History and influences of Philippine cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_cuisine#History_and_influences
Malayo-Polynesians during the pre-Hispanic era in the Philippines prepared food by boiling, steaming, or roasting. This ranged from the usual livestock such as kalabaw (water buffaloes), baka (cows), manok (chickens) and baboy (pigs) to various kinds of fish and seafood. In a few places, the broad range of their diet extended to monitor lizards, snakes and locusts. Filipinos have been cultivating rice since 3200 BC when Austronesian ancestors from the southern China Yunnan Plateau and Taiwan settled in what is now the Philippines. They brought with them rice cultivation and a lot of other various traditions that are used in forms today. Trade with other Asian nations introduced a number of staples into Philippine cuisine, most notably toyo (soy sauce) and patis (fish sauce), as well as the method of stir-frying and making savory soup bases.
Spanish settlers brought with them chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and the method of sautéing with garlic and onions. Although chili peppers are nowhere as widely used in Filipino cooking compared to much of Southeast Asia, chili leaves are frequently used as a cooking green, again distinct from the cooking of neighbors. Vinegar and spices were used in foods to preserve them. Spanish (and Mexican) dishes were eventually incorporated into Philippine cuisine with the more complex dishes usually being prepared for special occasions. Some dishes such as paella or arroz de valenciana remain largely the same in the Philippine context. Some have been adapted or have come to take on a slightly different meaning. Arroz a la cubana served in the Philippines usually includes ground beef picadillo. Philippine longganisa despite its name is more akin to chorizo than Spanish longaniza.
While there were some Chinese in the Philippines before the Spanish, a significant Chinese population grew only after the Spanish established themselves. Chinese food became a staple of the panciterias or noodle shops that sprang up in the nineteenth century, but were often marketed with Spanish names. The influence of comida china (Chinese food) is seen in dishes like arroz caldo (congee),morisqueta tostada (an obsolete term for sinangag or fried rice), and chopsuey.
Today, Philippine cuisine continues to evolve as new techniques, styles of cooking, and ingredients find their way into the country. Traditional dishes both simple and elaborate, indigenous and foreign-influenced, are seen as are more current popular international viands and fast food fare.
Philippine Traditional Foods
http://say-food.blogspot.com/2009/04/philippine-traditional-foods.html
Speaking of uniqueness, sadly to say, Filipino cuisine is a derivation from many foreign cuisine. It has developed from the original Malay roots to Spanish dishes and also has the influence from Chinese, Indian, Arab, Korean, Japanese cuisine and American dishes. Although most of the Philippine cuisine have foreign influence, but there are still Philippine cuisine that may call original. The indigenous Moro and Lumad of Mindanao that never been persuaded by the Hispanic culture are still cooking the original spicy Malay cuisine like the Ginataang Manok (chicken cooked in coconut milk).
The Origin and Influences of Filipino Recipes
http://www.myfilipinorecipes.com/
Most of these Filipino recipes are a mixture of foreign cuisines. Philippine history narrates that foreign settles, traders, and missionaries of the past brought with them their unique ways of cooking. Cooking pottery and culinary artifacts excavated in central and southern part of the Philippines prove that the Arabs, Chinese, Malaysians, Indians, and Indonesians came to the Philippine archipelago and shared their ways of cooking to the native Filipino people. Filipino foods like chicken with curry, pancit bihon, chopsuey, lumpiang shanghai, and fresh vegetable spring rolls are example of dishes brought by these foreigners.
Then came the Spaniards and they colonized the island for about 300 years. During their colony, they introduced the Roman Catholic religion; educate the native Filipino with their Spanish language, taught the native people their ways of cooking, and many other things. Filipino recipes like Adobo, Caldereta, Menudo, Pochero, Spaghetti, and Guisado are just example of dishes introduced by the Spanish colonizer.
But then prior to the arrival of these foreigners, the native Filipinos already have their own ways of cooking by means of grilling, roasting, and boiling. Filipino food recipes like Dinakdakan, Kilawin, Dinengdeng, Inihaw na Isda, Papaitan, and Insarabasab are examples of the original Filipino cuisines.
