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Filipino American cuisine has been present in America ever since Filipinos moved there, but only recently[when?] has theFilipino food become more widely popular.[1] Filipino food has gone through its evolution of adapting other cultures' food practices into their own, or borrowing the food concept into their own.[2]
Filipinos took their food and debut it as they came to America by presenting it in catering and opening up the Philippines' most popular food chain, Jollibee.[1] There is also a long list of different Filipino types of dishes that representFilipino Americans.[3]
American influence on Filipino food is how some authentic meal was turned into frozen, ready-cooked meals.[4] This technique was used on Filipino dishes when Marigold Commodities Corporation teamed up with Ditta Meat Food Service Company to create these frozen Filipino meals.[4] They started inAustin, Texas, and released a few dishes that would incorporate the meat of America with Philippine flavors to create Filipino American food.[4]
There were four of these Americanized Filipino dishes released into Texas under the work of Marigold Commodities and Ditta Meat Food Service.[4] Beef tapa uses Texas meat marinated with garlic, citrus flavors, and soy sauce, then grilled or fried.[4] The other dishes aretocino using chicken and pork meat, and pork longaniza.[4]
The Filipino restaurant trend of catering is continued in many restaurants such as Sunda in Chicago and Purple Yam in Brooklyn.[1] They have also continued to sell typical Filipino dishes in bulk such aslechon.[1]
A typical Filipino American dish consists of a soup, ulam (any food), kanin (rice), type of meat, fruits, and dipping sauces.[3]
Different soups may include things such asMunggo gisado sabaw, a soup consisting of Mung beans and pork or shrimp. Another soup dish is pancit molo,[3] a Filipino style of the Chinese wonton soup. Meat dishes includeadobo[3] made with pork or chicken; the dish is then cooked with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic.[3]
Suman banana leaves containing sticky rice can be dipped in sugar to make it sweeter.Taho is a dessert that uses a syrup andboba inside of ajello-like soybean material.[3] There are numerous different Filipino dishes, and these are only a couple of them.[3]
Filipino Americans eat up to five to six times a day across meals and snacks.[5]Almusál is a large breakfast containing rice and meat.[5]Tanghalian or lunch is preceded by amerienda or small snack.[5] Anothermerienda is eaten before dinner orhapunan.[5] Then, after dinner, there is anothermerienda and dessert orpanghimagas.[5]
Commonly eaten food for Filipino Americans includes steamed white rice, fruit, fish, vegetables, eggs, and meat.[5]
Steamed white rice is often present at all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and is considered an important part of the Filipino American diet.[5] It is made in large quantities so there is enough to eat throughout the whole day and it is used as a side dish to both sweet and savory foods.[5]
For example, rice is used to help intensify some flavors,[2] or create other Filipino dishes likeputo andbibingka.Puto can be meat-filled,ube-filled, or turned into cakes; it is made by making rice into flour.[2]Puto andbibingka are two specialized versions of the Filipino delicacy,kakanin.[6]Kakanin recipes vary depending on the region of the Philippines, so there are many specialized recipes ofKakanin from different locations.[6]
Rice is also created into a dessert calledsuman, a sweet rice wrapped in a leaf from a coconut or banana.[2]
Coconut, like rice, is another staple in Filipino dishes; it is known as,buko, in the Philippine language and can be used in drinks, main dishes, or desserts.[2] There are dishes native to a specific region such as how in Quezon they make a dish using a leaf-wrapped shrimp, buko strips, and cook it inbuko water.[2] Another region usesbuko to mix it with chicken and ginger and cooking it inside of thebuko; they also make a noodle dish where the noodles are made of coconut.[2] The white insides of the coconut are used to make milk,ginataan, andhalo-halo, among others.[2]
Celebrations and festivals are a key part of the Filipino American lifestyle and culture.[5] There are particular dishes at these celebrations that hold important significance for Filipino Americans.[5] For example,adobo,pansit, andléchon.[5]Adobo includes braised meat, vinegar, and garlic, but there are several variations of it depending upon the ingredients available.[7]Pansit consists of noodles with seafood, meat (pork or beef), poultry (chicken), or vegetables and herbs and spices.[8]Lechón is a whole, roasted pig.[5]Lechón leftovers are used as ingredients in other Filipino dishes, includingadobo.[7] Some of these dishes also hold symbolic significance likepansit which means long life.[5]
Dessert is also an important part of celebrations with dishes likekakanin orleche flan present at these gatherings.[5]Kakanin is a rice cake eaten daily as a snack, but it is also served at celebrations and gatherings.[6]Leche flan is a caramel custard made using eggs and milk.[5]
A 2012 study across Asian American subgroups in Southern California (Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese Americans) found that Filipino Americans self-reported the highestbody mass indexes (BMIs).[9] This is because after the migration of Filipinos to the U.S. their diets changed and showed to have increase in energy-dense food, processed food, decrease in fruits, vegetables.[9]
This seems to have has a negative effect on the body leading to increase body weight and other health-related problems.[9] Specifically in Filipino American diets, there was an increase in milk, meat consumption, less starchy food and snacks.[9] This increase in eating by Filipinos has led to an increase in the calorie intake. This increase was almost doubled and along with it was a double in protein consumption and triple consumption of fat.[9]
There was a study done in Canada on the average Filipino woman's health focusing mainly on the idea of body size, eating, and health.[10] Western culture has spread an idea that there is a concept of "healthy" and this concept in terms of woman would be that there is an association with being thin is attractive and vice versa for being fatter.[10] The study was then analyzed and what was found is that there was a risk of being "fat" associated with eating rice and an association of being thinner when watching[clarification needed] fat and rice.[10]
