Filipinos Didn't Invent These 15 Things, But We Sure As Hell Made Them Better

    We may fuck up a lot of things, but we do good shit too.

    Isabelle Laureta
    by Isabelle Laureta

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    1. Spaghetti

    Flickr: derekthomasla / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Italy

    How Filipinos made it better: By putting cut up hotdogs and sugar to make it sweet.

    2. Jeepney

    Flickr: zanzo / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Introduced by Americans during World War II in the Philippines

    How Filipinos made it better: By turning the surplus of jeeps from the World War into an economical public utility vehicle everyone can use up to this day.

    3. Beer

    Flickr: busse / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Ancient Iraq and ancient Egypt

    How Filipinos made it better: By making their own blend of good tasting beer that's known world wide as one of the best.

    4. Omelet

    Twitter: @AskChefDennis

    Where it originated: France

    How Filipinos made it better: By adding ground meat and spices into it which makes it more hearty and tasty.

    5. Spring rolls

    Flickr: kndynt2099 / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: China

    How Filipinos made it better: By putting distinct herbs and spices, deep frying them, dipping them into a sweet and sour sauce, and serving it at every birthday party.

    6. Sausages

    Flickr: infiniteshutter / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Greece

    How Filipinos made it better: Many provinces in the Philippines has their own version of sausage and each one has a distinct, delicious, sweet and savory taste.

    7. Adobo

    Flickr: 40726522@N02 / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Spain

    How Filipinos made it better: The Spanish has their way to preserve meat by marinating it in a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, and salt, but the Filipinos did it better by making the marinate into a stew and adding vinegar into it.

    8. Tocino

    Twitter: @13thFool

    Where it originated: Spain

    How Filipinos made it better: Tocino is bacon in Spanish but Filipinos decided to be extra and made their own version by marinating pork belly into soy sauce, pineapple juice, sugar, and salt.

    9. Flan

    Flickr: lynnzy / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Ancient Rome

    How Filipinos made it better: Flan was originally made savory but the Philippines was one of the many countries that makes it into a dessert using eggs, condensed milk, and caramelized sugar.

    10. Vinegar

    Twitter: @cookinwithmamaz

    Where it originated: Egypt

    How Filipinos made it better: By soaking in a plethora of spices like onions, chilis, garlic, and black pepper to give it that distinct spiced vinegar taste.

    11. Ketchup

    Amazon

    Where it originated: China

    How Filipinos made it better: By using banana instead of tomato as the main ingredient, making it slightly sweeter than the usual.

    12. Bread

    Flickr: ansison / Creative Commons

    Where it originated: Ancient Egypt

    How Filipinos made it better: By opting for the simplest ingredients—flour, egg, yeast, sugar, and salt. Dip it into a hot cup of coffee and you're good to go.

    13. Christmas

    Noel Celis / AFP / Getty Images

    Where it originated: Bethlehem??

    How Filipinos made it better: By starting the celebrations three months early!!!

    14. Ice cream

    Twitter: @foodxietyph

    Where it originated: Ancient Greece

    How Filipinos made it better: By using carabao's instead of cow's milk and local produce like purple yam, strawberries, and mangoes as flavoring.

    15. And finally, fried chicken.

    Twitter: @LianJeki

    Where it originated: Rome

    How Filipinos made it better: By building an entire empire of best tasting, crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-on-the-inside fast food fried chicken called Chicken Joy.