CARAGA
REGION XIII · PHILIPPINES
Home About History
Agusan del Norte Agusan del Sur Surigao del Norte Surigao del Sur Dinagat Islands
Tourist Spots Culture & Events Delicacies Personalities Contact
Home›Delicacies
Taste of Caraga

Delicacies of Region XIII

From the freshest seafood pulled from the Philippine Sea to sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves — Caraga's cuisine is a rich blend of Visayan, indigenous, and coastal Filipino flavours.

Fresh Seafood Capital
Indigenous Recipes
Kakanin Traditions
Centuries-Old Recipes
Kinilaw na Isda
No. 1 Must Try
Featured Delicacy

Kinilaw na Isda

Caraga's most iconic dish — fresh raw fish "cooked" in native cane vinegar (sukang tuba), calamansi, ginger, onions, chilli, and coconut milk. The acid from the vinegar denatures the fish proteins, producing a silky texture that is technically "cooked" without heat.

In Caraga, kinilaw is not just food — it is a ritual of freshness. The fish must be caught the same morning, and each family has its own secret balance of ingredients passed down through generations.

Main Ingredient
Fresh tuna, tanigue, or lapu-lapu
Key Flavour
Sour, spicy, coconut-creamy
Best Found In
Surigao del Norte, Siargao Island
Occasion
Festivals, everyday meals, celebrations
Explore Caraga's Best Spots
Regional Flavours

Caraga's Best Delicacies

A culinary tour through the flavours that define Caraga — from the coast to the highlands, from the sea to the forest.

Kinilaw na Isda Seafood Surigao del Norte

Kinilaw na Isda

Fresh raw fish marinated in native cane vinegar, calamansi juice, ginger, red onion, chilli, and coconut milk. The defining dish of Caraga's coastal cuisine — best eaten within hours of the catch.

RawSourFresh
Best at breakfast or lunch
Coastal areas
Sinalaw Seafood Agusan del Sur

Sinalaw

A hearty soup of freshwater fish, river prawns, or mudfish simmered in a tangy broth of batwan fruit and lemongrass. An Agusan River basin staple beloved by the Manobo and Banwaon communities for generations.

SoupSourIndigenous
Agusan River basin
Inubarang Savoury Agusan del Norte

Inubarang nga Manok

Chicken slow-cooked inside a young bamboo tube over an open fire. The bamboo infuses the chicken with a subtle smoky sweetness while the meat stays incredibly moist and tender. A traditional Manobo feast dish served during celebrations and rituals.

GrilledBambooIndigenous
Agusan del Norte & Sur
Tinuom Savoury All Provinces

Tinuom

Chicken stuffed with lemongrass, ginger, spring onions, and garlic, then wrapped tightly in banana leaves and slow-steamed. The banana leaf seal creates a natural pressure cooker, trapping all the aromatic flavours inside the tender, fragrant chicken.

SteamedAromaticFestive
Region-wide
Kalamay Kakanin Surigao del Norte

Kalamay

A thick, sticky sweet made from ground glutinous rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar (panutsa), slow-cooked in a kawali until it becomes a dense, glossy paste. Surigao del Norte's version is particularly rich, often served in coconut shells as a festive gift and pasalubong.

StickySweetPasalubong
Surigao City
Puto Gabi Kakanin Agusan del Norte

Puto Gabi

Steamed rice cakes made with grated taro (gabi), giving them a distinctive purple-grey hue, mild earthy sweetness, and a denser, chewier texture than regular puto. Often topped with salted egg or grated coconut — a popular merienda and fiesta staple across Agusan del Norte.

SteamedTaroMerienda
Butuan City
Bibingka sa Bao
🥥
Kakanin Surigao del Sur

Bibingka sa Bao

Glutinous rice cake baked inside a coconut shell half — the shell acts as the baking mould and imparts a gentle smoky coconut aroma to the cake. Topped with fresh grated coconut and drizzled with coconut cream. A unique Surigao del Sur variation found at roadside markets and fiestas.

BakedCoconutFestive
Tandag City, Bislig
Pastil
🍃
Rice Agusan del Sur

Pastil

Steamed white rice topped with seasoned flaked chicken or fish, wrapped tightly in a banana leaf into a neat cylinder. A beloved, portable street food found in the morning markets of Agusan del Sur — filling, affordable, and deeply flavourful. Popular among students and workers as a quick breakfast.

Street FoodBreakfastFilling
Prosperidad, Bayugan
Lechon Caraga
🐷
Savoury Region-wide

Lechon Caraga-Style

Whole roasted pig stuffed with local herbs — batuan leaves, lemongrass, tanglad, and spring onions — then slow-roasted over charcoal until the skin blisters to a deep mahogany crackle. Caraga's version is known for its more herbaceous, tangy flavour compared to Cebu-style lechon.

RoastedCrispyFiesta
All provinces
Sardinas ng Lake Mainit
🐠
Seafood Agusan del Sur

Lake Mainit Sardines

Lake Mainit is home to endemic freshwater sardines (tawilis-like fish) found nowhere else in the world. Cooked simply — fried crispy with garlic and vinegar, or slow-stewed in tomatoes — they are prized for their delicate, rich flavour. A proud regional delicacy gaining national attention.

