Filipino cuisine offers a variety of delicious vegetable dishes, such as pinakbet, ginisang sayote, adobong sitaw, and laing. These dishes often include vegetables such as ampalaya (bitter melon), okra, butternut squash, eggplant, long green beans, and squash or sweet potato.
Filipino vegetable dishes offer a wealth of health benefits and flavor – perfect for quick snacks or as an easy side dish. From hearty stews to refreshing summer salads, these nutritious treats should not be missed!
Alugbati, a Filipino spinach with purple stems and green leaves, is commonly used in soups, salads and stews. Not only that but it’s also packed full of dietary fiber, vitamin A and calcium – making it an excellent addition to your meals!
Filipino Vegetable Dishes
Ginataang Ampalaya
Ginataang Ampalaya is a classic Filipino vegetable dish cooked with jackfruit and coconut milk. It’s simple to prepare and will leave you with plenty of leftovers for lunch the following day!
Ampalaya, a vegetable native to India and long part of the Filipino diet, may be bitter but it’s packed full of essential vitamins and minerals like potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron.
Avocadoes can be eaten raw in salads or sauteed with meat or shrimp. Not only that, but avocadoes also provide a good source of fiber which helps prevent constipation and lowers cholesterol levels.
When cooking ampalaya, it is essential to soak it in a water and salt mixture first to reduce its bitter taste profile. After that, you can cook until tender and flavorful.
Ginataang Ampalaya is savory and comforting, but you can spice it up by adding red chilis if desired. It makes an ideal side dish for any Filipino meal and requires only minimal ingredients to prepare.
Sinigang
Sinigang is one of the most beloved and sought-after dishes in Filipino cuisine. This delectable combination of meats and veggies is enhanced with tamarind and other sour fruits and herbs.
This dish’s tart-sweet taste perfectly captures the tropical heat of the Philippines. Plus, it’s super simple to make and can be served as either a meal or snack.
It can be made with meat such as pork, beef or fish and vegetables like okra, water spinach (kang kong), daikon radish, eggplants and green finger peppers. It may also be served alongside rice.
Traditionally, this dish uses tamarind as its souring agent; however, some recipes substitute guava or raw mango instead. Altering the fruit’s use adds an interesting twist to the flavor and can be prepared according to regional preferences.
Rice pudding is often served as a main course, along with shrimp. It’s particularly popular during special events like baptisms or birthdays.
Ginataang Puso
Ginataang puso is an irresistibly delicious vegetable dish from the Philippines made with banana blossoms (puso ng saging).
Cooked in coconut milk and season with rock salt, this side dish makes a delicious accompaniment to hot white rice – be sure to finish off with plenty of deliciousness!
Additionally, bananas are an excellent source of antioxidants. So the next time you spot some in the market, be sure to grab some!
Bicol region of the Philippines, this dish is commonly served with taro leaves (dahon ng gabi). Cooked with coconut milk for flavor.
If you’re a fan of pork, why not add slices to this dish for an added layer of flavor! Serve it alongside some steamed white rice to complete the meal?
Another popular Filipino dish that uses coconut milk is ginataang langka or unripe jackfruits. This can be prepared in various ways, but the authentic recipe requires no sauteeing and simply simmers in coconut milk and grated coconut meat.
You may add additional ingredients like dried surgeonfish or Spanish mackerel fish for extra flavor.
Chop Suey
Chop Suey is a beloved Filipino-Chinese dish made with mixed vegetables and meat like chicken, beef, pork or shrimp cooked quickly in a thick, clear sauce. It’s often served with rice.
Chop suey, which in Chinese translates to “assorted pieces”, refers to a dish composed of meat and vegetables shredred into bite-size pieces bound together in a starch-thickened sauce. It can be served for dinner quickly with the family or as an elegant dish for special occasions.
A beloved stir fry dish, this popular stir fry can be made with a variety of proteins and vegetables and then bound together in an irresistible sauce thickened with cornstarch.
Common ingredients include beef, chicken, pork or shrimp as well as vegetables like bok choy, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts and mushrooms.
This recipe can be tailored to suit your palate, with additional veggies such as pak choi, broccoli, bell peppers, water chestnuts, edamame or more! Vegans even have the option of making this stir fry vegan-friendly!
Mastering the Art of Filipino Vegetable Cooking
Filipino cooking techniques for vegetables involve a variety of methods, such as simmering, sautéing, and stir-frying. Common vegetables used in Filipino cooking include eggplant, long green beans, bitter melon, okra, squash or sweet potato, mung beans, cabbage, carrots, water spinach and taro.
Pinakbet is a popular Filipino vegetable stew made by simmering a variety of vegetables with shrimp or lechon kawali (crispy fried pork belly) in a fermented seafood-infused broth.
This dish originated on the northern island of Luzon and has since spread throughout the country and abroad.
Pinakbet Ilocano and pinakbet Tagalog (a derivative of the former) are both popular versions of this dish. Pinakbet Ilocano relies on bagoong isda (a thick fermented fish sauce typically made from a mix of anchovies and salt) to flavor the stew.
Other popular Filipino vegetable recipes include Ginisang Monggo (a mung bean soup mixed with spinach leaves and green beans), Gising Gising (a vegetable stew mixed with beans, coconut milk, labuyo chili, garlic, onions and shrimp bagoong), and Pinakbet Ilocano (which uses ampalaya to give it an x-factor flavor).
