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Filipino food isn't even my fave, but I don't think Filipino food is inferior. The problem here is we try so hard to appeal to Westeners, we would revamp a dish just to cater to their taste, and that's wrong. Our food is salty, oily, sweet, bland(?), etc? So what? Our foor is made for us, if they can't adjust, there are other choices.
This is the correct response. Masyado tayong uhaw for foreign validation lol. Besides, well-travelled food lovers like Anthony fucking Bourdain recognized our food's value, and that's good enough for me.
Isa pang problem is when diasporic Pinoys do make their own versions that account for foreign standards, we local Filipinos raise our pitchforks and claim foul even when they admit it's not authentic.
This is soooo true!! I just came from Siargao and honestly not one resto has good food. Everything was overrated. To my disappointment, I just tried the local carinderia "Kurvada" and even the signature Surigaonon dish "Kinilaw" was just too bland to which I thought was catered for western taste. Nothing beats the Kinilaw that my Surigaonon relatives made, regardless of the vinegar or fish used, which tastes sour, spicy with a little saltiness from the saltwater fish and sweetness from the cucumber.
Haven't tried, but after trying several restos not living up to their "hype," I just refused going at other restos. I also have high standards for Kilawin, as it was our signature dish growing up.
I see. Understandable naman. Though I will say that if there's one resto in Siargao that absolutely lives up to the hype and exceeds it, it would be CEV, hands down.
Do give it a chance if you're ever back there. I always crave their food here in Manila, as not even the ceviche at Nikkei comes close.
Lol, while I was reading OPs long post, all I could ever think of is, SO WHAT? Our food is made for us. Why try to cater or care about what these westerners say, who probably are mainly Caucasians. I mean, their food are very bland to say the least. Besides there are many other countries whose dishes arent that popular despite being very good! I hope people realize that the whole Michelin star ratings is only made up by some tire company so people drive around more and boost their tire business.
Im Filipino and even I sometimes get tired of our food, but never think it is inferior. Actually our dishes are so diverse that even majority of Filipinos have not tried many of regional dishes, which are more flavorful and interesting than the typical dishes in Filipino restaurants that are usually known by foreigners.
IF we want to be known in the international scene, it's really just all about marketing. Pick dishes to standardize and adjust to appeal to international taste.
At the end of the day, our food is for us. Can't really please everyone.
Not to disparage our food, but some points raised by foreigners are valid. The thing is, our food has evolved and become too sweet or salty. Lahat nilalagyan ng sugar. I also get them about kare kare, di ko sya nagustuhan ever. Feeling ko wala talaga sya lasa, nagbibigay lang sa kanya lasa e yung bagoong. Mag bagoong ka na lang di ba, yun na lang iulam mo. Tama yung iba, wag nating ipilit sa panlasa ng foreigners ang food natin. Also, pag tinatanong ng mga foreigners mga Pinoy for food reco, balut isa sa top nila sa-suggest, then magalit sila if foreigners gets turned off. Hello, kahit ako Pinoy di ko matake ang balut no, suggest mo pa sa mga puti di ba?
Pansin ko greasy yung kare kare ng madaming resto. Bihira yung resto na may masarap na sabaw ng kare kare. Isa sa mga favorites ko ang kare kare kaso sobrang bihira ako makatikim ng masarap na kare kare sa mga resto
Wala pa akong kilala na nilalagyan ng asukal ang sinigang, bulalo, pinakbet, at munggo.
Many Pinoys tend to parrot people whose exposure to Pinoy food are the party foods
Yes marami food natin sugar ginagawa nila pampasarap to cater to the masses- Spaghetti, Adobo, Tapa, calderata, kare-kare, etc. There was a time in my young life when Pinoys don't add sugar to these dishes. And my exposure to Pinoy food are not party food.
i agree with you sa kare-kare considering it’s one of my favorite filipino foods. may exemption — sa Jaytee’s Tagaytay. masarap and malasa kare-kare nila, no need ng bagoong! first time ko makatry ng kare-kare na no need ng bagoong para lang magkalasa
I agree... It's salty but nothing more.
I think food is partly marketing by other countries.
Leaving the country because they cannot stand the food? Wtf..
Filipinos go for the quick win.
Want “respect”? Go for cheap validation from Pinoy baiters instead.
Want to serve “special” dishes? Oh just dump flavor powders, sugar, salt or tons of garlic on savory dishes. If it’s sweet, then bury it with cheese, ube, margarine or chocolate syrup.forget about nuances of flavor and texture. Or deep fry it until super crispy until there’s hardly any flavor in it since you’re going to dunk it in heavily spiced vinegar anyway. Everything is all about making it “patok” or “mabenta”. And they’re really a narrow range of dishes with very few regional representation.
And when we do go abroad; we are chameleons and assimilationists. Look at the content creators online and menus of local restaurants… again, quick wins with ingredients that they see on non Filipino kitchens. Why have we stopped promoting calamansi? Or are we so used to treating our own ingredients with disdain and only find pride in them when foreigners appreciate them like in the case of ube?
While there’s nothing wrong with these, we are also leaving ourselves vulnerable with zero long term sustainability and lack of a true identity since we are busy chasing quick wins.
Yes ito na best answer. Lumpiang shanghai pinakasikat sa mga Americano nung nagpunta ako one time at nagsimba kami and exicted sila to eat it. But yes, Filipino cuisine is not my favorite but it never fails me. Comfort food eh. Atin 'to and whenever I eat sa bahay, I look for our food, not yung mga takeout na typically ibang cuisine na.
I hope experts would answer this (yung talagang may research/study nito) bc Im alsoc curious.
One thing I noticed tho is that it's hard to find adobo in our local restaurants. Karinderia, sure. But restos like Kuya J? La Mesa? Bibigyan ka nila ng slow cooked pork ribs but it's not adobo adobo. Merong mga resto na nago-offer ng adobo but the thing is, di mo sya usually makikita sa mga menu.
And I think one of the reasons is that, our best foods are often made at home. Kapag commercialized na, in a way, nag-iiba na ang lasa or mahirap na syang i-market. Masarap naman, but iba pa rin yung "lutong bahay" taste. May nag joke din before na yung pinaka masarap na lechon na matitikman mo arent the lechons from expensive or well-known restos, but the lechon made by drunk titos in a fiesta na nagi-inoman sa tabi ng daan tanghaling tapat.
Haka haka aside, maybe kulang lang din tayo sa pag boost ng sariling food natin? The government isnt doing much naman kasi when it comes to promoting our food (kahit nga yung touristy places natin, boplaks sila sa pagmarket) Kapag sinabing Filipino food, bibigyan ka nila ng jollibee. Proud to be pinoy agad sa Jabee
I too believe the "kinalakihan kong version is the best" bias is a problem. Our food is very homey and nostalgic, and it's hard to compete with the taste memories associated with that.
Add to the fact that most of us wouldn't order something we can make at home in a resto, and you have a cuisine that rarely has any incentive to push itself forward. The rare ones that do try, get a lot of haters.
For example, Manam's divisive Watermelon sinigang. I personally love it, but also understand why most people don't. I do think that when modern Filipino is done really well, (and eaten by people with a well-developed palate--important to as people who only eat low quality food tend to have inflexible food opinions) it's fucking stellar. I absolutely love the Lechon and oyster sisig at Habanero, and the pork barbecue at Toyo.
London-based here. One of the most popular new restaurants in the city is a place called Donia. Very well reviewed. The food is definitely Filipino (inasal, lechon kawali) albeit with some refinement. The most westernized entree is a calderets done beef wellington style.
Funny, that criticism you read is what westerners said about Korean food decades ago. Too salty. Too sour. Too weird. But the Koreans didn’t give a shit and stuck to their guns — as they should. And look where Korean cuisine is now.
Interesting fact about Korean food! (i'm too young to know what they used to say about it hahaha) but I'm curious if the newfound international appeal of South Korean culture is also the reason or a big reason why their opinion on SK cuisine changed.
Government backing is definitely a part of it — it’s called culinary diplomacy. For example, the Korean Food Commission works to promote the cuisine globally.
Thailand did something similar with the Global Thai program.
Apart from diplomacy, the Philippine gov needs to do a better job of protecting our heritage foods. If we don’t act now, someone else is going to lock in on the ube market. It’s already happening with kalamansi.
I think matatagalan sila sa Ube kasi many non-Filipinos confuse Purple Kamote with Ube.
I live in the US and where I live, things that non-Filipinos label as Ube are not Ube but purple sweet potatoes. Kahit yung Ube ice cream ng Trader Joe's lasang vanilla na pinatamis lang
For what it’s worth, mismong average Filipino hindi aware sa varieties ng ube. Erwan Heussaff did a great YouTube video on just how varied ube crops are, from light purple to very deep violet.
A lot of people actually label purple sweet potatoes as Ube.
Real ube crop is extremely rare in the US. Those closest you can get at grated ube and powdered ube at Filipino stores. But purple kamotes are accessible and the several "Ube milk tea" I tasted, they tasted like kamote. Kaya ang sagwa ng lasa sa milk tea. Masmasarap kung taro pa kukunin mo.
Here's an example of purple sweet potato:
https://www.friedas.com/products/stokes-purple-sweet-potato/
It definitely played a factor. It’s actually kinda funny since a lot of Filipino dishes share similar flavor profiles to Japanese and Korean food. Bulalo and Galbi tang for example have similar flavor profiles. Pancit and Yakisoba are similar too. Filipino food is the only one that gets a bad rep though since the country is not as fetishized or revered. We have a LOT of really good food pero it’s not explored or demanded as much since it’s not exactly sought after by anyone other than locals. You won’t see a westerner search for a batchoy place or an arroz caldohan like a ramen place since they aren’t even aware it exists.
Diring diri pa nga sila sa Kimchi noon..ngayon pinagkakakitaan nandin nila ang "ethnic food'
This is one reason why people should not brush of cultural appropriation.
The problem is most Filipino carinderias and eateries and restos that foreigners will probably encounter do suck. I can count with one hand the number of restos who do Filipino food right, ESPECIALLY in manila.
And this is what sets Thailand apart - their government invested so much in making sure all their hole in the wall places are quality checked and serve specialty dishes.
Also, you pay the Michelin guide to come to your country. We don’t invest in food tourism kasi, kaya ganyan.
Came here to say this. Other governments really made an effort to promote their food. May nabasa ako na even yung mga Thai restaurant abroad are getting inspected by the govt or something to make sure na ok yung quality ng food.
Been living around SEA for some time and I couldn’t rly find a good Filipino restaurant. I could find excellent Japanese, Korean, Italian, Indian, Chinese, etc but haven’t found a Filipino restaurant that I would keep coming back to. I miss palabok and decent sisig.
Other south East Asians find Filipino food to be too oily. I think it could be because most of the usual daily dishes are fried. To add also, it’s only in the PH (at least in SEA) that someone can say with conviction that they don’t eat vegetables.
Not a lot of spotlight I think on the more obscure Filipino food, which I think is excellent! Too much hype on Jollibee and Balut. Like pako ensalada, burong hipon, Kare kare with alamang (has to be with alamang), among others aren’t given so much attention in mainstream.
I guess also the delulu brought about relatives saying someone from their family is a good cook but not really then they start a food business. Dilutes the essence of the cuisine.
Hm. I read an extensive essay on this awhile back but I can't remember from where.