FreshwaterEndemicFried
Lake Mainit, Agusan del Sur
Sinugbang Isda
🔥
Savoury Surigao del Norte

Sinugbang Isda sa Siargao

Freshly caught tuna, tanigue, or lapu-lapu grilled whole over coconut husk charcoal, served with a dipping sauce of sukang tuba, soy, and sili. In Siargao, the fish is sourced minutes from the grill — the freshness of the catch and the flavour of the coconut smoke are inseparable from the experience.

GrilledFresh CatchSiargao
Siargao Island
Panyalam
🍩
Sweet Dinagat Islands

Panyalam

A traditional fried rice cake made from glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, and brown sugar — pan-fried in coconut oil until crisp and golden on the outside while remaining soft and chewy inside. A beloved snack of the Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte coastal communities, served warm with hot coffee.

FriedChewyMerienda
Dinagat Islands
Tapuy Rice Wine
🍶
Drink Agusan del Sur

Tapuy (Indigenous Rice Wine)

A traditional fermented rice wine brewed by the Manobo and Banwaon peoples of Agusan del Sur. Made from glutinous rice fermented with bubod (natural yeast starter) for several days, tapuy has a mild, slightly sweet, lightly effervescent character. It is central to indigenous rituals, peace pacts, and ceremonial offerings.

FermentedTraditionalRitual
Agusan del Sur highlands
Tuba
🌴
Drink Surigao del Norte

Tuba (Coconut Wine)

Fresh sap tapped daily from the flower stalks of coconut palms, collected in bamboo containers. Tuba is the everyday communal drink of coastal Caraga — sweet and mild when fresh in the morning, progressively more alcoholic and tangy as the day progresses. When aged with barok (mangrove bark), it becomes sukang tuba — Caraga's signature native vinegar used in kinilaw.

Coconut SapCommunalCoastal
Coastal Caraga
Food Guide

Where to Eat in Caraga

From bustling public markets to waterfront seafood restaurants and hidden local karinderyas — here's where to find the best of Caraga's food scene.

Butuan City Public Market

The heart of Butuan's food scene. Fresh tuna, lapu-lapu, river prawns, and local produce alongside kakanin stalls selling kalamay and puto gabi. Arrive before 7 AM for the best selection straight off the fishing boats.

Butuan City, Agusan del Norte

Surigao City Baywalk

A string of open-air seafood restaurants and grilling stalls along the Surigao City waterfront. The perfect setting for sinugbang isda and kinilaw with views of the Surigao Strait. Best visited at sunset when the grills are lit.

Surigao City, Surigao del Norte

Siargao Island Food Scene

Siargao's restaurant scene has exploded — from bamboo beachfront shacks serving freshly grilled tuna to Instagrammable cafés. Don't miss the local kinilaw served at dawn at the General Luna wet market, or the seafood platters at Brgy. Catangnan shoreline eateries.

General Luna, Siargao Island

Agusan Marsh Floating Villages

Staying with Manobo host families in the Agusan Marsh offers the most authentic food experience in Caraga. Sinalaw, inubarang chicken, and river fish dishes cooked over wood fires on floating houses — food that cannot be found anywhere else on earth.

Agusan Marsh, Agusan del Sur

Tandag City Karinderyas

The provincial capital of Surigao del Sur has a thriving row of local karinderyas (home-style eateries) near the public market. Look for tinuom, kinilaw, and bibingka sa bao — honest, home-cooked food at prices that will surprise you. The rice here, grown locally, is exceptional.

Tandag City, Surigao del Sur

Bislig City Night Market

Bislig City's night market near the Baywalk comes alive after sunset — isaw, grilled seafood, barbeque, fresh kinilaw, and local kakanin stalls. It's also the best place to try panyalam and freshly harvested tuba from local coconut farms in the surrounding barangays.

Bislig City, Surigao del Sur
Food Vocabulary

Caraga Food Glossary

Key words and ingredients you'll encounter when eating your way through Caraga's food scene.

Sukang Tuba
Native coconut wine vinegar aged with mangrove bark — the backbone of kinilaw and many Caraga marinades. Tangier and more complex than commercial vinegar.
Batwan
A souring fruit native to Mindanao (Garcinia binucao) used in sinalaw and sinigang-style soups. Gives a clean, fruity sourness distinct from tamarind.
Kakanin
The general term for Filipino rice cakes — sticky, sweet, or savoury confections made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, and various local ingredients.
Bubod
Traditional natural yeast starter made from fermented rice, herbs, and roots — used by Manobo communities to ferment tapuy rice wine for ceremonies.
Barok
Dried mangrove bark (Rhizophora) added to fermenting tuba to give sukang tuba its characteristic dark colour and complex tannic flavour.
Panutsa
Raw unrefined cane sugar in solid block form — the traditional sweetener of Caraga kakanin. Has a deeper, more molasses-rich flavour than white sugar.
Tanglad
Lemongrass — an essential aromatic in tinuom chicken, sinalaw broth, and many grilled marinades. Grows wild across Caraga's highland and lowland areas.
Inubarang
The cooking technique of placing food inside a bamboo tube and cooking it over fire. The bamboo steams and lightly smokes the food from the inside — a traditional Manobo method.
Pasalubong
Gifts brought home from travel — in Caraga, kalamay, dried fish, and bottled sukang tuba are the most popular pasalubong to bring back to family and friends.

Hungry for More Caraga?

Explore the destinations where these incredible flavours come from — from Siargao's shores to the Agusan River highlands.

Explore Destinations Plan Your Visit