Food in the Philippines
I am going to be visiting the Philippines in about two months, and I have a question about the food. I can tend to be a picky eater, and I am nervious about what I will be able to eat. Can someone tell me what I will most likly be eating. Also, if I do not care for the local food, is there a place I will be able to purchase American food?
Thanks
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food
most people in the phils, and i mean most foreigners, do not care about what they eat. you could serve them cardboard and they would not notice.
food in the phils is very bad in general, having travelled to 75 + countries i would rate food the worst of any country i know. not only does it taste bad, it is also extremely unhealthy. life expectancy is very low in the phils.
the main food is pork and rice. most food is fried in transfat oils. vegetables are not used by most restaurants. the main dish is a piece of meat and rice. herbs and spices are unknown. local filipino food stalls store meat and rice in silver cookpots all day and i bet sometimes many days, meaning that bacteria develop fast considering the heat.
they have cheap fast-food copies like jollybees which do not serve a single healthy food item. in the usa, all fast foods serve salads and some have started to serve vegetarian food, not in the phils. also portion sizes are very small in the filipine fast foods, about half the normal size. everyone should avoid those fastfoods anyway, in order to stay healty.
you can find good restaurants only in large cities. those restaurants are very few and unlike in north america, there is no variety. decent restaurants are expensive, you will pay more than in an equivalent restaurant in the usa. in a good restaurant in a mall you will pay more than 15 bucks per person. in the us you can get similar food for 10 or 12. in the usa most chinese, thai and vietnamese restaurants serve tea for free. in the phils nothing is free..
finally be prepared that you have to be on guard all the time because they use tons of SUGAR in every and any food item. even most young people, 19, 20 years young, are loosing teeth. most older people have only a few teeth left. in the phils they do not declare the sugar, they do not declare anything on any food and so you will have to ask every time you buy anything if there is sugar added or any other unhealthy ingredient. most of the time the clerks will not know or they will give you wrong information.
the only way to stay healthy is buying vegetables and fruits at the market and cook.
fred
Food
Hi I'm from the philippines. May be in manila no free but in my province thier is a free coconuts. My husband does not like the food when they use msg. We go to the market buy vegetables and cook our own food and also fruits.
Milyn
I guess the Philippines must
I guess the Philippines must have changed greatly in the last year since I've been away. I found the local food good, both that I bought at the markets and cooked at home, and that from the resturants and stalls. Jollybees was good for that kind of thing......I would say that you could eat anything offered........As for the Filipinos loseing their teeth,...My wife's mother has lost a couple, but she IS 80 years old! One of her brothers lost one in a fight a few years ago.....Otherwise all of her (our) family are well toothed!
OMG!
okay, first of all.
im a filipino and actually proud.
the food in the philippines are amazing.
we make do with what we got.
canada has it easy. but i was happy when i lived in the philippines.
all of us are really close and i do get that other people
have their own opinions but this one was just plain rude!
im not trying to cause any trouble... just put on facts that need
to be put on there. not the fact the if we were fed cardboard, we wouldnt
even notice. (YEA, we would).
my friend loves filipino food and shes from canada.
the philippines is an amazing country.
^^im just stating my opinion.
yours truly,
anonymous.
THERE IS AMAZING FOOD IN THE
THERE IS AMAZING FOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES. !! (: (:
you can eat what ever you
you can eat what ever you want from philippines,its depend on you..please dont tell that philippines is not good in terms of food....we have plenty of vegetables and fresh fruits...
Reply to Fred
I am a Filipino and am proud to be one.
I am absolutely offended by Fred's comments. I'm sure every Filipino would be if he/she ever got the chance to read his comments about Filipino food. Though I know that each person is entitled to his/her opinion, I believe that one must take in to consideration the feelings of those to whom his comments are directed at. Fastfood chains here in the Phils., for me, can't be referred to as "Filipino food". Before criticizing our choice of food and lifestyle, you should first research about the various kinds of food that we could and do offer, like adobo, sinigang and pinak-bet. They are healthy and yummy at the same time. And regarding those things that you wrote about us not being healthy, I'd like to inform you that there are more obese people in the U.S. than here in our country. And that's a known fact.
There are lots of amazing
There are lots of amazing Philippine food. There are lots of American food (which is not very many anyway) in the main cities of every province in the Philippines where you can find in supermarkets. Restaurants in cities nearby or in Manila are quite expensive if you are looking for lucrative foods just like in any other countries. Fast foods are the most famous for average Filipinos because they're fast and inexpensive. Jollibee is just like McDonalds taste and menu adjusted to local taste and market. You can get fresh vegetables for salads in supermarkets or wet markets in the very early morning. Get meats from the supermarkets or from trusted wet market vendors. Fishes are most likely fresh in the Philippines but must buy also early in the morning at the wet markets or get at supermarkets. You can check on local middle class community for good and inexpensive restaurants and food supply, they are the one who most likely know what's best in town. Street foods are served all over Manila streets but they are just snacks and should buy with those much customers. The best way to save money and stay healthy is to cook your own food, which most Filipino families do. Fast foods and street foods are just for comfort and they are not a daily diet. Filipino fast foods and street foods are just amazing tho, specially for the locals. Taste them if you want to have a taste of the culture.
hey everyone, i am from
hey everyone, i am from philippines. i live here my whole life and id like to give a comment about freds. i think he knows a lot less about philippine food. there are fairly loads of amazing foods over here if u would only research, as simple as askin people. would help if u get to know philippines.
cookin for urself is great whereever u would be so, everything u would need is jsut in the supermarkets!!!
welcome aboard!!!
dd
As a foreigner I'd like to
As a foreigner I'd like to say that fred did get the message across, though I feel he could have been a tit bit more diplomatic in his response.
