-=A=-
Achara - Pickled vegetables usually in a sweet-sour solution.Achuete - Dried seed of the annatto tree mainly used as red food coloring. The seeds are either soaked and squeezed in water or tossed in hot oil to get the red coloring. Achuete is now available in easy to use powder and liquid forms; just add a tsp. to color a dish.
Adobo - Regarded as the Filipino national dish; made of pork beef, poultry, seafood, vegetables (or a combination of these) in a tangy sauce.
Afritada - Braised meat (pork or chicken) in tomato sauce.
Alamang - Very small shrimps usually made into bagoong.
Almondigas - Meatballs.
Ampalaya - Bitter melon, also known as amargoso. A gourd-like vegetable with green wrinkly skin that has a bitter taste.
Alugbati - Fragrant, leafy green vegetable with purple stems.
Apulid - Water chestnuts. The Philippine varieties are smaller than the Chinese ones which are more popular.
Arroz caldo - Philippine thick soup with rice, chicken or tripe.
Asado - To roast in Spanish; in Filipino cooking, to cook like a stew.
Atay - Liver.
Atis - Custard apple; sweet with many seeds, similar to chirimoya.
-=B=-
Baboy – Pork.Bacalao – Dried salted codfish sold by the piece.
Bachoy – A thick soup of variety meats and noodles.
Bagoong – Shrimp or fish paste fermented in salt and used for seasoning.
Bangus – Milkfish, the most popular fish in the Philippines, mainly cultivated in brackish fish ponds; the wild ones caught in the ocean are called cabala. It is bony with a taste quite similar to white fish.
Bawang- Garlic.
Binagoongan – Any dish cooked with bagoong (shrimp paste).
Bibingka – Rice cake with glutinous rice (malagkit) or rice flour (galapong).
Bihon – Thin, white rice noodles, also known as rice vermicelli or rice sticks.
Bilo-bilo – Marble sized balls of glutinous rice powder usually cooked in coconut milk and brown syrup with pandan flavor.
Binagol – A dessert of shredder taro, coconut milk, condensed milk, and eggs.
Binalot – A meal wrapped in banana leaves; called maluto in Laguna.
Bistek – Beef steak, sliced thin, marinated in soy cause and lemon juice, stir-fried and served with sautéed onions.
Budin - Bread pudding.
Buko – Fresh, whole young coconut with tender meat; meat of young coconut.
Bulaklak ng Katuray – large flowers of a native tree called katuray. The flowers are used in salads with vinaigrette dressing.
Bulaklak ng Saging – Purplish banana blossoms, usually sold dried and used as seasoning.
Bulanglang – A regional dish mainly of vegetables boiled with broiled or fried fish and seasoned with bagoong.
Bulalo – Clear beet broth soup from beef shank and shin bones.
Buro – Pickled
Butuan – A variety of cooking banana with lots of tine black seeds when ripe.
-=C=-
Cadereta – Spicy stew of beef or goat meat usually thickened with liver paste.
Caldo – Spanish for broth, stock or soup. The term is commonly used in the Philippines to mean soup.
Callos – Spanish for tripe; the Filipino term is goto.
Camatis – Tomato. Also spelled as Kamatis.
Camaro – beetle-like insects about 2 inches long, usually found embedded on riverbanks during the rainy season, a delicacy in Pampanga.
Camaron – Spanish for shrimp; the Filipino term is hipon for small and medium shrimps; larger ones or prawns are called sugpo.
Canton noodles – deep fried, crisp, yellow egg noodles.
Carne – Meat, usually beef.
Castañas – Chestnuts.
Champorado – Chocolate flavored rice porridge usually eaten with fried dilis (dried anchovies), tuyo (dried salted fish) or tapa (dried meat).
Chitcharo – Snow peas. Flat green peas eaten pods and all.
Chorizo de Bilbao – Spicy sausage from Bilbao, Spain.Maybe substituted with an equal amount of garlic sausage or pepperoni.
Cilantro – Coriander or Chinese parsley.
Cocido – Spanish stew adopted by Filipinos; a sautéed version of nilaga.
-=D=-
Daing – Sun-dried cured fish.Dalag – Mudfish. A common fresh water fish in the Philippines.
Dalandan – Native oranges, small but sweet; green skinned even when ripe.
Danggit – samara fish, dried flat, usually fried crisp.
Dayap – Lime.
