My mother and father are Ilocano.  They came from The Ilocos region of the Philippines.  Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur are 2 provinces about 240 miles north of Manila.  Also my grandparents on both sides came from there.  My mother learned how to cook from her mother,  so I will focus on my mothers cooking.  We love her chicken and pork adobo.  Adobo means marinated.  Usually all adobos include garlic,  vinegar,  bay leaf,  salt, and black pepper. Traditionally adobos were not made with soy sauce.   Chicken adobo also has ginger root.  Pinakbet,  a vegetable stew always has tomatoes,  bittermelon,  and eggplant and fishsauce,  "patis",  or various types of bagoong.  Bagoong is a fermented,  salted condiment,  usually fish but can be shrimp,  whole little fish,  even ants!  Pakbet means "shriveled" due to the appearance of the cooked vegetables.  You can also add squash,  various types beans,  unique Filipino vegetables,  shrimp,  fish,  pork,  almost anything. 

We also ate a lot of soups and casseroles.  Chicken and green papaya,  mallungay leaves,  bittermelon leaves or fruits,  chile pepper shoots,  long rice,  bamboo shoots,  mushrooms or squash were cheap and satisfying meals.  All meals were served with rice.  Laoya,  a beef or pork stew cooked with vinegar,  squash or cabbage and potatoes made hearty meals.  The famous longanissa,  Filipino sausage was delicious at breakfast.  Fish was served fried,  in soups  or grilled.  Pork and peas,  called guisantes was always a treat.  At Filipino parties,  the food was the star attraction.  Almost everyone left with some food to take home.  Funny,  most cooks at these large parties were men!

Filipino bread,  and pastries were a treat when we came home from church on Sundays.  Kankanin,which are

 coconut desserts were also delicious.  I remember grating coconuts by hand when I was a young boy.  As in most countries,  different regions featured different styles of cooking.  Nowadays,  I do most of the cooking at home.  I am the oldest of 7,  so I learned to cook because both my parents worked 2 jobs.  They did that to give us kids a better life.  When we have family get togethers,  we think of the good old days when we were young.  Just thinking of mom bustling around in her kitchen makes me hungry.  I miss those days......