22 New “Tipid” Recipe for your Baon

Baon – (noun) Packed food taken to school, work, or on a journey.

In the Philippines preparing “baon” for your kids or for you to bring in the office is one of the tasks that parents have to deal with on a day to day basis, an activity born out of keeping a tight budget in place as well as making sure the kids are getting the right nutrients from real food and not from junk or processed food. Most parent in the Philippines have to deal with this and sometimes it can be daunting to think what to prepare for that important school or office meal. While all dishes can be prepared into a “baon”, not everything is ideal specially if you think that it should still taste good even without reheating, it should be easy to eat with minimum fuss, it should not spoil easily specially that it will be in a container for at least hours before lunch time on a tropical humid weather and it should be budget friendly. Those criteria is what makes it disconcerting hence most parents stick with their trusted dishes like adobo, tocino, longanisa, tapa and hotdogs that is why today we are listing 2 New “Tipid” Recipe for your Baon to give you new ideas, alternatives for those usual baon that you may be already tired of eating again and again.

Like most Filipino kids, I grew up bringing packed lunch to school, it is a part of our culture. Now even after migrating to New Zealand, I got used to bring baon in the office and usually they were leftovers from my recipe posts here, this is what I also let my daughter experience, we barely brought food for lunch, we almost never packed something that is ready-to-eat processed food, just good’ol home cooking. While most of this experience are of positive nature, something to remember, when people that grew up with other culture saw you doing this or even saw what your baon is, it can be funny, sometimes negative. I remember one time, I brought some Sinigang na Buto Buto (Pork bones in Tamarind Soup) and an office mate saw me nibbling on those pork bones, I got this funny look from him after seeing me nibbling on those pork bones, he looked concerned and told me “Ohh that’s Poverty Level”, I find it funny but other might be offended. It’s quite hard to explain how this feels like but one of my favourite comedians, Jokoy perfectly illustrated this on one of his acts (video below) telling his “baon” nightmare stories where he was embarrassed with his Cool Whip container lunch box and Munggo for baon.

So going back to the recipes we are sharing below, I can’t assure you that you won’t have same experience as Jokoy but one thing for sure, the dishes included here are guaranteed to tick all of the boxes of what an ideal baon should be, this means it is very affordable, easy to prepare, won’t spoil easily, will still taste good even at room temperature as well as easy to eat, hence dishes that are soupy, saucy, bony and smelly dishes will be out of the equation. This means the one who will be eating the baon will just grab the food either by hand or spoon and grab a bite with ease.

Tortang Dulong – While “Dulong” is quite expensive in some other parts of the world, in the Philippines this is quite inexpensive, its nutritious too, so if you want to increase yours or your kids seafood diet this is the perfect baon, what’s even better it cooks in minutes so you can prepare it during breakfast time.

Chicken Tocino – Pork tocino is so old school and sometimes pork can be expensive, so why not make it by using chicken. This recipe is so good, you won’t even notice it’s not made of pork.

Chao Fan – If you want a dish that is easy to eat that contains everything you need in a bite, nothing can beat a fried rice and the perfect one for that lunchbox is this Chao Fan, complete with meat, vegetables and egg. What’s even better you can use that rice hiding in the deepest darkest parts of your fridge that you had long forgotten.

Pinoy Shawarma Rice – Now if you want something fancier than a fried rice but it should still be a complete meal with meats and vegetables then this Pinoy Shawarma Rice will be you best alternative, while it may be a bit harder to prepare it tastes better than fried rice.

Pulutok – Offal cuts is one of the cheapest protein sources but that does not mean it lacks in nutrition or flavour compared to the proper cuts of meat, in fact some offal cuts are tastier. Usually what comes to mind when thinking about offal will be dinuguan or sisig but if you are looking for variety then this pulutok can be your next baon.

Pork Tausi – Did I say budget friendly? Well you might oppose to this pork dish since pork can be expensive in the Philippines. Don’t worry you don’t need much of it since the tausi (fermented black beans) is salty enough you won’t need to put lots on them on the lunch box, a small piece of this dish has a lot of flavour so your rice ratio will be bigger than normal.

