Filipino Pineapple Recipes You Should Know

Pineapple on any food is a controversial topic to many foodies in the US. On top of Google search, one title of opinion piece says: “Pineapple pizza, a disgrace to humanity.” There’s also an entire Quora thread discussing why pineapple “makes everything eaten after taste bad.”

The truth is putting pineapple on everything is a matter of cultural taste. Hawaii, a pineapple paradise, is not in fact the origin of pineapple pizza. Somewhere in Chatham, Ontario, a Greek immigrant had the brilliant idea to create the most polarizing flavor in the history of pizza. Hawaiians do however enjoy pineapple pizza, as much as they deny their involvement in its creation with compelling arguments. Hawaiian population is mostly comprised by Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders. It’s hard to imagine that these ethnic groups, especially Asians, would complain about putting pineapple on food.

In Asia-Pacific countries, pineapple is a valued fruit not only for making desserts and pastries. Pineapple has become a versatile ingredient to achieve caramel sweetness in several meat-based dishes in the Philippines. Many Filipinos stock on a regular supply of canned pineapples in their pantry to make popular dishes like sweet and sour pork, humba (Visayas version of adobo), and chicken stew.

Being in a tropical climate, Filipinos do run short of choices of pineapples – crushed, chunk, or sliced. For the creative cook, that only means more mouthwatering ways to throw pineapple into the pan. The recipes below are just few of the traditional pineapple recipes in the Philippines that just might change the way you view pineapple on dishes.