Filipino Cuisine: A Culinary Connection to Maritime History
- museomaritimo
- Oct 9
- 8 min read
October 8, 2025 – Makati City, NCR, Philippines
An Article by SM Floralde
The Philippines is an archipelago in Southeast Asia, located in the western Pacific Ocean. This country has no land borders since it’s surrounded by great bodies of water – the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea (Pacific Ocean) to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south, as well as a waterway, the Bashi Channel, to the north. Therefore, it’s a geographical fact that this republic shares maritime borders with several countries, such as Taiwan, Japan, Palau, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China, whose people take the sea routes to establish a connection with the Filipinos by importing and exporting products, traveling abroad, and even sharing ideas about food.
Throughout history, these Asian countries and a few Western states have influenced this 7,641-island nation in more ways than one. For many decades now, the Philippines has been trading extensively with major global and regional partners, including Japan, the United States, China, Singapore, and South Korea. So, it’s no surprise that different countries and regions, then and now, have contributed to the development of our culture, tradition, and national identity, not only through our system of government, education, religion, and language, but also, evidently, in our cuisine.
Philippine Cuisine from Malay Cultural Mix
The core component of Filipino cuisine is the culinary influence of the Malay race. It predates other foreign culinary exchanges, particularly from the pre-colonial era. Since Malay people migrated to the Philippines in successive waves starting around 3,000 years ago, these seafaring people from Indonesia, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula brought not only their advanced cultural practices and farming techniques but also their cooking ingredients and methods.
One of the key Malay contributions includes the Filipino staple food, rice, translated in Filipino as bigas (uncooked rice) or kanin (cooked rice). Since it’s been widely cultivated in practically all regions in the Philippines, it’s no accident that the Filipinos have created various rice dishes, such as sinangag (garlic fried rice) and lugaw (Filipino porridge), and rice desserts like bibingka (baked rice cake), suman (sticky rice cake) and other kakanin or sweets made of glutinous rice and coconut milk.
Another Malay influence is their ancient cooking methods, like boiling and steaming. Nilagang baka (boiled beef) and bulalo (beef bone marrow soup) are just some of the Filipino dishes cooked by submerging the main ingredients as meat or fish, in piping hot water to tenderize them and achieve even cooking. Moreover, the staple ingredients such as gata ng niyog (coconut milk), spices such as tanglad (lemongrass) and dahon ng pandan (pandan leaves), and souring agents like sampalok (tamarind) and kamias (bilimbi) found in dishes like sinilihan (Bicol express), laing (taro leaves stew), and sinigang (sour soup or stew), are all rooted in Malay cuisine.
International Influence on Filipino Cuisine
Throughout various periods in our maritime history, Filipino dishes have evolved due to colonization and trade. Philippine dishes can now be described as a rich fusion of influences from centuries of trade and colonization. Complimenting our Malay-based gastronomy, the inspiration to adapt to other kinds of food ingredients, preparation, and cooking most notably comes from Chinese, Spanish, Indian, American, Japanese, and Korean cultures, alongside indigenous Austronesian traditions.
1. Chinese
Since the Philippines is located just south of China, it’s a foreseeable scenario that early Chinese traders in the 12th century introduced new ingredients, such as noodles, soy sauce, ginger, and bean sprouts. Their cooking methods, including stir-frying techniques, were adapted by Filipinos, resulting in many variants of pancit (a noodle dish), such as pancit bihon, pancit canton, and pancit malabon.
Another Filipino interpretation of a Chinese recipe is the lumpiang Shanghai. Also known as Filipino spring rolls, or simply lumpia, this deep-fried appetizer consists of a mixture of giniling (ground pork) with vegetables like carrots, chopped scallions or red onions, and garlic, wrapped in a thin egg crêpe or lumpia wrapper, which is a thin, paper-like, or crepe-like pastry skin, similar to other spring roll wrappers.
Other favorite Chinese-inspired food items are siopao and siomai, which are both directly influenced by Chinese cuisine. Siopao, a popular Filipino dish of sweet, fluffy steamed buns filled with savory ingredients, most commonly asado (braised pork) or bola-bola (a combination of meats and often a salted egg), is the Filipino adaptation of the Chinese steamed bun, baozi. While siomai, a popular Pinoy dish made with ground pork, shrimp, vegetables, and wrapped in wonton wrappers, is the Philippine version of the Chinese dim sum dumpling, shumai.
These Filipino interpretations of Chinese originals truly incorporate local flavors and ingredients over centuries of trade and immigration. And without a doubt, these have led to unique Chinese-Filipino fusion cuisine.
2. Spanish
Later, when a Portuguese explorer from Spain discovered a naval route to this archipelago, which would be called Las Islas de Filipinas, and colonized the Filipinos for more than 300 years, a greater variety of flavors and gastronomic practices were introduced, offering us a more diverse dining experience.
Mixing with our local vegetables, other ingredients, such as tomatoes, potatoes, and corn, were brought by Spanish colonizers from Mexico and the Americas during the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. And with their culinary techniques, such as baking and stewing, they led to the development of popular Filipino dishes.
