This!!! 5 Delicious Ways to Start the Day

This 5 Delicious Ways to Start the Day - If there's one thing Filipinos know how to do, it's cooking and eating! As with their Asian cousins, mealtimes are communal affairs and largely informal. Colonising countries have come and gone, leaving some influence on, say, flavours and food preparation.

Still, the meals and snacks one finds in this country are highly reminiscent of the culture, and nowhere is this more evident than in Filipino breakfasts. From simple to elaborate, or light to heavy, how Filipinos approach the first meal of the day is a delight to see, or read about. Here are a few examples.

1. Steamed rice. Called 'kanin' in Filipino, steamed white rice is literally a blank canvas for the Filipino diner to build on. A popular combination is tomatoes and dried fish (kamatis and tuyo), for a meal that's both salty and tangy. Chopped bitter melon (ampalaya) mixed with scrambled eggs is another one.

For those who are fond of meat, there are other well-loved breakfast viands. There's tapa, a kind of beef jerky; longganisa or sausage; and tocino or cured pork that's similar to bacon. All of these, and several others, pair nicely with fresh steamed rice.

2. Pandesal.
Even if rice is a staple food, Filipino breakfasts can also include these small bread rolls. The simplest combination is that of pandesal and kesong puti, or white cheese. Usually, coffee is what rounds off the meal.

Fried or boiled eggs are another possible combination; salted duck egg, too, if it's available. Other breakfast viands like those mentioned above can be eaten with pandesal.

3. Champorado.
One of the well-known Filipino recipes, this dish of Mexican origin is one way to have chocolate for breakfast. Chocolate discs called 'tablea' are chopped and ground, then mixed with sticky rice to make this breakfast porridge. Filipino kids usually opt to eat it on its own, mixed with a little milk and sugar to make it creamier and sweeter. Adults likewise enjoy this dish when its served, usually pairing it with tuyo.

4. Sinangag.
Whenever there is rice left over from dinner the night before, it can be kept in an airtight container. The next day at breakfast, it's then fried with a little oil and garlic to make sinangag. As with steamed rice, any viand can be eaten with it.

A favourite combination, though, is tapsilog, combining sinangag with tapa and a fried egg. The meat can be replaced for practically anything, with a recent addition being spamsilog, using the ubiquitous Spam. Although it used to be served only at breakfast, such combination dishes can be eaten at any time of the day now – even dinner!

5. Puto.
Think of this as being halfway between rice and bread. This rice cake (it's made with rice flour) can be eaten at any time of the day, often paired with coffee or hot chocolate. Like with pandesal, breakfasts that feature puto can be really simple, or very elaborate.

For example, a really heavy breakfast of Filipino favourites can have this rice cake as something of a side dish, to complement tapa or tocino, steamed or fried rice, and egg. Don't forget the sliced tomatoes or cucumber, or even both.

All in all, Filipinos tend to treat breakfast as not just the first meal of the day, but the most important, since they'll want the energy to get through school and work. It's a good thing, then, that preparation isn't difficult, so it gives families more time to touch base in the mornings.

Globalization has since added cereal, pancakes, and oatmeal to the list of possible food choices. But for most people, there's nothing like breakfast featuring well-loved Filipino food, for true comfort.

Source: ArticlesBase.com, Thanks to Phil Cuis