METHODS & TERMS

Filipino/Tagalog words for popular cooking methods and terms are listed below:

  • Adobo/Inadobo − cooked in vinegar, oil, garlic and soy sauce.
  • “Babad/Binabad/Ibinabad” − to marinate.
  • “Banli/Binanlian/Pabanli” − to blanch.
  • “Bagoong/Binagoongan/ – sa Bagoong” − cooked with fermented fish/shrimp paste bagoong.
  • “Binalot” – literally “wrapped.” This generally refers to dishes wrapped in banana leaves, pandan leaves, or even aluminum foil. The wrapper is generally inedible (in contrast to lumpia — see below).
  • “Buro/Binuro” − fermented.
  • “Daing/Dinaing/Padaing” − marinated with garlic, vinegar, and black peppers. Sometimes dried and usually fried before eating.
  • “Guinataan/sa Gata” − cooked with coconut milk.
  • “Guisa/Guisado/Ginisa” or “Gisado” − sautéed with garlic, onions and/or tomatoes.
  • “Halabos/Hinalabos” – mostly for shellfish. Steamed in their own juices and sometimes carbonated soda.
  • “Hilaw/Sariwa” – unripe (for fruits and vegetables), raw (for meats). Also used for uncooked food in general (as inlumpiang sariwa).
  • “Hinurno” – baked in an oven or roasted.
  • “Ihaw/Inihaw” − grilled over coals.
  • Kinilaw or Kilawin − fish or seafood marinated invinegar or calamansi juice along with garlic, onions,ginger, tomato, peppers.
  • “Laga/Nilaga/Palaga” − boiled/braised.
  • “Nilasing” − cooked with an alcoholic beverage like wine or beer.
  • “Lechon/Litson/Nilechon” − roasted on a spit.
  • “Lumpia” – savory food wrapped with an edible wrapper.
  • “Minatamis” − sweetened.
  • “Pinakbet” − to cook with vegetables usually with sitaw(yardlong beans), calabaza, talong (eggplant), andampalaya (bitter melon) among others and bagoong.
  • “Paksiw/Pinaksiw” − cooked in vinegar.
  • “Pangat/Pinangat” − boiled in salted water with fruit such as tomatoes or ripe mangoes.
  • “Palaman/Pinalaman” − “filled” as in siopao, though “palaman” also refers to the filling in a sandwich.
  • “Pinakuluan” – boiled.
  • “Prito/Pinirito” − fried or deep fried. From the Spanish frito.
  • “Relleno/Relyeno” – stuffed.
  • Tapa/Tinapa – dried and smoked. Tapa refers to meat treated in this manner, mostly marinated and then dried and fried afterwards. Tinapa meanwhile is almost exclusively associated with smoked fish.
  • “Sarza/Sarciado” – cooked with a thick sauce.
  • “Sinangag” – garlic fried rice.
  • “Sigang/Sinigang − boiled in a sour broth usually with atamarind base. Other common souring agents includeguava, raw mangoes, calamansi also known ascalamondin.
  • “Tosta/Tinosta/Tostado” – toasted.
  • “Torta/Tinorta/Patorta” – to cook with eggs in the manner of an omelette..
  • “Turon/Turrones” – wrapped with an edible wrapper; dessert counterpart of lumpia.
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