Filipino breakfast: the silog

Last updated June 12, 2023.

A Filipino breakfast can be as light as pan de sal with cape (Filipino bread roll and coffee), or as heavy as dinner. When guests, friends, or family are visiting for at least a night, a nice heavy “almusal” (Tagalog) or “pamahaw” (Bisaya) or breakfast is called for.

Depending on where you are, breakfast can include fried or fermented fish, hotdogs, longganisa, leftovers, scrambled eggs, etc… but rice always takes center stage for a calorie-heavy start to anyone’s day.

A common and quick favorite are silogs.

Silog = sinangag and itlog

The word silog is short for sinangag (fried rice with garlic) and itlog (egg). A Filipino silog breakfast is done quick and with what is available. The fried rice itself is made from rice leftover from the day before, or longer. Eggs can simply be cracked open over the pan and fried for malasado na itlog (or sunny side up) in mere minutes.

To complete the trifecta that is the silog breakfast, a third item is cooked. It is usually also leftover from previous days and meals, or something else that can be easily cooked on the same pan the eggs and rice are cooked. And most of the time, it is something non-perishable and stored for long periods. Dried fish like daing (Tagalog) or buwad (Cebuano) na danggit (dried rabbitfish), cured meats like tapa, smoked fish like tinapa, and even frozen hotdogs or canned sardines… whatever can be tossed onto a hot pan and cooked in minutes is best. Silogs are so popular they are readily available in Filipino restaurants and menus abroad.

If it’s hotdogs you have, you are having hotdog, sinangag, at itlog; or hotsilog. Spam? Spamsilog. Bangus or milkfish? Bangusilog, or its further concatenated terms, Bangsilog or Bansilog.

Silog terminology

It is possible that the combination of fried rice and eggs, with ulam (entree), has always been a practice in homes across the country. But it probably wasn’t until this breakfast combination became more and more accessible in karinderias, restaurants, and canteens that the term silog was put into mainstream use. Though I’m not sure.

Esquire notes in their article “The History of Tapsilog and Where It All Began,” that it was a woman named Vivian Del Rosario who popularized the term tapsilog in the mid-80’s. She started a canteen called Tapsi ni Vivian where tapsilog was on the menu. Tapsilog is short for tapa, sinangag, at itlog. Tapa is another popular Filipino breakfast item because it is meat cured and stored for longer periods. And because it is cured in different sauces and spices (typically soy sauce, sugar, and calamansi), it is also full of flavor.

Some popular Filipino breakfast silogs and silog recipes

Every dish below calls for the silog = fried garlic rice and fried egg. The “silog” part is easiest regardless of where you are in the world. Simply dice some garlic, grab day-old cooked rice, and fry them together. Fry your eggs over easy or malasado aka “sunny side up”, and you have accomplished three-fourths of your silog breakfast. The last of item depends on what is available to you.

Silog ingredients

• 3-4 cups left-over cooked rice
• 2 eggs
• Half or whole garlic bulb, peeled and diced
• Oil

Directions

1. Heat an oiled frying pan and sautee the diced garlic.
2. Add the rice and cook while mixing well. Once cooked, set rice aside.
3. Oil the frying pan again, crack open your eggs and cook over low fire. Once cooked, set eggs aside.
4. Cook any of the main items below to complete your breakfast.

Bangusilog

Bangus is milkfish, and can be cooked from its raw state, or if available, you can grab dried bangus (daing na bangus) or smoked bangus (tinapa ng bangus). Best boneless, if available. Off topic, here’s a t-shirt I designed a few years ago that pays homage to one of my favorite silogs.

Ingredients

• 1 whole bangus, cut along the top dorsal fin and open like a “butterfly”. Chose raw, tinapa (smoked), or daing or bulad (dried).
  • If using raw bangus, clean and cut open like above and lightly rub entire fish with salt.
• Oil
• Salt (if using raw bangus)

Directions

1. Heat and oil a pan that can fit the open bangus.
2. Fry bangus on both sides until meat is fully-cooked. If frying tinapa or daing na bangus, simply fry on both sides for a couple minutes each.
3. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
4. Cut your bangus into 4 pieces if sharing, plate with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
5. Enjoy your bangusilog.

