Our favorite main event at every Pinoy “handaan” Lumpiang Shanghai, topped Taste Atlas’ global survey for the best Southeast Asian dish garnering an overall 4.8 rating. While our homegrown Tortang Talong also received a 4.8 rating, alongside Indonesia’s Bubur Ayam, which earned a 4.7 rating.

Any party that doesn’t have lumpia on its menu is boring, as Filipino jokes often dubbed it as the “main event” and “target locked” in every handaan. Lumpiang Shanghai is a deep-fried Filipino dish made of “giniling” wrapped in a thin egg crepe.

Meanwhile, Tortang Talong is a traditional type of Filipino omelet and is cooked in a frying pan with grilled eggplants dipped in an egg mixture. Tortang Talong is indeed a classic breakfast dish that every Filipino loves.

Another Filipino dish topped a category, and it doesn’t belong in any of the “best”, “great”, or “ok” classifications, but rather is placed in the “worst” category. This is none other than our very own world-famous exotic street food, “Balut”, which scored a 2.7 rating and ranked first among the worst Southeast Asian dishes.

You are not a real Filipino if you haven’t heard the legendary “Balut” chant, which is heard every night in the streets. Balut is a growing fertilized egg embryo that is cooked and eaten from the eggshell and is a popular Filipino comfort food.

Taste Atlas stressed in the post’s description that the ranking is solely based on its primary audience. Furthermore, with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars in August 2021, our very own Sinigang also claimed the lead as the best-rated vegetable soup in the world.

Taste Atlas is a well-known food encyclopedia that features tastes, traditional dishes, local ingredients, and authentic restaurants, as well as conducting global surveys on these subjects.

Other Southeast Asian countries that made the list were China, Thailand, and Indonesia for the “best” to “worst” Southeast Asian dishes.