Dilao or dilaw – Turmeric. Yellow, mild flavored ginger called galangal in Thai.
Dilis – Small long jawed anchovies usually salted and dried. They are toasted in a small amount of oil until brown and crispy and served as appetizers. Also available fresh.
Dinengdeng – Assorted vegetable stew seasoned with bagoong.
Dinuguan – A pork or chicken dish cooked in pig’s blood or blood pudding.
Duhat – Purplish berries often made into wine.
Dulong – Very small white fish common in Southern Tagalog provinces.
Durian – Fruit with a spiny shell and strong aroma; a delicacy in Mindanao.
-=E=-
Embutido – A large sausage-like roll stuffed with meat, vegetables and eggs.
Empanada – Turnovers with meat, poultry, seafood or jam filling.
Empanaditas – Bite-sized turn overs.
Ensaymada – Cheese buns usually topped with cheese, sugar and salted egg.
Escabeche – Fried fish in a sweet-sour, spicy sauce.
Espasol – Also called baybaye in the Visayas; toasted sticky rice flour and fresh young coconut meat pounded or ground together and formed into long 6”x1” cylinders, then rolled on toasted rice flour and wrapped.
Estofado – Spanish for braised meat dished with vegetables.
-=F=-
Fidelos – Spanish for paste or noodles.Five-spice powder – Chinese spice mixture of ground star anise, Szechuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cloves, and cinnamon.
Frito – Spanish for fried; the term commonly used by Filipinos is prito.
Flan – Spanish for custard, as in Leche Flan – milk and egg custard.
-=G=-
Gabi – Taro root.Galangal – Thai for yellow ginger or turmeric, called dilaw in the Philippines.
Galapong – Dough made from rice soaked in water, ground and drained in muslin cloth; used for rice cakes.
Garbanzos – Chick-peas.
Gata – Coconut milk. Not the coconut water inside the coconut but the milk extracted when coconut meat is grated and then pressed between the palms to squeeze out milk. A blender will the job with less fuss.
Goto – Filipino term for trip.
Guinamis – a dessert made of pinipig (sticky rice pounded flat) and coconut.
Guinamos – Salty fish paste commonly used in the Visayan Islands.
Guinataan – Dishes cooked in coconut milk.
Guiniling – ground, as in guiniling na karne or ground beef.
Guisa – To sauté; guisado – sautéed dish; guinisa – sautéing mixture.
Guisantes – Peas.
Gulaman – Gelatin from seaweeds called agar-agar. Sold in 6”x1” dried strips or bars; keeps indefinitely. Unflavored. Some are colored red or green.
Gulay – Vegetables.
-=H=-
Halabos – To steam-fry in a small amount of salted water until almost dry; no fat or oils is used. Fresh shrimps are usually cooked this way.Haleya – Native dessert made of sweetened mashed purple yams or squash.
Halo-halo – A mixture of sweetened fruits, gelatin, and beans served with shaved ice and milk, and often topped with a scoop of ice cream.
Hamon – Ham.
Hibe – Dried shelled shrimps.
Hinalo – A black rice cake usually prepared during the Christmas season in Laguna. It is made with violet rice (pirurutung), which gives it its black color, glutinous rice flour, sugar and coconut milk. It is stirred for hours (thus called hinalo meaning to stir) over very low heat until think and chewy; takes almost a whole day to cook.
Hipon – Shrimps.
Hito – Cat fish or bull fish; black in color.
Hoisin – Thick, reddish brown, sweet and spicy Chinese sauce usually used in Peking duck and barbecue pork. It is made from soybeans, sugar, sesame, garlic, chili, and other spices.
Humba – pork pieces stewed in fermented black bean or tangy soy sauce.
-=I=-
Inabrao – a dish of broiled fish or pork boiled with vegetables and bagoong.Inantala – a salty snack made of glutinous rice, slat, and coconut milk, stirred over low heat; thus the name inantala which means delayed.
Inasal – Broiled.
Inihaw – Charcoal-broiled or roasted.
Isda – Fish.
Itlog – Eggs.
Itlog-alat – Salted eggs; usually duck’s eggs pickled in saline solutions and then hard cooked. The shell is usually colored in reddish maroon.
-=K=-
Kabute – Mushrooms.Kadios – Purple pigeon pea pods popular in the Visayas.
Kakanin – Native snacks.
