wonder is a unique native recipe that reflects Filipino ingenuity in cooking native cuisines and in food presentation, having as little food wastage as possible.
Philippine Cuisine Tagalog “Bachoy”
“Bachoy” is originally an Ilonggo native cuisine. But several versions were made of it, among which was the native Tagalog dish “bachoy. Most Philippine cuisines are characterized by flexibility. A native dish originally from a certain province or region will be redone in another. But the availability or lack of original ingredients in a locality will force improvisation of the native dish and later result into a different version of it.
Original Ilonggo La Paz “bachoy” is a soup noodle native cuisine with ample pieces of beef and spices. Native Tagalog dish “bachoy” on the other hand is a stew of swine organs and pork lean meat without noodles. What’s the difference? Cook and eat it to find out.
We need half kilo each of swine heart, liver, and lean meat. Some add a portion of lungs. These swine parts are often cheaper than pork meat itself, so this native cuisine is often economical to cook. Clean swine inner parts with water and soak in a basin of water for 5 minutes. Later, slice into cubes of about half an inch by half an inch. Then, prepare 5 pieces crushed and sliced garlic, three balls sliced onions, three small bundles of “kinchay” leaves, half of a whole ginger (peeled and sliced small), and 5 cups water. Then we’re ready to cook this native Tagalog dish.
Sauté garlic in oil in a medium-size pot until light brown. Put in onions and ginger until light brown. The natural ginger flavoring brings out the pungent spicy taste and aroma of this native cuisine coupled with the strong culinary features of “kinchay” leaves. “Kinchay” is known to normalize high blood pressure by its fibrous action and flashing out cholesterol. So this native Tagalog dish is also healthy,
Then put swine flesh and lean meat in. Cook while turning over continually for a minute. Pour 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. When swine flesh and lean meat are tender, put in “kinchay” leaves. Boil for another minute, put out the fire, and serve this native cuisine hot. Serves 5 persons. This native Tagalog dish is best eaten when supplemented with a dash of fish sauce or “patis.”
This native cuisine is considered a royal treat in Philippine dining and few popular restaurant know this almost secret recipe. This is mostly served in homes for special guests.
Philippine native Tagalog dish “bachoy” is a unique and tasty treat. This native cuisine is also healthy with a anti-cholesterol action.
Tinola: A Favorite Philippine Cuisine
Worried about having guests for dinner? Thinking of what delicious food to serve that would also be economical to serve? Thinking of having food delivered or eating out? Hold one’s horses! Here’s a favorite Philippine cuisine that is super tangy and super cost-effective—yet is a common native dish in classy restaurants. And here’s the best part, the bonus. This Philippine cuisine can be served with some hot supplements to really work out sweat in its devourer.
Introducing the Philippine cuisine “Tinola.” It is not only delicious and inexpensive; it is also a healthy balanced food for your guests and family. This Philippine cuisine can be cooked with various main ingredients: chicken, milkfish, shellfish, or even edible, cultured frogs. But in most cases chicken is used in this native dish, especially the native chicken. So for a kilo of chicken, one needs an average size ginger, onions, native “sili” (chili) leaves, a small green papaya, eight garlic pieces, about four cups of water, and some 4 spoons of fish sauce (“patis”) to taste.
Cooking this Philippine cuisine is quick and easy. Just sauté chicken in right amount of cooking oil with sliced ginger, garlic and onions. Make sure the spices (especially the ginger) turn light brown first before joining in the chicken pieces—and the fish sauce. After a minute of sautéing, pour in water and sliced papaya and boil until everything is tender. Finally, put in the “sili” leaves, simmer for another minute, and there we have it. Now here’s to give it some delectable kick: serve hot with a separate fish sauce with ground raw “sili” in a small saucer.
A really old style of cooking this native dish is using a live chicken. After slaughtering, the chicken’s blood is mixed with raw rice and put in the pot when everything is tender.
Now, if native chicken is used, the cooking gets yummier flavors. But more time will be devoted to tenderize the chicken flesh. Native chicken are often tough (so get younger ones). But they’re also known for bringing out pungent chicken flavor.
So we use the same procedure with sautéing and all, but when water is poured with the papaya, more time is needed to simmer everything. Hold the “sili” leaves awhile. When the flesh gets tender enough (How do you know it’s tender? Sample it) the leaves go in next. Simmer a minute and serve.
Tinola has been a Filipino solution to affordable but classy and tasty native dish. This Philippine cuisine easily impresses guests of any nationality with regards to taste, aroma, appeal, and balance.
Philippine Cuisine Tilapia Paksiw
“Paksiw” is a Filipino culinary term for any Philippine cuisine cooked in considerable amount of vinegar, giving it a subtle sour taste that tickles the taste buds for more servings. How about trying the favorite trout paksiw or “paksiw na tilapia”?
