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6 Best Filipino Dishes for A Christmas Party

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What are the best Filipino dishes for a Christmas Party?

  1. Crispy Lechon
  2. Different Kinds of Pancit
  3. Filipino Style Sweet Spaghetti
  4. Lumpiang Shanghai
  5. Christmas Ham
  6. Fruit Salad

Back then, December was fully scheduled with Christmas parties. These gatherings happened at the office, school, and also family reunions. People would bring their own pot luck which is either cooked at home or ordered from a restaurant. Companies would hire catering services that would serve professional multi-course meals from appetizer to desserts. Buffets and dining tables would be served with delicious dishes. The holiday seasons are coming soon and you should plan for it too! To help you we listed down below the best Filipino dishes for a Christmas party!

Crispy Lechon

Crispy Lechon

Lechon is a Filipino favorite not just at Christmas parties but also at other big celebrations. This is a special dish that is not commonly seen in regular meals. That’s why when you serve it at your party it will quickly become the center of attention. There are two ways you can cook it. One is slowly roasting a whole pig over charcoal or cooking smaller parts of a pig on a frying pan, which is called lechong kawali.

The appeal of this dish is its crispy skin. When you chop a Lechon, the skin is the first thing that will run out. If the pork is roasted properly the meat will become very tender.  When you eat it, it will melt in your mouth. It is often paired with a Filipino-style sweet gravy or sour vinegar depending on your taste.

This dish will be an instant hit at your party. Remember to cook a lot of rice!

Different Kinds of Pancit

Pancit is the Filipino version of pasta. It is a noodle dish that is served without soup, but instead different flavors of sauce and toppings. The noodles are very long that’s why locals call it “pampahaba ng buhay” or something you eat to lengthen your life.

In the Philippines, there are many types of Pancit depending on where you live. There is Pancit Malabon, Pancit Bam-i of Cebu, Pancit Palabok, Pancit canton, and many more! Seriously, Filipinos really love pancit.

Filipino Style Sweet Spaghetti

Spaghetti

Another noodle dish is the local’s version of spaghetti. Spaghetti from other countries is typically served in slightly sour tomato sauce. But Filipinos have a sweet-tooth as can be seen in this dish. The spaghetti sauce is mixed with sugar or condensed milk. What really sets this apart is the toppings! Aside from ground meat the unique ingredient is chopped hotdogs. This is why this is served at children’s birthday parties. But adults like this too!

Lumpiang Shanghai

Lumpia is basically ground meat mixed with vegetables like carrots and onions then rolled in egg roll wrappers. After that it is deep-fried in hot oil, resulting in crispy lumpia.

Lumpiang Shanghai is often served with a sweet and sour dip or ketchup. Remember to make a lot of these as locals really love this dish. You may also be guilty of trying one while you’re cooking. This is perfect served with rice, pancit, or eaten on its own.

Christmas Ham

Traditional Sliced Honey Glazed Ham

If you receive a Christmas basket from your office you are really lucky if you find a Christmas ham. A Hamon, as locals call it, is a pre-cooked ham that is typically sweet. It is incorporated into many dishes or served with queso de bola, a round cheese. This is eaten both on Christmas and New Year dinner in the Philippines.

Fruit Salad

What is a Christmas party without dessert? The most popular choice for Filipinos is the fruit salad. Different cuts of fruits are mixed with coconut shreds and coconut cubes into condensed milk and heavy cream. Normally, home-prepared fruit salad uses canned fruit cocktails. More fancy choices include fresh fruits.

Key Takeaway

Every family has their own version of lechon, pancit, spaghetti, lumpiang shanghai, hamon dish, and fruit salad. But if you really want to make the holidays special and have the best Filipino dishes for a Christmas party, hiring a catering service in the Philippines is the best choice. Instead of cooking all these dishes alone, you can relax and decorate your party while waiting for the professionals to prepare your meals. Juan Carlo can help you make your Christmas party a memorable one.

If you have any inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us here. We also cater to weddings, debuts, corporate events, and children’s parties.

5 Filipino-Chinese Dishes To Welcome The Chinese New Year

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What are Filipino-Chinese dishes for the Chinese New Year?

