Basic Ingredients
These are the must have in every Filipino kitchens.
Garlic
Garlic is used by filipinos in everyday cooking. Its usually cooked at the start of any filipino dishes. They call this "guinisa" means to saute. They even came up with a garlic snack, roasted garlic chips.
Onion
Like garlic, onions are used to flavor dishes by sauteing it with garlic. Also used to make dipping sauces for fried dishes such as tofu and pork hock. Filipinos usually use the red onions since its locally farmed in the Philippines compared to the its white variety.
Ginger
Usually used to take out the fishy smell and taste of seafood. But its also used for flavoring agent for the famous "arroz caldo" and "tinola". Ginger is also used to flavor dipping sauces.
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is used way back after the chinese settlers came to the Philippines. Now filipinos make their own version of soy sauce. Used in most stew dishes such as "adobo" and "bistek tagalog". This is always found in every filipino pantries. Also used as a dipping sauce, either with ginger, garlic and onions or with "calamansi". This is used to marinate meats as well such as pork and beef.
Vinegar
If there is "bread and butter" or "steak and eggs" Filipinos have "suka't toyo"
means vinegar and soy sauce. This two filipino basic ingredients is usually accompanied by each other, for dipping sauce, to stews or marinades. Also used to make a filipino version of ceviche also known as "kilawin". In the Philippines not only seafoods are used to make ceviche, goat meats are used as well.
Potatoes
Potatoes are usually used to make stews or soups. Its basically an additive to a dish since its cheap and doesn't have much flavor. Having high starch content, this is a good replacement for rice.
Rice
Staple food in the Philippines and filipinos came up with wide vareity of ways to cook it, from just plain steamed rice, to fried, cakes, poridge etc. There are two types of rice that are usually eaten in the Philippines, long grain which is steamed and accompanied by an entree or glutinous which is used to make poridge and sweet desserts. Philippines is now one of the largest rice product importer in the world.
Noodles
Two types of noodles are used in the Philippines to make ethinic dishes, rice noodles and egg noodles. After the chinese traders introduced noodles in the Philippines, it made a great impact in the filipino culture. One famous noodle dish filipinos are proud of is the "pancit".
Pork
Philippines was named pork country for almost nothing is wasted when filipinos butcher a pig. All the basic parts are used and so as the trimmings. The head is used to make "sisig" or "lechon". The innards are used as well to make filipino delicacies such as"isaw" which is made of pork intestines and the other parts are used to make rice pordige.
Tomato
Tomatoes are used either as a flavor to dipping sauce, stews, soups or stir fry or a condiment to entrees. Tomatoes is a filipino favorite, chopped and salted and its good to go. Also used as a stuffing for fish such as tilapya or milk fish.
Shrimp Paste
Also known as "bagoong", this condiment is either used to flavor dishes or as a dipping sauce. This has a very strong fishy smell but the taste is really worth eating with sour soups or green mangoes.
Tomato Sauce
Used for meat stews such as pork and beef, this has been part of most filipino dishes. I actually consider this ingredient as an american origin. Filipinos are experts when it comes to tomato sauce.
Coconuts
Desserts, stews, candies? There are a lot of dishes you can cook from coconuts. Like pork, nothing is wasted when filipinos use coconuts. Not to mention that its also used to make arts and crafts. Filipinos came up with so many products from coconuts, like coconut creams, sweet palm nuts, etc. Grown everywhere in the Philippines, its almost as if its a wild grass.
