13 All-Time Favorite Filipino Dishes You Should Have Tried By Now

The Philippines has such a rich cuisine. From breakfast to dinner (and snacks, too!), there is a wide array of choices to choose from if you are craving for the best of the best authentic Filipino food. We know it seems like the list of Filipino food to taste is endless so we listed down 13 of the most popular Filipino dishes that you should definitely try now.

1. Adobo

Poblacion – Pork Adobo with Salted egg relish served with garlic rice (P220)

The flavor of soy sauce and vinegar together with the aroma of bay leaves and the spice of pepper are really what make an authentic adobo. You can choose whether you want to use pork, chicken or both on your dish. You can cook it saucy or dry, spicy or sweet. The versatility and ease of cooking Adobo while at the same time having complex flavor is the reason why it’s the favorite of Filipinos.

2. Arroz Caldo

Arroz Caldo is a popular Filipino breakfast staple that is composed of stewed rice and chicken. It is usually served with hardboiled egg, toasted garlic bits, spring onions, and a squeeze of kalamansi on top. Feeling a bit under the weather? This bowl of warmth can make you feel a whole lot better in no time.

Also read: 6 Typical Filipino Breakfast Food

3. Bulalo

Nanay Cirilas’ Beef Bulalo in Broth (P750, serves 2-4 persons)

This mouth-watering beef soup dish is said to have originated in Tagaytay where the weather is cold and the soups are warmest. Bulalo is composed of beef shank boiled until tender, rich broth, corn, and leafy vegetables. Filipinos love to take the end of their spoons to scoop out the buttery bone marrow inside the beef shank.

Also read: Best Places to Eat Bulalo in Tagaytay

4. Crispy Pata

LUMU Crispy Pata (Php 695)

Another well-loved Filipino dish is Crispy Pata which literally translates to “crispy pork leg”. As you may take from its name, Crispy Pata is a whole pork leg (some call it trotters or knuckles) rubbed with various seasonings and then deep fried to get the skin crunchy and golden brown. Some like to pair it with their favorite dipping sauce like soy sauce, ketchup or atchara (pickled green papaya). It is often served as a main dish in parties or as pulutan in drinking sessions.

5. Dinuguan

Filipinos have a knack for exotic food. Exhibit A: Dinuguan or pork blood stew that is one of the most sought after dishes in Filipino eateries. The black sauce of this dish is made with pig’s blood, vinegar, and spices. Dinuguan is best paired with puto, a Filipino rice cake, which is a popular snack combo in the Philippines.

6. Inasal

Chicken House Bacolod – Petso (Php 83)

Inasal may seem like your ordinary grilled chicken except that it’s not. The chicken is marinated in all sorts of Filipino spices like vinegar, lemongrass, kalamansi juice, ginger and more before putting in a stick and grilling over charcoal. What gives the inasal its yellowish tint (and added flavor) is the spiced anatto oil that is brushed on it as it cooks. It is best served with java rice and partnered with atchara or soy sauce.

7. Kare-kare

Bistro Pamana – The Best Kare Kare (P295)

Another staple in a favorite Filipino dishes list is Kare-kare. It is a thick savory peanut sauce stew, with stewed oxtail/tripe, sometimes pork or beef and a hefty serving of vegetables like eggplant, banana blossom and pechay (bok choy). It is then partnered with bagoong alamang or shrimp paste. Patience is needed in coming up in Kare-kare, making sure that the meat used is tender and soft. But hey, all good things are worth the wait, right?

8. Lumpiang Shanghai

Dragonfruit Shanghai (Filipino Spring Rolls) (Php 100)

A plate of crispy, golden brown lumpiang shanghai cannot be absent in a Filipino celebratory dining table. Birthday? Lumpia. Fiesta? Lumpia. Afternoon snack? Lumpia. This simple yet filling snack is made with vegetable and ground meat (sometimes fish), wrapped in lumpia wrapper then deep fried. It is best eaten with a spiced vinegar dipping sauce.

9. Pancit

Filipinos love pancit so much they have so many varieties for it! Pancit canton, bihon, molo, miki, palabok, sotanghon, Malabon and so much more. In fact, almost all regions in the Philippines have their own pancit specialty. Pancit dishes can be also dry topped with vegetables and meat/seafood or with sauce or soup, depends on the kind. It is often served during birthdays because there is a Filipino belief that the pancit noodle is a sign of long life.

10. Pinakbet

Kusina Felicitas – Pinakbet with Bagnet (P180)

Pinakbet is a popular vegetable Filipino dish from the northern region of the country. It comes from the Ilocano word “pinakkebet” which means shrunk or shriveled. Some of the vegetables you can use when cooking this dish are eggplant, bittermelon (ampalaya), string beans, and squash. It is made then added with fish or shrimp sauce for a unique yet mouth-watering flavor.

Also read: Pinakbet Farm in Ilocos Sur Is More Than Just a Serene Farm Life Experience

11. Sinigang

Jasmine Restaurant – Bagnet Sinigang (P300)

When you ask Filipinos what their favorite local dish is, most will probably answer sinigang. This popular soup dish is characterized by its sour and savoury taste brought about by tamarind, guava or other local souring agents. Almost every kind of meat can be also used for sinigang: pork, beef, fish and even shrimp. Serve it with a hot heaping plate of rice and fish sauce for a surely satisfying meal.

Also read: Check Out These Restaurants Offering Sinigang With a Twist

12. Sisig
1028 Kitchen Place – Sisig (Php 220)

Sisig is an authentic Kapampangan dish composed of chopped pig cheeks and ears, and chicken liver. It is best served in a sizzling plate with a healthy amount of onions and chili. While still hissing and smoking, a raw egg is put on top of the sisig and is mixed with the meat. Add a squeeze of kalamansi and the dish is complete. Sisig, as popular as it is in the dining table, is a favorite pulutan during drinking sessions.

13. Tuyo

Another staple in a Filipino breakfast table is the humble Tuyo. Tuyo is a type of salted dried fish that is often cheap and sold in almost any local sari-sari store. But don’t let this discourage you from trying it out! Tuyo is packed with just the right flavor to partner with either garlic fried rice and spiced vinegar or with champorado, a local chocolate rice porridge.

From a very long list of favorite Filipino dishes, these are just some our best picks. How many of these have you ticked in your checklist already? And how many more are you willing to try?