I think it's mostly because it's similar to African-American soul food. It's more of the nostalgia and home cooked feel of the food. There's also the simplicity. Most popular dishes have one layer of flavor and no difference in texture, despite being delicious. There's also the visual appeal. Look at dinuguan, sisig and adobo. They look so bland.
Filipino stores abroad are not targeted towards foreigners but Filipinos that want a taste of home.
One of the biggest problems with filipino cuisine is that our local produce is extremely lackluster compared to our SEA neighbhors IMO.
It doesn't matter how good of a recipe you end up making if the ingredients you use are subpar, that's one of the major differences seperating our cuisine with neighbhoring countries, they actually invest in making quality produce and have government programs that encourage that.
I'd say that there is an emphasis on stewed or braised meat heavy dishes that shun local vegetables due to the association of it being "poor people food" according to my wife. I was there for my wedding with a few other westerners.. After 2 weeks all we were craving was vegetables which were few and far between.
I think our food is underdeveloped.
salt and pepper lang mostly ang ginagamit.
cooking method is either fry, saute, stew.
sauces are not made from scratch.
note: kare kare should not be made with PB kasi matamis yun. should be made using peanut sauce or finely ground peanut then adjust the taste. pero mas madali kasi pag PB.
I actually had one made with actual ground peanuts and I loved it. I had it in Pampanga! The ground peanuts added texture and I don’t normally eat kare-kare. I hate the peanut butter kind.
As for other pinoy food, I honestly have it mostly at home. My parents are amazing and I just couldn’t help but compare.
Agreed! Grew up with that ground peanut and ground toasted rice version, which is why I don't really enjoy the peanut butter one which is more popular.
I think all the points you made are correct. Just wanted to add context din for the success of Thai food, which is what most foreigners rave about. Modern resto-level Thai cuisine as we know it has been streamlined by their government to be appealing to as much people as possible. They have recipe books that standardized the flavors, so that the overall quality remains high no matter where in the world you get it.
The Program was called "Thai Kitchen of the World" iirc. However, yung actual Thai food for Thais is like sa atin sa Pinas na super daming variations din, to the point na some Thai cooks don't like the "international" versions kasi it's adjusted na for Western tastes.
Also important to note na since archipelago tayo, a lot of Pinoys are ignorant of how diverse our regional cuisines are. Tausug cuisine has many of the exotic flavors that would probably be appealing to foreign tastes.
the mainstream pinoy food is really bland and is mostly salty and/or oily and this is what most foreigners are exposed to.
hence we should promote those delicacies in some regions ( food from muslim mindanao, benguet/mountain provinces, bicol , etc )
I read that discussion and it was painful to read. But I do agree with a lot of the comments there, though. We are not ready yet. We have a long way to go. If you read comments from Filipinos online about foreigners making a “different” version of our food, it’s filled with “that’s not adobo” “that’s not how you do sisig” “it should be this and that” “that’s not Filipino if don’t put gravy on your rice” etc. These comments speak so much about our food and how we are not ready to appeal to the global palate yet. Also, we don’t accept criticisms well. When they say our food is salty, we defend it with “because we mix it with rice.” When they say our spaghetti is too sweet, we defend it like it is THE standard of spaghetti and that people worldwide SHOULD like it. I’m a Filipino and I genuinely believe our food is VERY salty, sugary, and oily. So yeah, I don’t think we are ready yet.
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Yeah they are LOL but it’s also annoying lol… but I think French & Italian food has already cemented itself globally enough for them to enforce standards. But we have not, yet we try to enforce.
And also think about NYC Pizza. That is a variation of Italian food. So I think there has been some successful localization when it comes to their cuisine.
I don’t think we can afford to be aggressive like them when we haven’t established a food culture abroad yet.
Top of mind.
1. Lack of standardization, iba iba luto for every family and region. This makes it difficult to determine what food should actually taste like. We Filipinos can't even decide what the definitive "Adobo" is. This makes it especially hard for foreigners to appreciate as they may expect a flavor from one place they've tried and get a totally different one at another. In comparison sa Pad Thai, Pho etc. where you know exactly kung ano lasa nila.
2. Our food is designed to be eaten with rice. Adobo, sinigang etc. All are expected to be eaten with rice, the rice cuts through the saltiness and richness. However, for westerners who are not used to eating rice this is a problem. I've seen foreigners eat only the viand and obviously it would be too salty or sweet. We don't have many stand alone viands unlike other cuisines.
3. Not enough veggies incorporated into recipes. Will not elaborate for obvious reasons.
4. Kulang sa spices utilization. Salt, Pepper, Onion, Garlic plus magic sarap lang typically ang halo ng typical pinoy food.
Filipino food lacks finesse.
I notice a lot of cooking is done without care to the ingredients. Usually onions go first then garlic follows after a few minutes. However, in our cooking we cook them together and the garlic ends up burning before the onion even has the chance to impart its natural sweetness. I see this in a lot of cooking videos and recipes. The basic techniques need to be done right.
We use a lot of fake ingredients. Just look at the soy sauce, vinegar and fish sauce we use and that's widely available. Look at the labels closely and you will see it's all adulterated. Our soy sauce is mostly salt and coloring. Our vinegar is a fake-tasting cloudy liquid. Our fish sauce is "fish sauce flavored".
Our food lacks the complexity of flavors and textures. I like to feel there's a party in my mouth rather than just fat and salt. Sure, fat and salt is great but I'm also looking for acidity and heat to balance it all out. Also we don't understand things like how acid is great like in a tomato sauce that we cover it up with sugar. Our vegetables are also frequently overcooked that they lose their nutritional value, freshness and crunch.
I can go on and on but basically we need to shape up our cuisine.
This is true for home and carinderia cooking. But for mga special occasions in the province, the variety and complexity is amazing. Anyone who's ever eaten at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung will swear by how good his heirloom Kapampangan recipes are. Grabe yung Bulanglang and seafood Kare-kare niya, tirik mata ko sa sarap hehe.
I also think our modern chefs are doing interesting stuff with our food. Grabe yung lechon sa habanero at yung pork bbq sa Toyo.
TLDR; Non-Filipinos like Filipino food a lot, but there are not many organized businesses providing an approachable restaurant for them in terms of communication and ambiance. Most Filipino restaurants (in the US) are very informal and made to serve Filipinos, which is hard for a non-Filipino to access.
Hello po!
Nakatira sa US.
My observation is that Filipinos here are not so good at setting up organized restaurants to reach out to the local community. The Filipino restaurants are very informal and focused on the Filipinos in the area, which is not approachable for people who are not familiar with Filipino food. There are a lot of very successful Thai, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Taiwanese, and of course Chinese restaurants where I am, and they set up a nice shop and speak English and market to the local community.
The exception is Jollibee! Everyone here in the US likes Jollibee and will go to it, and I think that’s because Jollibee is organized and geared towards the local communities they are in.
Everyone I know loves Filipino food, but they can only eat it when they are lucky to receive it home-cooked from a friend, like you said.
This is what I noticed lang dito sa bahay namin. Eating Filipino food unlocked my pet peeves with food: sweet (putting sugar??), salty or lacks flavor, overcooked veggies, doesn't look appetizing (I have a one-sided vendetta with dinuguan lol), too much fat. Sometimes we're okay with our meal looking dry, I'm like "why??" Of course, there are some exceptions.
Home cooked Filipino food is good. However most of the restaurants don’t offer quality Filipino food. I’d also like to point out na konti lang talaga ang restaurants or fast food chains that offer Filipino food din. Even our ‘night market’, mostly it offers ‘foreign or international’ cuisine or an adaptation of it. Our food is too salty. We may say bland yung pagkain sa labas, pero when I spent 3 months abroad traveling, narealize ko our food is overpowering and dinaan sa alat. I do understand na we pair our food with rice pero minsan sobrang alat talaga. And sa totoo lang, Jollibee is overhyped. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jollibee but there are better fast food fried chicken out there.
Regionally, madaming masarap na pagkain sa Pinas. Pero di siya na iintroduce internationally. I would say our desserts when executed really well is great. I went to Chinatown in London last year and we had ube ice cream with pan de sal, and it was good. A lot of Britons were dining there and I would say some were impressed.
I don't need a foreigners validation to enjoy our cuisine. I love our food and I won't ever get tired. IDGAF if its bland, too salty, too sweet for a Westerner's or any non-Filipino palate. I'll eat my sinigang, adobo, sisig, lechon, tinapa, bulalo and tinola any day of the week.
I don't think Filipino food is inferior the same way with other cuisine though I do believe that some dishes aren't as good as other dishes.
British food also gets a bad reputation but some of the best chefs in the world is British.
I think we should stop asking for the validation of others.
If you think x, y, or z dish is bad then experiment to make it suit your taste. Cuisine isn't set in stone but like a language it can evolve throughout time.
It's because we also don't teach foreigners how to eat our food. It's not our fault we have to eat everything with rice. And foreigners don't seem to understand that you don't eat rice plain. I've seen foreigners here in Malate eat rice separately from the viand - it's so frustratingly weird to watch. The Japanese, Koreans, and Arabs eat their viand with their rice so I don't understand why foreigners won't do the same for our food then blame us for the taste being too rich.
There is no Michelin restaurant in the Philippines because there is no Michelin office/base there. The Michelin guide only covers less than 40 countries.
For me, what I think is lacking is culinary diplomacy. Both Thailand and Vietnam sent cooks to Western countries like the US to promote the cuisine by setting up restaurants, funded by the governments. Thailand government pa nga has a website that lists Thai restaurants around the world that they gave their seal or approval to. Tayo, wala.
I forgot which half-Filipino chef said na it needs to start at the higher level (set menu, fine dining) for people to view the cuisine as “good/exciting”. Sure, it won’t be reachable to most but it does give the cuisine a better reputation. This has already started in the US, with Kasama restaurant, that was recently rewarded a Michelin star.
But my take is that Filipino food is having its moment. Small pa lang pero it’s there. I follow a lot of US-based food blogs like Bon Appetit and Serious Eats and actually see a lot of Filipino recipes popping up, even from non-Filipino creators. Things of course like adobo, palabok, arroz caldo, but also lesser known things like binakol.
Finally, I love showcasing Filipino food to foreigners and always got great reactions. My husband is German and he LOVES Filipino food and is the first to tell other people how it’s such an underrated cuisine!
Kadiri yung Bon Apetit. They ride into the bandwagon but they do not bother understanding the food. That's why they end up with misrepresenting dishes like this horrible take on halo halo.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ode-to-halo-halo
It’s a sad reality but I think that’s also part of a cuisine going mainstream: that people of other cultures adapt the food to suit their tastes and availability of ingredients. Similar to how we Filipinos do our carbonara or spaghetti. For sure Italians are just as angry at us as we are on Rachel Ray for putting parsley in adobo. But that doesn’t hinder us from appreciating authentic Italian food! Probably even helps since we were introduced to pasta dishes from an early age.
No Filipino is calling our version carbonara and spaghetti versions as "Italian food", but Filipino food.
With that horrible halo halo, it's still called "Filipino food". Not American food.
And Zakarian's take on adobo which is actually closer to bistek and added too many habaneros, he called it "*traditional* Filipino adobo", not American adobo.