Kalabasa – Squash.
Kalamansi – Very similar to lime in appearance but closer to lemon in taste.
Kalamay – Native sweets usually made of sugar, coconut milk and glutinous rice. Also spelled as Calamay.
Kalkag – Dried whole shrimps, very small, usually stir fried. Also called calcag.
Kamias – A small acidic fruit usually used in sinigang to give it a sour flavor.
Kamote – Sweet potato or sweet yam, a common root crop in the Philippines. The tender leaves also make an excellent vegetable or salad when steamed.
Kamoteng-kahoy – Cassava. A root crop or tuber used as a staple in some regions in the Philippines. Also used in desserts.
Kangkong – A water plant the tender stems and leaves of which are commonly used as a vegetable. Also known as swamp cabbage.
Kanduli – A variety of catfish, gray and white in color.
Kaong – Palm fruit usually cooked in syrup.
Kape – Coffee. Well known local carieties are grown in Batangas.
Kare-kare – A stew of oxtail or pork hocks and vegetables in peanut sauce; at times with tripe. traditionally eaten with sautéed bagoong.
Kasubha – Dried petals of safflower plant used as yellow food coloring.
Kasuy – Cashew. Pear-shaped, it is orange in-yellow when ripe with the seed from which cashew nuts are taken growing outside the fruit.
Keso de bola – Cheddar cheese shaped like a ball; queso de bola in Spanish.
Kesong Puti – soft, elastic white cheese (somewhat similar in taste to cottage cheese) made from carabao milk to which salt and vinegar are added to curdle it. Originally produced in Laguna and sold wrapped in banana leaves.
Kilawin – Uncooked pickled dishes, similar to kinilaw.
Kinchay – Cilantro or coriander, Chinese parsley.
Kinilaw – Fresh shelled shrimps or raw fish, sliced thin, marinated in lime juice or vinegar and hot peppers; sometime with coconut milk.
Kroketas – Croquettes.
Kulawo – A dish common in Pila, Laguna, especially after a typhoon when many banana plants are blown down by the wind. It is shredded fresh Butuan banana heart cooked in smoked coconut.
Kutsay – Chives.
Kutsinta – Steamed rice cake flavored with a very small amount of lye water.
-=L=-
Labong – Bamboo shoots.Labanos – Icicle of white radish.
Labuyo – tiny hot pepper. Also called siling labuyo.
Laing – Taro leaves cooked in coconut milk and seasoned with bagoong.
Lambanog – Distilled coconut or nipa palm wine.
Langka – Jackfruit, also called nangka. An aromatic fruit related to the bread fruit found in the tropics.
Lanzones – A tropical fruit that comes in grape-like bunches, has thin yellow skin when ripe and sweet white flesh in sections. Seasonal.
Latik – Brownish residue when coconut milk is cooked to the point where it turns to oil; used as a tasty topping for native rice cakes.
Leche – Spanish for milk.
Leche flan –0 Milk and egg custard baked or steamed in a caramel-lined pan.
Lechon – To roast; also a while pig roasted over live coals.
Lengua – Spanish for tongue; ox or calf tongue is commonly used.
Lihiya – Cooking lye water used to flavor rice cakes.
Linga – Sesame seeds.
Lomi – Hawaiian for to knead” as in Lomi Salmon Salad; in the Philippines, it is a type of flat and wide Chinese noodles usually used in soups.
Lomo – Tenderloin.
Longanisa – Native sausage.
Lugaw – Rice porridge; similar to the Chinese congee.
Lumpia – A dish similar to the Chinese spring roll or the Indonesian loempia but the dough wrapper used is paper thin and almost transparent. Rolls may contain vegetables, meat or seafood.
Luya – Ginger. May be kept frozen indefinitely.
-=M=-
Macapuno – A variety of coconut containing soft sticky meat instead of coconut water; a coconut sport, usually sweetened and used for dessert.Mais – Corn. Introduced to the Philippines by the Spaniards via Mexico.
Maja Blanca – native snack made of coconut milk thickened with rice flour or cornstarch and flavored with lime zest or aniseed or anise.
Malagkit – Glutinous, sticky, or sweet rice.
Mami – Chicken noodle soup, Chinese style.
Mangga – Mango, both unripe and ripe fruits are eaten.
Manok – Chicken.
Maruya – Sweet fritters usually of ripe cooking bananas or sweet potatoes.
Matamis na bao – Coconut jam made of coconut milk and panocha.
Mechado – Boneless roast with fat lardoons, braised and served with a spicy tomato sauce; garnished with fired potatoes or bananas.
Menudo – Dish of sauced diced pork and liver with chick peas.
Merienda – A snack or a light meal eaten between regular meal.
Merienda Cena – A late afternoon or early evening meal combining an afternoon snack and supper.
Miki – Broad wheat noodles made with egg.
Milagrosa – A variety of long grain rice with an aroma like jasmine rice.
Minukmok – A snack of mashed boiled unripe saba bananas, sugar, and young coconut; also called nilupak.
Miso – Think paste made from fermented soy beans and rice.
Misua – Very fine, white noodles.
Mochiko – A Japanese brand of sweet rice flour.
Morcon – Stuffed rolled beef.
Munggo or monggo – Mung beans. Tiny green beans sold dried by weight.
Mustasa – Mustard greens.
-=N=-
Nata de coco – Clear gelatin-like substance, but firmer, made from cultured coconut water; usually sold bottled as cubed preserves in syrup.Nata de piña – Gelatin like preserves from cultured pineapple skins and sugar.
Nilaga – Boiled; a simple boiled dish of mean or chicken with vegetables.
-=P=-
Paella – Rice dish with chicken and seafood; of Spanish origin.Paksiw – A pickled dish of fish , pork hocks or left-over lechon.
Palayok – Unglazed earthen cooking pot.
Palitaw – Sticky rice dumplings, coated with grated coconut and served with sugar and toasted sesame seeds.
Paminta – Black pepper.
Paminton – Paprika.
Panara – A meat turnover popular in Pampanga.
Pancit – A dish of noodles with meat and vegetables; may be dry or with broth.
Pandan leaf – Frond of and aromatic pandanus plant usually cooked with rice and native cakes to give them a unique fragrance, similar to vanilla, and a leafy green color.
Pan de sal – A Small, oval shaped, salty buns, usually eaten for breakfast. It is top brown and crusty outside but soft and fluffy inside.
Pan Americano – White load bread also called pan de unan (literally, bread shaped like a pillow).
Panocha – Unrefined brown sugar usually sold in solid round shapes.
Pastillas – Molded candies in the shape of little rolls or bars.
Pata – Pork of beef hocks.
Patis – Clear amber colored sauce, usually a concentrate, from fermented salted fish or shrimps; used as seasoning or as a dipping sauce.
Pato – Duck.
Patola – Gourd-like vegetable but with a thicker skin; about the size of a cucumber and tastes like zucchini.
Pechay – Vegetable with dark green leaves and think white stalks; usually has yellow flowers. Also called bok choy.
Pesa – A soup dish of fish or chicken with vegetables and ginger root.
Pili – Almond-like nuts but soft in texture, grown in the Bicol region.
Piña – Pineapple.
Pinakbet – A dish of boiled vegetables and pork seasoned with bagoong.
Pinaltok – Sticky rice balls cooked in syrup. Also called pinindot or palitaw.
Pinamarhan – Pickled fish cooked until almost dry.
Pinangat – A regional fish dish which is boiled in the Luzon area but steamed in the Bicol and Visayan regions.
Pinasugbu – Sun-dried banana chips glazed with caramel.
Pinipig – Roasted unripe glutinous rice pounded flat; also called green rice.
Pipino – Tagalog for Cucumber.
Pollo – Spanish for chicken.
Pochero – Beef or chicken or pork stewed with Spanish sausage, chick peas, potatoes and other vegetables; served with a tangy eggplant sauce.
Pusit – Squid.
Puto - Steamed muffins.
Puto bumbong – Purple rice cake cooked in bamboo tubes.
Puto maya – Sticky rice cakes topped with grated fresh coconut.
-=R=-
Rebosado – Breaded or dipped in batter and then fried.Relleno – Any stuffed fish of seafood.
-=S=-
Saba – Cooking bananas similar to plantain but smaller and sweeter.Saging – Bananas.
Sago – Tapioca.
Salabat – A native beverage made by boiling ginger root, water and panocha or brown sugar.
Salitre – Saltpeter used as a preservative for meats; now considered unhealthy.
Saluyot – A leafy green vegetable similar to spinach in appearance but turns slippery like okra when cooked.
