American Dishes

American influence on Filipino foods can be traced back during World War II. This was the time when Americans brought canned goods to the Philippines like corned beef, spam, vienna sausages and hotdogs. However, Filipinos creativity did not stop there, instead canned food was given a distinct Filipino flavour. One example is the traditional  sauteed onion and garlic added to corned beef.

Due to the fast paced lifestyle of Americans, they prefer easy-to-prepare foods like cereals and fresh milk. Foods that require minimal time of preparation like burgers, pancakes and potato fries are now part of most Filipinos’ lives especially those who are always on the go. In fact, the biggest Filipino fast-food chain offer these kinds of foods but with a Filipino taste.
Camote (sweet potato) is one of the major root crops in the Philippines. It is made into camote fries, the pinoy version of french fries, since it is very abundant.

Camote Fries

Ingredients:
•    5 large camote (sweet potato)
•    cooking oil
•    salt
Procedure:
Wash camote and peel, slice into strips and set aside. In a large pan heat cooking oil, pour in camote strips when oil is hot . Drain and put in a platter season with salt. Or if you like you can put grated cheese on top of camote fries or ketchup.
Ube (yam) is another root crop that is abundant in the Philippines. Aside from ube jam or ube ice cream, it can also be used as pancake flavour.

Pancake (Ube flavour)

Ingredients:
•    1 cup all-purpose flour
•    1 teaspoon baking soda
•    1/2 teaspoon salt
•    2 cups buttermilk
•    1 egg, lightly beaten
•    1 cup grated ube
Procedure:
In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the buttermilk and the egg to the dry mixture and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Add ube to the pancake batter, and mix well. Pour ube pancake mixture to the desired pancake size, onto a well-greased griddle over medium heat. Continue to cook the pancakes on the first side just until small bubbles form on the outer edges of the pancakes. Flip the pancake to the other side and do the same.
Recipe source:
http://burntlumpia.typepad.com/burnt_lumpia/2007/07/ube-pancakes.html