The Best Filipino Foods For New Year’s Eve to Enjoy in 2024

As the clock strikes midnight and fireworks light up the sky, families and friends in the Philippines sit down to ring in the new year over hearty meals and sweet treats. Filipino cuisine offers the perfect options for New Year’s Eve dining, combining traditional ingredients with global influences into iconic comfort foods. This guide explores the best Filipino foods to enjoy on New Year’s Eve and details top picks for main courses, appetizers, desserts and more.

Top Main Course Options for New Year’s Eve

Holiday feasts in the Philippines can last for hours, with heaping platters of chicken, pork and seafood as the highlights. These flavorful main courses set the stage for a auspicious new year.

What is the national food of the Philippines?

The national food of the Philippines is adobo. This hearty stew combines chicken, pork or beef with garlic, vinegar, peppercorns and soy sauce for a tangy, savory flavor. It’s considered the unofficial national dish and is served during all holidays and celebrations.

Filipino Foods For New Year’s Eve?

On New Year’s Eve, Filipino families prepare lavish feasts featuring iconic mainstays like lechon (roasted pig), pancit (noodles) and lumpia (egg rolls). Round shaped fruits and sticky rice cakes symbolizing prosperity and sweetness are served for dessert. Some classic dishes enjoyed include:

• Lechon – Roast pig with crispy skin, often served whole
• Hamonado – Chicken or pork stewed in pineapple sauce and raisins
• Pancit – Stir-fried noodles with meat and vegetables
• Lumpia – Vegetable or meat-filled egg rolls

Dish	Description
Lechon	Crispy, fatty roast pork traditionally served whole for lavish occasions
Pancit	Lucky noodles representing long life, with varieties featuring seafood or meat
Lumpia	Savory petite egg rolls stuffed with vegetables or ground meat

What is the most popular New Year’s Eve tradition in the Philippines?

The most popular Filipino traditions center around food, family and luck. Highlights include:

• Preparing a feast with pancit noodles, roast pig and sticky rice cakes
• Making loud noises like fireworks, horns and pots and pans at midnight to scare away bad spirits
• Wearing polka dots, circular clothing and eating round fruits to symbolize prosperity
• Having children jump at midnight to grow taller in the new year
• Opening windows and lights so good luck can enter the home

Appetizers and Sides to Start Your Meal

While lavish main courses take center stage at a Filipino New Year’s Eve gathering, the celebratory meals also shine a spotlight on traditional appetizers and sides. These bites add delightful textures and flavors to the dining table as you wait for midnight to strike.

What foods bring good luck in the Philippines on New Year’s Eve?

There are several Filipino foods traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve believed to summon good fortune, prosperity and sweetness in the coming year. These lucky New Year’s eats include:

• Sticky rice cakes like tikoy or biko, signifying sweet bonded families
• Round or jiggly fruit like grapes or jello, representing coins or prosperity
• Pancit noodles, denoting long life
• Lumpia egg rolls, bringing luck and prosperity
• Glutinous sweet rice desserts for sticking together in hard times

Lumpiang Shanghai

This Filipino-style egg roll features a crisp wrapper enveloping savory ground pork and vegetable filling. Enjoy dipped in bright, citrusy sauces.

Ginataang Mais

Sweet corn and coconut milk combine for a creamy, comforting side dish. Shrimp or cubes of sticky rice cake are sometimes added.

Atchara

This pickled papaya relish offers a salty, sour crunch to pair with rich meats and saucy dishes. It keeps for weeks in the fridge.

Sweet Endings to Ring in the New Year

As the evening winds down, Filipino families turn to sweet sticky cakes, showstopping fruit platters and to-share desserts to finish out their feasting. Not only do these confections satisfy the sweet tooth, they symbolically summon prospects of prosperity, success and togetherness in the year to come.

What are the most popular Filipino desserts to eat on New Year’s Eve?

The top sweets Filipino families enjoy to celebrate New Year’s Eve represent wishes for the future. Typical choices include:

• Tikoy – Chewy sticky rice cake signifying family unity
• Ube halaya – Vibrant purple yam jam bringing good fortune
• Bukayo – Sweet shredded coconut symbolizing prosperity
• Kaong and Niyog squares – Jellied sweets with fruit and coconut
• Leche flan – Velvety crème brûlée flan promising sweet tomorrows
• Fruit salad – Lucky fruits steeped in syrupy dressing
• Maruya and turon – Fried banana fritters denoting golden coins

What do the sticky rice cakes represent?

Sticky rice cakes like tikoy and biko are immensely popular during Filipino New Year’s celebrations. Their chewy glutinous texture and bonding ingredients symbolize keeping families sticking closely together through all of life’s challenges in the coming year.

Their sweet, resilient quality makes them auspicious centerpiece desserts, usually served in round shapes with names that reference prosperity.

Dessert	Description
Tikoy	Chewy sticky rice cake named after the Chinese god of prosperity
Biko	Sweet sticky rice dough with coconut milk and brown sugar
Ube Halaya	Vibrant purple yam jam made from grated ube tubers

What items are traditionally worn or displayed for good luck?

Beyond their vibrant feasts, Filipinos also incorporate lucky clothing, decorations and practices into their New Year’s rituals to summon good fortune. These include:

• Displaying circular fruits like oranges and grapes that resemble prosperity
• Hanging rounds of sticky rice cake known as tikoy
• Placing bowls of coins around to attract wealth
• Wearing polka dots, pancit noodles and circular clothing
• Creating loud noises to chase bad spirits away
• Lighting fireworks, horns, pans, drums or anything noisy at midnight

Conclusion

New Year’s Eve gives Filipino families the perfect excuse to come together over hours of delicious feasting showcasing the mind-blowing flavors of local cuisine. For main courses, celebrants turn to the incomparable crispy skin and juicy meat of lechon as well as simmering stews packed with flavor. Appetizers like lumpia egg rolls start the meal on an auspicious note, while staples like fluffy white rice and biko sticky cakes let everyone fill up.

And don’t forget the sweet finale of treats like velvety flan, jewel-toned ube jam and more. With symbolic sweets denoting hopes for the year ahead and mainstays promising a hearty future, New Year’s Eve dinner sets the stage for continued prosperity, success and joy as loved ones unite.