Half the battle of new recipes is trying to find the right ingredients. I know the first time I made a Filipino dish, I had to go to several different places to find what I needed. And even when I did go to the right stores, the ingredients weren’t in the place that I naturally assumed they’d be. For example, I realized salted duck eggs weren’t by the milk like fresh eggs because they’re kept at room temperature. D’oh! Lucky for you, with the help from some of my fellow Filipina cooks (shout out to Bianca, Leila, Saima K, Christine DC, Christina Y), I pulled together this quick list of where you can get Filipino food ingredients around Greater Boston. And take my advice, if you can’t find an ingredient - ask.
Bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste)... for veggies, unripe mangoes, fried fish
Tocino (cured pork)... for bacon or simple dishes like this one with Salted Egg and Chopped Tomato
Tapa (cured beef)... for tapsilog (the term for tapa, garlic fried rice, and fried egg = Filipino breakfast)
Mark suggestion... Datu Puti vinegar
Flats Mentor Farms - check their FB page that’s linked for your local farmers market
Kangkong (water spinach)… for Kangkong & Tofu with Oyster Sauce
Flavored Spam (like Spicy Spam!)... for Spamsilog (garlic rice, fried Spam, and fried egg = breakfast!)
Palm Corned Beef… for Filipino Corn Beef Hash
Salted Duck Eggs.... for Tomato, Grilled Eggplant, & Salted Egg Salad ( I use sweet onions instead of green, and I don’t do the sauce)
Macapuno (coconut strings)… for Cassava Cake (one of my faves!)
Bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste)... for veggies, unripe mangoes, fried fish
Yakult (I’ve never had it, but it's a probiotic yogurt type of drink that some of the ladies used to drink as kids. Think kefir…)
Sometimes Filipino ice cream…
H-Mart in Burlington - A suggestion from one of our readers, Mark! He confirmed they carry the following:
Frozen lumpia (spring rolls)
Longanisa (sausage)
Tocino (cured pork)
Malunggay (leaves used in soups and broths)
Monggo (beans)
Jia Ho Super Market in Chinatown
Banana Leaves… for decoration or cooking like in this Bibingka with Rice Cakes recipe
Spicy vinegars… for everything. Filipinos love them some vinegars.
Dilis (anchovies)… for Crispy Fried Dilis
Pinoy sardines… for Ginisang Sardinas
Kangkong (water spinach)… for Kangkong & Tofu with Oyster Sauce
Salted Duck Eggs.... for Tomato, Grilled Eggplant, & Salted Egg Salad (but I use sweet onions instead of green, and I don’t do the sauce)
Skyflakes (crackers)… for snacking
Haw flake (candy, kinda like fruit leather)… for snacking
Sotanghon pancit rice noodles… for Pancit Sotanghon
Pomelo (citrus fruit)… for snacking and salads
Persimmons (fruit)… for snacking
Kam Man Foods in Quincy
They have an ENTIRE AISLE dedicated to Filipino ingredients!
Bagoong (sauteed shrimp paste)... for veggies, unripe mangoes, fried fish
Pancit (noodles)… for Pancit Bihon
Chicken Tocino… for Filipino breakfast like the tapsilog I listed above!
Maggi Savor Calamansi (liquid calamansi seasoning)... for Bistek (Filipino beef steak)
Salmon head... for Sinigang na Salmon
Goat meat… for Goat Caldareta
McKinnon’s Meat Market in Somerville
Oxtail… for Kare Kare (oxtail stew)
You can also call most butchers and ask!
Lumpiang shanghai (spring rolls)
Ube ice cream
Bangus (milk fish)… for Bangus Paksiw
Tinapa (smoked fish)... for Tinapa Fried Rice
Tocino (cured pork)... for bacon or simple dishes like this one with Salted Egg and Chopped Tomato
Tapa (cured beef)... for tapsilog (the term for tapa, garlic fried rice, and fried egg = Filipino breakfast)
Ensaymada (sweet bread / pastry)
Outside of greater Boston:
Pinoy Republic in Worcester
Moving forward we’ll be creating a resources page for all your Filipino food needs, so stay tuned!
What are we missing? The stores above are only the ones we / our friends go to, so please feel free to share where you go to get your Filipino goodies. Comment below and we’ll add it to the resources page once it’s up!