Popular Filipino Noche Buena Foods

Noche Buena is a traditional Christmas Eve dinner that is served after members of the Family have attended the evening mass called Misa de Gallo. It is an occasion where family members and friends gather at home to celebrate Christmas with sumptuous foods.  Following are pictures of some of the foods that are commonly displayed on the table during the Noche Buena by many Filipino families especially the Roman Catholics. 

Lechon is a popular pork dish for many Filipinos. The body cavity of suckling pig is stuffed with spices and seasonings. The whole pig is skewered and roasted over burning charcoal in a rotisserie action. Filipinos prefer to serve foods buffet style during special occasion. With that setting the whole lechon is put on the table, and family members or guests take their piece of it by slicing the meat all by themselves.

One of my favorite dishes is kare-kare which is served during special occasions including Noche Buena and Media Noche. The stew is cooked in a thick savory peanut sauce and thickened with roasted ground rice. The commonly used meat ingredients are oxtail and beef tripes. Added vegetable ingredients include pichay, banana blossom, string beans, and eggplant. Kare-kare is served on the table with sauteed shrimp paste (bagoong) as a side dish.

Lengua estofado or lengua is a popular favorite holiday dish with oxtongue as the main ingredient. The tongue is braised in sweet sauce and added with potatoes and mushrooms.

Noodle dishes are popular during the holiday season. Pancit is a dish that is appropriate for the Holidays such as the Noche Buena and Media Noche since in Chinese tradition the flour stick noodles symbolize long life. It is cooked in a broth with pork, sausage, shrimp, carrots, cabbage, onion, and garlic as ingredients. When done, it is embellished with parsley as an option and served with sliced calamansi to add citrusy flavor. Another popular noodle dish is sotanghon which is made from rice noodles cooked in broth, and added with shredded tender chicken meat, shrimp, garlic, bulb onion, leafy green onion, carrots, and cabbage.

Vegetables cooked in Chop Suey style put variety to the meat-based dishes on the table.

Ham is made from the processed hind leg of a swine.  It is also a popular dish during the Holiday season. Some people prefer the commercial ready-made ham while others like it home or custom made.

Spaghetti noodles are cooked and added with tomato sauce. Other ingredients include garlic, onions, hot dogs, luncheon meat, and cheese as toppings.

Torta resembles a large cup cake. It is also served during occasions such as fiesta, birthday, Christmas and New Year. Commercially made torta is available, but the home and custom made one tastes much better because of the ingredients that are used in baking it.

Suman is also one of the favorite treats for many occasions. It is made from glutinous rice that is boiled with coconut milk. It is then steamed wrapped with banana or coconut leaves. Eaten as a snack or a dessert, it is usually sprinkled with sugar. Suman goes with hot coffee or chocolate.

Queso de bola or cheese ball is associated with the Christmas season by Filipinos. It is for this reason that this cheese abound in the supermarket shelves during the Christmas season and is scarce in any other season of the year. The cheese is usually eaten as filling of bread.

Apples, grapes and oranges and local fruits- although apples, grapes and oranges are not indigenous to the country, Filipinos love it as their fruits during the Christmas season. These fruits used to be mostly imported from the US or Japan, but the liberalization of trade with China has made them become cheaper and widely available. Most of these fruits in the markets now come from China. Local fruits such as melon, mango and pineapple are also the most preferred fruits.

Cake is western in origin, the cake has become one of the popular baked foods for the Filipinos for their snack and dessert. The cake is one of the treats on the table on such occasion as fiesta, birthdays, Christmas and New Year.

Fried chicken- although less popular than a lechon, the deep fried chicken is also a favorite during the Noche Buena or Media Noche. Maybe the reason is that that it is easier to cook and prepare than a ham or a lechon. A chicken meat would also give diversity to the primarily pork based main course dishes that already include lechon and ham.

Ice cream and fruit salads- Filipinos also love sweet foods. On top of their lists are ice cream and fruit salads. Women and children love them. And so do adult men. The tropical climate of the country makes these desserts an ideal all-season treat for most Filipinos.

Drinks go with the holiday foods. Among the favorites are red wine, imported wines, beer and soft drinks.