Longsilog

Longganisa is a Filipino sausage almost ubiquitous across the country. Depending on location, longganisa will differ from the spices used, but it is typically made with pork. If you have several or a dozen longganisa from the local market, a vacation, or as pasalubong, you can prepare it using the methods below.

Ingredients

• 8-10 pieces uncooked, thawed, longganisa
• Oil
• Water

Directions

1. Add about half an inch of water in a pan or pot that can be covered, and heat on medium.
2. Add longganisa, cover pan, and let simmer until the water evaporates, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove cover and allow the sausages to fry in their own oil until golden brown, about 8 minutes more.
4. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
5. Plate 2-3 longganisa with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
6. Enjoy your longsilog.

You can save any uneaten longganisa for later in the fridge for another meal. If you want longganisa pasta or fried rice, you can take 3-4 pieces and crush them open until they become longganisa crumbles. Mix with pasta or fried rice.

Obviously, you can enjoy all sorts of “sausage silogs”, like hungarian sausage silog… or hungsilog? Was able to find cheese-filled hungarian sausages at the market, so I made… hungchesilog?

Tosilog or tocilog

Tocino is fatty pork meat (pork belly or butt) that is cured in sugar, salt, and atsuete. Typically you can buy tocino already cured, but if you need to make tocino first, you can follow the recipe below.

Ingredients

• 1 kilo or 2 lbs pork belly or butt, sliced to 1/4-inch thick
• 1 cup water
• Oil

Marinade:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 drops red food coloring or 1 teaspoon atsuete

Directions

1. Marinate meat in the marinade at least 1 night
2. Place meat with marinade in a pot or pan and add water to cover, bring to a boil, then lower heat to let simmer until cooked and tender. Add more water if needed.
3. When water dissipates and meat is tender, add oil and heat until meat caramelizes.
4. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
5. Plate a few pieces of tocino with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
6. Enjoy your tosilog.

Tapsilog

Tapa, as mentioned earlier, is a meat cured with soy sauce, calamansi, salt and other spices depending on the region. It differs from tocino above in that pork is typically used and sugar is the main curing agent. Tapa is usually composed of beef, goat, or some other meat. Tapa is actually a term that refers to smoking a meat, i.e tinapa or smoked fish below, but it somehow evolved to also mean this specific curing method using salt and/or soy sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 kilo or 2 lbs beef sirloin, thinly sliced
• Oil

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup calamansi juice
• 1/2 bulb garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon each: salt, pepper, sugar

Directions

1. Combine marinade and mix with sliced beef. Cover and marinate overnight.
2. Oil a pan on medium heat. Fry beef on each side for 3-5 minutes each.
3. Continue cooking until liquid dissipates and meat is browned and cooked.
4. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
5. Plate a few pieces of tapa with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
6. Enjoy your tapsilog.

Daingsilog, dansilog, buwadsilog

Daing (Tagalog) or Buwad (Cebuano) is dried fish. This is an age-old ingredient best enjoyed fresh from the frying pan. Fish drying is an ancient practice in coastal communities the world over, and the Philippines is no different. Danggit or rabbitfish, salmonete, espada or scabbard fish or belt fish, dilis or bulinaw or anchovy, or almost any kind of fish can be dried.

Depending on the region and fish species and size, generally the fish is first gutted, cleaned, filleted and salted. It is then set in the sun to dry. Once dried it becomes preserved and is ready to be fried for a future meal. You can find daing or buwad at your local palengke or merkado, but if you’re abroad and near a big city, there is likely a supermarket nearby that will have dried fish as well.

