Cooking like a local in the Philippines

42358POSTS

8 years ago

Hello,

Enjoying the local food of your expat country is great, but learning to cook the dishes yourself is even better. Please share what it's like cooking like a local in the Philippines.

What are some of the most popular local dishes that are easy to prepare?

What are the most common ingredients used in dishes in the Philippines? Where can you purchase them?

Is there a specific technique or a secret ingredient to master the local cuisine?

Are there resources available to teach you to cook like a local (classes, websites, etc.)?

What are the advantages of learning to prepare local dishes in the Philippines?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Priscilla

See also

Lifestyle in the Philippines - Guide
Local courier services in the Philippines - Business
Philippines and Fish - 3 Replies
TOURISM IN THE PHILIPPINES - 20 Replies
Family in the Philippines - 2 Replies
What's it like Living in the Philippines May to October - 21 Replies
The importance of local language in the Philippines - 19 Replies

VR Sooria Member

10POSTS

8 years ago

No , dear Priscilla,
聽聽聽 I have not been eating the Filipino food at all since the time I started working here in the Philippines.

I tried savouring my colleagues lunches and dinners聽 and have since decided to import most of my spices from Singapore and Started to cook to actually be alive.

Being聽 my first time to ever cook , I religiously swamp through聽 YouTube on almost all sorts of dishes and through trial and errors together with
My lovely and unsuspecting neighbours not knowing they were the victims had always given me the Thumbs up on most of my dishes that I can鈥檛 eat myself.

Being a foodie and my passionate drive, I have found my 鈥済ifting鈥� and have been inviting my colleagues and neighbours on many occasions Home to enjoy my home cook meal that I too am proud off.

I鈥檓 not sure on your question of what are the advantages of cooking the local dishes, but I sure know , I鈥檓 enjoying my dishes and you too, could come home to know the advantages of Indian Dishes 馃槉

Hope I have answered you and contributed in some way in my reply.

Happy Holidays to all my friends here that I have not met any one of you.
I鈥檓 hoping we could organise an event where could get together and enjoy some Quality time Gossipping. 馃

Be So Bless People.

Wayne 07 Contributor

173POSTS

8 years ago

I don鈥檛 really cook Filipino. I use to eat most all Filipino food. To include fish eyeballs and chicken feet馃槀
When I began studying the health content I had to switch.

Now it鈥檚 just fruits that grow here. I summon mostly healthy American food I.e. chicken breast, baked potatoes, broccoli etc..,

I no longer cook. My wife does it now.

Vasile_Stancu Member

15POSTS

8 years ago

The Filipino food it's really unhealthy and freaky expensive when it comes about the price of the ingredients comparing with Europe.

Random examples:
1 kg of potatoes (food of the poor) in Romania = 13 pesos or less; here, 1 piece (few grams) 50 pesos聽

(in SM) - what 'da heck?!!!
1 l of milk = 26 pesos or less; here... there's no organic milk and if you find some, you'll need to sell a kidney to afford it.

When it's about quality... I also have doubts and questions... even the lowest quality has a luxury price and what is really good and worthy you'll need an ambassador income (see Rustans for instance

))) ).

I'm really questioning myself how people actually surviving with 7k salaries... or 3, 4k as a nanny.

There are a lot of things to mention here but yeah, would not change a thing, isn't it? What's the point?

If you ask me... I'm here 'cause I like the weather and people but when it's about food, traffic, income, pricing of internet and mobile rates, social security and education... it's a huge disaster.

Jacqueline88 New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

Hi,

sorry Priscilla, i should change my profile... I am arriving in May! I will let you know my experience. I don't eat meat though but I do eat fish and I love to eat mostly fruits and vegetables.

Wayne 07 Contributor

173POSTS

8 years ago

I agree with you vasile_Stancu. I love the people here. Not so much the traffic, noise, karaoke, food, etc..,

I live in province so fruits and vegetables are cheaper. I been to rustans. Super expensive. You pay big time for stuff there. I thought S&R was not bad.

