Living in a predominantly Catholic country means that millions of Filipinos celebrate All Saints’ Day or Undas as they more commonly call it. During November 1st, Undas is celebrated with loved ones, both passed and alive. And what better way to celebrate Undas with loved ones than feasting over Filipino Recipes.
As early as the day before Undas, families are already preparing their recipes for cooking. They’ll have a great feast at home or at their cemetery to visit their passed loved ones and spend time with them for a few hours or the whole day. Some cemeteries don’t allow food to be brought, but for those who do, families love to bring their homemade finger foods and few select meals with rice.
Here is a list of best Filipino recipes for All Saints’ Day:
1. Pansit Canton
The classic Filipino pansit canton can always be found in large quantities during Undas. It can be eaten as a snack or as a full meal. It’s easy to prepare and easy to store and bring to the family lot at the cemetery to share with loved ones.
The Filipino Pansit canton can be surprisingly filling because of the different array of ingredients such as slices of vegetables, pieces of meat, plentiful noodles, and its flavorful sauce to top it all off. Most pansit canton recipes also add some calamansi juice on top to further bring out the flavors.
2. Sapin-sapin
Sapin-sapin is basically this multi-colored sweet rice cakes that are very popular all year round but especially during special occasions such as Undas. It’s one of the many native Filipino delicacies or kakanin that can be consumed anywhere. It’s a very convenient treat to eat at the cemetery. You just need your hands and a tissue.
This colorful treat is made by soaking rice flour or rice overnight then crushed to a paste. Other ingredients are added including coconut milk, yams, or sugar. Each layer is flavored differently, giving it a colorful appearance that looks delicious to the eyes.
3. Puto
This list would be invalid if we didn’t include puto as one of the recipes. Be in the home or at the cemetery, puto has become a staple treat to serve during the Undas. Because it’s relatively easy to store and make, Families love to snack on puto as they drink and share stories at their lot at the cemetery.
This delicious treat made of gelatinous rice is easy to prepare and the recipe can be easy to modify using different flavors. When puto is served, it’s easily one of the foods in the table to run out.
See also: Puto Pao Recipe
4. Lumpia Shanghai
Lumpia Shanghai is one of those all-time favorite Filipino food for every occasion. It can be eaten as a finger food dipped in sauce or vinegar or eaten with a plate full of fluffy white rice. Lumpia is often served during the Undas, both at home or in the cemetery. The crunch of the fried wrap of lumpia shanghai makes every bite so satisfactory and add in the combination of flavors that floods in the mouth make it a staple favorite during Undas.
5. Cassava Cake
Cassava Cake is exactly what it sounds like. This delicious and filling kakanin is made up of simple ingredients including grated cassava, condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, eggs, coconut cream, and grated coconut. It’s no wonder that the final product when bitten into will taste oh so deliciously sweet with the earthy flavor of the cassava.
Families will make a platter of this sweet golden brown Filipino delicacy, cut it into little squares and share it with the whole family to enjoy at home and the cemetery.
6. Fried Chicken
The Filipino style fried chicken is a must at these types of gathering, especially during the Undas where families and extended families get together out in the cemetery or at home. Families enjoy their fried chicken with rice or with as is. It’s very easy to bring to the cemetery and eat it with just your hands.
Fried chicken served for the Undas is one of the more filling meals that contrasts with the bite-sized native Filipino kakanins. It’s a very popular meal for every Filipino for every occasion, especially for children.
See also: Extra Crispy Spicy Fried Chicken Recipe
7. Coffee Jelly
This one is probably the latest recipe on this list that has gained huge amounts of popularity among Filipinos over the past few years. Coffee jelly is exactly what it sounds like. The recipe originated from Japan which is basically sweetened coffee with added small cubes of jelly. It’s typically served cold to guests and makes for a great refreshing drink, often served for dessert.
Coffee lovers would love this, especially during the Undas where families sometimes spend the whole day and night at their family lot in the cemetery.
8. Pancit Bihon
Another noodle dish that Filipinos love to serve for their loved ones, pancit bihon is like the lighter and thinner version of pancit canton. The ingredients are similar which includes slices of vegetables, meat, but a lighter sauce. Even the sprinkling of calamansi juice at the end is the same but what distinguishes it from pancit canton is the thinner, almost transparent noodles used in the recipe. This makes pancit bihon perfect for a snack while visiting passed loved ones in the cemetery.
9. Spaghetti
The Filipino style spaghetti is a pasta dish that’s more suitable to serve in the home during the Undas rather than bringing a platter of it in the cemetery but that definitely doesn’t stop some Filipino families.
Spaghetti made Filipino style is quite different than the traditional Italian recipe. Filipino spaghetti is much sweeter made of huge amounts of Filipino sauce, slices of hot dogs, chunks of meat, and just the perfect layer of grated cheese on top. This makes the perfect flavor that makes it the favorite among families, especially with kids.
See also: Magic Creamy Spaghetti Recipe
10. Suman
Suman is this very sticky but delicious native Filipino delicacy or kakanin wrapped in banana leaves. It’s one of the most convenient snacks to bring to the family lot in the cemetery because it’s usually wrapped in banana leaves or buli palm leaves tied in bundles or formed in a triangular shape. The food inside the leaf is this delicious and sticky rice cake usually made of glutenous rice or malagkit rice, coconut milk, and sugar. A small bowl of brown sugar is usually used for dipping the suman to eat.
11. Kutsinta
Kutsinta is another variety of kakanin typically served during the Undas. Similar to puto, kutsinta is a steamed rice cake made of rice flour, brown sugar, and lye that gives it its distinctive rich brown color. It’s also typically topped with grated coconut when served to make for an eye-catching contrast between the light color of the coconut and the dark brown color of the kutsinta.
Filipinos love to take native delicacies like kutsinta to visit their passed loved ones because it’s recipe is relatively easy to follow and quite convenient to take outside the home.
See also: Top 12 Best Filipino Kakanin Recipes
12. Menudo
Menudo has been consistently in this website’s lists of Filipino recipes for special occasions and All Saints’ Day is no exception. Menudo is probably a recipe enjoyed in the home though complete with a plateful of yummy white rice. Although, some Filipinos love it so much that they’ll bring it to the cemetery in a container for seconds.
Menudo is a meal that’s basically meat stew with tomato sauce and various vegetables like carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and green peas.
13. Palitaw
Translated in English, palitaw means ‘to surface’ and that’s because the cooking process of palitaw has a flat circular white though is submerged in boiling water only to surface when it’s cooked. Afterwhich the rice dough is topped with grated coconut, some sugar, and crushed seeds.
Palitaw is a delicious, light treat to share with loved ones both in the cemetery and in the home.
14. Maja Blanca
Maja Blanca is the last kakanin or native Filipino delicacy commonly served on Undas on this list but there are certainly many more kakanin out there we haven’t mentioned. As the name implies, Maja Blanca is influenced by the original Spanish recipe, Maja Blanco. It’s a delicate, soft and light treat made of coconut milk and cornstarch mixture boiled over a low flame. The result is a delicious treat with a delicate flavor and creamy white in color.
See also: Creamy Maja Blanca con Mais Recipe
15. Filipino Barbeque
Of course, the Filipino barbeque would not be absent from occasions that call for family gatherings like Undas. The recipe is a staple for families to share stories while eating it on its stick and using it as a pulutan while drinking. It’s also easy to put Filipino barbeque in a container or have it wrapped in foil to bring to the cemetery to share and enjoy with the extended family while visiting passed loved ones.