  1. La Paz Batchoy Noodle Soup
  2. Pork, Beef, and Shrimp Siomai
  3. Lumpiang Shanghai or Spring Rolls
  4. Kiampong Fried Rice
  5. Pancit Noodles

 

The presence of the Chinese has been so deeply ingrained in Filipino food and culture that locals in the country started calling the fusion of dishes as Filipino-Chinese cuisine. Chinese dishes are popular for their rich flavors and affordable ingredients. Given the Filipinos possessing a penchant for anything worth their cents, the Chinese dishes presented a perfect fit for the local mindset. With that, here are some of the famous Chinese-influenced dishes that every Filipino dining table can have for all types of celebrations.

 

La Paz Batchoy Noodle Soup

Close up of La Paz Batchoy Noodle Soup

Batchoy is a hearty and scrumptious soup dish every Filipino can enjoy. It is made of chicken and pork soup with a thick noodle base. It also has strips of pork, chicken, and liver topped with fried garlic, onions, crushed chicharron, as well as a whole egg. The dish is often referred to as La Paz Batchoy due to its origins in the district of La Paz in Iloilo. The batchoy dish became so popularized that consumer retail companies created instant noodles for those who wish to have easy access to its comforting flavors.

 

Pork, Beef, and Shrimp Siomai

Siomai is a dumpling of Chinese origin. It is often made with pork, beef, and shrimp wrapped in wonton wrappers. It can also be combined with extenders like green peas or carrots. The dish is either steamed to maintain the softness of the wrappers or fried to create a crispy exterior. Siomai is commonly dipped in soy sauce with calamansi topped with oil and spicy garlic mix. The bite-sized dish can be seen in every busy corner or area around the country. They are either consumed as a merienda snack or paired with rice that makes a hearty lunch.

 

Lumpiang Shanghai or Spring Rolls

Lumpiang Shanghai on a plate

Similar to siomai, lumpiang shanghai or spring rolls are a combination of veggies and meat wrapped in flour wrappers to keep the ingredients together. Lumpia was brought to the country by Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province of China. It quickly became popular not just within the country, but around Southeast Asian countries as well.

Frying the lumpia in oil is the traditional way to cook the dish. The flavors of the meat together with spring onion, carrots, and oyster sauce is truly a delicious explosion. Another way to enjoy the dish is to prepare it wet, with beef and dried prawn floss. It is referred to as the wet spring roll.

 

Kiampong Fried Rice

Kiampong or Kiam Pung fried rice are Hokkien terms that translate to “salty rice”. It is basically Chinese flavored rice with meat and vegetable toppings in soy sauce. Other locals would refer to the dish as adobo rice without the veggie ingredients. Each Filipino has their own way of making Kiam Pung. This depends on their city or location as the dish is passed on from one generation to another.

The grains of rice are cooked in a rice cooker while other ingredients are cooked all together. After both have been cooked, the rice and mixture of ingredients will then be added to a pot set on medium heat. Soy sauce will then be added to mix the whole dish together and create Kiam Pung. You can use either shrimp, pork, beef, or chicken as the main ingredient as each delivers a unique taste.

 

Pancit Noodles

A plate of egg noodles

In Chinese culture, noodles symbolize longevity. It is a long-standing tradition to serve pancit during Chinese New Year celebrations to welcome good luck. The dish is also a huge part of birthday celebrations as a form of wishing the celebrant a good and long life.

Apart from these beliefs, Filipinos have learned to love the dish so much that it can be seen in streets and malls alike. The typical Filipino pancit consists of noodles, a mixture of vegetables, meat, as well as soy sauce. The word pancit is derived from the Hokkien “pian I sit” which translates to “something conveniently cooked fast”.

There are numerous variations of pancit originating from different regions in the Philippines. Among the popular ones are the pancit Malabon, lomi, sotanghon, bihon, and palabok. Often, you will notice at least two types of pancit are served on a Filipino dining table or buffet set up. Indeed, the locals can never get enough of the flavor-filled dish.

 

Key Takeaway

There is no doubt that several types of Filipino food have known origins in the Philippines. But, there is also no denying that authentic Chinese food has formed a niche within the local cuisine. Regardless of that, the Chinese-influenced dishes have become a part of every Filipino dining table during celebrations and even on normal days. From the pancit to lumpiang shanghai, an occasion or gathering is not truly a celebration without the presence of Chinese-Filipino cuisine.

