| Perla's
Home on the Web Filipino Cuisine (Have any request, just email me or sign my guestbook!... ) |
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| Glossary of Terms Learn a few Filipino words... Here's what I think they mean and what the dictionary says about them.... ;) |
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| alamang - small shrimps (or baby shrimps) | |
| ampalaya - bittermelon (almost shaped like a cucumber, with shiny green bumpy skin) sounds like from outer space, doesn't it!... | |
| lesson: a (la), e (hen), i (it), o (color), u (pull) | |
| bagoong - salted and fermented shrimps/fish (You may find this in Asian or in your favorite grocery stores that sells imported goods) | |
| bake - cook in an oven in medium heat of 350°, hot oven could mean 400° (just a reminder: oven varies!) | |
| batao - (or bataw) hyacinth bean | |
| bibingka - native cake | |
| bijon - (or bihon) rice noodles used for pancit, (very thin, whitish color) | |
| lesson: j has the /h/ sound: jo is read as ho as in horn | |
| calamansi - small native lemons (use regular lemon if you don't have this) | |
| carne - meat | |
| dayap - lime | |
| gabi - taro root | |
| galapong - dough of ground rice which has been soaked overnight in water then drained | |
| guinataan - Filipino dish where coconut milk is use in cooking | |
| lesson: gui is read as gi (as in gills) | |
| guisado - sauteed | |
| kangkong - swamp cabbage | |
| malagkit - (meaning sticky) glutinous rice | |
| malunggay - horseradish tree. (has small round dark green leaves) We have this back in the Philippines in our own yard. I often climbed this tree and make it as my attic... oh, my childhood days! | |
| miki - wheat noodles with egg (has the thickness of spaghetti, yellowish in color) | |
| mongo - mung bean | |
| lesson: mongo is read as mong-go | |
| palitao - (litao or litaw means emerge) You'll know that the dough is cooked when it floats!... easy, huh! | |
| pancit - (or pansit) Filipino dish containing noodles | |
| Are you learning new words yet? | |
| patis - boiled sauce from bagoong | |
| rice water - (or rice washings) water in which uncooked rice has been washed. Usually the 2nd and 3rd washings- because in the Philippines we usually rinse our rice before we cook them. So instead of throwing the water away, we use them in our cooking! (You may use plain water) | |
| saute - fry in a little fat. In preparing most sauteed dishes that call for garlic, onion and tomato, saute the garlic till brown before adding the onion and wait till onion wilts before adding the tomato. When the tomato is cooked add the rest of the ingredients. |
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| sinigang - Filipino sour-tasting dish, cooked in broth/rice washing | |
| sitao - (or sitaw) long variety of cowpea (whatever that is... :) | |
| shrimp juice - extracted from shrimp shells (shell shrimps and pound shellings? in a mortar, add a little water if necessary, then squeeze the juice out) makes recipes tastier! | |
| sugpo - large shrimps | |
| tamarinds - (Don't have them? You may use lemon juice instead) | |
| toyo - soy sauce | |
| vinegar - may substitute white vinegar when native vinegar is not available. When cooking with vinegar, never use aluminum pots or pans. After adding vinegar to a cooking dish, do not stir until mixture has boiled. (I still have to find out why... Anybody know the reasoning behind this before I find out by myself? email me and i'll post it here!) | |
