Bulacan cuisine is a type of Filipino cuisine known for its rich, flavorful dishes. As well as being heavily influenced by Spanish and Chinese cuisines, it also incorporates local ingredients and cooking styles.
Bulacan’s famous “Burong Isda” or fermented fish is one of its most popular dishes. Freshwater fish is marinated in salt and rice for several days, resulting in a delicious, tangy, and salty dish.
Bulakeno food is prepared using the old-fashioned way. Cooking mudfish, for example, involves fermenting fish and packing them into banana stalks before burying them in live coals.
Another popular dish is the “Callos” or ox tripe stew, which is a hearty and flavorful dish made with a tomato-based sauce, chorizo, and vegetables such as carrots and potatoes. It is usually served with rice or crusty bread.
Bulacan is also known for its sweet treats, such as “Pastillas de Leche” or milk candies, which are made from sweetened condensed milk and rolled in sugar. “Ensaymada” is another popular sweet treat, which is a soft and fluffy bread topped with butter, sugar, and grated cheese.
Other notable dishes in Bulacan include its version of “pinakbet” or mixed vegetables with shrimp paste, “lechon kawali” or deep-fried pork belly, and “pancit palabok” or rice noodles with shrimp sauce, eggs, and chicharon (fried pork rinds).
Bulacan food is popular with its specialty in a variety of rice cakes for desserts or locally called panghimagas: kutsinta, sapin-sapin-suman, cassava cake, halaya ube and pastillas de leche, the famed delicacy from San Miguel, Bulacan.
Since animal-raising is a major industry in the province, Bulacan is also known for meat dishes. It is popular for chicharon (pork rinds). The province has its version of preparing relleno and galantina. Bulacan also has the strange way of roasting chicken, sitting in clay pot sprinkled with salt; asado or pot roast ; and estofado, pork leg ; and kare-kare, stewed beef in peanut sauce better than other regions.
Chicharon Bulacan. Photo credit: www.bulacan.gov.ph
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