11 Major Food Festivals in the Philippines

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lechon festival

What are some of the most popular Filipino food festivals?

  1. Lechons are the most loved festival food of all time, and what better way to enjoy this event is to join the townspeople of Batangas and Iligan as they celebrate the festival during the month of January and September respectively.
  2. Crabs make the most delicious seafood cuisine of all time, and surely, you’ll find various recipes of it on the Alimango festival happening every month of July in Sta.Margarita, Samar.
  3. Who loves cheese? Join the people of Sta. Cruz, Laguna as they celebrate the festival of Kesong Puti every month of March.
  4. Suman Festivals are held on February in Aurora, and on May in Antipolo – and definitely, these events are not to miss out as you’ll witness the festivity of famous sticky rice cakes!
  5. Want some good tuna? Wait for the Tuna Festival held in the land of tunas, General Santos City, every September.
  6. Longganisa has long been an important ingredient for a typical Filipino breakfast and what better way to stock up on this food necessity is by visiting Vigan, Ilocos Sur as they celebrate the Longganisa Festival on the month of January.
  7. If you’re a balut lover, then you’ll also love the exotic dishes made out of itik on the Itik Festival, happening on November, at Victoria, Laguna.
  8. A major go-to festival on the month of August is the Dinagat-Bakasi Festival for their well-known celebration of their rich-fishing culture and their main marine resource, the bakasi.
  9. Want to join an eat-all-you-can mango event? Then the celebration of Manggahan Festival every month of April in Guimaras, Iloilo is the right event for you!
  10. Bawang Festival is the best go-to festival for cook hopefuls – join the people of Sinait, Ilocos Sur as they celebrate the event every month of May.
  11. If you want some good lanzones, then it’s best to go to the Lanzones Festival at Mambajao, Camiguin during the month of October for their undeniably sweet-tasting lanzones.

Our very own local food scene is beautifully diverse and that is indeed one of many reasons why it’s more fun in the Philippines. Any foodie or food fanatic will love to be the first to visit each one of these festivals – rest assured that these events will not disappoint in terms of presenting a memorable feast to satisfy your intense hunger for good food.

Want to be the first in line to the serving table? Then you might want to jot these major food festivals down in your planner so you won’t forget. The food will surely excite your taste buds – just like our own wedding catering in Manila.

Lechon Festival

Who loves a savory roasted lechon? Everybody! The crunchy roasted pig skin and the succulent pork meat. Mmmm! This is something that never goes missing in any table, especially if it is a grand celebration whether it be birthdays, christening, or weddings, you’’ll be sure to find this being served in a dining hall because we Filipinos can’t live without it. Lechon festivals are celebrated in Batangas during January, and in Iligan on September.

Alimango Festival

Mr. Krabs should be in hiding when July hits in Samar because the Alimango festival is something to look forward to. Crabs, crabs, and lots of alimangos for all in Sta. Margarita where they celebrate this festival with parades, games, and a lot of cooking contests on who can serve the best dish using the star of the show – Crabs!

Kesong Puti Festival

Love a good cheese? Everyone loves it, especially white cheese made from the milk of a water buffalo or more locally known as the carabao. Kesong puti has been a traditional palaman for the Filipinos monay and pandesal, and your pretty much set for the whole day if you’ve had them for breakfast. The warm bread pandesal and the cheesy goodness of kesong puti. Yum! This festival is celebrated in Sta, Cruz Laguna on March.

Suman Festival

A local delicacy, suman is the Filipinos original version of the sticky rice cake that is wrapped in banana leaves and served with either sugar granules or sweet syrup. You will find sumans being sold on the streets because they are a pretty common snack food and can fill you up for at least a good number of hours. Suman Festivals are held on February in Aurora, and on May in Antipolo.

Tuna Festival

Well, if you haven’t had your seafood fill then you better make sure to visit General Santos City on September because you will be greeted with the most protein packed dishes of Tuna. Locals celebrate this festival with a tuna float parade, which is a very exciting event to witness, to say the least. Game up on your eating because it’s going to be one heck of a fish party!

Longganisa Festival

Longganisa has long been an important ingredient for a typical Filipino breakfast and what better way to stock up on this food necessity is by visiting the Ilokanos which are famous for their renowned Vigan longganisa. Gas money is not an issue if you can just visit and eat those juicy delicious spicy red meats!

