Filipino Ingredient Substitutes for Cooking Abroad

Sauces and Liquids

Calamansi

This is probably the ingredient Filipinos abroad miss most. Calamansi has a unique flavor that sits somewhere between lime and mandarin orange — tart but with a floral sweetness that straight lime can't match.

Your best bet: mix half lime juice with half orange juice. It's not perfect, but it captures both the acidity and the sweetness. Plain lemon works in cooking but misses that floral note entirely. If you're lucky, your nearest Asian grocery carries frozen calamansi juice — stock up when you find it.

Fish Sauce (Patis)

Good news here. Thai fish sauce (nam pla) and Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam) are widely available and work perfectly in Filipino dishes. They're slightly different — Thai versions tend to be a touch sweeter, Vietnamese ones a bit more intense — but in a sinigang or adobo, you won't notice the difference. Patis is patis, functionally speaking.

Coconut Vinegar (Sukang Tuba)

Apple cider vinegar is your closest match. It has a similar mildness and subtle fruity quality. White distilled vinegar is too sharp on its own — if that's all you have, dilute it with a splash of water and a tiny pinch of sugar to soften the bite. Rice vinegar also works, especially in adobo.

Banana Ketchup

Mix regular tomato ketchup with about a teaspoon of sugar and a small dash of turmeric for color. It won't fool anyone who grew up on Jufran, but it'll do the job in Filipino spaghetti or as a quick sawsawan. Honestly though — banana ketchup ships well and is available on Amazon. Just order a bottle.

Pastes and Fermented Ingredients

Bagoong (Shrimp Paste)

Korean saeujeot (fermented shrimp) is probably the best substitute. It has that same salty, funky intensity that kare-kare demands. Thai shrimp paste works too, though it's more concentrated — use about half the amount. For vegans or anyone who just can't handle the smell, miso paste gives you umami depth. It's a different kind of umami, less ocean and more earthy, but it fills the role.

Tamarind (for Sinigang)

Sinigang mix packets are the easiest shortcut and honestly what most Filipinos abroad use anyway. No shame in it. If you want to go from scratch, combine lemon juice with chopped fresh tomatoes for a different but pleasant sourness. Green mango, if you can find it at an Indian grocery, also works as a souring agent and actually shows up in some regional sinigang recipes back home.

Annatto Seeds (Achuete)

Mix paprika and turmeric in equal parts. You'll get close to the warm orange-red color that achuete provides. The flavor won't be quite the same — achuete has a subtle earthiness that paprika doesn't replicate — but for dishes where color matters more than flavor (like kare-kare sauce), this combo does fine.

Fresh Ingredients

Kangkong (Water Spinach)

Regular spinach or baby spinach works as a stand-in for most dishes. In sinigang, bok choy is actually a better swap — it holds up to long simmering without turning to mush the way spinach does. For stir-fries, any leafy green with a mild flavor will do.

Saba Banana

Plantain is the closest match by far. It has the same starchy, firm texture that holds up during cooking. Regular bananas are way too soft — they'll disintegrate in a turon or a sinigang. Green plantains for savory dishes, ripe yellow ones for desserts like banana cue.

Pandan Leaves

Pandan extract (the bright green bottled kind) works for baking and desserts. For rice, a drop of vanilla extract gives a similar sweet aroma, though it's not the same thing. Frozen pandan leaves show up at Southeast Asian grocery stores sometimes. Grab them when you see them — they freeze beautifully and last months.

Calamansi Leaves

Kaffir lime leaves are the best alternative. They carry a similar citrusy fragrance. Bay leaves work as a more neutral backup when kaffir lime isn't available either.

Ube (Purple Yam)

Ube extract combined with mashed sweet potato gets you the color and a reasonably close flavor. The texture of sweet potato is softer, so adjust accordingly. And please — taro is NOT a substitute. They look similar when raw, but the taste is completely different. Ube is sweet with vanilla undertones. Taro is starchy and nutty. Mixing them up will ruin your halayang ube.

Where to Find Filipino Ingredients Online

Before you substitute anything, check whether the real thing is just a delivery away. Seafood City ships nationwide in the US. FilStop carries hard-to-find items like frozen calamansi and ube halaya. Amazon stocks banana ketchup, bagoong, and sinigang mix from multiple brands. Some Asian grocery delivery apps (Weee!, Umamicart) carry Filipino products depending on your area.

For a broader look at stocking your kitchen with Filipino staples, check out our Filipino Pantry Essentials guide — it covers the 25 core ingredients every Pinoy kitchen needs and where to source them. And for more on the role of coconut milk in Filipino cooking, we have a dedicated guide on that too.

As Filipino cuisine continues to gain international recognition, more stores are carrying these ingredients. The situation is better now than it was even five years ago.