Christmas is always such a big deal in the Philippines. There are sales and deals everywhere. There’s the office Kris Kringle. You have ten million Christmas parties throughout December, from your high school barkada to your mom’s reunion, from your village association to your former officemates.
But the one thing every Pinoy is probably most excited about is Noche Buena. Maybe you start pigging out at midnight. Maybe you eat as soon as the family is complete. Whatever your tradition, there are definitely some dishes that you are super excited about.
In my family, my mom makes lengua with white sauce. Somehow she’s able to find the most delectable ox tongue, and she spends the entire day tenderizing it, then it sits in a silky smooth white sauce with mushrooms. I don’t know how she does it, but she also finds time to make the best potato salad in the world.
Then my Tita Marivi makes callos, using a recipe passed down from my grandmother. My Tita Teres, who comes all the way from Tarlac to join us at Christmas, always brings papaitan. With all of these mouth-watering dishes, my Christmas is absolutely complete.
But what’s on the Noche Buena menu for other families?
“For us, it’s always pasta, chicken and ham. Had the privilege to cook it for the fam the last two years.”
– Tristan Duran Lazo
“All are recipes that have been in the family. They’re such a staple for holidays for us that whenever I see those dishes I always feel like there’s a special occasion going on.”
– Danielle Tamara Fabella
“Paired with tablea (very important!). It could be any ensaymada, but we prefer Hizon’s out of comfort. Always present yan! We panic if we don’t have them ready by the 24th! It’s been my family’s thing for I think around 20 years now.”
– Ruth Jorolan
“My Lola’s recipe, that was passed on to her kids and then to my generation. A family celebration is never complete without it, but most especially Christmas. Even if she’s been gone for more than ten years, when we gather as a family for Noche Buena dessert, having her fruit salad makes it feel like she’s always with us every Christmas! No other fruit salad is like it.”
– Danimei Everett
“My tita brings an amazing chicken relleno every year. It’s good on its own, but it has gravy made from drippings so it becomes AMAZING.”
– Jonathan Lansang
“My mom makes Turkey. Nice and juicy, down to that hard-to-cook breast part.”
– John Gaisano III
“My lola makes a seafood dish called ‘Pasig River’. She wakes up really early to get the freshest crabs, shrimps, mussels and clams from the market, and they get cooked in coconut milk with squash and sautéed garlic, ginger and onions. The squash picks up all the flavors of the seafood and gets so soft and creamy from the coconut milk and everything about this dish is perfect for me. I tell my lola she has to live forever so I can eat this every Christmas.”
– Tinka Herrera Dan
“My mom’s halabos na hipon with kaffir lime always makes an appearance too.”
– Tinka Herrera Dan
There’s more stuffing than chicken, to be honest. Sometimes the stuffing gets an additional platter next to the stuffed chicken. Basically a staple of our Noche Buena is stuffing and gravy with a side of roast chicken!
– Mary Ann Marchadesch and Michelle Marchadesch-Roxas
“Oftentimes we get friends and relatives from abroad to come over. And one of the things they absolutely crave are those big red hotdogs. They’re apparently hard to find abroad. So we usually have some fried or grilled. Eating them kind of takes us back to when we were kids too.”
– Carlo Jose San Juan
“When my sis got married, her German mother-in-law would sometimes cook Noche Buena at her place, and the menu would be roast pork with gravy, Spaetzle, red cabbage, and a German soup with homemade pancake slices in it. (I can’t remember the name right now but it’s really good.)
– Rachel Calabia Epp
For Christmas it’s menudo de rabo: callos with beef shanks added. Sarap! Kung may gana pa, pecan pie. For New Year’s morcon from my father-in-law’s recipe. All cooked by my hubby, of course!
– Rina Jimenez David
How do Pinoys celebrate Noche Buena when they’re not here in the Philippines?
Malou Faustino-Saares shares, “In Finland, they also have Noche Buena. Since my husband is Finnish, this is usually what we have on Christmas Eve for a traditional Finnish noche buena: Christmas ham, different casseroles (lanttu casserole, mashed potato, liver and rice casserole with lingon berry sauce) rosolli salad, salmon, mulled wine or what they call ‘glögi’ and gingerbread cookies, and joulutorttu or Christmas pie bread with marmalade.”
What are you having for Noche Buena? Let us know in the comments!
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