Being and expat I realise that missing food from your home country is one of the big things you miss. I eat some Filipino food. Mainly the healthy ones. I do my best to stay away from junk food but that鈥檚 hard to do here. Lots health issues with body weight due to diet. Much more process food here than before. All the chips, bread etc..,

samangelevski Banned

292POSTS

8 years ago

You guys are all right, food here is not a good one, but then all this is up to people who live here, they accept any kind of food good or bad, if bad just trip and use it any way, the same with meat, trim and use, problem they always get some kind of diherier very common here, I come from Europe myself, but have been living in Australia for long time, food back in Europe to Australia is fantastic fresh and tasty,聽 here I do not like much maybe Adobo but I cook it myself, and shopping is expensive compared to Australia, beef here is all in pcs and glued together, this practice is been banned every way in the world, and how about MSG, they use lots of it here, safe eatery is KFC and Mcdonalds, but this are junk foods, what a choice, it is best to cook everything yourself,
if you can find quality produce and meat, markets i find are worst in selling bad food,

GuestPoster170 Guest

0POSTS

8 years ago

The Philippines is the best country for seafoods. If you enjoy to eat fish, shells, shrimps, crabs etc. you will be in the paradise ! For the meat, except chicken and pork, it is imported from Australia and New Zealand. Rustan is all imported food so much more expensive. Since I am here, I reduced my consumption of meat and mostly eat fish and lots of vegetables from Baguio.

expatsteve48 Active member

36POSTS

8 years ago

I've mastered the art of cooking about half the foods that Filipinos eat.....rice!聽聽

Filipino food gets a bad rap, compared to other Asian cuisines, but when properly done it tastes pretty good.聽 And it tastes excellent when you're falling in love with a sweet Filipina.聽

Seems pretty meh these days...hopefully it has better flavor soon聽聽

uglyking Member

2POSTS

8 years ago

#10

Usually i cook my own food here mostly chicken breast, its good for my gym diet. I love Tinola and sometimes cooking pork choop adobo

expatsteve48 Active member

36POSTS

8 years ago

#11

uglyking wrote:
Usually i cook my own food here mostly chicken breast, its good for my gym diet. I love Tinola and sometimes cooking pork choop adobo

Tinola cut for getting cut !聽聽ha聽 It's so tempting to eat out at carendarias and eateries as the price is almost the same as cooking, but the healthiness is very low.聽聽

I cook a big pot of mongos once a week and eat it for lunches and snacks...great low-cost source of protein.聽聽Onions, garlic, espada, a little pork, mung beans, and some gata.聽 Poverty bulking!

Dreamyouyou Member

2POSTS

8 years ago

#12

Well, I don't do cook I can't share any experience heheheh sorry

borntorock55 Member

14POSTS

8 years ago

#13

Food of course is to great extent what you make it. After a coronary in 2010 I have a heart to care for so I eat pretty healthily most of the time here.聽 Chicken and fish and occasional pork accompanied by vegetables and salad produce from the local markets here in Iloilo and of course the ever present rice, although I eat that sparingly. A massive plus for me is that plenty of fantastic fresh fruit is available which I love. The fresh produce here is absolutely fantastic. The fish and seafood is superb and once you get used to the fact that the market produce is not all the 'perfect' size, shape and colour that it is in western supermarkets, you learn to appreciate how good and how much more tasty it actually is. Another thing I've really noticed here is that produce does not spoil nearly as quickly as it does in the UK where I am from. I'm also lucky because my fiancee is a great cook. She worked as an OFW in HK, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei over a 15 year period so she learned to cook many great Asian dishes. As others have said though, it's unfortunately quite true that in general, everyday Filipino cuisine is a little uninspiring and many modern Filipinos do have pretty poor diet. In particular their liking for the vast array of fast food available here and the fact that so much of the supermarket food is processed. Appreciating that low wage economics has much to do with that, what I fear is that the country is storing up a huge healthcare problem for itself, particularly illness and disease related to obesity.

gbdermid Active member

39POSTS

8 years ago

#14

Hello, I am from New Orleans, Louisiana USA,,we cook and eat so many of the vegetables that are eaten on Bohol, many of our foods are the same, just prepared differently,execpt I like only brown rice, but I can buy pink rice

Omay Active member

77POSTS

8 years ago

#15

if you live in Cities yes the food is costly and not fresh.聽 I live in city and also assigned in the province, food in the province are fresh specially fish and vegetable.聽 regarding food preparation you can cook filipino food the healthy way you'll just have to know how to cook it.聽 But if you like meat(pork and beef) then you should eat moderate because it is usually full of fats.

Bob604 Contributor

108POSTS

8 years ago

#16

In some of the more isolated villages out in the Province, it is hard to find anyone over 45 to 50 years old.聽 If the food out in the province is so fresh and delicious, why is everyone dying so young ?