The food in the Philippines is diverse, however the bottom line is that if you want good food you have to part with a little more pesos than the average pinoy. Let me elaborate, carefully select the stores/markets you buy your chicken and other food from. A lot, not all, but a lot of Filipino dishes have quantities of ingridients that most foreigners fail to find palatable sugar and cooking oil being the main two.
GOOD Vegetables are hard to come buy in metro manila, however the more remote areas of the Philippines have fresh, scrumptious vegies that will leave you yearning for more. The local beef doesn't taste as good as beef elsewhere so if you are a person who loves staeks your best be would be to buy imported meat(From Australia and other countries in the vicinity.
Bottom line - shop around
My 2 Cents
Much of what Fred wrote is true. However, extremely short sighted as it fails to tell the whole story.
I just returned two weeks ago from a six week business trip to Asia of which 4 weeks were spent on the island of Leyte, Philippines. It is funny that I even came across this thread as I actually found it by doing a search on healthy eating in the Philippines.
A little background for what I'm about to say. I'm 53 years old and certainly at a time in my life when I can look at food and gain weight. I'm not a dietitian or a health food nut but I try to eat right most of the time. When home I work out at the gym 5 days a week, and on weekends try to engage in some sort of physical activity. This is the only way I can keep from getting fat. I’m 5’11” and weigh 180lbs.
When I left on this trip I weighed 180lbs. The local foods were my only choice and I tried many dishes and kept eating the things I liked the most since I was not near the larger cities and I certainly did not starve myself. I did not work out for the entire time as I was busy and fairly active anyway. When I returned to the US my weight was still 180lbs. After being back for two weeks I’m 185 and back to having to limit what I eat, go to the gym to work on get the pounds back off.
If I were to make one statement and observation… I would rather eat the very fresh young hormone free pork and chicken combined with their exotic fruits and vegetables in the Philippines then all the fattening foods served here in the US. The foods here are good, “and I’m not a DR” but being obese has to be much more life shorting than eating their foods.
With that said just use common sense. I don’t like their foods cooked in oil but I found so many other great choices, and regarding the meat… the pork and chicken cooked over charcoal is out of this world. Forget about beef while you are there, it is a waste of money.
Beyond all of this, the Philippines are beautiful and you will not find another English speaking country whose people are genuinely so friendly and sweet. These people, as poor as they may be are educated and extremely family oriented. They take care of each other and I have the highest level of respect for the Filipino’s. Yes, it is true that their life expectancy is 5 years less than ours but maybe that has something to do with being poor and little access to healthcare. That’s right; most live their whole life without going to the doctor or dentist. Still most stay healthy enough to live out their lives poor and happy not needing a Doctor o keep them alive the last 20-30 years of their life. BTW, I saw a lot of beautiful pearl white teeth when I was there.
I recommend you do not try and judge the Philippines on the major cites because life in general there is so much different in the Provinces, and the people will treat you with great respect expecting absolutely nothing in return.
Good Luck, and enjoy your visit to the Philippines
T
I have had awesome pilipino
I have had awesome pilipino food, grew up with it. Filipinos (it appears that you do not know how to spell it) cook with lots of veggies. Perhaps you should think before you speak.
FOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES
I HAVE BEEN TO THE PHILIPPINES TWICE AND FOUND THE FOODS THERE TO BE VERY GOOD .
I ATE IN THE BEST RESTRAUNTS IN THE CITIES , STREET STALLS AND IN THE HOMES OF SOME OF THE VERY POOR PEOPLE .
TO TELL THE TRUTH I FOUND THE BEST FOODS IN THE STREET STALLS AND POOR PEOPLES HOMES.
AND I ALSO FOUND SOME OF THE WORLDS BEST COOKS IN THE HOMES OF POOR PEOPLE THERE
AND THEY WHERE KIND ENOUGH TO TEACH ME HOW TO COOK SOME OF THERE DISHES . NOW MY WIFE AND I CAN INJOY THEM AT HOME .
I LOVED THE PEOPLE AND THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY , AND THE WONDERFUL FOODS SO MUCH THAT I WILL BE RETIREING THERE IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS
IF YOU LOOK AT IT FROM ANOTHER WAY THERE ARE LOTS OF AMERICAN FOODS THAT I DO NOT LIKE BUT THEN AGAIN THERE ARE ALOT THAT I DO LIKE .
SO PLEASE DO NOT BELITTLE A WONDERFUL PEOPLE , A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY, AND VERY GOOD FOOD WHEN YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO IS IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE FOOD THEN DO NOT EAT IT
THANK YOU
LYNN COOPER