What we eat…

• Adobo (ah-doe-boe) - derived from the Spanish word adobar meaning marinate. Adobo is a cooking process in Filipino cuisine that could include meat (chicken and pork), seafood (shrimp), or vegetables (kangkong, green beans) marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black peppercorns. It has sometimes been considered as the unofficial national dish of the Philippines.

• Atsara (ut-chu-rah) - pickled green papaya. It is often served as a side dish for fried or grilled food. Usually includes bell peppers, onions, and carrots,

• Calamansi (kah-lah-mun see) - is a citrus hybrid native to the Philippines. Calamansi is ubiquitous in traditional Filipino cuisine. It is used in various condiments, beverages, dishes, marinades, and preserves.

• Dalandan (duh-lahn-dahn) - Philippine orange. Dalandans are eaten fresh, juiced, and added to both hot and cold preparations. The fruit makes a refreshing juice or shake.

• Kaong (kah-ong) - commonly called sugar palm fruit. The immature fruit is widely consumed in the Philippines and is made into canned fruits after boiling them in sugar syrup.

• Pandan (pun-dun) - is a tropical plant and is used widely in South Asian and Southeast Asian cooking as a flavoring. Filipino cuisine uses pandan as a flavoring in buko pandan, as well as rice-based pastries such as suman and numerous sweet drinks and desserts.

• Pinipig (pee-nee-peeg) - immature grains of glutinous rice pounded until flat before being toasted. It is commonly used as a topping of various desserts, but can also be eaten plain, made into cakes, or mixed with drinks and other dishes.

• Ube (ooh-bae) - commonly called purple yam. The tubers usually come in vivid violet to bright lavender in color, hence the common name. It is sometimes confused with taro.

  What we say…

• Kumain ka na? (koo-mah-in kuh nuh?) - translated to “Have you eaten?”. It is a common phrase asked by Filipinos as they welcome guests in their homes.

• Pinoy (pee-noy) - Pinoy was used for self-identification by the first wave of Filipinos going to the continental United States before World War II and has been used both in a pejorative sense and as a term of endearment, similar to Chicano. The word is formed by taking the last four letters of Filipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y in the Tagalog language (the suffix is commonly used in Filipino nicknames: e.g. "Ninoy" or "Noynoy" for Benigno Jr. and III respectively.

• Salamat - Thank you!