The Canned Pantry Staple That Makes Filipino Fruit Salad Unique

Filipino cuisine is full of fresh, bright flavors indigenous to the islands while also representing influences from across the globe, including Spain, Malaysia, and even the United States. Savory dishes like lumpia — similar to, but not the same as, Chinese egg rolls — derive rich flavor from things like fish sauce and fermented shrimp paste. Meanwhile, desserts like sorbetes (Filipino ice cream) frequently feature tropical flavors like coconut and ube, a purple sweet potato that's become America's new obsession.

Knowing the array of fresh foods and bright flavors showcased across Filipino cuisine, it may seem odd that buko salad — one of their most popular desserts — is made almost entirely with canned ingredients. The only exception is the "buko" itself, which is Filipino for "fresh, young coconut." Though fresh coconuts are readily available in the Philippines, many people use frozen shredded coconut instead.

However, the real star of buko salad is canned fruit cocktail and sweetened condensed milk. This syrupy, juicy blend of preserved fruits provides a sweet, refreshing base for this dish, while the sweetened condensed milk adds a delectable creaminess. Many believe fruit cocktail and other canned goods became part of Filipino cuisine during American colonization. They were inexpensive, shelf-stable, and fairly tasty, making them popular pantry staples in both nations. Combined with the other traditional ingredients of heavy cream, buko salad became a cold, creamy, and almost soup-like treat that was most frequently served during winter holidays. 

Though you can certainly make a version of buko salad with fresh fruit, skipping the canned cocktail and milk means it's no longer a traditional Filipino dish. The same might be said about American ambrosia salad and other 1950s recipes that use preserved foods. Fresh ingredients may be more to your taste but using them goes against the recipe's original purpose. After all, the two key ingredients are canned fruit cocktail and canned sweetened condensed milk. Canned ingredients last for years, making this recipe easy and convenient to prepare any time.

Additionally, the sugary syrup in canned fruit cocktail makes the fruits taste almost candied, which is a huge flavor bonus. And if there's one thing Filipinos love, it's big flavors. This is showcased in the way the original buko salad recipe varies among households. While it may be somewhat gauche to swap canned fruit for fresh, there are dozens of traditional ways to make this dish your own.

For instance, it's perfectly acceptable to supplement the fruit cocktail with other canned fruits, especially peaches and pineapples. Some recipes also use sour cream or cream cheese in place of regular cream, which gives the dessert tangy undertones and a velvety texture. Cubes of canned coconut gel (nata de coco) or pineapple gel (nata de piña) add more fruity flavor and a pleasantly chewy texture. If you want to get really adventurous, many Filipino families add cubes of salty, savory Velveeta to their buko salad, which creates a deliciously nuanced flavor.