Filipino Appetizers

Appetizers in the Filipino cuisine are also known as “hand food”, called pulutan. The pulutan are served most often with liquors and non-alcoholic beverages, and will be offered in restaurants as well as local dinners, not matter the country’s region. There are different types of pulatan including fish, meat, nuts and chips. Some of the most delicious appetizers include Filipino Satays marinated in a special blend, steamed meatballs sealed in wonton wrappers and dipped in soy sauce with squeezed kalamansi (Philippine lemon). This particular appetizer is influenced from the Chinese cuisine, but served in a particular Philippines manner. There is also the grilled chicken feet, spicy fried peanuts, sometimes flavored with garlic, salted, dried and fried pork rind, or the tiny fried spring rolls filled with minced meat. Appetizers in the Filipino cuisine are served before dinner or at big family lunches, and most of them are home made and have differences in the condiments added, like the sisig, minced pig’s cheeks cooked with herbs and spices, according to the cooks personal preferences.

Popular Filipino appetizers include:

• Chicharon
• Fresh Lumpia
• Lumpia Shanghai
• Tokwat Baboy