Breakfast is my favorite meal and I wouldn't have it any other way than the traditions I grew up with. I crave for that distinct Filipino taste - the interplay of saltiness, sourness, and sweetness - in the morning. Filipinos like to use portmanteau words to describe many of their breakfast meals such as pakaplog, which consists of pan de sal (Filipino breakfast roll), kape (coffee), and itlog (egg); and kapsilog, which is a combination of kape, sinangag (garlic fried rice), and itlog. A kapsilog is quite often served with a cured/processed meat or marinated/dried fish, creating many popular combinations like:

tapsilog - with tapa, a marinated or cured 1/8" thick sirloin
longsilog - with longganisa, the Filipino breakfast sausage
tosilog - with tocino, a cured pork shoulder
bisteksilog - with bistek, a Filipino-style beefsteak
bangsilog - with bangus (milkfish), marinated in vinegar and lots of garlic and cracked black peppercorns
dangsilog - with danggit (rabbitfish), dried and crispy fried
pusilog - with pusit (squid), dried and crispy fried

The egg component of a Filipino breakfast meal is almost always fried. The egg is then broken and mixed with the garlic fried rice. When a fried fish is on the plate, a salted duck egg served with diced tomato is the perfect compliment to many. A salted duck egg is prepared by immersing a boiled duck egg in a super saturated solution for at least 24 hours. The length of time of treatment depends on the desired saltiness of the egg.

A spicy garlic vinegar is the most common dipping sauce for tapa, longganisa, tocino, and fish. Achara, or pickled green papaya, is also a popular side dish.

The Filipino favorite morning beverage is either coffee or chocolate made from tablea (a block of pure cocoa).

My ultimate breakfast meal consists of egg cooked over-medium (seasoned with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder), broken and mixed with a cup of steamed rice. I find the fragrance of steamed rice further stimulates my morning appetite. Completing my meal combo are beef tapa and pork longganisa. Instead of sirloin, I use skirt steak cooked medium rare for my tapa version. To go along with my breakfast plate, I prefer a cup of barako coffee, a variety of Coffea liberica that is grown in the Philippines and is known for its particularly strong taste, powerful body, and a distinctly pungent aroma. It was brought by the Spaniards and first planted in Lipa, Batangas in the 1800s. For non-caffeine drinkers, a glass of pineapple juice completes a typical Filipino breakfast menu.