Silvercobra Contributor

105POSTS

8 years ago

#17

I was bored one day so tried to help prepare food in the kitchen. I was politely told to sit over there and drink my coffee. This is a lesson I have never forgotten to this day.
I鈥檓 not a chauvinist but the kitchen is for wives and housekeepers.

davtjo Contributor

100POSTS

8 years ago

#18

I think maybe you are buyinf stuff you like from suppermarkets!!! I shop locally in markets, fish in our local wet market is daily fresh and quite cheap but 2 bangus costs me 120/140 peso. chicken whole about 140 a kilo. Pork about 180 a kilo. I buy veg usually from roadside stalls, they grow it themselves. a weeks worth hmm not sure but i suspect around 140/60 peso. cooking filipino is quite easy really adobo or humba is really just boiling in water and soy sauce with other ingredients to make it one or the other. It ia very easy to get authentic recipes on the internet.

bobquinn0801 Member

19POSTS

8 years ago

#19

Bob604 wrote:
In some of the more isolated villages out in the Province, it is hard to find anyone over 45 to 50 years old.聽 If the food out in the province is so fresh and delicious, why is everyone dying so young ?

It probably has nothing to do with the food. It is more likely due to the distance from quality medical care as well as the ability to afford medical care.

samangelevski Banned

292POSTS

8 years ago

#20

we buy fish from local markets, have tried supermarkets but fish not fresh in fact one time and last time I buy from there, fish had bad odor to it, did not eat it throw it in a tresh, Local is fresh, the problem I found is tast bit of mud, but maybe that is normal for river fish not sure on that one ???聽 vegetables yes very cheap and yes they are fresh, I have been tolled people use a lot of fertilizer for their vegetable growing in backyard, again not sure if this is true or not ??,

Omay Active member

77POSTS

8 years ago

#21

bobquinn0801 wrote:
Bob604 wrote:
In some of the more isolated villages out in the Province, it is hard to find anyone over 45 to 50 years old.聽 If the food out in the province is so fresh and delicious, why is everyone dying so young ?

It probably has nothing to do with the food. It is more likely due to the distance from quality medical care as well as the ability to afford medical care.

Yes Sir you are right also I will consider the lack of awareness how to disposed the waste properly specially in some rural areas.

expatsteve48 Active member

36POSTS

8 years ago

#22

Bob604 wrote:
In some of the more isolated villages out in the Province, it is hard to find anyone over 45 to 50 years old.聽 If the food out in the province is so fresh and delicious, why is everyone dying so young ?

Provincial locals tend to fry everything in the cheap gutter oil they buy from the sari x2, load all meals down with salt, and veggies are usually not on the menu.聽 Vegetables are not much cheaper in the province than they are in the city markets (not supermarkets) unless you live on the mountain where they are grown.聽

Most Filipinos residing in fishing villages eat almost zero vegetables from what I've seen.聽 Just fried fish, dried fish, different varieties of pork, tons of rice, lots of bread, a little fruit, and a whole lot of sweets.聽 Even that fat little Filipina celebrity girl on TV here Ryzza Mae said, "Only rich people eat chicken." lol They do eat chicken and it's almost always fried in gutter oil.聽 Filipinos live a horribly unhealthy lifestyle, worst in Asia, and you cannot tell them anything, because they know everything.聽 Sad.

samangelevski Banned

292POSTS

8 years ago

#23

well said steve, i have seen it as well, the whole family here are bad cooks, oil and more oil, salt like they never going get one for years, i keep telling them little oil and good oil not just any cheap oil, but yes they fry everything till it is crisp hard and not much taste but only salt, but they love this, i will never get, i am happy that my wife is doing the right thing, we use Olive oil, himalayan salt or pink salt, my cooking is in the oven not much in frying pan, dry fish i do not like apart from that you only eat salt, no nutrients in meat,
pork staying away from that, bad taste but who can complain you get bad meat if you feed animal with rubbish food, chicken as well, no much taste in the meat, but Olive oil fixes this, vegetables, apart from carrots pumpkin and potatoes not much more I like.

expatsteve48 Active member

36POSTS

8 years ago

#24

It's definitely possible to cook healthy foods here, and we use the canola oil.聽 I bought some for my in-laws and they tried it, but went right back to gutter oil.聽 Hard to change old habits...especially with many Filipinos being so stubbornly set in their ways.聽 And in-laws are college educated people with a family business....just stubborn.聽聽I've had a few conversations with other provincial Filipinos about diet and nutrition and their response is always that they are strong Filipino and can eat anything, while I'm weak foreigner who cannot...lol.

So I guess for many provincial Filipinos, having a healthy diet is much like being courteous, polite or considerate of others....a sign of weakness!聽

gbdermid Active member

39POSTS

8 years ago

#25

What is gutter oil?, i think i am buying corn oil from town market

gbdermid Active member

39POSTS

8 years ago

#26

i bring hot Tabasco sauce with me every time i come to visit family, some like it, some don't

GuestPoster170 Guest

0POSTS

8 years ago

#27

What are some of the most popular local dishes that are easy to prepare?