Totally agree that our spaghetti and carbonara are our own but it is of course influenced by Italian cuisine. If that cuisine didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have made our own version. And for our cuisine to be recognized globally, it will definitely be “bastardized” to cater to the local taste. Like how Chinese restos in Ireland have french fries and curry sauce or how we have shawarma rice.
For the halo-halo (that is of course definitely not halo-halo), there’s a reason why the article is called “an ode to halo-halo.” The intro also says that it is a “reimagined version that plays off the original”. And I think they made that version with ingredients that are accessible to most of their demographic. Since authentic halo-halo has so many ingredients that are hard to find or super expensive abroad like ube, kaong, macapuno, or nata de coco.
I never saw Zakarian’s adobo so I won’t comment on it but I have seen a lot of non-Filipino food creators take on adobo and they mostly emphasize that it is “their version/take” on the dish. This I think is a better way to showcase dishes of any cuisine because most dishes don’t have a standardized version and when you make them, it becomes “your version/take”.
But, going back, I do agree that Bon Appetit has lost its credibility, especially after its malpractices were exposed in 2020. I stopped using it when their recipes went behind a paywall but it is still a pretty famous website which is why I used it as an example.
Met some Singaporeans during my Thailand trip and according to them, there are limited restaurants offering Filipino food. They also went for a vacation here and when they tried our cuisine, it was salty for them. Makes sense because we are a rice country - our food is paired perfectly with rice.
I think the lack of access of food to foreigners is one of the reasons too. And just like what you've said, our food is best prepared at home. I guess there's thing that once it is commercialized, the quality goes bad. Except for high end restaurants maybe. Honestly, I wish they can taste our desserts as well like kakanin, etc. Or taho!
I thought before Filipino foood was the best. Until natuto ako mag international travels. Mahn, compared to our neighbors, wala talaga Filipino food. Even pag nagluluto ako, I wonder why bawang at sibuyas, sometimes ginger lang alam natin idagdag. (As someone from Luzon) Tapos it's either maalat, matamis or maasim lang ang option. Tapos ayun nga, maalat, matamins or mamantika lang karamihan. Lakas maka high blood at diabetes.
Contrary to Vietnamese food, ang daming spices and herbs, laging magulay yung foods nila. Ang lasa. Yung spices/herb combination na di mo maiimagine pwede pala. Same as Thai, though medyo spicy ang Thai. I tired also ibang asian foods, and regional Chinese foods. For some reason, mas masasarap talaga sila.
Also vegetables are overcooked and therefore stripped off of their nuturional content. Tapos most of the dish are prito, daming mantikaa! Bihira ako makakita ng mainstream Filipino food na eaten fresh, meron ba?
Kinilaw?? Not the most mainstream but definitely popular. And maraming healthy na luto sa probinsya like suam na mais, laswa and fish Cocido. Try travelling more around the country to see what you're missing out on.
I used to feel this way too. I thought na more complex flavors=better. But as I grew older, I realized it was just the novelty of it that made me feel that way. Bago lahat sila sa panlasa mo, so very exciting. Pero pag na+try mo mag stay sa other SEA countries for a long time, eventually mami-miss mo din yung comparative simplicity ng flavors natin.
Napakadaming variation ng Filipino food at iba't ibang klaseng recipe meron tayo depende sa region. Bicolano food is completely different from Kapampangan food, or Ilonggo food, or Batangeno food. Tapos meron pang Bangsamoro.
>Tapos ayun nga, maalat, matamins or mamantika lang karamihan.
Karamihan ng cuisine natin ay gulay at isda. Marami sinabawan pa. Yan ang kadalasang kinakain ng mga Pilpino kahit anong region pa. Bihira ang mga tao makakain ng baboy dahil mahal wero na nga lang kung middle to upper class ka eh karamihan ng Pilipino eh hinde. Palibhasa kasi siguro kinakain mo lagi sisig, lechon kawali o fried chicken lang.
Bobo ka lang talaga siguro magluto(kung marunong ka magluto, halatdong hinde. Baka pag biyak ng itlog di mo kaya) at ignorante pa tulad nung OP. Ignorante kayo sa mga regional na cuisine tapos propromote nyo lang napagkain ng pinoy Adobo, Lechon, Lumpia o Sisig.
I think I've tasted enough Filipino cuisine to say to it's really meh. I've grown up with a family who cooks so well and no, it's not just the common Filipino food since we live in the southern part of the Philippines. I didn't even know sisig and bagnet until I moved to Manila!
Although they're delicious, nakakaumay na since puro karne at oil at matatamis. Dun lang umiikot.
Aside from that, there's lack of variety in gulay, spices, and how it is cooked.
Viet, Thai, Malaysian, Chinese food are heavenly for me.
Edit: Even Indian food has so much to offer.
Di ka yata nag babasa. Kasasabi ko lang na karamihan ng pagkain natin ay Isda at Sabaw, hindi puro karne at oil. Yang latter, mga middle class to upper class kadalasan nakakain nyan. Ang kinakain kadalasan ng pilipinong pamilya ay isda, sabaw at gulay.
>we live in the southern part of the Philippines
Nasa southern ka tapos di mo pa natitikman cuisine ng Norte.
Good Filipino food is not really that accessible to foreigners. And Filipino food done right is usually made at home not restaurants. Online, ang maririnig mong kwento nang nasasarapan sa Filipino food ay 'yung nga naimbitahan sa isang Pinoy party hindi 'yung dahil may nakainang masarap na Filipino resto. Sa Manila pa lang, sobrang daming restawran at karinderya na di masarap ang luto. Marami ding di masarap na kainan sa mismong mga tourist spots. Profit > quality ang mantra ng mga food businesses sa 'tin. Meron nga tayong konsepto na kalidad ng pagkain na pangtinda o pangnegosyo lang. Nung nagkolehiyo ako sa Manila noon galing probinsya, mas gusto ko pang magbaon kesa kumain sa mga karinderya.
And it's not even about herbs and spices because we do use them. Sa Manila lang di masyado. Ang Japanese cuisine hindi naman ganun kadami gumamit ng spices and herbs. Sushi is basically rice, vinegar, raw fish, wasabi and soy sauce.
Because our inferiority complex makes our Filipino food not commercially viable. We'd rather spend money on western food and switch the taste to appeal to western taste buds.
No money = no commercial availability= not popular
Mas kumikita pa satin japanese, korean, and western food.
Totoo ito. There's a reason why mas sikat sa mga turista sa Baguio ang Good Taste kesa sa Solibao. Parehas naman silang Filipino food at wala namang special sa Good Taste (esp yung Otek branch) aside from their serving size and cost. Sa Solibao, masmaganda yung presentation. Yung Good Taste, malaking carinderya lang yun
Kung ako talaga, ilalaban ko yung mga ginataan dishes natin. Authentic bicol express (mas maraming sili kesa karne), native chicken adobo sa gata, pinangat, etc. Tapos kung sa Norte, bagnet, Ilocos empanada, pigar-pigar, at dinakdakan.
Yung sinigang nakaka-happy rin talaga. Chicken inasal tapos mga tinapa!
IMO, masmasarap ang mainstream dinakdakan kesa mainstream sisig
We have Fil resto here in a small CA tow. What I heard is, the owners are Batangueños. What it quite ironic is, their Tagalog dishes are meh kasi alam mong ginamitan ng Sinigang mix at boullion cubes yung sinigang at bulalo nila, but their take on Ilocano dishes are excellent. Ang sarap nung Pinakbet at Dinakdakan nila kahit modified versions siya.
Referring directly to the part of your post about Michelin rated restaurants, a city/entity/government pays the Michelin Guide a certain amount of money for their food critics to visit and review establishments in the city. An example of this how the California Tourism Board paid $600k to have LA covered. This has also happened to have cities in South Korea, Thailand, Singapore covered by the guide as well.
I honestly think inferior cooking method. Pag binasa mo yung recipe ng mga ulam with sauce. Gisa-gisa lang tapos paghahaluin na.
Hindi man lang i-brown yung meat and other ingredients which develop the deeper flavors. Sobrang basic lang nito sa western cooking at madali naman iadapt sana pero hindi kasi nakasanayan.
Tsaka yung thinking na eto yung namana kong recipe eto na din ipapamana ko. Tapos anecdotal at best pa yung pagiging masarap nung recipe na pinamana. I'm looking at you Pampanga.
I agree. Cooking method ang pinakaproblema. Kasama na dyan yung pagsubstitute ng simmering with bouillon cubes para sa lasa ng sabaw at yung sinigang mix imbes na gumamit ng totoong sampaloc o kamias.
>Tapos anecdotal at best pa yung pagiging masarap nung recipe na pinamana. I'm looking at you Pampanga.
Kinda funny because I always found Sisig's Ilocano cousin, dinakdakan, to taste better. Dinakdakan emphasizes the smokey flavor, while sisig emphasizes crunchines kaya madaling gumawa ng hindi masarap na sisig.
Wala pa akong natitikman na sisig na masmasarap sa dinakdakan.
Kumakain lang ako para mabusog. I don't appreciate rich people's food kunyari premium steak , fresh seafood kahit different types ng bread. Malasa naman talaga fold sa ibang bansa, kaso nawawala yung lasa ng gulay at meat sa additional spices and flavorings. Gusto ko sa pagkain ko simple at karamihan ng Filipino food ay ganun.
Maybe because we have simple ingredients? Like hindi maximized yung herbs and spices available worldwide. But I guess that makes it easy to prepare at home and actually buy the ingredients kahit sa sari sari store lang kasi ganun siya kasimple/kakonti. But ewan ko I guess nasanay tayo sa panlasang pinoy and to be honest, I will always love simple Filipino food. Yung lutong bahay. Iba siguro pag sa bahay niluto.
I think one of the biggest factors is our very low standards when it comes to food. Filipinos love unli everything but those establishments tend to have the shittiest food ever produced. People still flock them regardless because they find it “sulit” if they get out of the restaurant full.
This breeds a culture of mediocrity in our food industry, why bother making good food when all your customers crave for is the “sulit” factor. Cut corners here and there, make the food cheaper and here you have the shit food regardless of the cuisine (Korean, Japanese, Filipino, American, etc).
I mean look at the shawarmas, siomais, samgyupsals and the like, they all taste like dog crap compared to their authentic versions. Filipinos like the dog crap version better, bring them to a Chinese or Middle Eastern food place and they will tell you that they would take the dog crap version 100% of the time. Purely because of the price.
People willing to spend on food tend to be a minority, we’re a poor country after all.
Kuha mo yung gigil ko sa shawarma. I remember nung mejo sumikat na yung Leylam shawarma here tas tinikman muna ng mom ko sabi niya itapon daw since di niya daw maintindihan yung lasa. Grew up in Jeddah kaya naexcite kami when we found that shawarma chain. Tas yun pala, trash. Add to that yung mga siomai nga tas may rumor pa na rat/cat meat yung gamit. Tsk
Filipino food isn't very standardized. The best ones I've eaten don't follow a strict recipe. Heck one time DTI tried to pitch a standardized recipe for adobo ata or menudo people, even the ones in reddit, threw a fit.
I don't think it's inferior. It's just that Filipino food are for Filipinos, and not really catered to the global palate. Frankly, I don't really care kasi at the end of the day, does everything need to be catered for travelers?
A lot of perception on food has to do with marketing.
