Arroz Valenciana: The Best Filipino Rice Recipe

We, Filipinos, are not contented with plain rice. We want variety! This is what exactly the recipe, Arroz Valenciana, is all about. This dish is very similar to Paella. However, a Pinoy Arroz Valenciana recipe involves the use of chorizo, boiled eggs, malagkit or glutinous rice and coconut milk. It is called as poor man's Paella because of the fact that this recipe makes use of cheaper and readily available ingredients. It is also different in the way it is prepared since this recipe is stove cooked while Paella is oven baked.

Apan-Apan Recipe: An Ilonggo Vegetable Dish

If you have not yet been to Iloilo, then you are missing out on a lot. Ilonggos are well known for their amazing cuisine and good cooking. If you want to have a taste of what Iloilo has to offer you, then you can try one of their simplest yet delicious dish in your home.

Apan-apan is a dish that has originated form Iloilo. If you wish to know what it tastes like, this closely resembles the adobong kangkong which is a popular vegetable dish in the Tagalog region. However, this dish is made much more flavorful than adobong kangkong because of the addition of ginamos or what we call bagoong alamang in Tagalog.

Bam-i (Pancit Bisaya) Recipe

If you have not yet been to Cebu, trying out the Bam-i recipe will certainly give you the taste of what the Cebu region has to offer. Bam-i is called as pancit Bisaya due to the fact this recipe originated from the Southern region. This region is quite popular for their scenic beaches, amazing shoreline and wonderful history. Most people think that Cebu is all about seafoods and Lechong Baboy that tourists fail to notice and discover the amazing taste of Bam-i.

Filipinos have a native version of Italian spaghetti or carbonara - we have the pancit. If you will browse through my blog, you will be able to see the different types of pansit that Pinoys love to cook. Although you may think that Bam-i have similar ingredients with other pansit recipes such as pancit bihon, sotanghon guisado and the likes, the combination of  two different types of noodles is what makes it stand above all the others.

Filipino Main Dish Recipe: Beef Salpicao with Buttered Vegetables

This recipe is a favorite Filipino dish. What most Filipinos love about salpicao is the fact that it has quality meat with seasonings and a very distinct garlic flavor. This Filipino dish has a wide array of variations. The recipe that you will be getting today is not the original version but it is a healthier one since it involves some vegetables. The addition of vegetables bring balanced to this meaty recipe.

Image via AngSarap.Net

Original Gising Gising Recipe (Chopsuey Spicy Version)

Gising gising is a Filipino term which denotes the English words  -- "wake up, wakeup". Why is this dish called as such? Well, one taste of this amazing dish and you will surely know why! Anyone will surely be woken up by the hot and spicy taste that this vegetable dish has. If you know the Pinoy dish chopsuey, it is very much the same except for the fact that this one is a bit more spicy.

Filipino Appetizer Recipe - Panara Recipe

If you wish to serve a native appetizer in a party, cooking Panara is the best way to go. This appetizer dish is made of mixed shrimp (minced) and bottle gourd or upo (chopped) filling. The filling will then be wrapped in a molo wrapper and will be fried until it turns golden brown. The appearance of this appetizer greatly resembles that of empanada. However the panara is triangular-shaped and has a different filling. You can compare this to fried siomai since you will be using a molo wrapper too.

This popular appetizer came from Iloilo and is usually eaten alone or with rice. Great dips for this appetizer can either be vinegar or a ketchup. Other Ilonggos also dip this in sweet sour sauce or toyo with a mix of calamansi.

Pinoy Binatog (Broiled White Corn With Shredded Coconut) recipe

Walking along the streets in the Philippines, this is one Filipino food that you will surely be seeing. Broiled white corn with shredded coconut and sugar is one of the best Filipino snacks you will ever get to taste. This food is usually sold by various street vendors during the early morning. Today, this has become one of the most popular mid-afternoon snack recipe. Binatog is created by boiling white hominy or corn in water until the corn bits start to break out. Afterwards, the water should be drained  and served hot in a warm bowl. You can buy white hominy from all supermarkets in the Philippines.