Trout paksiw has a choice of big, plump trout or small, younger ones. Big trout has more a bulging tummy. The more bulged their tummies are the richer their fatty, soft tissue. Small, younger trout on the other hand is tastier and has very tender flesh. Mixed in a boiling vinegar concoction, trout becomes a delicious Philippine cuisine.
Trout or tilapia paksiw can be cooked with vegetables. Three pieces of sliced eggplant, a piece of sliced “ampalaya” or bitter melon, 5 pieces of sliced okra, and two pieces of long native chili will make for a very healthy and appetizing milkfish paksiw variation. With a kilo of choice, plump and big trouts sliced into 3 pieces plus a half cup vinegar (better if the native Ilocano vinegar), half cup of water, a fourth of a whole piece of ginger (peeled and sliced small), 5 pieces garlic (crushed and sliced), and two spoons powdered pepper, we’re ready to cook this Philippine cuisine.
Place everything in a pot. Don’t stir or arrange or move anything once they’re all in a pot. Cover tightly and set fire to boil. When the concoction is boiling, bring to a simmer for 3 minutes and cut the fire. Serve hot. This is perfect when dipped in a sauce of fish sauce (“patis”) and chopped native long chili from the cooked Philippine cuisine.
For another variation of Philippine cuisine trout paksiw or paksiw na tilapia; put a little sugar in the stew after putting everything in the pot. This makes for a pungent sweet-sour trout paksiw stew, beautifully affecting the fish and vegetables in a delicate blend.
And here’s a secret recipe for further enhancing the flavor of trout. After having it soaked and boiled in the paksiw concoction for a marinated effect, take out the trouts, dry awhile, and fry in hot oil along with some pieces of crushed garlic. Serve separately from the paksiw vegetable stew. This style gives a barbecue-flavored variation to the Philippine cuisine trout paksiw.
Trout paksiw (or paksiw na tilapia) is a healthy, balanced meal that keeps one deciding the subtle sourness from the tasty blend of sweet vegetable saps. It’s variations are even more intriguing.
Tinolang Manok the Filipino Chicken Soup
Most Filipinos never let their guests go hungry. That’s one Filipino way of taking care of their guests. To give a warm welcome to their homes, they often serve Tinolang Manok to their guests.
One of the many popular dishes in the Philippines is known as Tinolang Manok. It is otherwise known as Chicken Ginger Soup. Pretty much like the chicken soup our moms used to make with an Asian twist due to the ginger. Each province in the Philippines would its own version of Tinolang Manok. They’re all based on a single theme — chicken and ginger.
You can’t say that Tinolang Manok is Tinolang Manok without the ginger. The ginger gives the Tinolang Manok a special Asian aroma and taste. Without ginger, the Tinolang Manok would lose its identifying zest and appeal.
Now here’s how to cook Tinolang Manok. Let’s begin with the ingredients of this dish. We would need the following to make Tinolang Manok:
A half kilo of Chicken, chopped into pieces.
Four cups of chicken stock. (If you don’t have chicken stock you can use a chicken bullion cube mixed in four cups of water. This can be bought in any Filipino store)
One medium-sized green papaya, peeled and cut into cubes.
Three cups of chili leaves, spinach, or pechay.
Two cloves of garlic, crushed.
One tablespoon crushed ginger.
Two tablespoons of sliced onions.
Four tablespoons cooking oil.
Two tablespoons of Fish Sauce (Patis)
Now that we have all our ingredients, here’s how we cook Tinolang Manok. First, we heat the oil in a stockpot and saute the ginger, onion and garlic. Remember to saute the ginger much longer than the onion and garlic. This is so you can enhance the essence of the ginger of the Tinolang Manok (big cooking secret, keep that in mind).
After you saute the spices, add the chopped chicken and saute until the chicken is partly cooked. Put in the fish sauce (this can also be bought at a Filipino store), stir for few seconds and add the chicken stock. Let it boil and simmer until 20 minutes. Add the papaya into the pot and let it cook. Turn off the heat and add the chili leaves and toss. Serve the Tinolang Manok while it’s hot. It is best served with rice.
There are many popular dishes in the Philippine islands. One of these is the famous Tinolang Manok. Like our mom’s homemade chicken soup, it is relaxing, tasty, and the chicken meat is in perfect harmony with steaming rice. Tinolang Manok is a Filipino dish that will welcome you to every Filipino home.
[Tags]Filipino Cooking, Filipino Cuisine, Food, Cooking, Chicken, Recipies, Filipino Recipies, Filipino Dish, Tinola, Manok[/Tags]