Why Do Filipinos Love Chinese Food in the Philippines?

One of the main reasons why we Filipinos have a unique affinity for Chinese cuisine is because it has been part of our culture for over hundreds of years. Since the 11th century, our ancestors have been trading with our Asian neighbors, exchanging items like silk and beeswax. When some of these Chinese traders chose to stay on our shores, using the local ingredients to cook their favorite Chinese foods, the Chinese, decided to recreate their popular and savory Chinese food in Philippines.

Since then, various recipes from Chinese cuisine have been turned into Filipino favorites, and a lot of Chinese restaurants in the Philippines serve them. From pansit (Hokien piān-ê-si̍t), siopao (Cantonese cha siu bao), and even lumpia (Hokien lunpia), these Chinese food have become part of our culture for years. We even recreated a number of versions of pansit (from Lucban’s habhab to Batangas’ lomi) to fit our unique palates.

One of the factors why Filipinos can’t get enough of the Chinese food in the Philippines so much is because of our shared love for flavors like soy sauce. And there are many Chinese foods where soy sauce is a huge factor. It’s no secret that we Filipinos love our soy sauce, from using it to season our food to using it as a dip to partner with some of our favorite Chinese food, but did you know that it was the Chinese who brought soy sauce in our country?

Aside from giving us the love of using soy sauce, the Chinese are also the ones responsible for bringing items like tofu and black beans to the Philippines, which is a staple Chinese food in the Philippines. And because of this shared love for similar flavors and ingredients, it made us fall in love with the Chinese’s dishes and their way of cooking.

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Similarities in our cooking techniques are another reason why we fell in love with Chinese cuisine in the Philippines. Although we are fond boiled or ones that contain heavy sauces, we also love stir-frying our food or more commonly known as gisa, another practice of cooking Chinese food in the Philippines and also, Chinese restaurants in the Philippines offer a rich blend of flavors and techniques that influenced our way of cooking.

Other techniques that Filipino favorite Chinese food the Chinese dishes popular in Philippines brought to our kitchen are pesa (Chinese peq sa hi) or cooking meat or fish plain-boiled, and pa ta tim, a braising technique. These cooking techniques resulted in similarities in our dishes and a familiarity in taste, another reason we can relate to and love Chinese food.

Aside from flavors and techniques in cooking, the price of most Chinese food in the Philippines also affects our love for their cuisine.

Take a trip to Binondo and you’ll find authentic restaurants with Chinese cuisine in the Philippines like Masuki Mami Restaurant selling a bowl of good old mami for as low as PhP120. Or stroll around any mall and you’ll definitely see a stall or two of various Chinese favorites like siomai, siopao, or fried noodles being sold for a cheap amount.

The fact that you can enjoy your favorite Chinese food like mami with siomai or siopao on the side without burning a hole through your wallet is one of the reasons why we love Chinese food in the Philippines.

Check out our list of Chinese casual dining restaurants in Metro Manila or browse the Dining & Leisure category of the ShoppersGuide Directory.

One last factor why Chinese food is loved is because of our shared love for variety. Aside from eating almost five times a day, we Filipinos also make sure to have a selection of viands served for each meal. Not to mention how extravagant we can be during celebrations and love to include Chinese cuisine in the Philippines.

This passion for the variety of Chinese food in the Philippines also led us to fall in love with Chinese cuisine. Like us, the Chinese love variety as they have different versions of dishes in every region, similar with the Filipino favorite Chinese food, has different versions of a particular viand in various provinces. For instance, the pochero (meat stew with plantains) in Manila is different from the pochero (beef shanks with vegetables and clear soup) of Cebu. The Chinese also believe in diversity and balance in food; hence, you’ll see the use of various types of flavors, grains, vegetables, meat, and fruits in their cuisine not only in the Chinese food in the Philippines.

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