Ingredients

• 2 cups or 400 grams of daing or buwad (if danggit or rabbitfish, this should be about 10 to 18 pieces depending on the size)
• Oil

Directions

Using a pan

1. Heat a pan with enough oil to coat most of the bottom of the pan
2. Cook each side for about 2-3 minutes until crisp. Be careful not to burn the dried fish especially if they are small and thin.
3. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
4. Plate a few pieces of daing or buwad with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
5. Enjoy your dansilog.

Using an air fryer (see how I air fried dried fish here)

1. Heat the air fryer for about 5 minutes
2. Add the dried fish to the air fryer basket, spray with oil
3. Fry for 3-5 minutes, remove the basket and toss a bit, and then fry again for 1-2 more minutes or until crisp. Be careful not to burn the dried fish especially if they are small and thin.
4. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
5. Plate a few pieces of daing or buwad with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
6. Enjoy your dansilog.

Tinapasilog or tinapsilog

Tinapa is smoked fish, and is almost just as common as daing or buwad above. It is also fried and enjoyed fresh hot off the pan. Depending on the region, bangus or milkfish or galunggong or mackeral or scad is used for tinapa. It is then soaked in a salt and water brine, and then smoked. Here is a video of how it is made in Bataan.

Like daing or buwad, it can be found at your local public market in the Philippines. If you’re abroad, it might be a bit more difficult to find. Despite this, there are recipes online that show how tinapa can be made using a home oven and liquid smoke, or barbecue gas grill.

Ingredients

• 1 tinapang bangus or 7-10 pieces tinapang galunggong.
• 3-4 tblsp oil

Directions

1. Heat pan with oil.
2. Add the tinapa and cook for 3-5 minutes per side until fully-cooked (or air fry for 3 minutes per side)
3. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
4. Plate a few pieces of tinapang galunggong, or a sliced piece of tinapang bangus, with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
5. Enjoy your tinapasilog or tinapsilog.

Isda silog

Aside from dried or smoked fish above, frying fresh fish is a common ingredient with silog. (Here’s a short blog post I wrote almost 2 decades ago about frying fish for breakfast).

In addition to fresh bangus mentioned earlier, galungong or mackeral or scad is another popular fish that is fried for breakfast. My favorite is galingong (nicknamed “GG”) which I like fried to a crisp, to the point I can eat the fish whole, bones and all.

Ingredients

• 5-8 small fresh galunggong, cleaned
• Salt
• Oil

Directions

1. Use a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible from the galunggong.
2. Rub salt on the fish.
3. Heat a pan with the entire bottom coated in oil.
4. Fry the fish about 7-10 minutes per side, depending on size and how crispy you want your fish. I like mine crispy so I go for at least 8-10 minutes per side.
5. Prepare your rice and eggs as noted above.
6. Plate a 1 or 2 pieces of fried galunggong with 1 scoop of rice with an egg on top.
7. Enjoy your isdasilog.

Hotsilog

Have spare hotdogs in the fridge or freezer? Make hotsilog! Again, simply heat in the pan, and enjoy with fried rice and egg. Despite being on a list of worst dishes in the world (who makes these things?), hotsilog still has a place in many people’s hearts.

Hamsilog

Ham is ham! Simply get any ham from the grocery, fry on a pan, and enjoy with fried rice and egg.

Spamsilog or Masilog

Spam can be quite expensive for many families in the country, but if available it makes for a quick and decadent silog. Masilog is a cheaper and more common alternative. Made with Ma Ling or Chinese canned luncheon meat, it was initially banned after of African Swine Fever issues, but it is now made with chicken.

Simply open your can of Spam or Ma Ling, and fry in a pan. Enjoy with fried rice and egg.

Donesilog

As you can see, because pretty much anything can be paired with sinangag and itlog, “sky’s da limit”. If you’re rich you can have caviarsilog. If you’re like me, any of the above ulams or dishes will do.

Or you can try arroz-a-la-cubana-silog.

Or crispy pata silog:

Chicken barbecue silog or inasalsilog:

And if you decide to start a t-shirt design business highlighting Filipino breakfasts, you can call it… shirtsilog!

Then you can make a bansilog shirtsilog: