A Filipino Christmas feast: 11 nostalgic dishes to serve for Noche Buena

There is also bibingkang kanin which is a sticky rice dessert, but these bibingka galapong are the fluffy rice cakes usually found cooked in banana leaves over a charcoal stove outside of churches during midnight mass. These are topped with desiccated coconut, brown sugar, and melted butter.

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Also made out of rice but dyed a distinct bright purple, these sticky rice snacks are made from black glutinous rice called “pirurutong.” They are usually steamed in bamboo tubes in a custom-made aluminium steamer and served with desiccated coconut, brown sugar, and butter – yes, just like bibingka as they are usually sold in tandem outside churches during the Christmas season.

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Sometimes called chicken gallantina, although technically a galantine is a chicken completely deboned and stuffed, slowly simmered in a broth and served cold. Chicken relleno is deboned except for the bird’s limbs (making it the more festive choice, in my opinion), filled traditionally with ground pork, Vienna sausage, gherkins, raisins, and hardboiled egg, roasted, and then served warm with an aromatic brown gravy.

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It is the quintessential Christmas dessert. You will know the season has officially begun when the supermarket aisles are lined with tinned fruit cocktail and all-purpose cream. The standard Filipino fruit salad is simply those two ingredients sweetened with condensed milk. Some also choose to add other preserved fruits such as nata de coco and macapuno, or fresh fruit like shredded fresh coconut, apples, and bananas.

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This cold mayonnaise-based salad is a Christmas favourite not only because it is an amazing side dish to your ham sandwich, but it is perfect for a potluck. You can make it the night before, chill it in the fridge packed in your favourite airtight container, and take it to the party the next day without much fuss. Besides, this makes for the ideal Christmas morning breakfast, no cooking required.

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Love it or hate it, fruit cake is probably the oldest Christmas food tradition dating back to Roman times. Elaborately flavoured with preserved fruits soaked in brandy, nuts, and spices, it gained popularity in the 1800s when it became a favourite holiday gift. Perhaps tastes have changed and mass-produced fruit cake gave this holiday food its current bad reputation, but somehow, even in the Philippines, it is not quite Christmas without it.

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These fluffy balled pastries topped with whipped butter, sugar, and ideally grated queso de bola, is a favourite for gifting and always has a place on the Filipino holiday table. The best ones have an airy crumb that is also moist, with that sweet and salty flavour from its toppings. While nothing quite beats the classic, fresh takes on this Filipino pastry come stuffed with chorizo, ham, ube, or even topped with Nutella.

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While Edam cheese is readily available in your neighbourhood deli all year round, you need to get it in ball form wrapped in red wax as part of your Noche Buena spread come Christmas. It is the fitting companion to your sliced ham and pandesal, and the rest of it end up in dishes throughout the holidays grated over pasta, mixed into kaldereta, or even just munched on to accompany all the wine you received from thoughtful friends.

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With all the complex stews and exotic holiday dishes, this children’s party classic is a reliable standby for the little picky eaters. Affordable and simple to make, the happy memories attached to the sweet tomato sauce adorned with hotdogs and local cheddar always adds to the festive mood. Besides, let’s admit it— we never really outgrow Pinoy spaghetti.

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Historically, this ox tripe stew is peasant food in Spain because it utilises a part of the cow that is usually thrown out. However, the laborious task of cleaning, boiling, and preparing this dish has made it a beloved favourite worthy of a spot on the holiday table. That thick, gelatinous sauce acts as a luxuriant pool for the tender ox tripe, deboned trotters, chorizo, and chickpeas that are scooped up with crusty bread. But, in the Philippines, it would be amiss to not pair it with lots of hot rice.

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