Other ingredients that can be included in the mix are cuts of carrots, raisins, cubed cheese, and pickles. Each household in the Philippines prepares its macaroni salad differently but the main point of focus is that the macaroni should be sweet in flavor, cold, and has chicken bits. The chicken is typically boiled and shredded before mixing it in with the elbow macaroni and mayonnaise. It’s because, with the chicken along with the pasta, the salad is already quite filling on its own. This extra ingredient is probably the reason why we don’t eat our version of the macaroni salad as a side dish. I guess we Filipinos love our meat, even in our desserts. I’m sure you’re familiar with another variety of our Macaroni Salad recipe, the Macaroni Chicken Salad Recipe. The most common meat that’s used in macaroni salad recipes is chicken. It was such a fun day discovering these different cuts of pasta that aren’t as common here in the Philippines.Īside from being generally sweet in flavor, our macaroni salad, unlike international versions, use ingredients like meat and raisins. But aside from macaroni pasta, other types of short cut pasta can be used for this recipe like penne, rotini, and mostaccioli. But macaroni pasta in Italy can be straight or curved. We mostly used the curved macaroni pasta here in the Philippines, commonly known as elbow macaroni. Of course, macaroni pasta originated from Italy. See also: Filipino Style Spaghetti Recipe
The macaroni salad is no exception, just like the Filipino-style Spaghetti, the Filipino macaroni salad has a sweeter flavor compared to its international counterparts. Just like many other dishes that are introduced to the Philippines, Filipinos quickly adapted it into their own and evolved it to result in a Filipino version of the original dish. This pasta dish is most probably introduced by the Americans to the Philippines during the American colonial occupation. It’s also commonly served during family picnics or vacations. Instead, it’s one of the top Filipino dessert recipes and is popularly served during the holidays and huge celebrations.
But unlike in other cultures, macaroni salad isn’t merely a side dish in Filipino cuisine. Macaroni is pretty much a universal dish that uses elbow macaroni that’s splattered with cuts of meats or fruits, mixed in mayonnaise some type of cream, and served cold.