Names of vegetables in the Philippines in English and Tagalog. The glossary also includes common herbs and legumes in the Philippines and some Chinese and scientific names to help in the translation of Filipino food terms.
- Abitsuwelas / Bitsuelas – Baguio bean, green bean, snap bean, string bean
- Alibangbang – Malabar bauhinia (Bauhinia malabarica)
- Alugbati – Malabar spinach, 落葵 (Basella alba)
- Ampalaya – bitter melon (Momordica charantia)
- Apulid – water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis)
- Atsuete – annatto seed (Bixa orellana)
- Balatong – soy bean
- Bataw – hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus)
- Bawang – garlic
- native garlic (Allium sativum)
- Taiwan garlic, elephant garlic, great-head garlic, oriental garlic, wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum)
- Bulaklak ng saging – banana blossom
- Endiba – endive (Chicorium endivia subsp. endiva)
- Gabi – taro (Colocasia esculenta)
- Gabing San Fernando – malanga, tannia, yautia, cocoyam (Xanthosoma spp.)
- Garbansos – chickpea, garbanzo bean
- Kabute – mushroom
- Kailan – Chinese broccoli, Chinese kale, 芥蘭 (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra)
- Kalabasa – squash
- Kamatis – tomato
- Kamote – sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
- Kamoteng kahoy – cassava, manioc, tapioca, yuca (Manihot esculenta)
- Kangkong – water spinach, ong choy, 蕹菜, kōng xīn cài, 空心菜, swamp morning glory (Ipomoea aquatica)
- Kasubha – dried safflower flower, hong hua, 紅花 (Carthamus tinctorius)
- Kasuy – cashew (Anacardium occidentale)
- Katuray – agati flower, corkwood tree flower (Sesbania grandiflora)
- Kinchay / Kintsay – Chinese celery, cutting celery, leaf celery, 芹 (Apium graveolens var. secalinum)
- Kuchay / Kutsay – garlic chive, 韭菜 (Allium tuberosum)
- Kundol – winter melon (Benincasa hispida)
- Labanos – radish, daikon
- Labong – bamboo shoot
- Langkawas – galangal (Alpinia galanga)
- Laurel – bay leaf, laurel
- Letsugas / Litsugas – lettuce
- Linga – sesame
- Luya – ginger (Zingiber officinale)
- Luyang dilaw – turmeric, yellow ginger (Curcuma longa)
- Mais – corn
- Malunggay – moringa (Moringa oleifera)
- Mani – peanut
- Mongo / Munggo – mung bean (Vigna radiata)
- Toge / Togue – bean sprouts
- Mustasa – mustard / mustard green, gai choy, 芥菜 (Brassica juncea)
- Pandan – screw pine (Pandanus amaryllifolius)
- Patani – lima bean
- Patatas – potato (Solanum tuberosum)
- Patola – angled loofah, ribbed gourd (Luffa acutangula)
- Pechay / Petsay – bok choy, 白菜, qīng cài, 青菜, qīngjiāng bái cài, 清江白菜, xiǎo bái cài, 小白菜 (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)
- Petsay Taiwan – Shanghai bok choy
- Pechay Baguio / Petsay Wombok – napa cabbage, bái cài, 白菜, dà bái cài, 大白菜, Beijing bái cài, 北京白菜, huáng yá bái, wong nga bok, 黃芽白, siew choy, 紹菜 (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis)
- Pipino – cucumber
- Puso ng saging – banana heart
- Repolyo – cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)
- Saluyot – jute (Corchorus olitorius)
- Sampalok – tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
- Sangke – star anise (Illicium verum)
- Sayote – chayote (Sechium edule)
- Sibuyas – onion (Allium cepa)
- Sibuyas na mura – green onion, scallion, 葱 (Allium spp.)
- Sibuyas Tagalog – shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum)
- Sigarilyas – winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
- Sili – chili (Capsicum spp.)
- Singkamas – jicama, yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus)
- Sitaw – yard-long bean (Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis)
- Sitsaro / Tsitsaro – snow pea, sugar pea, mangetout (Pisum sativum subsp. sativum var. macrocarpon)
- Talong – eggplant, aubergine (Solanum melongena)
- Tanglad – lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.)
- Tugi – Asiatic yam, lesser yam (Dioscorea esculenta)
- Ube – purple yam (Dioscorea alata)
- Ubod – coconut palm heart, coconut pith (Cocos nucifera)
- Upo – calabash, bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)
- Uray – amaranth, pigweed (Amaranthus spp.)*
- Wansoy – cilantro, coriander leaf, Chinese parsley, 芫荽 (Coriandrum sativum)
Filipinized but English name more common
- Apyo / Seleri – celery, 芹菜 (Apium graveolens)
- Brokoli – broccoli
- Karot – carrot
- Kuliplor – cauliflower
- Espinaka / Ispinats / Polonchay / Polunchay – spinach, bō cài, 菠菜, phoe lêng chhài, 菠蓤菜 (Spinacia oleracea)*
- Perehil – parsley
Strictly speaking the native Filipino alphabet does not have letters such as
c or
f amongst others. It was expanded in the Modern Filipino Alphabet to include these and more letters but official government guidelines encourage transliteration to the older alphabet. Since English is widely used and also an official language, adherence to the official guidelines in practice has been patchy. Recently the guidelines have been revised to be more accepting of English terms that have wide usage rather than trying to push artificial sounding transliterations. The English terms are now used even in Filipino language newspapers.
Same as English or no Tagalog equivalent
- Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus)
- Asparagus, 芦笋 (Asparagus officinalis)
- Baguio spinach, New Zealand spinach, warrigal cabbage (Tetragonia tetragonioides)*
- Okra, gumbo, lady's finger (Abelmoschus esculentus)
* A note on spinach: there seems to be a tendency in the Philippine context to refer to
Spinacia oleracea as "Chinese spinach" to differentiate it from New Zealand spinach (
Tetragonia tetragonioides). But
Spinacia oleracea is what would be recognized as spinach elsewhere not
Tetragonia tetragonioides. Moreover, "Chinese spinach" is more commonly recognized as a name for edible amaranth (
Amaranthus tricolor, 苋菜). In the Philippines, however, the amaranth species that seems more recognized in some regions is
Amaranthus spinosus.
Notes
As an Asian country, many different kinds of Asian vegetables that were not commonly seen in Western supermarkets until fairly recently are standard ingredients in Filipino cuisine. Despite this, as an archipelago separated from the main landmass of Asia, there are some Asian vegetables that aren't that common in the Philippines. Many standard vegetables were introduced by European colonists. As a tropical country many tropical fruits and vegetables are grown in the Philippines. Large plantations in Mindanao grow fruits and vegetables for export. Places like Baguio and Tagaytay on the other hand with their locations at higher elevations have cooler temperatures and are especially known for their farms' agricultural production of fresh green leafy vegetables. The Bicol Region is particularly productive when it comes to root crops.
