Top 8 Most Loved Filipino Food 2018

We start off our list with a beloved dessert and two pork dishes.

Halo-halo, which is a popular sweet iced dessert, is believed to have originated from the Japanese dessert kakigori. The introduction of ice by the Americans in the mid-1800s made this cold treat readily available, and the rest is history. Nowadays, you can even get halo-halo with a twist!

No fiesta or special occasion wouldn’t be complete without lechon (roasted suckling pig). To make lechon, the pig is cleaned, washed, seasoned with herbs and spices, then roasted on a rod over a pit of hot charcoal.

Another pork dish in this poll is menudo (pork stew). It is made with slices of pork and pork liver, and mixed with potatoes, chickpeas, carrots, and bell peppers.

Sisig is a Kapampangan dish is made up of chopped pig jowls and ears. It is then seasoned with calamansi (calamondin) and then served with chopped onions and a whole egg.

For a less sinful dish, there’s tinapa (smoked fish). Tinapa is made from galunggong (blackfin scad) or bangus (milkfish) which is soaked in brine, air-dried, then roasted with wood chips.

Another sweet snack that made it to our list is turon. This delectable treat is made of sliced plantain bananas and jackfruit slices that are dipped in brown sugar then rolled in spring roll wrappers. These are then fried, which turns them into crispy rolls with a coating of caramelized sugar.

SG readers can’t seem to get enough of pork dishes, as they voted crispy pata (pig thigh) at the sixth spot. Rod Ongpauco, whose family owns the Barrio Fiesta chain of restaurants, is credited with having invented this dish way back in the ‘60s. Customers kept coming back just for their crispy pata, resulting in the dish that Filipinos know and love today.

If you’re craving for something that will warm you up on cold days, then the perfect dish to eat is lugaw (congee) or goto (congee with beef tripe). Lugaw is usually eaten when one gets sick. However, with innovative lugaw stands which offer their unique spin on this dish, one can enjoy this comforting dish any time they want.

Salted egg is made by either curing boiled eggs in a brine solution, or by dipping them in a mixture of clay, water, and salt. The latter is known as the Pateros style of making salted eggs. With its availability in supermarkets and sari-sari stores (sundry neighborhood stores), no wonder it’s a staple food item in every Filipino pantry.

The fourth spot is a tie between two meaty dishes.

Nothing has captured the national consciousness quite like adobo. This tangy dish is made by simmering meat in a marinade of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black peppercorns. Most restaurants have their version of adobo, but still nothing beats homecooked adobo made by moms.

Another rainy-day comfort food is bulalo or beef shanks and marrow in broth. As the soup boils, all the fat from the beef shank and the marrow from the bone melts into the broth to produce a robustly flavored dish.

Coming in at number three is tuyo or salted dried fish is a popular food for breakfast. While many types of fish can be salted and dried, tuyo specifically refers to sardines prepared this way. Nowadays, tuyo now also comes in bottles aside from vacuum-sealed packets. And since it can be easily found in public markets or local grocery stores, you can fix your craving for something salty and savory any time of the day.

Just below the top spot is kare-kare, or stewed meat in peanut sauce. It is made by boiling the meat—usually oxtail, pork leg, and tripe—in water along with vegetables. It is then thickened with peanut sauce and served with shrimp paste. The rich, savory taste of this dish is the reason why it’s well loved by Filipinos.

Landing at the top spot in our poll is sinigang. This soup traditionally uses tamarind as a souring agent, but other ingredients like guava and mangoes can be used as well. To make this dish, meat or fish is simmered with vegetables like kangkong (water spinach) and talong (eggplant) until it becomes tender. With its signature sour kick, Filipinos can’t seem to get enough of this local comfort food.