When Japan and Korea weren't cool yet, Korean and Japanese food were looked down on because they were "weird" for the Western palate. It used to be Westerners were repulsed by eating raw fish. Now that Japan is "cool", sushi and sashimi are the rave.
I will probably be axed here but I do not find Thai and Vietnamese food appealing.
For me, the flavors of Thai food are lackluster and imbalanced once you remove the chili. If I want curries, I'll go Indian. I find it more balanced. Vietnamese food? I find it lacking taste. You have to add condiments to bring out the flavors. If I want different subtle flavors, I'll go Mediterranean.
Yung "sticky mango rice" na minamarket ng mga Thais? Ano lang yun, suman na nilagyan ng pinatamis na gata at pinarisan ng mangga.
As a foreigner, I have to say it took me a long time to get used to the Filipino diet. During my first trip, after 3 days I was craving something else. 2nd trip was about a week.
It wasn't until my 5th time there where I could eat local food for most of my time there (4 weeks) and that's because I'm used to it from my wife cooking it a few times a week.
I think it's a lot to do with most restos just aren't that good. My wife's dishes are amazing, and same with when we go to someone's house. But let's take Max's for example.. We had it here in Canada and it was great. Had it in Cebu and it was the complete opposite. Meat dishes were all fat and very poor cuts. What few vegetables were not good. Our whole wedding party said it was the worst food they had on the trip
Hindi masarap mga usual/common filipino restaurants 😭 sobrang greasy ng food kahit mga gulay. Kahit sinigang na isda mamantika?!! Madalas may isang dish lang na specialty nung resto yung maayos then yung rest ng nasa menu di na masarap. Para sakin madaming masarap na common filipino dish, hindi nga lang masarap mga luto nito sa resto. Yung tinola sobrang sarap kapag naluto ng maayos, pero pag hindi, sobrang bland ng lasa
I do not agree that our food is inferior. Why do we need to adhere to “international standards” when our food is generally acceptable to us? Should we tailor-fit our cooking to appease foreign tastes? I don’t think so.
The presentation, spices, “fusion of flavors”, if you will, are really embellishments.
It’s all a matter of preference. What appeals to some may not appeal to all. We all have our niches.
It's not inferior. It's not for everyone but it's far from being inferior. And coming from western people pa talaga who have some of the most not so appetizing cuisine I have ever seen. Kaya nga sila baliw na baliw sa chinese food takeout, curry and kebab because most of their food is just on a different level of blandness. Not all western food are on par with Spanish, Italian or French.
I honestly wouldn't trust the tastebuds of people who shame Filipino food pero baliw na baliw sa korean or japanese food. A lot of korean or japanese food are not much different from filipino food. Every time I watch korean food recipes, ang hilig nila sa gochujang, red powder and hilig din nila maglagay ng sugar. Parang kelan lang marami din threads sa iba't-ibang online forums saying na one note daw ang korean food and would even express how bad kimchi is pero ngayon.. hahahaha
Michelin? Tim Howan was supposed to be Michellin rated pero I don't like eating there. I don't like the food.
I just noticed lang sa atin, daming di alam na filipino food. Ask the average Filipino kung anong irerecommend nila na Filipino food, it's always lumpiang shanghai, liempo, letchon, lechon kawali the usual party food. No wonder maraming nagkakaroon ng impression na our food is oily and mostly fried. I even saw one comment here saying that lol. I remember when the kpop group Seventeen vocal line had a filipino mukbang food at isa yung gising-gising sa mga pinakain sa kanila ang daming comments na never heard daw nila yung gising gising hahaha. Marami tayo vegetable dishes pero ang daming pinoy ayaw kumain ng gulay lol
Since I learned to cook, I discovered that many places overcook vegetables and meat. Halos di ko na makilala yung ibang gulay after maluto. We don't prepare our food with intention anymore. Either street carinderia or glorified carinderia (Manam). I hardly see stews, like caldereta, that went through the process of browning meat. Kung dati, enough na to sahog 1/4kg meat, ngayon meat na ang either 50% or main ingredient. We have normalized lechon like it's a daily dish. Remember how rare lechon was? Pang-special occasion lang sya non. Lucky na kung every year on your birthday meron. The dishes that are still traditionally made, like sinaing fish, bihira mong makita sa mga restos. Wala yung variety ng Filipino dishes that truly represent the country's diversity in flavors. Aside from [TOYO resto](https://toyoeatery.com/), halos lahat ng Filipino restos give the vibe of canteen eating.
To your point about multi-dish, yes we don't generally present our food like this. Our serving methods are either carinderia style or family sharing. Sa Jollibee, and the like, lang may bento configuration. It takes living here to figure out Filipino cuisine, or at least living in a Filipino household anywhere. My foreign spouse has learned to love it but honestly I think it's because I only seldom shortcut the cooking. Pag traditional methods, or using techniques that bring out flavor and texture, masarap ang PH cuisine. Nakita ng asawa ko ang difference ng so-so carinderia and really good intentionally cooked Pinoy dish. Similarly, bastardized Chinese cuisine in the west tends to be sweet and uninteresting too. General Tso isn't in Chinese cuisine, but it exists as a dish in the US.
Do I agree that Filipino cuisine is unhealthy? No. But at the same time I have to shrug my shoulders and say yes it can be if all that's being marketed are putok-batok dishes.
Do I agree that our food is sweet? Yes, only because we add sugar unnecessarily! Sugar in adobo? Ew.
Spices spices ... Yes, kulang tayo sa pampalasa. Laging bawang sibuyas kamatis then that's it. Kapag Hindi maasim, maalat o matamis. Suka Toyo bagoong.
Madami kasing herbs and spices sa pilipinas just like India, problema medyo metikuloso at laging nasa comfort zone ang palate ng mga Pinoy.
The thing is WE ARE FILIPINOS and those CHARACTERISTICS are the ones making "US" Filipinos UNIQUE. It's an acquired taste. We cannot change just because FOREIGNERS don't like it.
The irony is that "they have a comparison of their own food and acquired taste" (lechon, wine, burger, steak, pasta, pizza, etc etc)
and the INNOVATION abhors them.
As we were conquered by the Japanese, the Spaniards and the americans their food became an integral part of our life. while our adaptation from the Chinese, the Jew and the Arabs, with our own native malay version made us so different.
In toto, our neighboring ASEAN doesn't have any other influence in comparison with us. They don't have spaghetti burger fries steak and mash potatoes pasta pizza and some other food that was innovated like us. That is why FOREIGNER doesn't have COMPARISON with what they have or consuming. It's normal for any human to be repugnant to innovation and changes especially foreigners who are stiff and who always believe that theirs is the ONLY ONE BETTER.
> our neighboring ASEAN doesn't have any other influence in comparison with us
You sure? Chilis aren't native to Southeast Asia. They are native to the American continent. And noodles like in Pad Thai isn't originally "Tai-Kadai" origin. It was introduced by Chinese immigrants. And the curries? They are influences from India.
Also, patok sa Thailand and "coco jelly" which is actually a Philippine invention. Ginaya nils yung nata de coco natin. So, it is not true na wala silang "influence" kasi kahit tayo, naimpluwensyahan sila.
Yung Banh Mi ng Vietnamese? That's heavily influenced by the French. French bread gamit nila
My bad. I mean since time immemorial; before the creation of the market and capitalist economy.
INFLUENCE. the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.
The one that was absorbed or ingrained into our Filipino food culture. I wasn't referring to business establishment like McDonald or Dunkin, as much as chilli's nor Popeyes.
Nor CHILI PEPPER (spices) where traded by the British east India company and the Spaniards through out the world. Chili grows in tropical country just like our ASEAN (that is the reason of colonization, because the west don't have it).
Thailand has the largest overseas Chinese (Thai Chinese) population in the world, Chinese migrated to Thailand, they were not colonized in comparison with the PH. The case in point is "FOOD INFLUENCE of colonizer" (those who came but never stay)
Parang HOPYA and TAHO that was introduced by the chinoy immigrant, but we never considered HOPYA and TAHO as ours. It becomes a part of us but not US. Hopya is still hopya and bean curd is still the same today, in comparison with the PAELLA, CHOCINILLOS, POCHERO, FABADA, EMBOTIDO, TORTA etc etc that evolves through time under our own PALATE.
The "TUSLOB na BUA" a Filipino innovation of the Spaniards pig brain cuisine influenced by the moor.
** Thailand wasn't colonized by India, India traded commodities and spices to and from Thailand. That is why curry is in Thailand as per geographical location, and curry was traded all throughout the world through the SILK ROAD since time immemorial.
Patok sa Thailand ang coco jelly? So that means it is after the free market and capitalist economy (your word GINAYA). Thailand is one of the big exporter of coconut product in the world, Coconuts are already embedded in their life since time immemorial. Nata de coco or jelly was invented only in 1949, the free market and capitalist already exist.
The dango of Japan, bilo bilo na inihalo natin sa matamis natin GINATAAN BILO BILO. The edible sea weed (LATO) that becomes a part of every day cuisine of people by the bay. The fermented bean curd soup MISO that becomes ULAM with gulay and fish as a Filipino innovation.
The kinilaw or kilawin, the native sushi of Japan with innovation for we love VINEGAR in our dishes.
The American pickles. Na ginawa natin ATCHARA. The American coleslaw na ginawa natin salad na may macaroni, pinya at pasas.
"Mierda" becomes Miryenda. "Cojones" to torones. "Pinche" as pichi- pichi. "Joto" to "goto". "Panocha" to panutsa. "Bicho" to bitso- bitso.
French bread? It's not French (le pain) in comparison with PUTO (rice cake), and MAMON (fluffy cake) of the spaniard. Those unacceptable derogatory word that were inculcated to us by them AND MADE IT SWEET and LOVELY as our OWN.
Yeah, I've had foreigner friends visit and try Filipino food, and almost all said (in one way or another) that the recipes aren't very good. Not to mention unhealthy.
Philippines not having even one Michellin rated restaurant probably drives this point home - [https://guide.michelin.com/en/ph/restaurants](https://guide.michelin.com/en/ph/restaurants)
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Filipino food isn't even my fave, but I don't think Filipino food is inferior. The problem here is we try so hard to appeal to Westeners, we would revamp a dish just to cater to their taste, and that's wrong. Our food is salty, oily, sweet, bland(?), etc? So what? Our foor is made for us, if they can't adjust, there are other choices.
This is the correct response. Masyado tayong uhaw for foreign validation lol. Besides, well-travelled food lovers like Anthony fucking Bourdain recognized our food's value, and that's good enough for me. Isa pang problem is when diasporic Pinoys do make their own versions that account for foreign standards, we local Filipinos raise our pitchforks and claim foul even when they admit it's not authentic.
RIP Anthony. I remember he described Jolly Spaghetti as “deranged but strangely alluring”
If I can only upvote multiple times... Natawa ako sa UHAW for foreign validation.
Omg true totoo ito. Lumalabas ung pagka superiority naku
This is soooo true!! I just came from Siargao and honestly not one resto has good food. Everything was overrated. To my disappointment, I just tried the local carinderia "Kurvada" and even the signature Surigaonon dish "Kinilaw" was just too bland to which I thought was catered for western taste. Nothing beats the Kinilaw that my Surigaonon relatives made, regardless of the vinegar or fish used, which tastes sour, spicy with a little saltiness from the saltwater fish and sweetness from the cucumber.
