Carinderia Food in Cebu

Home-Cooked Food Just Like What Mom Used To Make

Cebu is home to numerous culinary creations. Many of these creations were made by chefs who went through years of culinary school and fine-tuned their craft in the best restaurants in the world. Then, there are the carinderias. These are simple neighborhood stores where you can eat home-cooked meals close to the ones mom used to make. 

Carinderia Food – image source: tenminutes.ph

There is a good number of carinderias in the Queen City of the South and many of these are typically packed with students and office workers each and every day. Even as some of these stores offer their own specialties that have people wanting for more, there are a few food items that you can find in just about any carinderia in the city.

Ginaling

Ginaling – image source: manilaspoon.com

​This is a simple dish made mainly out of ground pork or ground beef with some onions, garlic, diced carrots and green peas. Aside from being easy to prepare and cook, it is also easy on the budget of students and office workers. There are instances when carinderia owners add other ingredients to make this simple dish special.

Ginamay

Ginamay – image source: block-five.blogspot.com

Ginamay is another ever-present viand in just about any carinderia in the Queen City of the South. It is also known as the menudo. While it is made of different types of meat, most carinderias normally stick to pork for its main protein provider in the dish. Similar to the ginaling, it has carrots, potatoes and garlic. It is cooked in tomato sauce and spiced with pepper and salt. 

Humba

Humba – image source: tenminutes.ph

The humba is a traditional Filipino dish that has made its way into the menu of many carinderias around the city. The sweet, sour and salty taste of this pork-based dish has sated the appetite of just about every Cebuano in the Queen City of the South.

Adobo

Chicken Adobo – image source: en.wikipedia.org

When there is humba on the menu of a carinderia, the adobo is not far behind. The adobo, be it pork or chicken, is another pork-based dish that continues to whet the appetite of Cebuanos for a home-cooked dish mom used to make. 

Monggos

Monggos – image source: tenminutes.ph

Cebuanos have a knack for creating dishes unique to the island. One of these dishes is the Monggo with coconut milk or tuno. Aside from coconut milk and the monggo, the dish may also have garlic and other vegetables and spices. 

Utan Bisaya

Utan Bisaya – image source: eatyourworld.com

​True-blue Cebuanos have tasted the ever-popular Utan Bisaya at least once in their lives. This dish is simply a combination of different vegetables and spices placed in a pot of boiling water. There are instances when small pieces of fish are added into the concoction. 

The concept of the carinderia was basically born out of the need to provide people with good food at a very affordable price. While most of the customers of these stores are students and office workers, there are some places where even executives and business people would drop by to have a bite to eat. This just shows that carinderia food is not limited to the masses since it is able to bridge the gap between the rich and poor through the food they offer on their menu.