The most beautiful time of the year is right around the corner. For Filipino families who celebrate Christmas at home, the Noche Buena food is greatly anticipated by everybody. Everyone talks about the food to be served on Christmas Eve but no one talks about the work that goes into the preparation. That’s why quick and easy recipes can be your bestfriends. If you are looking for specialty home recipes that are easy but still Noche Buena worthy, then this guide is for you.
In a Filipino household, preparations for Christmas start as early as September. Lanterns, decorations, and Christmas food vendors start to fill the sidewalks especially during the “Simbang Gabi”. The Filipino culture is amazingly rich in Christmas traditions and cooking delicious Noche Buena food is one of its highlights.
Pork Hamonado
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Hamonado or jamonado in Spanish is a term used to describe dishes prepared like ham. Pork hamonado is a famous Christmas recipe and it is considered a sweet variant of the Filipino sausage, longganisa. Different regions have their own secret ingredient but in general, pork hamonado consists of pork, pineapple, and sugar. The pork is first tenderized with pineapple juice and then caramelized with sugar after. A more detailed recipe is found here.
Bulacan is famous for its Hamonadong Liempo recipe which includes pork belly marinated in sweet sauce. This recipe also uses sukang bulacan, a specialty vinegar of the place. Some recipes also add beer to make the pork more tender and juicy. Check out a more detailed recipe here.
Morcon
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 1 hour
Morcon is commonly associated with embutido or chorizo in the Philippines. It is a dry sausage made from skirt or round-cut beef flank steak and stuffed with minced carrots, cheese, and pickled cucumbers among others. Morcon is shaped like a cylinder and is usually wrapped in foil to maintain its rich taste. It is fried until it turns brown and it can be served with a special sauce.
The famous Kapampangan (Pampanga) recipe of Morcon is famous in the Christmas season. It uses soy sauce and lemon juice or Calamansi for marinating the beef. When the beef is tender, it is flattened, rolled, stuffed, and fried. Another famous recipe can also be found here.
Bibingka
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Nothing beats the nostalgia and rich culture behind the famous Filipino rice cake, Bibingka. All the days leading to Christmas itself are made more special because of the different specialty bibingka sold on church sidewalks and even restaurants.
Bibingka is made from galapong (milled glutinous rice), coconut milk, sugar, and margarine. It is traditionally cooked in a clay pot and is wrapped in banana leaves when served. This method is time-consuming but quick alternatives are now available. This recipe uses rice flour instead of galapong and an oven instead of a clay pot.
Chicken Inasal
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 18 minutes
Chicken Inasal is a familiar dish found in every Filipino dining table yet it remains a worthy dish for the Noche Buena dinner table. Children enjoy chicken and adults enjoy grilled meat. Fuse these favorites together and add a specialty marinade sauce and you will get Chicken Inasal.
Take note, this is not just an ordinary grilled chicken recipe. Originating from the provinces of Ilo-ilo and Bacolod, Chicken Inasal is seasoned with various spices and doused with a special basting sauce. Because of its rich flavor, it can be eaten on its own. No sauce is needed. Learn more about the recipe here.
Pancit Malabon
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
As the name suggests, Pancit Malabon is a famous specialty dish from Malabon, Philippines. It belongs to a family of stir-fried noodles that are often served during festive occasions and holidays. Pancit Malabon uses thick rice noodles cooked in a shrimp-infused sauce and mixed with fried seafood ingredients like calamari or mussels.
Pancit Malabon is topped with thin slices of boiled egg, shredded cabbage, and pork cracklings. It is usually served with calamansi to add acidity but it can also be served as is. While Pancit Malabon shares a striking similarity with Pancit Palabok, the former can easily be identified through its thicker noodles and varied seafood toppings. Check out the recipe here.
Fruit Salad
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
The Filipino Noche Buena is not complete without the famous macaroni fruit salad. Because of its creamy and fruity taste, this side dish turned holiday dessert is well-loved by kids and adults alike. On top of that, it’s so easy to prepare that even kids can help out!
By default, this fruit salad consists of Macaroni pasta, all-purpose cream, sweetener, and assorted fruits. However, there are recipes that include mayonnaise, nata de coco, and cheese. The Macaroni fruit salad recipe is more famous in Visayas and Mindanao but even the people in Luzon have their own recipes.
What Food Can Tell Us
Each region in the Philippines takes pride in its own Christmas recipes. In addition to the nostalgia, traditional Christmas recipes from all over the Philippines bring lessons about a place’s culture and lifestyle. Who knows what you might discover about a place just by tasting its food? You may even taste what Christmas feels like in that place.
For more Filipino recipes that are best enjoyed during Christmas, click here.
What Matters The Most
These quick and easy recipes make the Christmas season more exciting and festive. On top of that, they are better enjoyed with family and friends. After all, Christmas is also the time for sharing and giving. But one must not entirely focus on the food and festivities because the main event is still the commemoration of Christ’s birth. Christmas is, above all else, a time of reflection and prayer.
Sources:
Panlasang Pinoy. (2015). Top 10 Filipino Christmas Recipes. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from Panlasang Pinoy website: https://panlasangpinoy.com/top-10-filipino-christmas-recipes/