Culinary Ambassadors: Breakfast in the Philippines

Serious Eats' Culinary Ambassadors check in from time to time with reports on food fare in their homeland or countries of residence. Here's the latest! (Find out more about CA or join here!) —The Mgmt.

Homemade tapsilog. [Photograph: arnold | inuyaki on Flickr]

Silogs are probably the most iconic breakfast in the Philippines. Silog is two words combined: sinangag (garlic fried rice) and itlog (egg). The fun part of the dish is the protein. The four most common are: bangus (milkfish that has been fried), longanisa (local pork sausages), tapa (thin slices of fried beef), and tocino (thin slices of sweet marinated pork that has been fried). Silogs then become three words combined. For instance, on a menu you can see these choices: bangsilog, longsilog, tapsilog, tosilog.

I guess you can think of this as being similar to the typical hearty American breakfast of eggs, bacon or sausage, and toast. Except here you have that Asian influence of rice instead of toast and that Filipino influence of garlic rice and our local meats.

I consider myself a health-conscious eater. So if I do indulge in a silog for breakfast, it's because I'm on vacation or I'm planning to have an overly physically active day. However, on an average day, I typically consume a strong cup of coffee and a local fruit, such as mangoes, papayas, chicos, or mangosteens. (By the way, I'll proclaim this here: We have the best mangoes in the world. They are incredibly sweet and smooth in texture.)

—Foodicles (see also foodicles.blogspot.com)

Want to tell the SE community about breakfast where you live? Go here! »

To find out more about the Culinary Ambassadors initiative or sign up, see this SE Talk thread »

All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.