Must-try Unique Christmas Food in the Philippines

An integral component of Filipino tradition is the sharing and preparation of delicious lunch foods in Philippines. It not only unites individuals from different backgrounds and places throughout the nation, but it also helps define the culture and legacy of a certain region.

As a matter of fact, you can find unique Philippines best food most during the holidays. There are different types of holidays in the Philippines but one of the most important one is the Christmas Holiday.

When celebrating Christmas in the Philippines, people join together to enjoy delicious snacks, sing Christmas carols, and share in the company of loved ones. Festive celebrations may be seen as early as September. Christmas in the Philippines lasts until the beginning of the new year, making it the longest Christmas celebration in the world. A traditional Noche Buena feast is shared amongst loved ones on Christmas Eve in the Philippines, after 9 days of mass during the month of December.

Traditional Filipino Christmas Foods

When celebrating Christmas in the Philippines, food plays a vital role. The Noche Buena feast is a great opportunity to sample Philippines traditional food with all its robust flavors. Families prepare their finest foods, such as Filipino spaghetti, Filipino roast turkey, and traditional sweets, such as one of the famous snack in Philippines which is the rice cake made from glutinous rice, to share with one another and the community at large during the Christmas celebration.

Here are a few examples of Filipino Christmas dishes that you can encounter around the country over the holiday season.

Famous Filipino Christmas Food to Add To Your Christmas Eve Dinner

Filipinos' two greatest passions are their cuisine and the Christmas season. That's why, come December, we break out the special meals that only come around once a year by preparing some of the famous Filipino snacks.

1. Bibingka

Bibingka is a sweet, sticky rice cake that is traditionally created with coconut cream, sugar, and crushed rice and cooked in a clay pot coated with leaves. Shredded coconut, melted butter, and dark brown sugar are added as a finishing touch before serving. It's a staple item for street sellers to have on hand for the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning Masses.

2. Leche flan

You may round off your Christmas dinner on a sweet note with this custard dessert. Leche flan is a traditional Filipino dessert made with sugar, fresh milk, condensed milk, and egg yolk, and it is often served at parties and celebrations. This dish stands apart from standard flan because to the addition of sweetened condensed milk. Sometimes, to make the flavor even more decadent, evaporated milk is also added.

3. Lechon

Lechon is a whole pig that is cooked over charcoal and is traditionally served at Christmas in the Philippines instead of turkey. One mouthful will convince you why Anthony Bourdain called this the "greatest pork dish ever"; it has that perfect crunch on the outside and a juicy meat inside.

Lechon is great when dipped in a traditional Filipino sauce, including the spicy vinegar known as pinakurat.

4. Lumpiang ubod

Lumpiang ubod is a fresh spring roll meal filled with a combination of veggies, coconut, shrimp, and pork blended with a vinegar-based sauce. It is one of the healthier alternatives when it comes to Christmas cuisine. Heart of palm, or "ubod" in Tagalog, is julienned and used as a filling.

5. Pancit Malabon

Eggs and annatto seeds (responsible for the meal's distinctive yellow-orange tint) are added to the stir-fried noodles along with a variety of seafood toppings including shrimp, squid, mussels, hard-boiled eggs, and oysters to create this substantial dish that is a Christmas feast favorite. Noodles are one of the most popular Filipino Christmas foods because of the cultural belief that they represent a long and healthy life. There is also an almost similar variant of this called Pancit Palabok which is made from rice noodles.

6. Pinoy-style spaghetti

The Filipino version of spaghetti bolognese uses hotdog slices in addition to ground beef, and the sauce is sweeter than the original thanks to the addition of tomato sauce, brown sugar, and banana ketchup, which is a popular condiment in the Philippines that is made by combining banana, sugar, vinegar, and spices.

7. Puto bumbong

Glutinous rice, coconut milk, and sugar are put into a bamboo tube and cooked till the mixture becomes a vibrant purple. It is then served hot with shredded coconut, butter, and sugar. To prepare puto bumbong, you'll need a special kind of purple-to-almost-black glutinous rice known as pirurutong.

8. Tsokolate

Tsokolate, the Filipino equivalent of hot chocolate, is prepared using tablea, a paste produced from roasted cocoa beans and sugar. Drinks made with simply tablea and hot water have a strong, bittersweet flavor that is frequently mellowed down with milk and honey.

Other famous Filipino cuisines for Christmas celebrations:

Here are other unique Filipino Christmas recipes that you can add to your noche buena food list:

Castañas

These are chestnuts that are fried in a wok and sold on the sidewalks.

Queso de bola

A spherical Edam cheese with a crimson paraffin wax coating.

Christmas ham

Pineapple-glazed pork that has been cured and smoked.

Lumpiang Shanghai

These are pork egg rolls that are always a hit with the masses and usually come with a sweet and sour sauce.

Barbecue

Skewers of pork and chicken in a variety of cuts, marinated and grilled to perfection and served with a savory soy sauce.

Salad

Numerous kinds of sweet, fruity, and chilled dessert. Some of the most common ones that you could see on the Christmas table is the Filipino fruit salad and buko salad, which is made with grated coconut.

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