Translations:Filipino cuisine/138/en
Street food and snacks
Aside from pastries and desserts, there are heartier snacks for merienda that can also serve as either an appetizer or side dish for a meal. Siomai is the local version of Chinese shaomai. Lumpia are spring rolls that can be either fresh or fried. Fresh lumpia (lumpiang sariwa) is usually made for fiestas or special occasions as it can be labor-intensive to prepare, while one version of fried lumpia (lumpiang prito), lumpiang shanghai, is usually filled with ground pork and a combination of vegetables, and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.Other variations are filled with minced pork and shrimp and accompanied by a vinegar-based dipping sauce. Lumpia has been commercialized in frozen food form. Beef pares is a common street food in Manila. Middle Eastern food such as the shawarma became popular in the Philippines in the late 1980s.