3 grilled skewers

Overview

Filipino-style skewered barbecue uses a wide variety of ingredients, including pork, chicken, chicken intestines, liver, seafood, and sausages, but the versions most familiar to tourists are pork or chicken grilled with a sweet and savory sauce. Even when described simply in Japanese as “kushiyaki” or skewered grilled food, in the Philippines it differs from Japanese yakitori and Southeast Asian satay, often having a reddish, glossy appearance produced by sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, citrus, garlic, pepper, banana ketchup, and similar ingredients.

As a dish, it is prepared by skewering meat that has been seasoned in advance and brushing it repeatedly with sauce while grilling. The surface develops a sheen and light charring from the sugar, and at street stalls the smoke and savory aroma help attract customers. Because it can be ordered by the skewer, it is eaten not only as a main dish with a meal, but also as a snack with alcohol, a late-night bite, or a light food to eat while walking.

Place in the Philippines

In Filipino food culture, the term inihaw is widely used to refer to grilling. It denotes a broad range of foods grilled over an open flame, including fish, meat, offal, and vegetables, with names and seasonings varying by region and ingredient. Skewered barbecue is a common form of eating out in both urban and rural areas, and is often sold in places with heavy foot traffic, such as near schools and workplaces, bus terminals, ports, and seaside promenades.

In the Philippines, skewered barbecue eaten as a main dish with rice overlaps with skewered barbecue served as pulutan, or food eaten with alcoholic drinks such as beer. Pulutan is a term that developed as a distinctly Filipino social eating custom, separate from drinking cultures influenced by Spanish, and includes dishes such as sisig, chicharon, grilled fish, and grilled meat. Because skewered barbecue is easy to hold by hand and to share in small portions, it is one of the dishes especially well suited to pulutan.

Seasoning and ingredients

A defining feature of Filipino barbecue is its marinade, which combines sweetness, acidity, saltiness, and aromatics. Common ingredients include soy sauce, vinegar, sugar or brown sugar, garlic, black pepper, calamansi juice, and banana ketchup. Depending on the household or stall, carbonated beverages may also be added to tenderize the meat and supplement sweetness and aroma. These combinations are not fixed, and differ by region, household, and vendor.

Banana ketchup is one of the condiments emblematic of modern Filipino food culture, and is said to have developed with bananas as its main ingredient during a period when tomatoes were scarce. Many varieties are colored red, and when used in barbecue sauce they give the surface of the skewers a vivid reddish-brown gloss. The acidity from vinegar and calamansi serves to add lightness to meat dishes that can otherwise feel heavy in a tropical climate.

Historical background

Dishes made by skewering and grilling meat or fish are a universal cooking method found throughout the world. In the Philippines as well, it is thought that seafood and meat were cooked over open flame even before the Spanish colonial period. At the same time, the style now called “barbecue” has been influenced by English vocabulary that spread after the period of American rule, by twentieth-century and later urban street-stall culture, and by the popularization of processed condiments.

Filipino cuisine was formed through the overlapping of Malay-derived foundational culture, the seasonings and noodle dishes of Chinese immigrants, stews and preserved foods from the Spanish colonial period, and meat dishes, canned foods, and ketchup culture from the American colonial period. Within this context, skewered barbecue can be positioned as a dish in which traditional open-flame cooking is joined with a modern culture of sweet sauces. The strongly sweet sauce, use of ketchup, and sale in small portions on bamboo skewers succinctly express the street-corner food culture of the Philippines.

Legazpi and the area around Legazpi Boulevard

Legazpi is one of the central cities of Albay Province in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon, Philippines, and is known for its views of Mayon Volcano. Legazpi Boulevard is a seaside road and promenade developed along the coast, attracting people who come for walking, jogging, watching the sunset, and dining. Its open coastal location is well suited to outdoor eating that combines grilled foods, light snacks, and cold drinks.

The Bicol Region is also known for dishes that make frequent use of coconut milk and chili peppers, but in urban Legazpi, in addition to regional cuisine, barbecue, fried foods, noodle dishes, and fast-food-like snacks common throughout the Philippines are also widely eaten. The skewered barbecue served on Legazpi Boulevard can be seen less as a special tourist dish than as an extension of everyday eating out and late-night snacking among local people.

Comparison with similar dishes

• Japanese yakitori: Centered on chicken and grilled with salt or a soy sauce-based tare. The Filipino style is sweeter and often uses ketchup and vinegar.
• Indonesian and Malaysian satay: Often accompanied by spices and peanut sauce. Filipino skewered barbecue is characterized more by a sweet-and-sour marinade and a teriyaki-like glazed finish than by peanuts.
• Middle Eastern kebabs: Often season lamb or beef with spices and are paired with bread or rice. The Filipino style is sold in small portions on bamboo skewers and can serve both as a dish with rice and as food eaten with alcohol.

Food-cultural characteristics

Filipino skewered barbecue is an inexpensive and convenient food, while also being a social dish shared with family and friends. At street stalls, skewers are lined up in front of the grill, and customers may choose their preferred skewers and request that they be reheated or brushed with additional sauce. Small dishes of sauce combining vinegar, chili, soy sauce, calamansi, and other ingredients may also be served, reflecting a culture of eating sweet sauces with added acidity or heat.

Skewered barbecue is also closely connected with the night scenery of urbanized Philippines. It is often positioned on the boundary between meals and leisure, as a snack after work, an item after a seaside stroll, or a drinking snack with friends. Although served in the simple form of a bamboo skewer, its seasoning expresses the balance of sweetness and acidity characteristic of Filipino cuisine, and it has become established as one of the country’s national street foods.

Hygiene and eating considerations

When eating skewered barbecue served at street stalls or outdoors, it is advisable to confirm that it has been cooked thoroughly, that pre-cooked items have been reheated, and that sauces and accompaniments are handled hygienically. While Filipino street-stall culture is appealing, proper handling of meat is important in regions with high temperatures. Choosing a reliable vendor and ordering freshly grilled skewers are common safety measures.

It may be eaten directly from the skewer, or placed on rice and eaten as a main dish. At drinking occasions, several skewers are often shared little by little, with the flavor varied by dipping them in sauces containing vinegar or chili. In seaside locations such as Legazpi Boulevard, it has a strong character as a light snack enjoyed together with the surrounding scenery and night breeze, and is a dish that evokes the connection between Filipino urban life and street food.