For instance, adobo, which is simmered in a marinade of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns, is considered the unofficial national dish of the Philippines. Next is an empanada, a baked or fried turnover filled with various ingredients such as meat, cheese, and vegetables. For dessert, it’s leche flan or crème caramel, a Filipino dessert made with egg yolks, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Though paella or paelya (made with malagkít or native glutinous rice, usually made with chicken and chorizo de bilbao), relleno (refers to various stuffed dishes), and morcon (a braised beef roulade made with beef flank steak stuffed with hard-boiled eggs, carrots, pickled cucumber, cheese, and various sausages) are originally Spanish dishes, the Filipinos made their own versions by adding local ingredients and flavors.
3. Indian
Indian culinary influence is also evident in some of the Filipino dishes. It is seen in the adoption of curry and the creation of kare-kare, a peanut-based stew with Spanish and Indian origins.
This influence, attributed to sepoys or the 18th-century British-Indian soldiers, led to local adaptations of Indian curry using ingredients like mani (peanuts), achuete (annatto), and bagoong (shrimp paste). Pre-colonial trade also brought Indianized cultural and linguistic elements to the Philippines, suggesting deeper historical connections beyond the sepoys.
4. American
America, which had colonized the Philippines for about 40 years, popularized its canned goods, sausages, and dairy products in the country through its naval officers during the Commonwealth period. The proliferation of fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King, and casual dining like Pancake House, Starbucks, and Kenny Rogers Roasters, and other convenient products was solely attributed to the superpower influence of the United States of America.
Even after World War II, the American impact on the Filipino gastronomy has continued to increase. This includes the popularization of processed goods like Spam (a brand of cooked, canned, cured pork and ham meat product) and corned beef (a salt-cured piece of beef). Also, the introduction of Western-style fast food, such as hamburger (a round patty of ground beef, fried or grilled and typically served on a bun or roll and garnished with various condiments) and hotdog (a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun), and the promotion of dairy products like ice cream and milk are just some of the reasons of how Americans have influenced the Pinoy eating habits and incorporated in the everyday Filipino dishes.
Historically, Americans had a role in the development of our very own sweet-style Filipino spaghetti and the culinary invention from Pampanga called sisig, a Filipino dish made from maskara (pig’s face, including pork jowl and ears), pork belly, and chicken liver.
5. Japanese
During the short period that Japan conquered our country, the Japanese familiarized the Filipinos with their miso and MSG (Ajinomoto), and even inspired them to create halo-halo from their own native dessert.
The popularity of dishes like katsudon (a popular Japanese dish consisting of a deep-fried pork cutlet, tonkatsu, simmered with eggs and vegetables, then served over a bowl of rice) and takoyaki (a dish made of wheat batter and filling, usually octopus or a similar type of seafood), the practice of eating noodle soups like udon (a thick Japanese noodle made from wheat flour and usually served in a soup) and ramen (quick-cooking noodles, typically served in a broth with meat and vegetables), and the dessert kakigori which inspired our very own halo-halo (literally means “mix-mix”) demonstrate a direct cultural exchange. Moreover, many Japanese-Filipino fusion dishes also exist, showcasing a creative adaptation of Japanese culinary styles within the Philippines.
6. Korean
Through the "Korean Wave" (Hallyu) of popular culture, it’s not surprising that Koreans have influenced Filipino cuisine. Since the early 2000s, Korean cuisine has been introduced to a wider Filipino audience through K-dramas, K-pop, and social media.
Among the Korean foods, kimchi, a spicy pickled cabbage dish, has easily become part of the Filipino diet. With the Filipinos’ fondness for fermented dishes like atsara (a Filipino pickled condiment made from grated or shredded unripe green papaya, mixed with other vegetables), kimchi’s savory and fermented flavors have satisfied the local taste buds. Another Korean dish popular among Filipinos is bulgogi, thinly sliced, marinated beef that is grilled or pan-fried. Its sweet and savory flavor profile is familiar and pleasing to the Filipino palate.
And of course, a Korean food experience will never be complete without samgyeopsal, a dish of thinly sliced pork belly, usually served raw to be cooked by the diner on a tabletop grill. It has become trendy in the Philippines due to its affordability, unlimited offers, and family-style dining experience, which align with Filipino cultural preferences for pork and value.
With the growing Korean community in the country, social media trends, and compatibility with Filipino taste, the Filipinos’ exposure to Korean culture and food led to a surge in popularity and the proliferation of Korean restaurants and markets. All these factors have created a growing adoption of Korean dishes and a more hybrid Filipino food landscape.
Can we now define what Filipino cuisine is in the 21st century?
Basically, we can define the Filipino cuisine as a diverse range of cooking traditions from various regions of the Philippines, resulting in a unique balance of sweet, sour, salty, and savory flavors. After establishing its connection to maritime history, we can logically assume that it is a combination of various dishes from different countries around the world, all mixed in a huge boiling pot of Malay, Chinese, Spanish, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and American flavors. Infused with local ingredients and spices, and served with renowned Filipino hospitality, these traditional and internationally inspired dishes, cooked in numerous ways across Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and all other islands of the Philippines, spread their regional aromas and evolved into newly innovated dishes that offer a uniquely world-class Filipino taste.
References:
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