Hung Over? These Filipino Foods Can Help!
For Filipinos, there will always be a reason to party!
If humans are meant to be social beings, Filipinos are so much more. We have an uncanny knack for finding a reason to bond–especially over videoke, food, and alcohol. Whether it’s a family reunion, a soft opening of a nearby shop or even during a wake, you’d be sure to see a bottle (or ten cases) of cold ones.
Of course, no one really talks about the morning after, where headaches abound and getting up the next day is a challenge. Thankfully, Filipinos inherently know what gets their systems up and running after a night of endless rounds.
Check out the following Filipino dishes that could help you get rid of your hangover.
A warm bowl of congee
Filipino rice porridge, or lugaw, is rich with Spanish and Chinese influences but today it’s widely regarded as a comfort meal. It’s also the usual fare given to someone feeling sick as they are great for warming you up from the inside. When experiencing drunken headaches, you can choose between goto, which is meticulously cooked with ox tripe, arroz caldo, a ginger-infused broth with chicken gruel or the simple lugaw that’s made with only glutinous rice. If you’re craving something more sweet, check out the chocolatey champorado.
Greasy, savory meats
Eating salty and fatty food helps delay alcohol absorption. Other health experts suggest that the meats do their job more effectively when taken before a heavy night of drinking, in order to cover your stomach lining. This is why foods like sisig (crispy mashed pork) and tokwa't baboy (fried tofu with pork) can double as both pulutan (drinking appetizers) and hangover remedies! Both these pork dishes also come in other variations too such as chicken and beef, which you can pair with a side of egg and vinegar for sharper flavors!
Lugawan sa Tejeros, a Filipino eatery with branches across the Metro, takes the hangover meal a step further. The resto serves lugaw topped with generous slices of lechon kawali (fried pork belly), all at very affordable prices. It has gained so much popularity that it was featured on Netflix’s Midnight Asia documentary.
Flavorful soups
The iconic Filipino dish sinigang comes in pork, fish, shrimp or even plain veggies. But it's the tamarind-infused broth that produces high amounts of antioxidants and purifies the blood in your body. Other dishes that may help relieve your hangover include paksiw or fish simmered in vinegar and papaitan, a soup dish made from animal bile (giving it a distinctly bitter flavor) and made with cow or goat intestines. These foods are commonly consumed at lunch and dinner, but surprisingly even after a night out too!
Egg dishes
After a long night of drinking, most Filipinos will find themselves craving eitherbalut (fertilized duck egg)or -silog, whichcomes from the conjoined words “sinangag” (fried rice) and “itlog” (egg). Other than being deliciously filling, eggs have a little-known benefit: they contain the amino acid, cysteine, that helps your body rid the toxins you get from alcohol. And while these two are popular breakfast foods, most stalls and carinderias (eateries) will still sell them until night!
Partying and drinking sessions are great ways to fully enjoy company or experience a certain hotspot like the Philippines. But even if you’re in the heat of the moment, having fun at your 7th tequila shot, it is immensely important to drink responsibly. Drinking in moderation, staying hydrated and ventilated, and being well-fed before going out can help prevent a hangover from ever happening… or worse!
For more on Filipino food and the culture behind it, check out Ulam Co!