Philippine Delicacies that you should try

Philippine cuisine (Filipino: Lutuing Pilipino or Pagkaing Pilipino) consists of the food, preparation methods, and eating customs found in the Philippines. The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from their Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine of Malay, Indian, Spanish, Chinese, and American, as well as other Asian Indian cuisine adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.

Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to the elaborate paellas and cocidos created for fiestas of Spanish origin. Popular dishes include: lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (chicken and/or pork braised in garlic, vinegar, oil and soy sauce, or cooked until dry), kaldereta (meat in tomato sauce stew), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), puchero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken and/or pork simmered in a tomato sauce with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans, okra, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste), crispy pata (deep-fried pig's leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls).

Kaldereta

Kaldereta, also referred to as caldereta, is a popular dish in the Philippines, especially on Luzon Island. The common ingredients are goat shoulders with tomato paste and liver spread. 

Kaldereta is originally a goat stew made with tomatoes, potatoes, spices, liver, olives, bell peppers and hot peppers. Originally adapted from the Spanish during their 300-year occupation of the Philippines. 

Kaldereta is a favorite Filipino meal served during parties, festivities and other special occasions in the Philippines. It is a Spanish-influenced dish (the Spanish word "caldera" means cauldron) that became to be Filipinos' favorite and made their own versions. Originally, the main ingredients of this dish includes goat meat, tomato sauce, liver, pepper and cheese. 

Variations of this dish is with beef, chicken and or pork. Beef kaldereta is a common dish in the Philippines made with stewing cuts of beef simmered until tender. Another is with chicken or pork because of the price and availability.

Sisig

Sisig is a Kapampangan term which means "to snack on something sour". It usually refers to fruits, often unripe or half-ripe, sometimes dipped in salt and vinegar. It also refers to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork, which is marinated in a sour liquid such as lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices. Sisig also refers to Sizzling sisig, a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers.

Morcon or Meat Roll

Traditionally a holiday dish, morcon is a meat roll stuffed with egg, chorizo, pickles, cheese and other ingredients.

Crispy Pata

Crispy pata is a Filipino dish consisting of deep fried pig trotters or knuckles served with a soy-vinegar dip. It can be served as party fare or an everyday dish. Many restaurants serve boneless pata as a specialty.

Lumpia

Lumpia is a spring roll of Chinese origin commonly found in Indonesia and the Philippines. It is a savoury snack made of thin crepe pastry skin called "lumpia wrapper" enveloping a mixture of savoury fillings, consists of chopped vegetables (carrots, cabbages, green beans, bamboo shoots and leeks) or sometimes also minced meat (chicken, shrimp, pork or beef). It is often served as an appetizer or snack, and might be served deep fried or fresh (unfried). Lumpia is quite similar to fresh popiah or fried spring rolls popular in Southeast Asia. 

In Indonesia lumpia has become a favourite snack, and is known as a street hawker food in the country.  In the Philippines lumpia is one of the most common dishes found in any kind of gathering and celebration. 

In the Netherlands, Belgium and France, it is spelled loempia which is the old Indonesian spelling for lumpia and has also become the generic name for "spring roll" in Dutch and French. A variant is the Vietnamese lumpia, wrapped in a thinner piece of pastry, in a size close to a spring roll though, the wrapping closes the ends off completely, which is typical for lumpia. In Venezuela, it is spelled "lumpia" and was introduced by the Chinese who migrated to South America.

Sinigang

Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savoury taste most often associated with tamarind (Filipino: sampalok). It is one of the more popular viands in Philippine cuisine, and is related to the Malaysian dish singgang. While present nationwide, sinigang is seen to be culturally Tagalog in origin, thus the versions found in the Visayas and Mindanao may differ in taste (mainly ginger is an additional ingredient). Fish sauce is a common condiment for the stew.

Pancit Palabok

Pancit Palabok is a noodle dish with shrimp sauce and topped with several ingredients such as cooked shrimp, boiled pork, crushed chicharon, tinapa flakes, fried tofu, scallions, and fried garlic. A very tasty treat that is sure to relieve your hunger.

Kare-kare

Kare-kare is a Philippine stew complimented with a thick savory peanut sauce. It is made from a base of stewed oxtail (sometimes this is the only meat used), pork hocks, calves feet, pig feet, beef stew meat, and occasionally offal or tripe. Kare Kare can also be made with seafood (prawns, squid, and mussels) or all vegetables. Vegetables, which include (but are not limited to) eggplant, Chinese cabbage, or other greens, daikon, green beans, and asparagus beans are added — usually equaling or exceeding the amount of meats. The stew is flavored with ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, onions, and garlic. It is colored with annatto (extracted from annatto seeds in oil or water) and can be thickened with toasted or plain ground rice. Other flavorings may be added, but the dish is usually quite plain, compared to other Filipino dishes. Other seasonings are added at the table. Variants may include goat meat or (rarely) chicken. It is often eaten with bagoong (shrimp paste), sometimes spiced with chili, bagoong guisado (spiced and sautéed shrimp paste), and sprinkled with calamansi juice. Traditionally, any Filipino fiesta (particularly in Pampanga region) is not complete without kare-kare. In some Filipino-American versions of the dish, oxtail is exclusively used as the meat.

Lechon

Lechón is a pork dish in several regions of the world, most specifically Spain and its former colonial possessions throughout the world. The word lechón originated from the Spanish term lechón, referring to a suckling pig that is roasted. Lechón is a popular food in the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, other Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America, and Spain. The dish features a whole roasted pig cooked over charcoal. Additionally, it is a national dish of the Philippines with Cebu being acknowledged by American chef Anthony Bourdain as having the best pig, and also being the national dish of Puerto Rico. Nowadays in most of Latin America, the original use of a suckling pig has given way to a medium-sized adult pig. 

In most regions, lechón is prepared throughout the year for any special occasion, during festivals, and the holidays. After seasoning, the pig is cooked by skewering the entire animal, entrails removed, on a large stick and cooking it in a pit filled with charcoal. The pig is placed over the charcoal, and the stick or rod it is attached to is turned in a rotisserie action. The pig is roasted on all sides for several hours until done. The process of cooking and basting usually results in making the pork skin crisp and is a distinctive feature of the dish.

Adobo

Philippine Adobo (from Spanish adobar: "marinade," "sauce" or "seasoning") is a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat, seafood, or vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic, which is browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade. It has sometimes been considered as the unofficial national dish in the Philippines.

References

• Wikipedia
• Food Pinoy Asia
• Adobo Flavour Shop
• Ang Sarap Net
• Kerikite
• Olqw Org
• Ednasichiban
• Pinoy Chow
• Drift Stories
• Dude4Food
• Because I Am Perfectly and Wonderfully Made
• Panlasang Pinoy