Itik Festival

Sure, you may have heard of balut – and the many exotic dishes that is popular in the Philippines; enter itik (also, native duck). The town of Victoria in Laguna has a rich culture in duck-farming, and is a prominent destination for traders, thus earning their title as the “Duck Raising Center of the Philippines.” To pay tribute to the honor that itik has given the municipality, itik festival is being celebrated simultaneously along with the town’s founding anniversary every November – with a lot of dancing and delicacies that is surely to go for!

Dinagat-Bakasi Festival

Before, the people in Cordova, Cebu celebrates Dinagat Festival in honor of their fishing culture and livelihood – however, the festival was later associated with the town’s main marine resource: the Bakasi, also Cordova eel, hence, Dinagat-Bakasi Festival. This festival is a major go-to every month of August for their well-known ritual dance which replicates the movement of the eel, the bakasi race, and their cooking contest, with of course, the bakasi as the star ingredient.

Manggahan Festival

Ever tasted the sweet-tasting mangoes from Guimaras, Iloilo? Every April, the people of Guimaras celebrate their independence while promoting their very own delicious mangoes – and the highlight of the event? The “eat-all-you-can” promo on mangoes for only a hundred peso! Everyone, including Filipinos and tourists alike can eat every each of it within a particular time limit, absolutely terrific!

Bawang Festival

Considered as the main ingredient in most Philippine cuisines, garlic is being celebrated at Sinait, Ilocos Sur every month of May to honor its glory in the Philippine history, and of course, to give recognition to Ilocano garlic farmers. What’s interesting in this festival is the parade of garlic floats, street dancing, street presentation, and a lot more kinds of competitions that puts garlic and the farmers in the center stage – and oh, do not forget the garlic themed dishes you definitely should not miss out!

Lanzones Festival

It’s a joy to eat lanzones that is not too sour and definitely sweet-tasting, and you might’ve not been informed that these particular sweet lanzones came from Mambajao, Camiguin. Basically, the townspeople celebrate their thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest every October, in line with the season of the tropical fruit lanzones, and like any other festivals, the lanzones festival highlights a line-up of various activities including street dancing, parade and beauty pageants, and product exhibits that’s open for local and foreign tourists as well. But aside all this, the people are most thrilled for the annual beautification contest of the barangays, indigenous sports, and the representation of local culture that will definitely leave you in awe.

Key Takeaway

The next time you want to have that family vacation, it’s safe to say that you’ll be setting up on some of these food destinations and pretty sure you’re already making plans and gearing up on some of these local food festivals with the whole fam bam because going to the beach is so last season.

13 Food-Related Superstitious Beliefs in the Filipino Culture

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filipino superstitions

What are the common food-related superstitions in Filipino Culture?

  1. Dropping utensils means someone will be coming in for a visit.
  2. When your neighbor gives you food, do not wash the plate since it also washes away the ‘blessings’ given.
  3. Do not clean up the table when someone still has an unfinished plate because they will be unmarried and single forever.
  4. Make sure that there are no traces of food left and rice grain on your plate as it was believed to signify a lonely and unmarried life.
  5. If you suddenly choke while you are eating means that someone is talking about you.
  6. Expecting women who eat twin bananas during pregnancy will also have twin babies.
  7. Never bring home food from a wake or funeral otherwise, this will bring bad luck.
  8. A breech-born person can bring out the stuck fish bone from your throat.
  9. Purchase twelve round fruits for the New Year’s Eve to set the tone of the incoming new year.
  10. Eating pancit for long life.
  11. Breaking and seeing two egg yolks could mean wealth is coming your way.
  12. Do not leave the fridge empty on a New Year’s Eve for a prosperous new year.
  13. Singing while cooking will get you marrying a widow in the future.

Urban legends are deeply rooted in the Filipino culture and the same goes for superstitious tales. One may theorize that they came forth alongside with the many folklores and mythical tales told our lolo’s and lola’s passed on to them by our ancestors. You would think that these so called mysterious superstitions would have died down, but even so, many of us still tend to bite their finger when they make a habit of pointing at a tree branch and even saying the phrase tabi tabi po, makikiraan lang when passing by its roots.

