Filipino spaghetti facts for kids
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| Type | Pasta |
|---|---|
| Course | Main dish |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Spaghetti, tomato sauce, tomato paste, banana ketchup or brown sugar, giniling, hotdogs, cheese |
Filipino spaghetti is a super popular dish in the Philippines! It's their own special version of the Italian spaghetti with meat sauce. What makes it unique? It has a sweet sauce! This sweetness usually comes from tomato sauce mixed with brown sugar and banana ketchup. It's often topped with yummy things like sliced hot dogs, ground meat (called giniling), and lots of grated cheese. Filipinos love it as a comfort food, especially at children's birthday parties!
How Filipino Spaghetti Began
This tasty dish probably started sometime between the 1940s and 1960s. During World War II, there wasn't enough regular tomato ketchup in the Philippines. So, people started making banana ketchup instead! When Americans introduced spaghetti with meat sauce, Filipinos changed it. They made the sauce sweeter to fit their love for sweet flavors, using the new banana ketchup.
What's in Filipino Spaghetti?
Filipino spaghetti is popular because it's pretty easy and cheap to make. Here's how it's usually done:
- First, minced garlic and onions are cooked in oil in a big pan until they turn a bit brown.
- Then, ground meat (giniling) is added and cooked until it's ready.
- Next, sliced hot dogs are thrown in. Sometimes, other meats like smoked longganisa sausages, ham, or meatballs are used instead.
- After a few minutes, a mix of tomato sauce and tomato paste is poured into the pan.
- Sometimes, beef broth, mushroom soup, or evaporated milk is added too.
- The sauce gets its special sweetness from a bit of banana ketchup or brown sugar. It's seasoned with salt and black pepper. Some people even use condensed milk or syrup to make it sweet!
- The sauce is then cooked until it thickens just right. Many people in the Philippines buy ready-made spaghetti sauce that already has this sweet Filipino flavor.
The spaghetti noodles are almost always bought from a store. They are cooked until they are firm but still a bit chewy (this is called al dente). You can mix the noodles directly into the sauce, or serve them separately with lots of sauce poured over the top. Before serving, grated or cubed Cheddar cheese is added. Sometimes, the cheese is even mixed into the sauce or melted over the pasta!
Other vegetables like finely chopped red and green bell peppers and carrots can also be added to the sauce.
Why Filipinos Love It So Much
Filipino spaghetti is a very important comfort food for Filipinos. It's almost always served at special events, especially at children's birthday parties. Because of this, many Filipinos feel a warm, nostalgic feeling when they eat it. It reminds them of happy childhood memories.
You can even find Filipino spaghetti at popular fast food chains in the Philippines! It's a regular item on the menu at places like Jollibee, McDonald's, and KFC in the Philippines.