Adobo is one of the easiest to prepare. Just 4 major ingredients: meat, potatoes, soy sauce and vinegar.

Easy-to-medium would be stews like afritada and menudo which have more ingredients than adobo like ripe tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers. I cook these from scratch, using fresh tomatoes to make the sauce instead of tomato paste, which makes for a longer cooking time.

Medium-to-hard for me is pancit sotanghon or vermicelli noodles. Even more ingredients than afritada or menudo and longer cooking / preparation time. 2 to 3 stage process, as you have to first boil the chicken, shred it, saute and it with other ingredients, add the pre-cooked noodles.

I would not even consider cooking kare-kare. It's just too darn hard and time consuming to prepare it from scratch, like the way my late grandmother cooked it.

What are the most common ingredients used in dishes in the Philippines? Where can you purchase them?

If you cook from scratch, like I do, you can find ingredients at a public market. I buy produce and fish from the public market. But chicken, beef and pork I buy at a supermarket.

Is there a specific technique or a secret ingredient to master the local cuisine?

It's easy to overcook ingredients in Filipino dishes as most are stews or have sauces. As with any dish, it takes experience and practice to get the ingredients' consistency to your liking.

I cook healthy versions of Filipino dishes.聽 When I cook Filipino dishes, I consider first me and my family's health. When I make adobo, I use better-quality Bounty Fresh chicken breast, EVOO, reduced sodium soy sauce, distilled white vinegar, cilantro, smaller cuts of potato but with skin on. It's looks paler than your regular adobo. But it's leaner and healthier. It tastes pretty good too. The flavor is more subtle and it's less oily.聽 If someone says he / she prefers the traditional adobo, then they should cook it himself / herself the way they like it.

Next time I cook adobo, I'll try to take a picture of it and use it as my profile pic.

Are there resources available to teach you to cook like a local (classes, websites, etc.)?

I learned how to cook by first observing the way relatives, friends and househelp cook. I then refer to Filipino cook books to get ideas and to see if I could improve on the dish, i.e. make it a healthier version.

What are the advantages of learning to prepare local dishes in the Philippines?

Even if you use premium higher-priced ingredients, it's still cheaper to cook food at home than eating out at a restaurant. And you know what you're putting in your mouth.

samangelevski Banned

292POSTS

8 years ago

#28

Adobo is 1 whole chicken or leg and tight part about 1k, 1/2 cup soy/1/2 cup vinegar,
Onions and Garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns, this is adobo must try but whatever you do must not use MSG, but before everything eles I cook chicken in mixture for 10 min take it out and have it quickly fryed back in to finish cooking by reducing sauce to your liking. or for quicker cooking skip frying, you can add coconut milk for other tastes too.

Omay Active member

77POSTS

8 years ago

#29

samangelevski wrote:
Adobo is 1 whole chicken or leg and tight part about 1k, 1/2 cup soy/1/2 cup vinegar,
Onions and Garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns, this is adobo must try but whatever you do must not use MSG, but before everything eles I cook chicken in mixture for 10 min take it out and have it quickly fryed back in to finish cooking by reducing sauce to your liking. or for quicker cooking skip frying, you can add coconut milk for other tastes too.

Whenever I cook adobo I don't use MSG and most of the time I use butter instead of cooking oil.

Like what Iv'e said you can always cook food the healthy way it's just up to you how you prepare your food.

samangelevski Banned

292POSTS

8 years ago

#30

I use Olive oil, but then again only if I roast vegetables, and little of it too, meat got its own fats, but cooking it or frying it slow you render the fat, means fat will come out so not need to add any oil at all, you know when I was little kid my Mom use to cook every thing slow, any cooking will take 2 to 4 hours to cook, cooking was to her like a full time job, all day till late nights.

Gardo Fuentes Serial expat

246POSTS

4 years ago

#31

I聽 don't cook so I just let Jollibee, Chow King, Tapa King and Mang Inasal cook my Filipino food there.聽聽

聽聽

Then聽 Food Courts -聽 nilaga, tuna panga, sinigang.聽

Then specialty restaurants for pares, lugaw, foreign dishes.聽

And lastly, the expensive restaurants for the classics -- caldereta, afritada, kare-kare.聽 Yummy.聽

Oh street foods also like pork and isaw bbq, isaw,聽 and balut.