Filipino Sauce and Dips

Sauces & Dips for Lumpia, Fishball, Lechon, Siopao, Suman sa Lihia, Kare-kare, Sweet and Sour, Bagnet, Crispy Kangkong, Chicken Gravy

Looking for your favorite Filipino sauce or sawsawan?

Filipino dipping sauces range from the simple Fish Sauce (Patis) straight from the bottle to made-from-scratch Lechon sauce, or the 'Sauce-pa-lang-ulam-na, chicken gravy a la Jollibee to shredded coconut with sugar Palitaw dip.

So what's the difference between sauce (sarsa) and dips (sawsawan)?

Savory sauces usually have thick consistencies like Siopao or Sweet and Sour Fishball sauce, and savory dips are almost always runny, like spicy vinegar dips.

But there's no rule saying you cannot call your dip a sauce or your sauce a dip... call them all sawsawan -- end of story.

Let's enumerate some basic and handy, no-cook sawsawan for our favorite savory dishes.

  • ToyoMansi : equal part Soy Sauce and Calamansi or Lemon juice. PatisMansi : equal part Fish Sauce and Calamansi or Lemon juice.
    • Bagoong-mansi: equal part Bagoong (shrimp paste) and Calamansi or Lemon Juice.
    • For most rice noodle or pancit dishes or as a side dip for fried, grilled Pork, Chicken, steamed Fish and shellfish.
      *Add chili flakes or hot chili for a spicy kick.*

  • Spicy Vinegar : Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Chili & Red Onion
    • For fried, grilled Pork, Chicken, steamed Fish and shellfish.
  • Tomato and Onion slices with sprinkle of salt.
    • Served with fried, grilled Pork, Chicken, steamed Fish and shellfish.

Sauces and dips are not exclusive for just the savory dishes.

Most native delicacies have dips served on the side, and they are not necessarily runny or liquid.

Custom Search

Fresh Lumpia Sauce
Sweet Thickened Peanut Sauce for Fresh Lumpia

Vinegar Dipping Sauce
Tangy Vinegar for Fried Lumpia, Ukoy and Fried Fishballs

Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet Sauce for Lumpiang Shanghai, Cheese Lumpia, and Fried Fishballs

Miso Sauce
Sauce for Pesang Isda Dish

Chicken Gravy
Brown Gravy for Fried Chicken

Return to HomePage

Return to Filipino Sauce Top Page