Classic Filipino Breakfast We All Love
Breakfast is the one meal that we should never skip. Nothing compares to waking up to a hearty, tasty breakfast prepared with love. It fuels our strength for the day ahead. But when it comes to Filipino food, you can always expect a wide range of flavors in each dish-sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and a plethora of other sensations that will leave your taste buds begging for more.
But what exactly makes a typical Filipino breakfast? Here is a list of our classic Pinoy breakfasts to give you the much-needed energy to start your day.
Silog
Filipinos enjoy their silog meals, and no one can deny that this should be at the top of the list at any time of day. It gets its name from two Filipino words: sinangag (fried) and itlog (egg). Silog meals are composed of fried garlic rice, an egg, and whatever else you want to add to your meal. It can be Tapsilog, tapa + silog. Tocilog for tocino, Longsilog for longganisa, Hotsilog for the hotdog, Cornsilog for corned beef, Bangsilog for bangus, and many more!
Pandesal
A breakfast list would be incomplete without the beloved pandesal. This modest breakfast bun, which translates to salt bread, is a fixture in all Filipino kitchens and dining areas, regardless of location or social class.
The best are fluffy and light, with golden crumbs that fall delicately to the ground. Because it is a staple in Filipino cuisine, people have learned to stuff it with everything from cheese, peanut butter, liver spread, and even ice cream.
Sinangag or fried rice
Another Filipino breakfast staple is sinangag or garlic fried rice. Filipinos are huge rice eaters; thus, a Filipino breakfast feast would be incomplete without a large rice dish. Filipinos are good budgeters because they turn last night’s leftovers into breakfast the next morning. To bring stale, day-old steamed rice back to life, cook it with lots of garlic and scrambled eggs.
Daing na bangus
Daing na bangus, or dried milkfish, is favorite breakfast food in the Philippines. The butterflied milkfish is marinated in vinegar and garlic before deep-fried in hot cooking oil. This recipe is best served with salted tomatoes, fried garlic rice, and an egg on the side. It will wake you up and leave you wanting more!
Danggit
Danggit, made famous by Cebu, is another popular breakfast item throughout the country. When fried, salted, and sun-dried, danggit produces a distinct scent. It crisps up well and is commonly served with sinangag.
Tuyo
Tuyo is a salty sun-dried herring dish from the Philippines. It’s also the Filipino word for “dry,” which explains the name of this dish. Tuyo, another Filipino breakfast classic, is best with chili vinegar and eaten with fried rice.
Champorado
Champorado is a thick rice pudding. Originally made using chocolate, it is now commonly made with cooked glutinous rice, sugar, and cocoa powder. The meal is named after a Mexican chocolate-based drink called champurrado, which was introduced during the colonial period. Filipino champorado, hearty breakfast, or a sweet afternoon snack can be eaten hot or cold, drizzled with evaporated and powdered milk, or accompanied by salted dry fish.
Lugaw
Lugaw is often consumed as a breakfast or snack. Many cooks like to enhance the dish’s flavors by adding chicken, lemon, and ginger. Then, season it with typical Filipino seasonings like onions, garlic chips, sliced hard-boiled eggs, calamansi, or fish sauce.
Taho
In the Philippines, you usually find a taho vendor walking down the street with two massive steel cans tied together by a wooden plank, chanting “tahoooo” as early as 5 a.m. One of the cans contains soft, silky tofu. In the other can is the arnibal, a sweet, sugary syrup. To make the ever-popular taho, combine these ingredients in a plastic cup and top with little tapioca pearls. It’s the ideal breakfast for kids, sweet tooths, and busy Filipino workers who don’t have time to prepare in the morning.