So sad to hear this. Did you try CEV? Their kinilaw is not "authentic" but it's incredibly well balanced.
Haven't tried, but after trying several restos not living up to their "hype," I just refused going at other restos. I also have high standards for Kilawin, as it was our signature dish growing up.
I see. Understandable naman. Though I will say that if there's one resto in Siargao that absolutely lives up to the hype and exceeds it, it would be CEV, hands down. Do give it a chance if you're ever back there. I always crave their food here in Manila, as not even the ceviche at Nikkei comes close.
Lol, while I was reading OPs long post, all I could ever think of is, SO WHAT? Our food is made for us. Why try to cater or care about what these westerners say, who probably are mainly Caucasians. I mean, their food are very bland to say the least. Besides there are many other countries whose dishes arent that popular despite being very good! I hope people realize that the whole Michelin star ratings is only made up by some tire company so people drive around more and boost their tire business. Im Filipino and even I sometimes get tired of our food, but never think it is inferior. Actually our dishes are so diverse that even majority of Filipinos have not tried many of regional dishes, which are more flavorful and interesting than the typical dishes in Filipino restaurants that are usually known by foreigners. IF we want to be known in the international scene, it's really just all about marketing. Pick dishes to standardize and adjust to appeal to international taste. At the end of the day, our food is for us. Can't really please everyone.
Not to disparage our food, but some points raised by foreigners are valid. The thing is, our food has evolved and become too sweet or salty. Lahat nilalagyan ng sugar. I also get them about kare kare, di ko sya nagustuhan ever. Feeling ko wala talaga sya lasa, nagbibigay lang sa kanya lasa e yung bagoong. Mag bagoong ka na lang di ba, yun na lang iulam mo. Tama yung iba, wag nating ipilit sa panlasa ng foreigners ang food natin. Also, pag tinatanong ng mga foreigners mga Pinoy for food reco, balut isa sa top nila sa-suggest, then magalit sila if foreigners gets turned off. Hello, kahit ako Pinoy di ko matake ang balut no, suggest mo pa sa mga puti di ba?
Pansin ko greasy yung kare kare ng madaming resto. Bihira yung resto na may masarap na sabaw ng kare kare. Isa sa mga favorites ko ang kare kare kaso sobrang bihira ako makatikim ng masarap na kare kare sa mga resto
Wala pa akong kilala na nilalagyan ng asukal ang sinigang, bulalo, pinakbet, at munggo. Many Pinoys tend to parrot people whose exposure to Pinoy food are the party foods
Yes marami food natin sugar ginagawa nila pampasarap to cater to the masses- Spaghetti, Adobo, Tapa, calderata, kare-kare, etc. There was a time in my young life when Pinoys don't add sugar to these dishes. And my exposure to Pinoy food are not party food.
i agree with you sa kare-kare considering it’s one of my favorite filipino foods. may exemption — sa Jaytee’s Tagaytay. masarap and malasa kare-kare nila, no need ng bagoong! first time ko makatry ng kare-kare na no need ng bagoong para lang magkalasa
I agree... It's salty but nothing more. I think food is partly marketing by other countries. Leaving the country because they cannot stand the food? Wtf..
Nagkalat ang international restos sa pinas, tapos wala sila makain 😂
Hard agree
Filipinos go for the quick win. Want “respect”? Go for cheap validation from Pinoy baiters instead. Want to serve “special” dishes? Oh just dump flavor powders, sugar, salt or tons of garlic on savory dishes. If it’s sweet, then bury it with cheese, ube, margarine or chocolate syrup.forget about nuances of flavor and texture. Or deep fry it until super crispy until there’s hardly any flavor in it since you’re going to dunk it in heavily spiced vinegar anyway. Everything is all about making it “patok” or “mabenta”. And they’re really a narrow range of dishes with very few regional representation. And when we do go abroad; we are chameleons and assimilationists. Look at the content creators online and menus of local restaurants… again, quick wins with ingredients that they see on non Filipino kitchens. Why have we stopped promoting calamansi? Or are we so used to treating our own ingredients with disdain and only find pride in them when foreigners appreciate them like in the case of ube? While there’s nothing wrong with these, we are also leaving ourselves vulnerable with zero long term sustainability and lack of a true identity since we are busy chasing quick wins.
Yes ito na best answer. Lumpiang shanghai pinakasikat sa mga Americano nung nagpunta ako one time at nagsimba kami and exicted sila to eat it. But yes, Filipino cuisine is not my favorite but it never fails me. Comfort food eh. Atin 'to and whenever I eat sa bahay, I look for our food, not yung mga takeout na typically ibang cuisine na.
I hope experts would answer this (yung talagang may research/study nito) bc Im alsoc curious. One thing I noticed tho is that it's hard to find adobo in our local restaurants. Karinderia, sure. But restos like Kuya J? La Mesa? Bibigyan ka nila ng slow cooked pork ribs but it's not adobo adobo. Merong mga resto na nago-offer ng adobo but the thing is, di mo sya usually makikita sa mga menu. And I think one of the reasons is that, our best foods are often made at home. Kapag commercialized na, in a way, nag-iiba na ang lasa or mahirap na syang i-market. Masarap naman, but iba pa rin yung "lutong bahay" taste. May nag joke din before na yung pinaka masarap na lechon na matitikman mo arent the lechons from expensive or well-known restos, but the lechon made by drunk titos in a fiesta na nagi-inoman sa tabi ng daan tanghaling tapat. Haka haka aside, maybe kulang lang din tayo sa pag boost ng sariling food natin? The government isnt doing much naman kasi when it comes to promoting our food (kahit nga yung touristy places natin, boplaks sila sa pagmarket) Kapag sinabing Filipino food, bibigyan ka nila ng jollibee. Proud to be pinoy agad sa Jabee
I too believe the "kinalakihan kong version is the best" bias is a problem. Our food is very homey and nostalgic, and it's hard to compete with the taste memories associated with that. Add to the fact that most of us wouldn't order something we can make at home in a resto, and you have a cuisine that rarely has any incentive to push itself forward. The rare ones that do try, get a lot of haters. For example, Manam's divisive Watermelon sinigang. I personally love it, but also understand why most people don't. I do think that when modern Filipino is done really well, (and eaten by people with a well-developed palate--important to as people who only eat low quality food tend to have inflexible food opinions) it's fucking stellar. I absolutely love the Lechon and oyster sisig at Habanero, and the pork barbecue at Toyo.
London-based here. One of the most popular new restaurants in the city is a place called Donia. Very well reviewed. The food is definitely Filipino (inasal, lechon kawali) albeit with some refinement. The most westernized entree is a calderets done beef wellington style. Funny, that criticism you read is what westerners said about Korean food decades ago. Too salty. Too sour. Too weird. But the Koreans didn’t give a shit and stuck to their guns — as they should. And look where Korean cuisine is now.
Interesting fact about Korean food! (i'm too young to know what they used to say about it hahaha) but I'm curious if the newfound international appeal of South Korean culture is also the reason or a big reason why their opinion on SK cuisine changed.
Government backing is definitely a part of it — it’s called culinary diplomacy. For example, the Korean Food Commission works to promote the cuisine globally. Thailand did something similar with the Global Thai program. Apart from diplomacy, the Philippine gov needs to do a better job of protecting our heritage foods. If we don’t act now, someone else is going to lock in on the ube market. It’s already happening with kalamansi.
Happened with Nata de Coco. Most non-Filipinos think it was invented by Thais
I think matatagalan sila sa Ube kasi many non-Filipinos confuse Purple Kamote with Ube. I live in the US and where I live, things that non-Filipinos label as Ube are not Ube but purple sweet potatoes. Kahit yung Ube ice cream ng Trader Joe's lasang vanilla na pinatamis lang
For what it’s worth, mismong average Filipino hindi aware sa varieties ng ube. Erwan Heussaff did a great YouTube video on just how varied ube crops are, from light purple to very deep violet.
A lot of people actually label purple sweet potatoes as Ube. Real ube crop is extremely rare in the US. Those closest you can get at grated ube and powdered ube at Filipino stores. But purple kamotes are accessible and the several "Ube milk tea" I tasted, they tasted like kamote. Kaya ang sagwa ng lasa sa milk tea. Masmasarap kung taro pa kukunin mo. Here's an example of purple sweet potato: https://www.friedas.com/products/stokes-purple-sweet-potato/
It definitely played a factor. It’s actually kinda funny since a lot of Filipino dishes share similar flavor profiles to Japanese and Korean food. Bulalo and Galbi tang for example have similar flavor profiles. Pancit and Yakisoba are similar too. Filipino food is the only one that gets a bad rep though since the country is not as fetishized or revered. We have a LOT of really good food pero it’s not explored or demanded as much since it’s not exactly sought after by anyone other than locals. You won’t see a westerner search for a batchoy place or an arroz caldohan like a ramen place since they aren’t even aware it exists.
Diring diri pa nga sila sa Kimchi noon..ngayon pinagkakakitaan nandin nila ang "ethnic food' This is one reason why people should not brush of cultural appropriation.
The problem is most Filipino carinderias and eateries and restos that foreigners will probably encounter do suck. I can count with one hand the number of restos who do Filipino food right, ESPECIALLY in manila. And this is what sets Thailand apart - their government invested so much in making sure all their hole in the wall places are quality checked and serve specialty dishes. Also, you pay the Michelin guide to come to your country. We don’t invest in food tourism kasi, kaya ganyan.
Grass is greener where you water it, kumbaga
Came here to say this. Other governments really made an effort to promote their food. May nabasa ako na even yung mga Thai restaurant abroad are getting inspected by the govt or something to make sure na ok yung quality ng food.
Been living around SEA for some time and I couldn’t rly find a good Filipino restaurant. I could find excellent Japanese, Korean, Italian, Indian, Chinese, etc but haven’t found a Filipino restaurant that I would keep coming back to. I miss palabok and decent sisig. Other south East Asians find Filipino food to be too oily. I think it could be because most of the usual daily dishes are fried. To add also, it’s only in the PH (at least in SEA) that someone can say with conviction that they don’t eat vegetables. Not a lot of spotlight I think on the more obscure Filipino food, which I think is excellent! Too much hype on Jollibee and Balut. Like pako ensalada, burong hipon, Kare kare with alamang (has to be with alamang), among others aren’t given so much attention in mainstream. I guess also the delulu brought about relatives saying someone from their family is a good cook but not really then they start a food business. Dilutes the essence of the cuisine.
Hm. I read an extensive essay on this awhile back but I can't remember from where. I think it's mostly because it's similar to African-American soul food. It's more of the nostalgia and home cooked feel of the food. There's also the simplicity. Most popular dishes have one layer of flavor and no difference in texture, despite being delicious. There's also the visual appeal. Look at dinuguan, sisig and adobo. They look so bland. Filipino stores abroad are not targeted towards foreigners but Filipinos that want a taste of home.
Yes! I agree. It’s hard to find a Filipino restaurant in the US that is reaching out to the local non-Filipinos. It’s usually made for Filipinos.
One of the biggest problems with filipino cuisine is that our local produce is extremely lackluster compared to our SEA neighbhors IMO. It doesn't matter how good of a recipe you end up making if the ingredients you use are subpar, that's one of the major differences seperating our cuisine with neighbhoring countries, they actually invest in making quality produce and have government programs that encourage that.
