A Newbie’s Guide to Filipino Cooking Terms

Spread the love

By Nissie Arcega

It is often said that language is the storehouse of culture. There’s no question that our food culture not only interweaves with our identity, but also manifests itself in the words that we use for it.

If you’re just starting out with cooking, the many Tagalog terms can be confusing (and that’s not including the terms in other dialects!), so we’re here to save your kitchen from miscommunication!

Binukadkad

Butterflied when sliced.
[Read: Crispy Hito With Aligue Cream]

Buro / Binuro

Fermented or pickled. Popular Filipino buro are burong mangga (pickled green mango), burong hipon (pickled shrimp), and burong isda (pickled fish).
[Read: Bottled Fish and Pickled Vegetables]

Darang

Wilting leaves or drying meat by heating it by a flame, like roasting on charcoal. In Bicolano, it means broiling.

Ginadgad

Grated. Another term is kinudkod.
[Read: Gabi Okoy Chips]

Ginayat

Sliced into thin strips. Also known as julienned. Sometimes loosely used to mean “to cut.”

Halabos / Hinalabos

Steamed in water and salt, sometimes with lemon juice. Commonly used for crustaceans.

Hinurno

Baked or roasted in an oven. Usually used to refer to pastries, as meat cooked in the same way is called lechon.
[Read: Toasted Siopao]

In-in

Allowing low heat to completely cook rice.

Nilupak

Pounded and mixed with sugar and traditionally served with grated coconut, cheese, and margarine. It’s a similar process to halaya. Also known as nilusak in the Visayas regions.

Pabusa/Binusa

Sauté; cooking in little to no oil, usually done to nuts, cacao, coffee, and seeds.

Pangat / Pinangat

Boiled in broth and tomatoes and slightly soured with a fruit like calamansi, santol, or tamarind.
Also refers to a Bicolano dish made of taro leaves, chili, meat, and coconut milk.
[Read: Crab Pinangat]