Curry powder
A mixture of a number of herbs and spices to flavour dishes of Asian origin.

Fish paste (bagoong)
Salted and fermented small shrimps or anchovies.

Fish sauce (patis)
The liquefied product of salted and fermented small shrimps and fish.

Garlic (bawang)
A bulb widely used in cooking for flavour and medicinal value.

Ginger (luya)
A plant that produces rhizomes used for pickles soups and stir-frys. It has the capacity to neutralise the acidity of the digestive tract and prevents morning sickness.

Lemon grass (tanglad)
It is a long grass-like herb with lemon flavour

Meat tenderisers
A blend of naturally occurring enzyme bromelain and papain found in green pawpaw (papaya) and pineapple

Mixed spice
A mixture usually of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to flavour cakes and sweet dishes

Oils
Use either canola, maize, olive, peanut, safflower, soy bean and sunflower as they mono-/poly-unsaturated and help to lower blood cholesterol.

Onion (sibuyas)
Similar to garlic in its rule in cookery especially among Asians.

Pamapa
A type of curry spice mixed

Paprika
A finely ground dried pepper used to flavour and colour many dishes

Pepper (paminta)
Black pepper is the dried unripe berries and white pepper (ground) is from the ripe berries of the same pepper vine.

Peppercorns
The unground dried berries used for pickles and soups

Pimiento
Bright red capsicums usually bottled or canned used for garnishing.

Poppy seeds
Black little seeds of the white poppy plant sprinkled over bread or incorporated in some types of cakes

Saffron
The stigma of the crocus flower used to colour and flavour some dishes like paella.

Salt (asin)
Note: Please use this sparingly. High salt intake could result to high blood pressure.

Soy bean products
Salted cheese (tahure); fermented curd (tausi); dried soy bean milk skin (tawpe); soft cheese (tofu); hard cheese (tokwa); black sauce (toyo)

Tumeric (duyaw or dilaw)
A bright yellow rhizome of a plant that belongs to the ginger family. It is used for colouring and as a spice. Like the ginger, it has some medicinal value.

Coming from a country where people are considered more fish eaters should not be difficult for Filipinos to continue their eating habit. Visiting a fish market or shop, one will find a great diversity of sea food such as fish, crustaceans and molluscs fresh and reasonably priced.

One may say that the local fish are different from those in the Philippines. That may be true. But surprisingly, some of them are no different from Philippine fish, only they have different names.

It is not unusual to find differences in regional terminologies and preferences. Even here in Australia, over the years there is confusion about the names of seafood in different states. There are efforts to standardize the names of fish and these are set out in Marketing Names for Fish and Sea Food in Australia.

A piece of advice: If you have a recipe which you would like to cook and you cannot find the fish mentioned, try a substitute. Be flexible and make use of what is available.

Note: Substituting main ingredients, not only fish, applies to other recipes. Pork, beef, poultry — these meats can be subsituted with one another. Do not be restricted by what is stated in the recipe. Be creative. And follow your preferences.