Essential Filipino Pantry: 25 Ingredients You Always Need

The Foundation Five: Sauces and Liquids

1. Soy Sauce (Toyo)

Toyo is the backbone of Filipino savory cooking. You'll find it in adobo, mechado, bistek, and dozens of other dishes. Filipino soy sauce tends to be saltier and thinner than Japanese shoyu, so don't substitute them one-to-one without adjusting.

Silver Swan and Datu Puti are the two most popular brands. Silver Swan runs slightly sweeter, while Datu Puti leans saltier. Many cooks keep both on hand. A large bottle lasts about two weeks in a busy kitchen.

2. Vinegar (Suka)

Filipino cuisine uses more vinegar than almost any other Asian cooking tradition. The varieties matter more than you'd expect. Sukang iloko (cane vinegar from Ilocos) has a sharp, clean bite that works beautifully in paksiw. Sukang tuba (coconut vinegar) brings a milder, slightly sweet acidity perfect for adobo variations. Sukang paombong (palm vinegar) falls somewhere in between with a complex, earthy flavor.

For everyday cooking, cane vinegar handles most jobs well. But once you taste adobo made with coconut vinegar, you'll understand why having multiple types around matters.

3. Fish Sauce (Patis)

Patis adds that deep, savory umami punch that salt alone can't deliver. A few drops transform bland soup into something rich and complex. Think of it as liquid flavor concentrate - a little goes a long way.

Quality varies wildly between brands. Good patis should smell strong but not rotten. The color should be clear amber, not murky brown. Rufina is a solid choice that won't break the bank. Once opened, keep it in a cool spot. It doesn't need refrigeration.

4. Oyster Sauce

Not traditional in old-school Filipino cooking, but modern Pinoy kitchens can't live without it. Oyster sauce adds sweetness, body, and glossy color to stir-fries and pancit. A spoonful in your ginisa base rounds out the flavor beautifully.

5. Banana Ketchup

This one confuses non-Filipinos every time. Banana ketchup is sweeter and milder than tomato ketchup, with a distinctive fruitiness that pairs perfectly with fried foods. It's essential for Filipino-style spaghetti, a common sawsawan for fried chicken, and the base of many BBQ glazes.

Jufran and UFC are the dominant brands. Some purists make their own from saba bananas, but store-bought works fine for everyday cooking.

The Holy Trinity and Friends: Aromatics

6. Garlic (Bawang)

Filipino cooking uses garlic more generously than most cuisines. Where a French recipe calls for two cloves, a Filipino recipe wants six. Ginisa starts with garlic, sinangag starts with garlic, even some desserts get a whisper of garlic. Buy it by the head, not the clove. You'll go through it fast.

7. Onion (Sibuyas)

White and red onions both work, though many cooks prefer red for its slightly sweeter flavor. Shallots (sibuyas tagalog) are prized for dishes where you want a more delicate onion presence. For everyday ginisa, regular white onion does the job perfectly.

8. Tomato (Kamatis)

Tomatoes complete the ginisa trinity. They break down during cooking to create a natural sauce base, adding acidity, sweetness, and color. Filipino tomatoes tend to be smaller and more tart than American varieties. If you're overseas, Roma tomatoes are your best substitute.

9. Ginger (Luya)

Fresh ginger shows up in tinola, arroz caldo, salabat, and many soups. It adds warmth and aids digestion. The Filipino tradition of drinking salabat (ginger tea) when you're feeling under the weather has real science behind it. Buy firm, smooth roots - wrinkled skin means the ginger is old and drying out.

10. Calamansi

These tiny citrus fruits are irreplaceable. Squeeze them into sawsawan, over grilled fish, into pancit, or just mix with water for a refreshing drink. Calamansi juice brings a floral, complex acidity that lime and lemon can't quite replicate.

Outside the Philippines, you can find frozen calamansi juice in Asian grocery stores. It's not identical to fresh, but it gets the job done when the real thing isn't available.

Flavor Builders: Pastes and Fermented Goods

11. Bagoong (Shrimp Paste)

Bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) is essential for kare-kare, where it serves as the primary seasoning alongside the peanut sauce. It's also sauteed with tomato and onion to create bagoong guisado, which transforms plain fried fish and steamed vegetables into a proper Filipino meal.

The fermented shrimp smell is intense, and visitors to Filipino kitchens often wrinkle their nose at it. But that funky, salty depth is what gives many dishes their unmistakable character. According to Wikipedia's overview of Filipino cuisine, fermented ingredients like bagoong are foundational to the country's flavor profile.

12. Bagoong Isda (Fish Paste)

Different from shrimp bagoong, fish paste (usually made from anchovies) is the go-to for Ilocano dishes like pinakbet. It's thicker, darker, and has an even more concentrated umami hit. A small jar goes a long way since you only need a tablespoon or two per dish.

13. Fermented Black Beans (Tausi)

Tausi adds a salty, earthy flavor to dishes like tausi spareribs and certain fish preparations. Rinse them before use if you want to control the saltiness. They keep for months in a sealed container.

