Hotsilog, kinalas, balut, Filipino spaghetti among the Worst Dishes in the World – Taste Atlas

MANILA, Philippines – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder much more taste as it relates to food.

Four Filipino dishes have made it to the 2023’s Top 100 Worst Dishes in the World List, international food database Taste Atlas reported.

The said list was released on Saturday (Feb.4), with Bicol Region’s kinalas ranking 17th place among the worst with a 2.4 rating and Hotsilog at 36th place with a 2.6 rating.

Kinalas, a delicacy that hails from Naga, is a traditional Filipino dish made of noodles, spices, pork or beef brains, and scraped meat from pork or beef head.

It looks almost the same to beef mami – a familiar Filipino noodle dish – the addition of a thick and dark brown sauce on top of the noodles, described by Taste Atlas as “a shrimpy, garlicky brown gravy consisting of dried shrimps, vinegar, garlic, shallots, soy sauce, and fish sauce.”

Kinalas originated from the old Bicol word “kalas,” which means “fall off the bone” – a reference to how the noodle dish is traditionally made.
“Kinalas is often garnished with spring onions, fried garlic, or chili peppers, but some people like to add a hard-boiled egg on top. The dish is always served hot,” Taste Atlas added. The dish is usually paired with puto, turon, chicharon, or banana cue.

Hotsilog, on the other hand, is considered a traditional breakfast choice and a childhood favorite.

This features garlic fried rice, fried egg, and bright-red, Filipino-style hotdogs.

The hotdogs are “usually slightly cut on the sides,” and then boiled, then fried in oil.
Taste Atlas said the popular silog is accompanied by banana ketchup, atchara (pickled shredded papaya), and tomato slices on the side.

Two more famous Filipino dishes made it to the worst list – balut and sweet-style Filipino spaghetti.

Balut is a “duck egg that has been hard-boiled, fertilized, and incubated. Traditionally, the cooked embryo is consumed straight from the shell,” Taste Atlas wrote.

The dish, which is also a pulutan fave, “can be seasoned with chili, garlic, vinegar, salt, lemon juice, and ground pepper.”

The Filipino Spaghetti, on the other hand is an iteration of Italy’s pasta that Italians may dislike.

A common birthday staple, Filipino spaghetti is sweet, made with ground meat, hot dogs, banana ketchup, and sugar, usually topped with grated cheese.

“It is believed that the dish was invented by Filipino mothers who noticed that their children love sugar, so they put a spin on the classic spaghetti dishes. Today, this inexpensive meal is known as the one that unites families,” Taste Atlas added.

Taste Atlas is an experiential travel guide for traditional food that collates authentic recipes, food critic reviews and research articles about popular ingredients and dishes.

The website has over 10,000 specialty dishes, drinks, recommended restaurants, and local ingredients, as well as 9,000 restaurants that for any traveller can check out before an international trip.