You're eating what? Kain Manila's Guide to Pinoy eats

Manila is a melting pot of different flavors. Spanish, Chinese influences are evident in the food, and there are gems to discover at the corner of the street. Here are some common and uncommon food items to start your food advernture, Manila style.

Pinaupong Manok – it’s actually a traditional way of baking a chicken, by placing a whole chicken inside a claypot or palayok and allowing its juices to simmer , the chicken looks like its “seated” hence the name “pinaupong manok” 

Pinaupong manok (image from foodrecipefetish.blogspot.com

Kilawin - Raw meat cooked in vinegar, most probably fish, sometimes its goat meat  
this is the Philippine version of ceviche

Kilawing Tanigue image from recipe.foohta.com

Papaitan – literally something made bitter, it’s actually a stew made from the innards of a goat (kambing) the soup may be colored green due to bile (yep, it has pancreas). This can be found in small eateries that specialize in goat meat or "kambingan"

Papaitan is an acquired taste (image from culinaryschools.org

Pares – literally means a pair, its tender beef stew paired with steamed or fried rice. You can find a lot of Pares places near Espana, Manila one of the most famous places is Jonas in Mayon Street, Quezon City

beef pares image from ph.she.yahoo.com

Jonas has the best pares. image from lucidbabble.wordpress.com

Pata – it’s a hind leg of pork so when its Crispy Pata its fried pork trotter/ hindleg (this is the best thing that happened to pork) The best Crispy Pata places for me: Bob Marlin's in Naga, Bistro Remedios, Barrio Fiesta, Gerry's Grill in that order

Crispy Pata - Delicious image from explorephillipneshq.com

Pangat – Is fish cooked/ stewed in vinegar sometimes just calamansi or Philippine lime,
be warned as this dish is very tart and eating it can be an acquired taste as well is also known is sinaing in other regions
in Tagalog slang its reheated food or leftover

Pinangat na Pampano image from islakulinarya.com

Sinampalukan – something cooked in tamarind sauce

Bulalo – This is beef shank and marrow soup, boiled for hours, the soup is served in a big bowl with chunks of beef and bones with the marrow. While the Italians grill the part of the marrow and spread it to tast, We Pinoys prefer to eat the marrow by slightly shaking it from the bone and dipping it in soy sauce, bulalo is best eaten with a lot of rice. This dish is sure to induce a cholesterol heavenly high after eating, so please be warned

In Tagalog slang it may mean leftovers collected from the garbage because of its "marrow-like" appearance

Notable Bulalo places include R and J, near Mandaluyong City Hall and Batangas where this dish is known for. Gerry's Grill also has a mean bulalo 

Tutong – it’s the bottom part of the cooked rice in a pot that is sometimes burnt like “rice krispies”

Tutong epbites.blogspot.com

Ampao – These are rice crispies sweetened with arnibal or caramelized brown sugar/molasses

The name "ampao" denotes hollow in the middle and wrapped in paper. Comes in different shapres and sizes since most regions have their own version

Comes from the Hokkienese term angpao which is red paper envelope and contains money, given usually during Chinese New Year

Ampao from cebu image from everythingcebu.com

here's a variation sold in Manila. image from Edgie Polistico

Maruya –Banana fritters
sold mostly by street vendors

image from bubblews.com

Sarciado – cooked with a thick tomato sauce, other variations may come with egg as an additional ingredient

sarciadong tilapia image from bubblews.com

Ginumis – A dessert made of tapioca, or sago with coconut milk and panutsa, or course grade brown 

sugar, the dessert is served with shaved ice and pinipig or “toasted rice crispies”

ginumis image from tripadvisor.com,sg

Isaw – barbecued innards either of chicken or pork much like Japanese yakitori but this one can be found in sold in the streets.

isaw

Sinugba – This term traces its roots from Cebu, meaning broiled

image from panoramio.com

Sutokil – It’s a coined Visayan word, the three syllables stand for 3 different cooking processes, sugba, grill, tula stew and kilaw, cooked in vinegar. You can experience this in Cebu, featuring the seaside restaurants in Mactan City

A Sutokil in cebu