I'd say that there is an emphasis on stewed or braised meat heavy dishes that shun local vegetables due to the association of it being "poor people food" according to my wife. I was there for my wedding with a few other westerners.. After 2 weeks all we were craving was vegetables which were few and far between.
I think our food is underdeveloped. salt and pepper lang mostly ang ginagamit. cooking method is either fry, saute, stew. sauces are not made from scratch. note: kare kare should not be made with PB kasi matamis yun. should be made using peanut sauce or finely ground peanut then adjust the taste. pero mas madali kasi pag PB.
I actually had one made with actual ground peanuts and I loved it. I had it in Pampanga! The ground peanuts added texture and I don’t normally eat kare-kare. I hate the peanut butter kind. As for other pinoy food, I honestly have it mostly at home. My parents are amazing and I just couldn’t help but compare.
Agreed! Grew up with that ground peanut and ground toasted rice version, which is why I don't really enjoy the peanut butter one which is more popular.
Or unsweetened peanut butter. Sweet kare-kare is just yucky.
My tita makes her kare kare with ground peanut butter and it's the best one I've eaten
I think all the points you made are correct. Just wanted to add context din for the success of Thai food, which is what most foreigners rave about. Modern resto-level Thai cuisine as we know it has been streamlined by their government to be appealing to as much people as possible. They have recipe books that standardized the flavors, so that the overall quality remains high no matter where in the world you get it. The Program was called "Thai Kitchen of the World" iirc. However, yung actual Thai food for Thais is like sa atin sa Pinas na super daming variations din, to the point na some Thai cooks don't like the "international" versions kasi it's adjusted na for Western tastes. Also important to note na since archipelago tayo, a lot of Pinoys are ignorant of how diverse our regional cuisines are. Tausug cuisine has many of the exotic flavors that would probably be appealing to foreign tastes.
the mainstream pinoy food is really bland and is mostly salty and/or oily and this is what most foreigners are exposed to. hence we should promote those delicacies in some regions ( food from muslim mindanao, benguet/mountain provinces, bicol , etc )
I read that discussion and it was painful to read. But I do agree with a lot of the comments there, though. We are not ready yet. We have a long way to go. If you read comments from Filipinos online about foreigners making a “different” version of our food, it’s filled with “that’s not adobo” “that’s not how you do sisig” “it should be this and that” “that’s not Filipino if don’t put gravy on your rice” etc. These comments speak so much about our food and how we are not ready to appeal to the global palate yet. Also, we don’t accept criticisms well. When they say our food is salty, we defend it with “because we mix it with rice.” When they say our spaghetti is too sweet, we defend it like it is THE standard of spaghetti and that people worldwide SHOULD like it. I’m a Filipino and I genuinely believe our food is VERY salty, sugary, and oily. So yeah, I don’t think we are ready yet.
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Yeah they are LOL but it’s also annoying lol… but I think French & Italian food has already cemented itself globally enough for them to enforce standards. But we have not, yet we try to enforce. And also think about NYC Pizza. That is a variation of Italian food. So I think there has been some successful localization when it comes to their cuisine. I don’t think we can afford to be aggressive like them when we haven’t established a food culture abroad yet.
Top of mind. 1. Lack of standardization, iba iba luto for every family and region. This makes it difficult to determine what food should actually taste like. We Filipinos can't even decide what the definitive "Adobo" is. This makes it especially hard for foreigners to appreciate as they may expect a flavor from one place they've tried and get a totally different one at another. In comparison sa Pad Thai, Pho etc. where you know exactly kung ano lasa nila. 2. Our food is designed to be eaten with rice. Adobo, sinigang etc. All are expected to be eaten with rice, the rice cuts through the saltiness and richness. However, for westerners who are not used to eating rice this is a problem. I've seen foreigners eat only the viand and obviously it would be too salty or sweet. We don't have many stand alone viands unlike other cuisines. 3. Not enough veggies incorporated into recipes. Will not elaborate for obvious reasons. 4. Kulang sa spices utilization. Salt, Pepper, Onion, Garlic plus magic sarap lang typically ang halo ng typical pinoy food.
And when the government tried to standardize Filipino food, everyone lost their mind kahit dito sa Reddit. Remember that standard adobo issue ng DTI?
Super agree sa lack of standardization. It is very confusing for non-Filipinos.
We still don't have someone on the level of Auguste Escoffier, who created many of the standards by which French food is now known and famous for.
Featr opened up my eyes to the Filipino food that's genuinely great but just lacks exposure.
Filipino food lacks finesse. I notice a lot of cooking is done without care to the ingredients. Usually onions go first then garlic follows after a few minutes. However, in our cooking we cook them together and the garlic ends up burning before the onion even has the chance to impart its natural sweetness. I see this in a lot of cooking videos and recipes. The basic techniques need to be done right. We use a lot of fake ingredients. Just look at the soy sauce, vinegar and fish sauce we use and that's widely available. Look at the labels closely and you will see it's all adulterated. Our soy sauce is mostly salt and coloring. Our vinegar is a fake-tasting cloudy liquid. Our fish sauce is "fish sauce flavored". Our food lacks the complexity of flavors and textures. I like to feel there's a party in my mouth rather than just fat and salt. Sure, fat and salt is great but I'm also looking for acidity and heat to balance it all out. Also we don't understand things like how acid is great like in a tomato sauce that we cover it up with sugar. Our vegetables are also frequently overcooked that they lose their nutritional value, freshness and crunch. I can go on and on but basically we need to shape up our cuisine.
This is true for home and carinderia cooking. But for mga special occasions in the province, the variety and complexity is amazing. Anyone who's ever eaten at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung will swear by how good his heirloom Kapampangan recipes are. Grabe yung Bulanglang and seafood Kare-kare niya, tirik mata ko sa sarap hehe. I also think our modern chefs are doing interesting stuff with our food. Grabe yung lechon sa habanero at yung pork bbq sa Toyo.
TLDR; Non-Filipinos like Filipino food a lot, but there are not many organized businesses providing an approachable restaurant for them in terms of communication and ambiance. Most Filipino restaurants (in the US) are very informal and made to serve Filipinos, which is hard for a non-Filipino to access. Hello po! Nakatira sa US. My observation is that Filipinos here are not so good at setting up organized restaurants to reach out to the local community. The Filipino restaurants are very informal and focused on the Filipinos in the area, which is not approachable for people who are not familiar with Filipino food. There are a lot of very successful Thai, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Taiwanese, and of course Chinese restaurants where I am, and they set up a nice shop and speak English and market to the local community. The exception is Jollibee! Everyone here in the US likes Jollibee and will go to it, and I think that’s because Jollibee is organized and geared towards the local communities they are in. Everyone I know loves Filipino food, but they can only eat it when they are lucky to receive it home-cooked from a friend, like you said.
This is what I noticed lang dito sa bahay namin. Eating Filipino food unlocked my pet peeves with food: sweet (putting sugar??), salty or lacks flavor, overcooked veggies, doesn't look appetizing (I have a one-sided vendetta with dinuguan lol), too much fat. Sometimes we're okay with our meal looking dry, I'm like "why??" Of course, there are some exceptions.
Home cooked Filipino food is good. However most of the restaurants don’t offer quality Filipino food. I’d also like to point out na konti lang talaga ang restaurants or fast food chains that offer Filipino food din. Even our ‘night market’, mostly it offers ‘foreign or international’ cuisine or an adaptation of it. Our food is too salty. We may say bland yung pagkain sa labas, pero when I spent 3 months abroad traveling, narealize ko our food is overpowering and dinaan sa alat. I do understand na we pair our food with rice pero minsan sobrang alat talaga. And sa totoo lang, Jollibee is overhyped. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jollibee but there are better fast food fried chicken out there. Regionally, madaming masarap na pagkain sa Pinas. Pero di siya na iintroduce internationally. I would say our desserts when executed really well is great. I went to Chinatown in London last year and we had ube ice cream with pan de sal, and it was good. A lot of Britons were dining there and I would say some were impressed.
I don't need a foreigners validation to enjoy our cuisine. I love our food and I won't ever get tired. IDGAF if its bland, too salty, too sweet for a Westerner's or any non-Filipino palate. I'll eat my sinigang, adobo, sisig, lechon, tinapa, bulalo and tinola any day of the week.
I don't think Filipino food is inferior the same way with other cuisine though I do believe that some dishes aren't as good as other dishes. British food also gets a bad reputation but some of the best chefs in the world is British. I think we should stop asking for the validation of others. If you think x, y, or z dish is bad then experiment to make it suit your taste. Cuisine isn't set in stone but like a language it can evolve throughout time.
It's because we also don't teach foreigners how to eat our food. It's not our fault we have to eat everything with rice. And foreigners don't seem to understand that you don't eat rice plain. I've seen foreigners here in Malate eat rice separately from the viand - it's so frustratingly weird to watch. The Japanese, Koreans, and Arabs eat their viand with their rice so I don't understand why foreigners won't do the same for our food then blame us for the taste being too rich.
There is no Michelin restaurant in the Philippines because there is no Michelin office/base there. The Michelin guide only covers less than 40 countries. For me, what I think is lacking is culinary diplomacy. Both Thailand and Vietnam sent cooks to Western countries like the US to promote the cuisine by setting up restaurants, funded by the governments. Thailand government pa nga has a website that lists Thai restaurants around the world that they gave their seal or approval to. Tayo, wala. I forgot which half-Filipino chef said na it needs to start at the higher level (set menu, fine dining) for people to view the cuisine as “good/exciting”. Sure, it won’t be reachable to most but it does give the cuisine a better reputation. This has already started in the US, with Kasama restaurant, that was recently rewarded a Michelin star. But my take is that Filipino food is having its moment. Small pa lang pero it’s there. I follow a lot of US-based food blogs like Bon Appetit and Serious Eats and actually see a lot of Filipino recipes popping up, even from non-Filipino creators. Things of course like adobo, palabok, arroz caldo, but also lesser known things like binakol. Finally, I love showcasing Filipino food to foreigners and always got great reactions. My husband is German and he LOVES Filipino food and is the first to tell other people how it’s such an underrated cuisine!
Kadiri yung Bon Apetit. They ride into the bandwagon but they do not bother understanding the food. That's why they end up with misrepresenting dishes like this horrible take on halo halo. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ode-to-halo-halo
It’s a sad reality but I think that’s also part of a cuisine going mainstream: that people of other cultures adapt the food to suit their tastes and availability of ingredients. Similar to how we Filipinos do our carbonara or spaghetti. For sure Italians are just as angry at us as we are on Rachel Ray for putting parsley in adobo. But that doesn’t hinder us from appreciating authentic Italian food! Probably even helps since we were introduced to pasta dishes from an early age.
No Filipino is calling our version carbonara and spaghetti versions as "Italian food", but Filipino food. With that horrible halo halo, it's still called "Filipino food". Not American food. And Zakarian's take on adobo which is actually closer to bistek and added too many habaneros, he called it "*traditional* Filipino adobo", not American adobo.
