I had wanted to do a list like this for a while. And, while I work on some copy for a friend's food business, I found it fit to churn it out. There are no rules here (you'll see what I mean), so here goes:

10. Pandesal Nothing like sweet, freshly baked pandesal in the morning. Nothing like having to get up early because it's your turn to go to the bakeshop and buy pandesal. Drawback: never tastes as good a day after.

9. Sisig The best is served in Pilo, with chicaron and gata. Oh boy! I'd rank this dish higher but it's so bad for your arteries that you'll get dizzy after eating it.

8. Kesong Puti The ones made in Los Banos (DTRI) are soft and chewy, like young soft-ripened cheese. In fact, it is exactly that. I like this best fried with #10.

7. San Miguel Beer Super Dry The best friggin beer. Not too strong and bitter. No aftertaste, and, because you get it in the Philippines, it's cheap as piss.

6. Champorado with Tapa I could be wrong (not to mention chichi) here, but the best champorado I've ever had was at the old Fashion Cafe in Makati. Dark, bitter and warm. The tapa was just the right tenderness and no cartilage sticking to the teeth. Invigorating!

5. Biko Stick-to-the-teeth rice cake. I keep confusing this with kalamay, or cassava cake, but the former uses ground rice and the latter uses, er, cassave. Best warm with coffee. They should serve this in Starbucks. Never said no to it on the buffet table.

4. Ensaymada If you have not had Cunanan Ensaymada, you have not lived. You have to have to try it. They only sell it by phone (orders) and you have to pick it up yourself in their secret little bakeshop in Valle Verde (5 I think). I don't have their number now, but this stuff is soooooo good, it costs almost U$ 2.00 each. It's a bit crunchy outside, sticky and melting inside, with lots of queso de bola sprinkled on top. Yummie!!

3. Green Mango with Bagoong I don't eat green mangoes unless they're in a shake, or with bagoong. It's the chips and dip for the Filipino TV viewer. And, if you're lucky, you have someone else to peel it for you. The crunch, and the transformation from sour to salty is just unbelievably scrumptious.

2. Balut With salt, nothing beats the many-textured symphony that is crammed in one little egg. There's the "fetus juice": savory! There's the hard, calcinated part. I eat that. There's the yoke, soft and nourishing. And the chick, with soft bones and feathers, occasionally with an eye staring back at you. Dead as fred. Pinch of salt and it tastes like nothing else on earth.

1. Chicken Adobo For so many reasons, this is tops for me. It's got all the tastes that I love about Filipino food and, if you take the skin off, it's really low fat. Read more about adobo here.