Spices and Dried Goods

14. Bay Leaves (Laurel)

Dried bay leaves are non-negotiable for adobo, mechado, and most braised dishes. They add a subtle herbal complexity that you don't consciously taste, but you definitely notice when it's missing. Three to five leaves per pot of adobo is standard. Remove them before serving.

15. Whole Black Peppercorns

Filipino adobo traditionally uses whole peppercorns, not ground pepper. The whole corns release their heat slowly during simmering, giving a gentler but more persistent warmth. You'll also toss them into bulalo and nilaga. Keep a pepper grinder handy too - freshly cracked pepper finishes many dishes well.

16. Annatto Seeds (Achuete/Atsuete)

Achuete gives dishes that signature warm orange-red color. You'll need it for kare-kare, chicken inasal marinade, and ukoy. Steep the seeds in warm oil until the oil turns deep orange, then strain out the seeds. The flavored oil is what you cook with. Some cooks use annatto powder for convenience, but the seeds give a cleaner color.

17. Dried Shrimp (Hibi)

Tiny dried shrimp add savory depth to pancit palabok, ginisang ampalaya, and various stir-fries. Soak them briefly in water to rehydrate, or toast them dry in a pan for extra crunch. They keep for months in a sealed bag in the pantry.

18. Tamarind (Sampalok)

Fresh tamarind pods make the best sinigang, hands down. The pulp gets boiled and strained to create that signature sour broth. Tamarind paste and instant sinigang mix are fine shortcuts, but if you ever cook with fresh sampalok, you'll taste the difference immediately. The sourness is cleaner, more complex, and somehow more alive.

19. Star Anise

A few star anise pods turn ordinary pork braises into something special. They're essential for pork pares and humba. Use them sparingly - two or three pods are enough for a big pot. The licorice-like warmth builds slowly during long cooking.

Coconut Products

20. Coconut Milk (Gata)

Gata is the soul of Bicolano cooking and shows up in laing, Bicol Express, ginataang kalabasa, and dozens of desserts. Canned coconut milk works well for most applications. Shake the can before opening - the thick cream and thin liquid should be combined for even cooking.

For desserts like buko pandan and ginataang halo-halo, use full-fat coconut milk. Light versions don't have enough richness. Fresh coconut milk (squeezed from grated mature coconut) is always best, but canned is perfectly acceptable for everyday cooking.

21. Coconut Cream

Thicker and richer than coconut milk, coconut cream is what you reach for when a dish needs that luxurious, velvety finish. Drizzle it over bibingka, stir it into thick curries, or use it in your kakanin. The difference between coconut milk and coconut cream is fat content - cream has roughly double the fat.

Fresh Leaves and Aromatics

22. Lemongrass (Tanglad)

Fresh lemongrass stalks perfume soups, teas, and marinades with their citrusy fragrance. Bruise the stalks with the back of a knife before adding them to the pot - this releases the essential oils. Remove before serving since the fibrous stalks aren't pleasant to chew. Lemongrass keeps for two weeks in the fridge, or you can freeze it for longer storage.

23. Pandan Leaves

Pandan adds a sweet, vanilla-like aroma to rice and desserts. Tie a leaf into a knot and toss it into the rice cooker for fragrant rice. It's essential for buko pandan, pandan chiffon cake, and many kakanin. Fresh pandan is ideal, but frozen leaves work in a pinch. Pandan extract (the bright green kind) is useful for coloring and flavoring baked goods.

24. Chili Peppers (Sili)

Filipino food isn't known for being extremely spicy, but sili labuyo (bird's eye chili) adds a sharp, concentrated heat to dishes like Bicol Express, laing, and various sawsawan. Sili mahaba (finger chili) is milder and often used whole in sinigang for a gentle warmth. Fresh chilis keep for a week in the fridge. Dry them in the sun if you have a surplus.

25. Spring Onions (Sibuyas na Mura)

Spring onions serve double duty. The white parts go into ginisa and soups for flavor, while the green tops make an easy garnish that adds color and a mild onion bite. Scatter them over pancit, arroz caldo, or any soup before serving. They wilt fast once cut, so slice them right before you need them.

Bonus Staples Worth Keeping Around

How to Organize Your Filipino Pantry

Group your ingredients by how often you reach for them. Daily items (toyo, suka, patis, garlic, onion) should sit front and center, within arm's reach. Weekly staples (coconut milk, bay leaves, peppercorns, oyster sauce) can go one shelf back. Monthly items (annatto seeds, star anise, dried shrimp) are fine in the back or in a separate drawer.

Label everything, especially if you transfer ingredients into matching containers. Patis and toyo look similar in identical bottles, and grabbing the wrong one at the wrong moment can ruin a dish fast. Trust me, I learned that one the hard way.

Check expiration dates every few months. Dried spices lose potency after a year. Canned coconut milk usually lasts 2-3 years but check for dents or bulging. Fresh aromatics (ginger, lemongrass, chilis) should get used within a week or frozen for later.