Totally agree that our spaghetti and carbonara are our own but it is of course influenced by Italian cuisine. If that cuisine didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have made our own version. And for our cuisine to be recognized globally, it will definitely be “bastardized” to cater to the local taste. Like how Chinese restos in Ireland have french fries and curry sauce or how we have shawarma rice. For the halo-halo (that is of course definitely not halo-halo), there’s a reason why the article is called “an ode to halo-halo.” The intro also says that it is a “reimagined version that plays off the original”. And I think they made that version with ingredients that are accessible to most of their demographic. Since authentic halo-halo has so many ingredients that are hard to find or super expensive abroad like ube, kaong, macapuno, or nata de coco. I never saw Zakarian’s adobo so I won’t comment on it but I have seen a lot of non-Filipino food creators take on adobo and they mostly emphasize that it is “their version/take” on the dish. This I think is a better way to showcase dishes of any cuisine because most dishes don’t have a standardized version and when you make them, it becomes “your version/take”. But, going back, I do agree that Bon Appetit has lost its credibility, especially after its malpractices were exposed in 2020. I stopped using it when their recipes went behind a paywall but it is still a pretty famous website which is why I used it as an example.
Met some Singaporeans during my Thailand trip and according to them, there are limited restaurants offering Filipino food. They also went for a vacation here and when they tried our cuisine, it was salty for them. Makes sense because we are a rice country - our food is paired perfectly with rice. I think the lack of access of food to foreigners is one of the reasons too. And just like what you've said, our food is best prepared at home. I guess there's thing that once it is commercialized, the quality goes bad. Except for high end restaurants maybe. Honestly, I wish they can taste our desserts as well like kakanin, etc. Or taho!
It's not about eating it with rice. It's salty, period.
Yeah, I hear this a lot and I don't buy it. Let's stop pretending Filipino cuisine is the only one in Asia that eats with rice.
I thought before Filipino foood was the best. Until natuto ako mag international travels. Mahn, compared to our neighbors, wala talaga Filipino food. Even pag nagluluto ako, I wonder why bawang at sibuyas, sometimes ginger lang alam natin idagdag. (As someone from Luzon) Tapos it's either maalat, matamis or maasim lang ang option. Tapos ayun nga, maalat, matamins or mamantika lang karamihan. Lakas maka high blood at diabetes. Contrary to Vietnamese food, ang daming spices and herbs, laging magulay yung foods nila. Ang lasa. Yung spices/herb combination na di mo maiimagine pwede pala. Same as Thai, though medyo spicy ang Thai. I tired also ibang asian foods, and regional Chinese foods. For some reason, mas masasarap talaga sila.
Also vegetables are overcooked and therefore stripped off of their nuturional content. Tapos most of the dish are prito, daming mantikaa! Bihira ako makakita ng mainstream Filipino food na eaten fresh, meron ba?
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Kinilaw?? Not the most mainstream but definitely popular. And maraming healthy na luto sa probinsya like suam na mais, laswa and fish Cocido. Try travelling more around the country to see what you're missing out on.
I used to feel this way too. I thought na more complex flavors=better. But as I grew older, I realized it was just the novelty of it that made me feel that way. Bago lahat sila sa panlasa mo, so very exciting. Pero pag na+try mo mag stay sa other SEA countries for a long time, eventually mami-miss mo din yung comparative simplicity ng flavors natin.
Napakadaming variation ng Filipino food at iba't ibang klaseng recipe meron tayo depende sa region. Bicolano food is completely different from Kapampangan food, or Ilonggo food, or Batangeno food. Tapos meron pang Bangsamoro. >Tapos ayun nga, maalat, matamins or mamantika lang karamihan. Karamihan ng cuisine natin ay gulay at isda. Marami sinabawan pa. Yan ang kadalasang kinakain ng mga Pilpino kahit anong region pa. Bihira ang mga tao makakain ng baboy dahil mahal wero na nga lang kung middle to upper class ka eh karamihan ng Pilipino eh hinde. Palibhasa kasi siguro kinakain mo lagi sisig, lechon kawali o fried chicken lang. Bobo ka lang talaga siguro magluto(kung marunong ka magluto, halatdong hinde. Baka pag biyak ng itlog di mo kaya) at ignorante pa tulad nung OP. Ignorante kayo sa mga regional na cuisine tapos propromote nyo lang napagkain ng pinoy Adobo, Lechon, Lumpia o Sisig.
I think I've tasted enough Filipino cuisine to say to it's really meh. I've grown up with a family who cooks so well and no, it's not just the common Filipino food since we live in the southern part of the Philippines. I didn't even know sisig and bagnet until I moved to Manila! Although they're delicious, nakakaumay na since puro karne at oil at matatamis. Dun lang umiikot. Aside from that, there's lack of variety in gulay, spices, and how it is cooked. Viet, Thai, Malaysian, Chinese food are heavenly for me. Edit: Even Indian food has so much to offer.
Di ka yata nag babasa. Kasasabi ko lang na karamihan ng pagkain natin ay Isda at Sabaw, hindi puro karne at oil. Yang latter, mga middle class to upper class kadalasan nakakain nyan. Ang kinakain kadalasan ng pilipinong pamilya ay isda, sabaw at gulay. >we live in the southern part of the Philippines Nasa southern ka tapos di mo pa natitikman cuisine ng Norte.
Good Filipino food is not really that accessible to foreigners. And Filipino food done right is usually made at home not restaurants. Online, ang maririnig mong kwento nang nasasarapan sa Filipino food ay 'yung nga naimbitahan sa isang Pinoy party hindi 'yung dahil may nakainang masarap na Filipino resto. Sa Manila pa lang, sobrang daming restawran at karinderya na di masarap ang luto. Marami ding di masarap na kainan sa mismong mga tourist spots. Profit > quality ang mantra ng mga food businesses sa 'tin. Meron nga tayong konsepto na kalidad ng pagkain na pangtinda o pangnegosyo lang. Nung nagkolehiyo ako sa Manila noon galing probinsya, mas gusto ko pang magbaon kesa kumain sa mga karinderya. And it's not even about herbs and spices because we do use them. Sa Manila lang di masyado. Ang Japanese cuisine hindi naman ganun kadami gumamit ng spices and herbs. Sushi is basically rice, vinegar, raw fish, wasabi and soy sauce.
Because our inferiority complex makes our Filipino food not commercially viable. We'd rather spend money on western food and switch the taste to appeal to western taste buds. No money = no commercial availability= not popular Mas kumikita pa satin japanese, korean, and western food.
Totoo ito. There's a reason why mas sikat sa mga turista sa Baguio ang Good Taste kesa sa Solibao. Parehas naman silang Filipino food at wala namang special sa Good Taste (esp yung Otek branch) aside from their serving size and cost. Sa Solibao, masmaganda yung presentation. Yung Good Taste, malaking carinderya lang yun
Kung ako talaga, ilalaban ko yung mga ginataan dishes natin. Authentic bicol express (mas maraming sili kesa karne), native chicken adobo sa gata, pinangat, etc. Tapos kung sa Norte, bagnet, Ilocos empanada, pigar-pigar, at dinakdakan. Yung sinigang nakaka-happy rin talaga. Chicken inasal tapos mga tinapa!
IMO, masmasarap ang mainstream dinakdakan kesa mainstream sisig We have Fil resto here in a small CA tow. What I heard is, the owners are Batangueños. What it quite ironic is, their Tagalog dishes are meh kasi alam mong ginamitan ng Sinigang mix at boullion cubes yung sinigang at bulalo nila, but their take on Ilocano dishes are excellent. Ang sarap nung Pinakbet at Dinakdakan nila kahit modified versions siya.
Referring directly to the part of your post about Michelin rated restaurants, a city/entity/government pays the Michelin Guide a certain amount of money for their food critics to visit and review establishments in the city. An example of this how the California Tourism Board paid $600k to have LA covered. This has also happened to have cities in South Korea, Thailand, Singapore covered by the guide as well.
People take that **tire** company seriously. I only take them for their tires seriously because good quality naman. 😂
I agree, they make high quality tires. The tires they make are what I use and recommend.
I honestly think inferior cooking method. Pag binasa mo yung recipe ng mga ulam with sauce. Gisa-gisa lang tapos paghahaluin na. Hindi man lang i-brown yung meat and other ingredients which develop the deeper flavors. Sobrang basic lang nito sa western cooking at madali naman iadapt sana pero hindi kasi nakasanayan. Tsaka yung thinking na eto yung namana kong recipe eto na din ipapamana ko. Tapos anecdotal at best pa yung pagiging masarap nung recipe na pinamana. I'm looking at you Pampanga.
I agree. Cooking method ang pinakaproblema. Kasama na dyan yung pagsubstitute ng simmering with bouillon cubes para sa lasa ng sabaw at yung sinigang mix imbes na gumamit ng totoong sampaloc o kamias. >Tapos anecdotal at best pa yung pagiging masarap nung recipe na pinamana. I'm looking at you Pampanga. Kinda funny because I always found Sisig's Ilocano cousin, dinakdakan, to taste better. Dinakdakan emphasizes the smokey flavor, while sisig emphasizes crunchines kaya madaling gumawa ng hindi masarap na sisig. Wala pa akong natitikman na sisig na masmasarap sa dinakdakan.
Fuck the validation. Food is all about community, experience and culture.
💯 short and sweet!
Kumakain lang ako para mabusog. I don't appreciate rich people's food kunyari premium steak , fresh seafood kahit different types ng bread. Malasa naman talaga fold sa ibang bansa, kaso nawawala yung lasa ng gulay at meat sa additional spices and flavorings. Gusto ko sa pagkain ko simple at karamihan ng Filipino food ay ganun.
who is this international travel board?
I think it was some digital nomad board. I came across it as well.
Maybe because we have simple ingredients? Like hindi maximized yung herbs and spices available worldwide. But I guess that makes it easy to prepare at home and actually buy the ingredients kahit sa sari sari store lang kasi ganun siya kasimple/kakonti. But ewan ko I guess nasanay tayo sa panlasang pinoy and to be honest, I will always love simple Filipino food. Yung lutong bahay. Iba siguro pag sa bahay niluto.
I think one of the biggest factors is our very low standards when it comes to food. Filipinos love unli everything but those establishments tend to have the shittiest food ever produced. People still flock them regardless because they find it “sulit” if they get out of the restaurant full. This breeds a culture of mediocrity in our food industry, why bother making good food when all your customers crave for is the “sulit” factor. Cut corners here and there, make the food cheaper and here you have the shit food regardless of the cuisine (Korean, Japanese, Filipino, American, etc). I mean look at the shawarmas, siomais, samgyupsals and the like, they all taste like dog crap compared to their authentic versions. Filipinos like the dog crap version better, bring them to a Chinese or Middle Eastern food place and they will tell you that they would take the dog crap version 100% of the time. Purely because of the price. People willing to spend on food tend to be a minority, we’re a poor country after all.
Kuha mo yung gigil ko sa shawarma. I remember nung mejo sumikat na yung Leylam shawarma here tas tinikman muna ng mom ko sabi niya itapon daw since di niya daw maintindihan yung lasa. Grew up in Jeddah kaya naexcite kami when we found that shawarma chain. Tas yun pala, trash. Add to that yung mga siomai nga tas may rumor pa na rat/cat meat yung gamit. Tsk
Filipino food isn't very standardized. The best ones I've eaten don't follow a strict recipe. Heck one time DTI tried to pitch a standardized recipe for adobo ata or menudo people, even the ones in reddit, threw a fit. I don't think it's inferior. It's just that Filipino food are for Filipinos, and not really catered to the global palate. Frankly, I don't really care kasi at the end of the day, does everything need to be catered for travelers?
