''Silog'' is a class of Filipino breakfast dishes containing ''

sinangag ''Sinangag'' (), also called garlic fried rice or garlic rice, is a Filipino fried rice dish cooked by stir-frying pre-cooked rice with garlic. The rice used is preferably stale, usually leftover cooked rice from the previous day, as it result ...

'' ( garlic fried rice) and ''itlog'' ("egg"; in context,

fried egg A fried egg is a cooked dish made from one or more eggs which are removed from their shells and placed into a frying pan and cooked. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast or brunch in many countries but may also be served at other times o ...

"sunny side up"). They are served with various accompanying savory dishes (), usually fried meat dishes such as

tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

longganisa Longaniza (, or ) is a Spanish sausage ( embutido) similar to a chorizo and also closely associated with the Portuguese linguiça. Its defining characteristics are interpreted differently from region to region. It is popular in the cuisines ...

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

. The name of the accompanying dish determines the

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

name of the ''silog''; for example, the former three would be known as tapsilog, longsilog, and hamsilog.

History

The first type of silog to be named as such was the '' tapsilog''. It was originally intended to be quick

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

or late-night

hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...

fare. It developed from ''tapsi'', which referred to meals of beef ''tapa'' and ''sinangag'' with no fried egg explicitly mentioned, and diners which mainly or exclusively served such meals were called ''tapahan'' or ''tapsihan'' in Filipino. The term ''tapsilog'' was originally established in the 1980s and came from the Tapsi ni Vivian ("Vivian's Tapsi") restaurant in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

. According to Vivian del Rosario, owner of Tapsi ni Vivian, she was the first to use the term ''tapsilog''. Due to the popularity of this type of cuisine in the Philippines, some restaurants,

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

chains such as

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) which serves as its flagship brand. Established in 1978 by Tony Tan Caktiong, it is the Philippines' top fast food restaurant and is among the ...

and

McDonald's Philippines McDonald's Philippines, known locally and colloquially and shortened as McDo (), is the master franchise of the multinational fast food fast food chain, chain McDonald's in the Philippines. The master franchise is held by the Golden Arches Devel ...

and even hotels have included silogs on their breakfast menus, and some restaurants and fast food chains like Tapa King and Rufo's Famous Tapa exclusively or mainly serve this type of dish. Some diners like the first Tapsi ni Vivian in Marikina and Rodic's Diner in the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

campus in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

have also opened other branches after becoming recognized for their silog dishes.

Types of silog

Following the development of '' tapsilog'', many other types of silog have been created, all based around garlic-fried rice and fried egg, and

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

ed with ''-silog''. Due to the malleable nature of the dish, basically anything can be silog if served with fried rice and fried egg. Abbreviated examples (in alphabetical order) commonly seen in silog eateries and restaurants include: * ''Adosilog'' –

adobo or (Spanish language, Spanish: marinade, sauce, or seasoning) is the immersion of food in a stock (or sauce) composed variously of paprika, oregano, Edible salt, salt, garlic, and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor. The Portuguese cu ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Bacsilog'' or ''baconsilog'' –

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Bisteksilog'' –

beef steak A beefsteak, often called just steak, is a flat cut of beef with parallel faces, usually cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres. In common restaurant service a single serving has a raw mass ranging from . Beef steaks are usually grilled, pa ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Chosilog'' –

chorizo ''Chorizo'' ( , ; ; see #Names, below) is a type of pork sausage originating from the Iberian Peninsula. It is made in many national and regional varieties in several countries on different continents. Some of these varieties are quite differe ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Cornsilog'' –

corned beef Corned beef, called salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Chicksilog'' or ''noksilog'' –

fried chicken Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

(''piniritong manok'' or ''pritong manok''), fried rice and fried egg. * ''Daingsilog'' – ''

daing ''Daing'', ''tuyô'', ''buwad'', or ''bilad'' () are dried fish from the Philippines. Fish prepared as ''daing'' are usually split open (though they may be left whole), gutted, salted liberally, and then sun and air-dried. There are also "bonel ...

na isda'' (dried fish), fried rice and fried egg. ** ''Bangsilog'' – dried (''

''), marinated ''bangus'' (

milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is a widespread species of ray-finned fish found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is the sole living species in the family Chanidae, and the only living member of the genus ''Chanos''. The repeating scientific na ...

), fried rice and fried egg. ** ''Dangsilog'' – ''daing na danggit'' (dried

rabbitfish Rabbitfishes or spinefoots, genus ''Siganus'', are perciform fishes in the family (biology), family Siganidae. It is the only Extant taxon, extant genus in its family and has 29 species. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having ...

), fried rice and fried egg. * ''Hamsilog'' -

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Hotsilog'' or ''dogsilog'' –

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Lechsilog'' or ''lechonsilog'' – ''

lechon kawali ''Lechon kawali'', also known as ''lechon de carajay'' or ''litsong kawali'' in Tagalog, is a Filipino recipe consisting of pork belly slabs deep-fried in a pan or wok (''kawali''). It is seasoned beforehand, cooked then served in cubes. It is ...

'', fried rice and fried egg. Also spelled ''litsilog'' etc. due to the word ''

lechon A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk (i.e., a piglet which is still a " suckling"). In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in ...

'' being adapted to

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

as ''litson''. * ''Longsilog'' – ''

'', fried rice and fried egg. * ''Masilog'' or ''malingsilog'' - Ma-Ling brand Chinese

luncheon meat Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, delicatessens, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Porksilog'' –

pork chop A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual porti ...

, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Sisilog'' - ''

sisig ''Sisig'' ( ) is a Filipino dish made from pork jowl and ears (''maskara''), pork belly, and chicken liver, which is usually seasoned with calamansi, onions, and chili peppers. It originates from the Pampanga region in Luzon. ''Sisig'' is a ...

'', fried rice and fried egg. * ''Spamsilog'' –

Spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...

brand luncheon meat, fried rice and fried egg. * ''Tapsilog'' - ''

'', fried rice and fried egg * ''Tosilog'' or ''tocilog'' – ''

tocino Tocino is bacon in Spanish, typically made from the pork belly and often formed into cubes in Spain. In Caribbean countries, such as Puerto Rico and Cuba, ''tocino'' is made from pork fatback and is neither cured nor smoked but simply fried un ...

'', fried rice and fried egg. Beef ''pares'', another common Filipino short-order diner dish, may sometimes be known as "paresilog", "paressilog", etc. if served with a fried egg, since both dishes traditionally include fried rice. There is a similar dish from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, the

nasi lemak Nasi lemak ( Jawi: ; ) is a dish originating in Malay cuisine that consists of rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. It is commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish. It is also a native dish in neighbouring ...

, which is served in a variety of manners using meat, egg and rice with

coconut milk Coconut milk is a plant milk extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of the milky-white liquid are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingred ...

. While a proper silog has ''sinangag'' or fried rice, some diners have tried passing off the "si" in silog to stand for ''sinaing'', plain boiled rice, in order to cut costs. Sometimes the boiled rice is topped with fried garlic flakes and passed off as "garlic rice", though the term "garlic rice" is properly understood as rice stir-fried with garlic. More honest places will call this "kalog", from ''kanin'', the general term for cooked rice. It is also possible to come across "silog" as its own menu option which is just fried rice and egg. If one wishes an additional fried egg, the order may sometimes have an additional "log"; i.e., tapsilog with extra egg is "tapsilog''log''", etc. and this may be extended ad infinitum.

References

{{Rice dishes Philippine rice dishes Breakfast dishes

History

Types of silog

See also

References