A culinary guide to the Philippines 

From omnipresent vinegar and soy-based adobo dishes to extravagant halo-halo dessert – a super sweet mishmash of ice-cream, taro cubes, evaporated milk, coconut, and fruit preserves. If ever a cuisine embodies its people’s fun-loving livewire character, alongside a rich trading history and tropical fecundity, then look no further than the gastronomy of the Philippines. It’s core philosophy of salty, sweet, and sour (alat, tamis, and asim) isn’t too different to other Southeast Asian neighbours. Yet the presentation and unusual flavour combinations of Filipino cuisine renders it utterly unique.

It’s little wonder, then, that the Philippines’ cuisine has recently been recognised by the Michelin Guide, which awarded stars to nine restaurants in the country as well as other Michelin distinctions. Helm—awarded two Michelin stars and led by chef Josh Boutwood—is located in Manila and reflects the chef’s Filipino and British heritage.

Michelin-starred or not, you can be sure most dishes will be accompanied by rice, grown ubiquitously across the Philippines, or noodles (pancit). The cuisine is meaty especially favouring pork, while the country’s seafaring traditions in the likes of the Western Visayas spawns plentiful seafood. Meatlovers should go in for Filipino lechon, an iconic dish featuring a whole pig which is slow-roasted over charcoal, producing a juicy meat oozing with flavours of lemongrass, garlic and chives.  The dish is often eaten during celebrations and holidays.

Although fear not vegetarian or vegan travellers as its bounteous natural produce makes for scrumptious options. Filipino cuisine also fixates on soups and stews, not the sole preserve of cold climates. And you’ll recognise Hispanic culinary influences with flavoured chorizo-sausages (longganisa), paellas and torta omelettes, and ceviche-style, kinilaw. Working on the premiss that historic trade is the bedrock of future tastes, the Spanish colonial occupation (and curiously, Mexican trade) saw a huge influx of foodstuffs that are now firmly established in Filipino agriculture and cooking: from bell-peppers, coffee, and chocolate, to peanuts and tomatoes. The use of vinegar meanwhile is an eye-catching mainstay but a logical one, historically, due to its preservative powers. Likewise the ubiquitous calamansi limes.

So, where to start? Know that at almost every turn there will be a restaurant, food-stall or market offering prepared food. Experiencing the joy of eating out and witnessing the local love of food is a standout highlight of any visit. Perhaps start the day with breakfast of the much-loved tapsilog – beef, fried egg, and garlicky fried rice, or salty dried bangus fish or something more patisserie with coffee or hot chocolate, like bibingka – a moreish, sweet, glutinous, coconutty small cake. Lunch could be soup time. Among hundreds of varieties is the tangy sourness of a sinigang with tamarind and meat and shrimps or a hearty beef marrow bulalo stew. If dining in the culinary hotspot of Iloilo City, their signature dish is La Paz Batchoy – a pork noodle soup with fried chicharron rinds. And you’re unlikely to miss chicken inasal – spiced marinaded grilled chicken eaten with rice and a vinegar dip – in the acclaimed gastronomic hub, Bacolod City.

And one final quirky twist of note I experienced once during a visit to the Visayas that epitomised the communality and ingredient diversity of Filipino cuisine. Friends took me to a ‘boodle fight’. There was no throwing food just a communal feast of multiple dishes, shared among strangers soon to become friends, spread out on banana-leaves as in times of old.