Sampaloc – Tamarind.
Sangke or Sangque – Chinese star anise with a licorice taste.
Santol – Thin-skinned tropical fruit with large seeds and white, sweet-sour pulp, eaten fresh; the yellow skin is usually candied.
Sapin-sapin – Multi layered, multicolored sticky rice cake.
Sarsa – Gravy or sauce.
Sauté – Fresh for stir fry; the term is often used the Philippines for stir fry.
Sayote – Chayote.
Sibuyas – Onion.
Sibuyas Tagalog – Shallots. Small reddish onion with a sweet-pungent flavor.
Sibuyas Mura – Green onions.
Sigarilyas – Winged beans. Also spelled as sigarillas or sigadillas.
Sili – Pepper.
Siling Labuyo – Small hot chili pepper.
Sinangag – Fried in a small amount of fat or oil; usually referring to fried rice.
Sinanglay – A dish of broiled fish cooked with coconut milk, pechay and chilies.
Sinapaw – Tender leafy greens placed on top of cooking rice to steam them.
Sinigang – A sour soup of meats or seafood and vegetables.
Sinugba – Visayan for broiled.
Sinukmani – Sticky rice slowly cooked in coconut milk and brown sugar, stirred continuously until dark brown and chewy.
Siopao – Steamed buns with meat filling; of Chinese origin.
Sitao – Thin yard long beans usually green or purple; also called snake beans.
Sitsaron – Crisp pork rind or pork cracklings usually made from pork belly or skin; called sitsarong bulaklak when made from fried intestines.
Sofrito – A sautéed mixture of garlic, onions and tomatoes, similar to guinisa.
Sotanghon – Noodles made from ground mung-beans; transparent and slippery when cooked. Also called cellophane noodles of bean thread.
Suman – Sticky rice and coconut milk steamed in banana or palm leaves.
Suka – Vinegar; has many varieties made from rice, coconut water, coconut sap, sugar cane, or other palm spas.
-=T=-
Taba ng talangka – Reddish yellow fat from a variety of small crabs.Tahure or tahuri – Fermented soy beans paste.
Taingang Daga – Cloud’s ears or black wood ears. A cultivated fungus sold dried by weight. When soaked, it doubles in size and turns velvety brown; gives a crisp texture to dishes.
Tahong – Mussels.
Talbos – Young, tender leaves of vegetables, usually the tops.
Talong – Eggplant.
Tamales – A dish of heavily spiced rice paste with pork, chicken and hard cooked eggs usually steamed in banana leaves or corn husk.
Tanglad – Lemon grass.
Tapa – Dried cured meat, usually fried in a small amount of fat.
Tausi – Strongly flavored and salted fermented black beans.
Tempura – Japanese style fritters of seafood or vegetables in very light batter.
Tilapia – Tropical fresh water fish, mainly cultivated in ponds.
Tinapa – Smoked fish.
Togue – Mung bean sprouts.
Tokwa – Firm soy bean curd sold in square caked; also called tofu.
Torta- Omelet; tortilla – small omelet.
Tosino – Philippine bacon.
Totong – Guinataan snacks of sticky rice and toasted mung beans.
Toyo – Soy sauce. Salty, almost black liquid made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast and salt. Philippine cooking uses Chinese, Japanese or Philippine soy sauces which are naturally aged and have a special flavor not found in chemically made soy sauce.
Tsaa – Tea.
Tsokolate – Chocolate.
Tuba – A mildly alcoholic drink from coconut sap; also called coconut toddy.
Turrones – Rolls of honey and net paste which are wrapped in paper-thin egg white wafers; of Spanish origin.
Tuyo – Small fish, dried and salted whole, often fried in a small amount of oil; traditionally considered a poo man’s meat. Kanin at tuyo (rice and tuyo_ being the proverbial peasant’s daily meal.
-=U=-
Ube – A variety of sweet yam that is purple in color.Ubod – Heart of pith of a palm tree or coconut tree used as a vegetable.
Ukoy – Vegetable and shrimp fritters.
Ulam – Food usually eaten with plain boiled rice – can be meat, fish, vegetable, fruit or even salt; commonly referred to in the Philippines as viand.
Untosinsal – Leaf lard or cold fat.
Upo –Bottle-shaped gourd, similar to chayote or sayote in taste.
Utap – A type of crisp biscuits popular in the Visayas.