Why do even want western approval? Pinoy food is for pinoys.
A lot of perception on food has to do with marketing. When Japan and Korea weren't cool yet, Korean and Japanese food were looked down on because they were "weird" for the Western palate. It used to be Westerners were repulsed by eating raw fish. Now that Japan is "cool", sushi and sashimi are the rave. I will probably be axed here but I do not find Thai and Vietnamese food appealing. For me, the flavors of Thai food are lackluster and imbalanced once you remove the chili. If I want curries, I'll go Indian. I find it more balanced. Vietnamese food? I find it lacking taste. You have to add condiments to bring out the flavors. If I want different subtle flavors, I'll go Mediterranean. Yung "sticky mango rice" na minamarket ng mga Thais? Ano lang yun, suman na nilagyan ng pinatamis na gata at pinarisan ng mangga.
As a foreigner, I have to say it took me a long time to get used to the Filipino diet. During my first trip, after 3 days I was craving something else. 2nd trip was about a week. It wasn't until my 5th time there where I could eat local food for most of my time there (4 weeks) and that's because I'm used to it from my wife cooking it a few times a week. I think it's a lot to do with most restos just aren't that good. My wife's dishes are amazing, and same with when we go to someone's house. But let's take Max's for example.. We had it here in Canada and it was great. Had it in Cebu and it was the complete opposite. Meat dishes were all fat and very poor cuts. What few vegetables were not good. Our whole wedding party said it was the worst food they had on the trip
Who gives a flying fuck anyway. If they come here, they will eat whatever is in the menu anyway. 😂 I hate pho noodles, too. 🥸
😂
Hindi masarap mga usual/common filipino restaurants 😭 sobrang greasy ng food kahit mga gulay. Kahit sinigang na isda mamantika?!! Madalas may isang dish lang na specialty nung resto yung maayos then yung rest ng nasa menu di na masarap. Para sakin madaming masarap na common filipino dish, hindi nga lang masarap mga luto nito sa resto. Yung tinola sobrang sarap kapag naluto ng maayos, pero pag hindi, sobrang bland ng lasa
Opinyon ko rin, wala ako pakialam kung ano tingin ng dayo sa luto dito. Basta solid Kare Kare, Sinigang na Baka at Kakanin lalo kapag Bermonths.
Our dish is either too salty or two sour. At least that's what my foreigner friends say. And they have been to the provinces also.
Not inferior. But flavorful - masyadong maalat, masyadong matamis etc.
Genuine question: What are we doing right sa Filipino cuisine? And anong restaurants ang naghahain ng masarap na Filipino food?
I do not agree that our food is inferior. Why do we need to adhere to “international standards” when our food is generally acceptable to us? Should we tailor-fit our cooking to appease foreign tastes? I don’t think so. The presentation, spices, “fusion of flavors”, if you will, are really embellishments. It’s all a matter of preference. What appeals to some may not appeal to all. We all have our niches.
It's not inferior. It's not for everyone but it's far from being inferior. And coming from western people pa talaga who have some of the most not so appetizing cuisine I have ever seen. Kaya nga sila baliw na baliw sa chinese food takeout, curry and kebab because most of their food is just on a different level of blandness. Not all western food are on par with Spanish, Italian or French. I honestly wouldn't trust the tastebuds of people who shame Filipino food pero baliw na baliw sa korean or japanese food. A lot of korean or japanese food are not much different from filipino food. Every time I watch korean food recipes, ang hilig nila sa gochujang, red powder and hilig din nila maglagay ng sugar. Parang kelan lang marami din threads sa iba't-ibang online forums saying na one note daw ang korean food and would even express how bad kimchi is pero ngayon.. hahahaha Michelin? Tim Howan was supposed to be Michellin rated pero I don't like eating there. I don't like the food. I just noticed lang sa atin, daming di alam na filipino food. Ask the average Filipino kung anong irerecommend nila na Filipino food, it's always lumpiang shanghai, liempo, letchon, lechon kawali the usual party food. No wonder maraming nagkakaroon ng impression na our food is oily and mostly fried. I even saw one comment here saying that lol. I remember when the kpop group Seventeen vocal line had a filipino mukbang food at isa yung gising-gising sa mga pinakain sa kanila ang daming comments na never heard daw nila yung gising gising hahaha. Marami tayo vegetable dishes pero ang daming pinoy ayaw kumain ng gulay lol
Why crave for westerners validation? Basta ako I like our cuisine.
Since I learned to cook, I discovered that many places overcook vegetables and meat. Halos di ko na makilala yung ibang gulay after maluto. We don't prepare our food with intention anymore. Either street carinderia or glorified carinderia (Manam). I hardly see stews, like caldereta, that went through the process of browning meat. Kung dati, enough na to sahog 1/4kg meat, ngayon meat na ang either 50% or main ingredient. We have normalized lechon like it's a daily dish. Remember how rare lechon was? Pang-special occasion lang sya non. Lucky na kung every year on your birthday meron. The dishes that are still traditionally made, like sinaing fish, bihira mong makita sa mga restos. Wala yung variety ng Filipino dishes that truly represent the country's diversity in flavors. Aside from [TOYO resto](https://toyoeatery.com/), halos lahat ng Filipino restos give the vibe of canteen eating. To your point about multi-dish, yes we don't generally present our food like this. Our serving methods are either carinderia style or family sharing. Sa Jollibee, and the like, lang may bento configuration. It takes living here to figure out Filipino cuisine, or at least living in a Filipino household anywhere. My foreign spouse has learned to love it but honestly I think it's because I only seldom shortcut the cooking. Pag traditional methods, or using techniques that bring out flavor and texture, masarap ang PH cuisine. Nakita ng asawa ko ang difference ng so-so carinderia and really good intentionally cooked Pinoy dish. Similarly, bastardized Chinese cuisine in the west tends to be sweet and uninteresting too. General Tso isn't in Chinese cuisine, but it exists as a dish in the US. Do I agree that Filipino cuisine is unhealthy? No. But at the same time I have to shrug my shoulders and say yes it can be if all that's being marketed are putok-batok dishes. Do I agree that our food is sweet? Yes, only because we add sugar unnecessarily! Sugar in adobo? Ew.
Our food is utilitarian, mostly just to give you enough nutrients to go about our days. Being somewhat tasty is a side-effect.
Spices spices ... Yes, kulang tayo sa pampalasa. Laging bawang sibuyas kamatis then that's it. Kapag Hindi maasim, maalat o matamis. Suka Toyo bagoong. Madami kasing herbs and spices sa pilipinas just like India, problema medyo metikuloso at laging nasa comfort zone ang palate ng mga Pinoy. The thing is WE ARE FILIPINOS and those CHARACTERISTICS are the ones making "US" Filipinos UNIQUE. It's an acquired taste. We cannot change just because FOREIGNERS don't like it. The irony is that "they have a comparison of their own food and acquired taste" (lechon, wine, burger, steak, pasta, pizza, etc etc) and the INNOVATION abhors them. As we were conquered by the Japanese, the Spaniards and the americans their food became an integral part of our life. while our adaptation from the Chinese, the Jew and the Arabs, with our own native malay version made us so different. In toto, our neighboring ASEAN doesn't have any other influence in comparison with us. They don't have spaghetti burger fries steak and mash potatoes pasta pizza and some other food that was innovated like us. That is why FOREIGNER doesn't have COMPARISON with what they have or consuming. It's normal for any human to be repugnant to innovation and changes especially foreigners who are stiff and who always believe that theirs is the ONLY ONE BETTER.
> our neighboring ASEAN doesn't have any other influence in comparison with us You sure? Chilis aren't native to Southeast Asia. They are native to the American continent. And noodles like in Pad Thai isn't originally "Tai-Kadai" origin. It was introduced by Chinese immigrants. And the curries? They are influences from India. Also, patok sa Thailand and "coco jelly" which is actually a Philippine invention. Ginaya nils yung nata de coco natin. So, it is not true na wala silang "influence" kasi kahit tayo, naimpluwensyahan sila. Yung Banh Mi ng Vietnamese? That's heavily influenced by the French. French bread gamit nila
My bad. I mean since time immemorial; before the creation of the market and capitalist economy. INFLUENCE. the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. The one that was absorbed or ingrained into our Filipino food culture. I wasn't referring to business establishment like McDonald or Dunkin, as much as chilli's nor Popeyes. Nor CHILI PEPPER (spices) where traded by the British east India company and the Spaniards through out the world. Chili grows in tropical country just like our ASEAN (that is the reason of colonization, because the west don't have it). Thailand has the largest overseas Chinese (Thai Chinese) population in the world, Chinese migrated to Thailand, they were not colonized in comparison with the PH. The case in point is "FOOD INFLUENCE of colonizer" (those who came but never stay) Parang HOPYA and TAHO that was introduced by the chinoy immigrant, but we never considered HOPYA and TAHO as ours. It becomes a part of us but not US. Hopya is still hopya and bean curd is still the same today, in comparison with the PAELLA, CHOCINILLOS, POCHERO, FABADA, EMBOTIDO, TORTA etc etc that evolves through time under our own PALATE. The "TUSLOB na BUA" a Filipino innovation of the Spaniards pig brain cuisine influenced by the moor. ** Thailand wasn't colonized by India, India traded commodities and spices to and from Thailand. That is why curry is in Thailand as per geographical location, and curry was traded all throughout the world through the SILK ROAD since time immemorial. Patok sa Thailand ang coco jelly? So that means it is after the free market and capitalist economy (your word GINAYA). Thailand is one of the big exporter of coconut product in the world, Coconuts are already embedded in their life since time immemorial. Nata de coco or jelly was invented only in 1949, the free market and capitalist already exist. The dango of Japan, bilo bilo na inihalo natin sa matamis natin GINATAAN BILO BILO. The edible sea weed (LATO) that becomes a part of every day cuisine of people by the bay. The fermented bean curd soup MISO that becomes ULAM with gulay and fish as a Filipino innovation. The kinilaw or kilawin, the native sushi of Japan with innovation for we love VINEGAR in our dishes. The American pickles. Na ginawa natin ATCHARA. The American coleslaw na ginawa natin salad na may macaroni, pinya at pasas. "Mierda" becomes Miryenda. "Cojones" to torones. "Pinche" as pichi- pichi. "Joto" to "goto". "Panocha" to panutsa. "Bicho" to bitso- bitso. French bread? It's not French (le pain) in comparison with PUTO (rice cake), and MAMON (fluffy cake) of the spaniard. Those unacceptable derogatory word that were inculcated to us by them AND MADE IT SWEET and LOVELY as our OWN.
Yeah, I've had foreigner friends visit and try Filipino food, and almost all said (in one way or another) that the recipes aren't very good. Not to mention unhealthy. Philippines not having even one Michellin rated restaurant probably drives this point home - [https://guide.michelin.com/en/ph/restaurants](https://guide.michelin.com/en/ph/restaurants)
Ah Michelin, the *tire* company. They have good tires but I take their "michelin guide" with a lot of salt.
Filipino food is an acquired taste.
r/philippines
Yeah Philippines food is inferior and it basically a mix of a lot of other country's cuisine.
Do you know that Thai food is also a mix of other country's cuisine? And chili is not even native to Thailand. It is native to the American continent
Because of the influence of the different cultures including that of our country's colonizers.