Crispy Adobo Flakes – So you think cutting the chunks of pork on your adobo or chicken is a lot of work when you bring it for baon? If that’s the case then why not overcook that adobo until it flakes and becomes crispy, this means all you care about is spooning it with rice without the hassle.

Guiso – Menudo is your thing but sometimes you want something different but still closely similar, or you are the ones that pick out the meat and leave out the carrots and potatoes? If that is the case then give this Guiso a try, almost similar to menudo but without the carrots and potatoes, while that makes the usual menudo budget friendly with guiso you can use cheaper meat cuts that you can add with the pork like chicken and hotdogs.

Tofu Green Bean Stir Fry – Another super budget friendly on this 22 New “Tipid” Recipe for your Baon list, there are no meats involved but it’s as good as those meaty dishes, so instead of pork use fried tofu on this green beans cooked with tons of garlic and soy sauce.

Warek Warek – Another offal dish on this list, this time it’s made with pork neck and ears, twice cooked where it is boiled and broiled, dressed in mayonnaise and spices, it’s like your sisig but different, its chunkier too.

Everlasting – Everyone wants a type of meatloaf for their baon because it’s very convenient but because we are showcasing new ideas so the canned meatloaf or embutido will not make it to the cut, instead lets introduce you to this type of meatloaf from Marikina, the Everlasting.

Adobong Atay and Puso ng Manok – Another adobo in this list but this one would be the most inexpensive one, not prepared with chicken or pork, instead they are prepared with chicken liver and chicken heart.

Tapang Taal – Taal and Tapa is usually synonymous to beef, but this dish is the total opposite so don’t worry, it won’t be expensive to prepare. This tapa version is made with pork marinated or seasoned with the same ingredients used for the beef tapa.

Bagis – Looking for something really simple? Then it can be simpler than this, made with minced beef or minced carabeef cooked in calamansi juice and spices.

Poqui Poqui – Another vegetable dish that does not taste like it, made with chopped grilled eggplant, tomatoes and onions then hide the vegetables with lots of eggs and stirring then you have this dish. Trust me your kids won’t even notice they are eating vegetables for their baon.

Arroz ala Cubana – If bagis is too simple for you, then ditch the calamansi add some corn, green peas, carrots, and raisins to your mince, serve it with fried saba bananas and fried egg then you have this complete meal.

Baon does not need to be rice all the time so the next few recipes below we are including some alternative for your all-time favourite rice baons. Trust me it can be better than rice sometimes.

Asian Style Pulled Pork Sliders – Let’s start with this slider, these things are packed with flavour plus you can use cheap tougher cuts of pork since they are slow cooked. Just make sure when you “baon” this, separate the pulled pork with the bread so it does not soak up all of those delicious juices.

Pork Chop Bun – Pork chop with rice is amazing but have you tried it with buns? This one is easier to eat too, all you need is one hand, so the other hand is free for double tapping that delicious dish you are looking at on Instagram.

Pork Taquitos – Another handy dish made baked rolled flour tortillas filled with shredded roast pork, cheese, and jalapeno.

Chicken Empanada – If you think empanadas are not filling enough, then pack four of them, trust me in your third one you will have the same feeling as having that second round of extra rice.

Roast Chicken Pita Pocket – Now if you have some leftover lechon manok specially that chicken breast that no one touches then give it a second chance by making this Pita Pockets, just add lettuce, mayo, sweet chilli sauce and red onion

Siopao – Finally this 22 New “Tipid” Recipe for your Baon will not be complete without one of my favourite baons, whether its bola bola, asado or jumbo siopao this fluffy sweet steamed buns are a perfect alternative to any rice meals.

There you go our 22 New “Tipid” Recipe for your Baon, hope you will try some if not all of the items in this list. I am sure there are many other alternatives out there, but this is just a glimpse of what you can replace your usual boring packed lunch. Do you have something on your list you want to share? Comment down below so we can give that recommendation a shot.