1. Adobo

No list of Filipino food would be complete without adobo. The official Filipino national dish, adobo is so prevalent that many natives practically take it for granted. Some might overlook mentioning it as a must-eat Filipino food because many non-Filipinos are already familiar with it, and individuals can find many local foods to try. But visiting the Philippines and not eating adobo is like coming to the United States and forgetting to have a burger or passing on trying some barbecue. 

Adobo is a classic, a standard—and for those who are new to Filipino food, it's an excellent way to break into the Filipino food scene before you branch out to other dishes. Adobo comes from the Spanish word meaning "to marinate." The dish comprises a stew-like meat dish served with rice. Most commonly chicken or pork, the meat in this dish combines with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper, and bay leaves. Everyone prepares the recipe differently, with preparations ranging from sweet and sour to saucy and sticky. Adobo can also take on a vegetarian element.

2. Kare-kare

Kare-kare is a stew of meat and vegetables in a thick peanut sauce. Kare is Filipino for curry, which means sauce. This dish features oxtail and other meats that also include various pig parts (from the feet to cuts of pork) and an assortment of beef segments, including calves' feet, beef, and tripe. Some Filipinos use seafood. Vegetable additions include cabbage, eggplant, green beans, onions, and okra. 

The dominant flavor comes from the sauce, made with ground peanuts or peanut butter. Condiments such as shrimp paste and seasonings add additional zing to the dish.

3. Pancit

Pancit refers to noodles, and the Filipinos prepare them in various ways. Noodles are so prevalent in Filipino cuisine that restaurants, known as panciterias, are entirely devoted to preparing and serving them. Pancit canton is a term for egg noodles that are usually round. Panci bihon refers to rice vermicelli, and pancit sontanghon refers to glass noodles.

Guisado, which means sauteed or pan-fried, is one of the most common preparations of pancit. Cooks often prepare pancit with garlic, onions, and other vegetables (such as bell peppers, mushrooms, or carrots), along with meat or seafood. They mix these ingredients with a sauce containing soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, shrimp paste, or wine. Some cooks braise or cook pancit in a broth. Rarely are pancit noodles served without a side of calamansi, a sour Filipino lime that is used regularly in Filipino cooking. Squeeze the lime onto your noodles and enjoy.

4. Balut

If you're an adventurous eater, another Filipino staple is balut. Balut is a boiled duck egg complete with a partially developed duck embryo inside. The baby ducks grow between 14 and 18 days after fertilization. These time variations affect how well-formed the duck will be inside the egg. Remember that even 14 days is enough for ducklings to grow feathers and a beak. 

Balut is eaten by breaking a hole in the top of the egg and adding a mixture of vinegar, salt, and chili to the embryo liquid to make a broth. You then suck out the broth through the hole in the shell before opening it up to get to the duck inside, which you can eat directly or by using a spoon.

Balut is popular street food in the Philippines. Vendors wander from place to place selling this delicacy, calling out as they go. Their cry of "Baahhh-looot!" is as familiar a sound in the Filipino food world as the jingle of the ice cream truck in the United States.

5. Halo-halo

Another dish that bears repeating, halo-halo is what's for dessert. The name means "mix mix," and that's what this dessert entails. Halo-halo is a chilled smorgasbord of everything sweet and delicious that whoever is making it can find. It starts with shaved ice, ice cream, and condensed milk. Cooks add the mix-ins, including lychee, mango, jellies, coconut, corn flakes, sweet red beans, jackfruit, and sometimes flan. 

It's usually served in a transparent glass so that you can see what you're getting. The ingredients can be thrown in helter-skelter or carefully layered for you to "mix mix" on your own, but either way, it's just as delicious.

6. Sisig

Pork most frequently comprises sisig—in this case, the pig's ears, jowls, and liver. Cooks flavor this dish with onions and chilies and serve it on a sizzling hot plate, fajita-style. Sisig comes with a raw egg on top, which Filipinos let cook by mixing it into the other ingredients while the plate is still sizzling hot. It also comes with calamansi halves to squeeze over the dish. Often served with rice as an entree, sisig is also regularly eaten as pulutan, Filipino bar snacks—or "bar chow," as the Filipinos say. What goes better with a plate full of bar snacks than a nice cold beer?