Superstitious beliefs have played a major role in the Filipino culture, which is to say, have expanded our creativity and the amount of respect for our ethnic background, kinda like how a wedding catering plays an important part when managing a successful wedding. So before you taste all those authentic and mouthwatering dishes, here are some of the most unusual dining superstitions Filipinos have.

Dropping utensils means someone will be coming in for a visit.

We’ve all heard of this from our parents that when you drop a utensil, someone is bound to drop by at your house. When you drop a fork, it means your visitor would be a male and when it is a spoon, then it’s a woman. So when a utensil drops, expect this phrase to be uttered by someone. It’s a norm.

When your neighbor gives you food, do not wash the plate

since it also washes away the ‘blessings’ given. But you might feel it’s rude to do so. Although, when you think about it this way, it saves you from the hassle of cleaning up and wasting water and dishwashing liquid, right?

Do not clean up the table when someone still has an unfinished plate

because they will be unmarried and single forever. Yikes! Well, it does implement some discipline that you should wait for everyone else to finish and have their full before you clean the table since it is a bit rude and it shows bad etiquette if you rudely interrupt someone from eating just to clean up the space in her side of the table.

Make sure that there are no traces of food left and rice grain on your plate.

Each rice grain can only signify the days you will spend in purgatory, hence the single and unmarried life. This is actually a good lesson to teach your kids so that there are no foods wasted.

If you suddenly choke while you are eating means that someone is talking about you.

Hmm, and you are about to hope that this “someone” is your crush then let’s hope he’s not the one choking right now.

Expecting women who eat twin bananas during pregnancy will also have twin babies.

From a logical standpoint, it would be best to assume that having twins is by no mean related to what food or fruit you eat. Science can prove that easily. Well, genetics actually. The same goes with the superstition that a pregnant woman should avoid eating luya or ginger because the fetus may grow extra fingers or toes. Again, genetics.

Never bring home food from a wake or funeral otherwise, this will bring bad luck.

If you’ve watched the Filipino movie “Pagpag”, you’ll notice that this particular superstition of bringing home food from a funeral has been one of the reasons that brought bad luck to one of the characters. And while this may not be true in reality, most Filipinos believe this superstition as it’s particularly safer to do it; avoiding lingering spirits of the dead from going over to one’s home. Scary.

Hence, if you’re in a funeral and someone or your friend tends to bring home food (for the reason that it’s free, of course), expect that one of the visitors will tell that person that.

A breech-born person can bring out the stuck fish bone in you.

This superstition can be explained by science, regardless, some still expect that breech-born people, those that are born feet-first, can get stuck fish bone down from within people’s throat smoothly. Surprisingly, suhi (in vernacular term) are thought to be in-born gifted healers – where they are expected to have the gift of touch, thus being able to relax muscles. Anyway, science knows.

Purchasing twelve round fruits for the New Year’s Eve.

As you would’ve known, it has been a norm in the Filipino culture to collect twelve round fruits for the New Year’s Eve to set the tone of the incoming new year. As much as you don’t want to believe it, because it’s really difficult to collect twelve with the people rushing into stores and in the market, you’ll probably be called out by your Mom just to collect those – before the clock strikes twelve. Else, you’re doomed for the whole year. Yikes.

Eating pancit for long life.

Your Mom or your Lola would have always prepared you pancit or long noodles on every family member’s birthday for the sole reason that it signifies having a longer life. However, in a nutritionist’s perspective, the truth about pancit is that it contains too many ingredients hence it’s rich in calories. So why? Unless, they prepare a vegetarian pancit, that is.

Breaking and seeing two egg yolks could mean wealth is coming your way.

Well, as this has already been a part of the norm, most expects that this could happen – along with a good breakfast, of course.

Do not leave the fridge empty on a New Year’s eve for a prosperous new year.

Most people believe this superstition, though, that’s pretty effective because truly storing food in your fridge definitely signifies abundance in food and health – you eat and get nutrition, pretty much understandable.

Singing while cooking will get you marrying a widow in the future.

This superstition has been said to be brought about by employers who have maids singing while cooking, and to avoid showering saliva onto the food, they use this tactic to scare them off. Now, that’s very much logical.

Key Takeaway

So, do you believe in any of these superstitions mentioned above? If you know any other superstitions aside from these, share them with us in the comment box below.