I’m Swedish, but I lived in Indonesia for 15 years, together with a Filipina, so I get to eat both cuisines several times a week. Also, I’m a foodie. So I think I’m qualified to respond here.
Let’s start with the obvious disclaimers.
- These are my opinions.
- There is no such thing as an Indonesian and a Filipino cuisine. There are many Indonesian CuisineS and Filipino CuisineS. Both countries have extensive regional variation, and Indonesia has 3x the internal variation of the Philippines. In terms of cuisine, Indonesia is best thought of as a continent, not a country. For example, The food of the Padang, Manado, Java and Bali regions are just as different from one another as Swedish, Italian, Turkish and German are. And in the Philippines, comparing southern Mindanoan to Visayan to Luzonian is like comparing Mexican to Californian to Midwestern US food.
But all in all I prefer Indonesian. By a very large margin. There are just so many flavours and so much variety. Most Indonesian cuisines are bold, and I like bold flavours. Rendang, Paru Balado, Nasi Bakar, Soto Betawi, Bunga Paya and Ketoprak are some of my favourites.
Conversely, I find most Filipino dishes far too bland for my taste (like Nilagang Baboy) or far too sour (like Paksiw na Isda). Actually, if I find out that Paksiw will be served for dinner, I make sure I sneak out and eat a secret burger one hour before dinner.
That said, i love Filipino dishes such as Adobo Ng Baboy Manok, Lechon Kawali and Longanisa. I make a great Adobo, that is approved and loved by native Filipinos. And then the are dishes I neither love nor hate but enjoy moderately, like Pinakbet and Sinigang.
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