As a child, few food items were the bane of my existence, with banana ketchup chief of that relatively short list. I grew up in a household where Subic Bay’s freeport zone was just an hour’s drive away, and when large balikbayan boxes from our relatives in the States were filled to the brim with Costco products and the occasional Trader Joe’s items were a common sight.

Our kitchen pantry was then stocked with the likes of Spam, Libby’s, and yes, Heinz. In my young mind, banana ketchup was an inferior approximation of its original stateside recipe, the predilection to sweetness in the Filipino palate a sign of basic taste and uncultured preferences.

Oh, how utterly misinformed I used to be. Of course, banana ketchup is a staple condiment in many Filipino kitchens, a popular accompaniment to several fried dishes such as fried chicken and lumpia, and serves as the backbone of many sauces, notably the barbecue marinade brushed on by streetside ihaw vendors.

While banana ketchup certainly has its roots in American food, like many aspects of our cuisine, its adaptation to local contexts, ingredients, and cultural habits has long made it truly Filipino

While banana ketchup certainly has its roots in American food, like many aspects of our cuisine, its adaptation to local contexts, ingredients, and cultural habits has long made it truly Filipino. The late food historian and writer Doreen Gamboa Fernandez writes that indigenization is central to Filipino food, writing: “A special path to understanding of what Philippine food is can be taken by examining the process of indigenization, which brought in, adapted, and then subsumed foreign influences into the culture.”

Gamboa Fernandez writes that our cuisine, “as dynamic as any phase of culture that is alive and growing, has changed through history, absorbing influences, indigenizing, adjusting to new technology and tastes, and thus, evolving.”

Incorporating foreign influences into Filipino food has long been a core of our cuisine and culture—from our long history of trading with China (birthing the addition of soy sauce, an ingredient that is Chinese in origin, in our ubiquitous adobo) and our Malay neighbors, to the centuries of colonization under Spanish, Japanese, and American forces.

Which brings us back to banana ketchup—an invention largely credited to Maria Orosa, a Batangas-born, US-educated food scientist who invented over 700 recipes that have not only shaped contemporary Filipino eating habits but also saved countless lives during wartime.

Tomatoes were in short supply in the Philippines during World War II after imports were halted. Overcoming these shortages, Orosa came up with the idea to replace tomatoes with bananas, a much more abundant produce in the tropical country—utilizing saba along with the typical ingredients of vinegar, sugar, and spices, with food coloring added in to make the product more appealing.

Although she is widely known for originating banana ketchup, Maria Orosa is also responsible for developing soyalac, a powdered soybean product that was smuggled into camps for guerillas and prisoners of war to get them through starvation

Although she is widely known for originating banana ketchup, Orosa is also responsible for developing soyalac, a powdered soybean product that was smuggled into camps for guerillas and prisoners of war to get them through starvation. She continued with her war efforts until her death in February 1945 after being hit by shrapnel. Her legacy would carry on, however, with banana ketchup becoming a widely produced mass staple.

The Universal Food Corporation—or UFC, as we all know it—credits their iconic banana ketchup product to Magdalo V. Francisco, who was said to have worked on his own version in 1938, and released his product under the brand Mafran—forming UFC in the ’60s to expand his business. Francisco would later leave the company and another one, later calling his product Jufran.

With Filipino food earning its much-deserved scene in the spotlight after being touted for years as a “cuisine on the rise,” banana ketchup is gradually earning its own recognition as well as a hallmark of our culture.

Food writer Danny Palumbo writes that living in Los Angeles, Filipino food has “forever altered my palate,  as I find myself craving sourness and fruity sweetness.”

Writing for The Takeout, Palumbo opines that French fries dipped in banana ketchup “are a lovely combination,” as fluffy and crispy potatoes with fruity, tart ketchup “is a tasty contrast that hits different”—a fact that many Filipinos who grew up with kamote fries for merienda already know.

With Filipino food earning its much-deserved scene in the spotlight after being touted for years as a “cuisine on the rise,” banana ketchup is gradually earning its own recognition as well as a hallmark of our culture

In recent years, the ubiquity of banana ketchup has also been synonymous with controversy—with UFC’s parent brand NutriAsia being embroiled in allegations of systemic abuse among its workers and prompting a public boycott of the company’s products in 2022.

However, the condiment has also become a vehicle for the Philippines’ culinary stars to reclaim their heritage, allowing it to play a more active role in a dish.

Asia’s 50 Best honoree Toyo Eatery has updated their banana ketchup recipe using a variety called bulkan saba sourced from Capas, Tarlac—aging the bananas until the skins darken, before sauteeing its meat and blossoms until they become caramelized, adding onion, garlic, bay leaves, and some tomatoes for color, before being seasoned with vinegar made from their peels.

Asia’s 50 Best honoree Toyo Eatery has updated their banana ketchup recipe using a variety called bulkan saba sourced from Capas, Tarlac

Meanwhile, Hapag has also created its own banana ketchup as part of its fermentation program, even incorporating it into its own sauces such as its kanto sauce—its own homage to our local street food culture.

And in case you’re still on the lookout for more ethical alternatives to banana ketchup for your own kitchen pantry, newer brands such as Manalo Filipino are also coming up with their own version of the classic recipe, made with fresh saba.

Once developed as an alternative to tomatoes, it has become clear that banana ketchup has long stood on its own as a standalone condiment worthy of its own reverence and recognition.