Filipino Food as Part of Southeast Asian Cuisine

From fish sauce to shrimp paste, noodles to rice, Filipino food shares flavors, ingredients, and techniques with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Yet through the course of its unique history, the Philippines has developed distinct culinary preferences of its own.

Southeast Asian cooking is profoundly influenced by the two ancient cultures of India and China. These cuisines (Thai, Laotian, Burmese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese) were developed and preserved in lavish imperial courts, and their complexity and extravagance were used to set the royals apart from their subjects.