Sisig

Pampanga’s most famous dish is chopped pig’s face and ears, boiled, grilled and served sizzling with onions, chili and calamansi. The modern sizzling version was popularized by Lucia “Aling Lucing” Cunanan, who opened her eatery in Angeles in 1974, and her success helped make Angeles City the “Sisig Capital of the Philippines.” Her original stall still stands along the old railroad tracks.

Where to eat: Aling Lucing’s or Mila’s Tokwa’t Baboy, both in Angeles City.

Kare-Kare

Oxtail, tripe and vegetables in a thick peanut sauce, always served with bagoong (shrimp paste) on the side. Many Kapampangans consider it their own, and it’s a fixture of fiestas and family celebrations.

Bringhe

Often called Pampanga’s answer to paella, bringhe is glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and colored yellow with turmeric, with chicken and sometimes chorizo. It’s traditionally served on banana leaves at fiestas.

Tocino and Longganisa

Pampanga is the country’s best-known source of tocino, sweet cured pork that caramelizes in the pan, and its longganisa is the sweet, garlicky style. Both are breakfast staples with garlic rice and egg, and they’re the most popular pasalubong to bring home.

Morcon and Tapang Kalabaw

Morcon is a festive beef roll stuffed with eggs, sausage and vegetables, and it’s the best-seller at Everybody’s Café. Tapang kalabaw is cured carabao (water buffalo) meat, fried until chewy and savory.

Where to eat: Everybody’s Café, with branches at Nepo Mart in Angeles and along MacArthur Highway in San Fernando.

Buro

Buro is fermented rice with fish (burong isda) or shrimp (burong hipon), sautéed and eaten with grilled fish and blanched mustard leaves. Its sour, funky flavor is a true Kapampangan taste.

Pancit Luglug

Thick rice noodles topped with a rich orange shrimp sauce, crushed chicharon, egg and smoked fish. The Original Razon’s in Guagua, open since 1972, is known as the house that pancit luglug and halo-halo built.

Betute

Betute is a whole frog stuffed with seasoned minced pork, then deep-fried until crisp. The meat is mild and tender, often compared to chicken.

Where to eat: Everybody’s Café or Apag Marangle. More exotic dishes in our weird Filipino food guide.

Kamaru

Mole crickets harvested from rice fields, cleaned and cooked with garlic, onions and tomatoes until crunchy. They taste nutty and savory, a bit like fried shrimp.

Where to eat: Everybody’s Café.

Tibok-Tibok

A delicate pudding made from carabao milk, topped with toasted coconut curds (latik). The name comes from the way the mixture “throbs” as it bubbles while cooking.

Where to eat: Susie’s Cuisine in Angeles, also known for biko, suman, kalamay and sapin-sapin.

Turrones de Casoy

A crunchy nougat of cashews, honey, sugar and egg whites, wrapped in a thin wafer. It’s a specialty of Santa Rita, where Ocampo-Lansang Delicacies is said to make the original.

Kapampangan Halo-Halo

Unlike the loaded halo-halo elsewhere, Pampanga’s is famously simple. Razon’s uses just sweetened saba banana, macapuno and leche flan over finely shaved ice, while Kabigting’s in Arayat uses red beans cooked halaya-style, creamed corn and carabao milk pastillas.

Pan de San Nicolas

Thin, embossed cookies made in carved wooden molds, traditionally baked for the feast of San Nicolas de Tolentino and long believed to have healing powers. Heritage cooks like Atching Lillian Borromeo of Kusinang Matua in Mexico, Pampanga keep the tradition alive.

Pastillas de Leche

Soft milk candies, ideally made with carabao’s milk and wrapped in paper. They’re a classic pasalubong and a key ingredient in Kabigting’s halo-halo.

Duman

Duman is young glutinous rice, pounded and toasted into fragrant green flakes, harvested only in the cooler months. It’s eaten with hot chocolate or carabao milk, and is highly prized because it’s only available for a short time each year.