Philippine condiments facts for kids

Toyomansi, a popular Filipino dipping sauce. It mixes soy sauce and calamansi with chili peppers.

In the Philippines, special sauces and dips are called sawsawan (pronounced sah-wah-SAH-wahn). You might also hear them called sarsa (SAR-sah). Unlike many other places, these dips are usually made right at the table. This means everyone can mix their own perfect sauce! They choose what ingredients they like and how much of each.

What is Sawsawan?

Filipino meals often come with simple ingredients for making sawsawan. The most common ones are vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi (a small Philippine lime), and patis (fish sauce). By mixing these few items, people create many different tasty dips. Each region in the Philippines might have its own special way of combining them.

One of the most popular dips is toyomansi. It's a mix of soy sauce, calamansi juice, and spicy chili peppers. Sometimes, people add a bit of vinegar or patis (fish sauce) too. This dip is super yummy with roasted meats.

For grilled meats, like inihaw, people often make "toyo, suka, at sili." This means "soy sauce, vinegar, and chili." It's made with soy sauce, vinegar, and siling labuyo. Some like to add chopped onions or garlic. A pinch of sugar or black pepper can also be added. If you're eating grilled fish, you might see diced tomatoes, patis, or even bagoong (fermented shrimp or fish paste) in the mix.

The simplest dips are just vinegar mixed with one other thing. For example, sukang may sili is vinegar with chili. Suka't bawang is vinegar with garlic. Sukang may toyo is vinegar with soy sauce. You can make these even more exciting! Add different spices or even fruits. This is how dips like sinamak (spiced vinegar) are made. Suka Pinakurat is a very famous brand of spiced vinegar in the Philippines.

Remember, there are no strict rules for these dips. You can use whatever ingredients you have. You can also change the amounts to fit your taste!

Other common things added to sawsawan include shallots, whole peppercorns, sugar, siling haba (another type of chili), wansoy (cilantro), and ginger. What's cool is that sawsawan can also be used to soak meat before cooking. This is called a marinade.

Some sauces are made ahead of time. One example is the Filipino sweet and sour sauce called agre dulce. It's made from cornstarch, salt, sugar, and tomato or banana ketchup. If you add hot peppers like siling labuyo, it becomes a sweet chili sauce. This sauce is perfect for fried foods like lumpia (spring rolls) or okoy (shrimp fritters). There's also "manong's sauce," often used for fried street food. It's made with flour or cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, chilis, ground pepper, and muscovado or brown sugar.

Another spicy dip for street food is "chili garlic sauce." It's made from chopped chilis, especially siling labuyo, and fried garlic. Some people add dried shrimp powder or tiny bits of meat. This sauce is often eaten with siomai (dumplings). You usually mix it with soy sauce and a squeeze of calamansi.

Among the Maranao people, a special spicy dip is palapa. It's made from sakurab (native scallions), ginger, turmeric, and chilis. You'll find palapa with almost every Maranao meal.

For seafood, a common dip is taba ng talangka. This is a savory paste from crab roe (eggs) or fat. It's cooked with garlic and oil. You can also add calamansi or vinegar. It's often eaten with rice, shellfish, or over fried garlic rice.

List of Philippine Condiments

Here are some other dips and sauces used in Filipino cuisine:

Name	Image	Description
Agre dulce		A sweet and sour sauce. It's made from cornstarch, salt, sugar, and tomato or banana ketchup.
Asado sauce		This sauce comes from the liquid left after cooking Philippine asado (a type of stew). Store-bought versions use pineapple juice, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch to make it thick. It's served with siopao (steamed buns).
Banana ketchup		A sweet, red sauce made mostly from bananas. It tastes sweet and tangy, but not as sour as tomato ketchup.
Chili garlic sauce		Like Chinese chili oil, this is made from chopped siling labuyo and garlic. They are cooked in water and then fried in oil. It's often served with siomai. You usually mix it with soy sauce and a squeeze of calamansi.
Ketchup and mayonnaise sauce		A simple mix of mayonnaise and banana ketchup.
Lechon sauce		Also called liver sauce. It's a sweet, tangy, light-brown sauce. It's great for roasted and fried dishes, especially lechon (roasted pig) and lechon kawali (fried pork belly). It's made from ground liver, vinegar, sugar, and spices.
Manong's sauce/Fishball sauce		This sauce is made from sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and muscovado or brown sugar. You can add black pepper and chili for a spicy version. It's a popular dip for deep-fried street foods like fishball.
Palapa		A very spicy Maranao dip. It has finely chopped sakurab (white scallions), ginger, chilis like siling labuyo, and grated coconut. It's usually cooked a little before storing.
Suka Pinakurat		A famous brand of spiced coconut sap vinegar from Iligan City, Mindanao. It's natural vinegar from fermented coconut sap mixed with siling labuyo and other spices.
Sarsang miso/Miso guisado		A sauce made from miso (fermented soybean paste). It's stir-fried with chopped garlic, diced tomatoes, vinegar, and ground black pepper.
Sarsang talong		This means 'eggplant sauce'. It's a sour dip made from grilled eggplants, garlic, and vinegar. It goes well with cocidos (stews).
Sinamak		A type of spiced vinegar from the Visayan islands. It's made with chilis (often siling labuyo), langkawas (galangal), garlic, peppercorns, and white onion. These are pickled for at least three days.
Sukang may sili		Cane or coconut vinegar spiced with chili peppers. It's usually served with grilled dishes, especially barbecue on a stick.
Suka at toyo		Cane or coconut vinegar mixed with soy sauce. This can also have very hot chili peppers or chopped onions. It's great with grilled meats (inihaw) and crispy pata (fried pork hock).
Toyo't kalamansi		Also called toyomansi. It's soy sauce with calamansi lime juice.

Pickles and Fermented Sauces

Atchara, a sweet pickled relish made from unripe papaya.

Bagoong made from fermented shrimp paste.

• Atchara - This is a method of pickling food in a sweet vinegar mix. It usually refers to a sweet pickled relish made from unripe papaya. It's a side dish, especially with grilled and fried meat or seafood.
  • Atcharang maasim (sour pickles)
  • Atcharang labóng (pickled bamboo shoots)
  • Atcharang dampalit (pickled sea purslane)
  • Atcharang ubod (pickled palm hearts)
  • Atcharang sayote (pickled chayote)
• Ensaladang mangga - A relish made from green mangoes, tomatoes, and onions.
• Bagoong - This is a salty paste made from fermented anchovy or shrimp. It's very popular in dishes like kare-kare (peanut stew) and binagoongan (dishes cooked with bagoong).
  • Bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
  • Bagoong guisado - This is bagoong that has been stir-fried with garlic, onions, tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar.
  • Bagoong isda (fermented fish)
  • Dayok - Fermented fish insides.
• Buro or tapay - This is fermented rice. It can be made with red yeast rice. It's mainly used as a dip for steamed or boiled vegetables like okra, sweet potato leaves, and eggplant.
  • Balao-balao - Fermented rice with shrimp.
  • Burong isda - Fermented rice with fish.
  • Burong mangga - Pickled green mangoes. Often served with bagoong alamang.
  • Burong mustasa - Pickled mustard leaves.
  • Tinapayan - Fermented rice with dried fish.
• Patis - This is fish sauce. Sometimes it's spiced with chili peppers or calamansi lime juice. When it has calamansi, it's called patismansi.
• Taba ng talangka - A fermented paste from the salted roe (eggs) and fat of river crabs. It can be cooked with garlic and preserved in oil.

Dessert Sauces

• Arnibal - A sweet syrup made from sugarcane molasses or palm sugar (panutsa).
• Latik - (Used in Visayan areas) A thick syrup made from coconut milk and sugar.

Flavoring Ingredients and Seasonings

Calamansi is used with soy sauce, vinegar, and/or siling labuyo to make a common dipping sauce in Filipino cuisine, like for siomai.

• Achuete (Annatto oil) - Annatto seeds fried in oil. They give dishes a bright orange color.
• Asín tibuok - A rare, traditional sea salt.
• Biasong or samuyao (small-fruited papeda) - A type of citrus fruit.
• Kamias (bilimbi) - A sour fruit used for flavoring.
• Kasubha (safflower) - Used for color and flavor.
• Dayap - A type of lime.
• Kiamoy powder - A salty, sweet, and sour powder.
• Kunig or luyang dilaw (turmeric) - A spice that gives a yellow color.
• Langkawas (galangal ginger) - A type of ginger.
• Tanglad (lemongrass) - A fragrant grass used for flavor.
• Dungon - A type of mangrove.
• Pandan - A fragrant leaf used in cooking.
• Calamansi - Small Philippine limes, very popular for their sour juice.
• Sakurab (sibujing) - A type of native scallion.
• Siling labuyo - Small, very spicy native chili peppers.
• Tabon-tabon - A fruit used to remove bitterness from seafood.