Filipino Food Terms Glossary (Definitions or Meanings)

achuete - annatto; red seeds used to color food
adobo - braised meat; cooked over slow fire using vinegar, water, and black peppercorn, with soy sauce for color and saltiness, or with achuete for red color; may be considered the national food in the Philippines
alimasag - salt water crab; blue crabs
ampalaya - bitter melon

baboy - pork
bagoong - a condiment made from shrimps or fish paste
binagoongan - cooking with bagoong
banana leaf - the leaf of the banana plant that has many uses in Filipino cooking such as wrapping food, as cover and underliner, or for packaging.
bangus - milkfish, considered the national fish of the Philippines
bawang - garlic
bok choy - pechay
buko - young coconut
buntot ng baka - ox tail

calamansi - a Philippine citrus fruit and souring agent
chorizo - general name for Spanish sausage

dahon ng gabi - taro leaves
dahon ng sili - chili leaves
daing - dried fish or picked fish, usually cut butterfly-style

ensalada - salad
estofado - braised in soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar

galapong - rice dough made of glutinous rice
galunggong - scad
garbanzos - chickpeas
gata - coconut milk obtained from the pressing of grated mature coconut meat mixed with water
giniling na baboy - ground pork
guisa - to saute
gulay - vegetable

halayang ube - purple yam jam
hugas bigas - water obtained from washing rice grains and used as broth base for sinigang

inihaw - charcoal-grilled or broiled
isda - fish

kabilugan - beef rounded
kabute - mushroom
kakang gata - pure coconut cream obtained from the first pressing of grated mature coconut
kamatis - tomato
kamias - bilimbi, green acidic fruit from the cucumber tree used for souring dishes
kamote - sweet potato
kamoteng kahoy - cassava
kangkong - morning glory, swamp cabbage, water spinach
kaong - sugar palm seed
kesong puti - white cheese made from carabao or water buffalo milk
kinilaw - cooked by steeping in vinegar

labanos - long white cylindrical radish native to Asia
langka - jackfruit
latik - coconut curd, the brownish residue obtained after oil is extracted from boiled coconut milk
lechon - roast meat usually spit-roasted
lechon manok - roast chicken
lechon sauce - sauce served with roast pork made of finely ground pork liver
librilyo - ox tripe
lomo - tenderloin
lumpia - spring roll
lumpia wrapper - crepe usually made of rice flour to wrap spring roll with

macapuno - coconut sport, a variety of coconut that has soft fleshy meat when ripe
mais - corn
malagkit - sticky rice, glutinous rice
malunggay - horseradish tree, also called drumstick, leaved and pod are used in cooking
miso - fermented soybean paste

nata de coco - coconut gel usually packed in heavy syrup

pan de sal - literally bread of salt, a traditional Filipino crusty roll
pancit canton - yellowish noodles sold dried so named to indicate Chinese origin
pancit molo - wonton soup that originated from Molo, Iloilo, a town in the Visayas region, Panay island in the central Philippines
pandan - fragrant screw-pine
pastel - pot pie
pata - animal trotter
patis - fish sauce
pechay - Chinese chard, bok choy
pesa - stewed in ginger, garlic, and onion
pigue - pork rump
pimiento - large red sweet pepper, usually canned
pinipig - rice crispies, immature rice, roasted and pounded until the grains are flattened
prito - fried
pulot - honey

queso de bola - edam cheese shaped like a ball and imported from Holland

saba - cooking banana variety
saging - banana
sago - starch from the pith of the sago plant processed into flour, meal or pearl-like globes, tapioca pearls
sariwa - fresh
sarsa - sauce
sayote - chayote, a kind of tropical squash
shrimp juice - juice from heads and shells of shrimps extracted by pounding, adding a little water then straining
sibuyas - onion
siling labuyo - bird's eye chili
siling pangsigang, siling haba - green finger pepper, long green chili that is mildly hot, literally chili for sour soup, long chili
sinangag - fried garlic rice
singkamas - turnip, yam bean
sinigang - sour soup
sinigang powder - instant powder with dried sour soup ingredients using tamarind, guava, or kamias as base
suka - vinegar made from sugarcane, coconut, or nipa juice
sukang sinamak - vinegar dip with garlic, ginger, and chili from Iloilo, Visayas region

tadyang ng baka - beef ribs
Tagalog - person from central and southern Luzon, language spoken there
tagiliran - beef sirloin
talong - eggplant
tambakol - tuna
tanguige - wahoo, mackerel
tapa - beef jerky, processed beef slices flavored with garlic, salt, soy sauce, sometimes with sugar
tilapia - food fish introduced from Africa
torta - omelet
toyo - soy sauce

ube - purple yam