TRENDING: TasteAtlas features lugaw as Noche Buena dish—and Filipinos beg to differ

The Filipino favorite lugaw is best eaten during almusal, merienda, and especially during illness or hangover, any day of the year. But many Pinoys aren’t so keen that an aggregated food guide listed lugaw as a dish for Christmas Eve or Noche Buena.

TasteAtlas, in a Facebook post on Dec. 25, shared a poster of Christmas Eve dishes from nine countries, which included the Philippines. It showed the country’s flag, an outline of its map, and an image of a bowl of lugaw.

On its website, TasteAtlas noted that lugaw is “traditionally thought of as soft food for sick people,” inasmuch as it’s “traditionally prepared as a part of the Christmas Eve celebratory meal known as Noche Buena.” It also mentioned its ingredients like chicken, ginger, scallions, garlic chips, sliced hard-boiled eggs, calamansi, and fish sauce.

But for Filipinos, though lugaw is a comfort food that many fellow countrymen love, there are better options for the occasion.

“I was like, ‘Who eats lugaw on Christmas eve?’” one user said. “Never heard of people preparing lugaw especially on a very important celebration.”

Another one also questioned whether it’s actually tradition to serve lugaw during noche buena.

A social media user who said he has a Filipino wife said she laughed at the idea of lugaw being a Christmas Eve dish, while another user wrote “Lugaw” followed by three face with tears of joy emoji.

For a Facebook user, the country’s Christmas Eve dish should be spaghetti, especially the Filipino version that’s unmistakably sweet.

Another one called the list “inaccurate,” saying that fruit salad should be among the choices.

Calling it a “joke,” another user said there should be ham, lechon, or morcon in the list.

Another one, meanwhile, wrote Queso de Bola, lumpiang shanghai, menudo, and caldereta. “No lugaw.”

The Christmas section of the TasteAtlas website also lists lechon, bibingka, and kesong puti as among the Philippines’ yuletide dishes.

Filipino cuisine has been recognized by TasteAtlas several times, with sinigang na baboy and bulalo being named as among the best soups worldwide for November.