Filipino Cuisine

What is Filipino home cooking?

Filipino home cooking is the most underrepresented cuisine in the English-speaking food world relative to how extraordinary it is. It is built around sour, savoury, and umami — vinegar is the defining ingredient of the cuisine, appearing in adobo, sinigang, kare-kare dipping sauce, and most marinades.

Filipino cooking is also a cuisine of contrasts — crispy and tender (lechon kawali), sour and rich (sinigang), sweet and savoury (tocino).

It draws influence from Spanish colonisation (tomato-based stews, cured meats), Chinese immigration (pancit noodles, lumpia), and Malay cooking (coconut milk, fermented shrimp paste). The result is one of the most complex and deeply satisfying cuisines in Asia.

What are the essential Filipino cooking techniques?

Adobo braising: Filipino adobo is a braising technique, not a sauce. Protein — usually chicken or pork — is simmered in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns until the liquid reduces to a glossy glaze. The vinegar is the key — it tenderises the meat, preserves it, and provides the sharp sour note that defines adobo. The ratio is approximately 1 part vinegar to 1 part soy sauce with enough water to submerge the protein.

Souring with tamarind: Sinigang is a sour tamarind broth soup — the sourness comes from tamarind, calamansi, or green mango depending on the region. The technique is to build a savoury broth first (pork or shrimp), then add the souring agent gradually and taste until the sourness is sharp but not overwhelming. Vegetables are added at the end and cooked just until tender. Read the complete tamarind guide to understand how to prepare and use it.

Crispy skin technique: Lechon kawali (crispy pork belly) requires boiling the pork belly until tender, drying it completely — ideally overnight in the refrigerator uncovered — and then deep frying in oil hot enough to immediately bubble violently when the pork is added. The dry skin blisters and crisps in 8 to 10 minutes. Any moisture remaining on the skin prevents crisping and causes dangerous oil splatter.

Pancit noodle cooking: Filipino pancit uses either rice noodles (bihon) or egg noodles (canton) stir-fried with vegetables and protein in a savoury sauce. The technique is to par-cook the noodles in broth rather than water — this adds flavour directly into the noodles rather than just the sauce.

What do you need in a Filipino pantry?

• Soy sauce — used in adobo, marinades, and stir-fries. Silver Swan or Datu Puti are authentic Filipino brands.
• Vinegar — the defining ingredient of Filipino cooking. Cane vinegar (sukang maasim) or coconut vinegar for authentic flavour. White vinegar substitutes in a pinch.
• Fish sauce (patis) — used as a finishing seasoning and in dipping sauces.
• Bagoong — fermented shrimp paste. Used as a condiment alongside kare-kare and as a seasoning in vegetable dishes. Deeply pungent and umami-rich.
• Calamansi — small Filipino citrus fruit. Squeezed over almost everything as a finishing acid. Substitute equal parts lime juice and orange juice if unavailable.
• Annatto seeds or annatto powder — used to add orange colour to dishes like kare-kare and pancit. Neutral in flavour, purely for colour.
• Coconut milk — used in ginataan (coconut milk dishes) and kare-kare sauce.
• Rice noodles (bihon) and egg noodles (canton) — used in pancit.
• Bay leaves — used in adobo and braises. Filipino dishes use more bay leaves than Western cooking — 4 to 6 leaves per dish is standard.
• Black peppercorns — whole, used in adobo and braises.