Americans have long loved Asian food. But while trendy cuisines such as Thai and Vietnamese bask in the limelight, the culinary treasures of the Philippines have remained largely undiscovered until recently.

The Philippines, a group of islands in the southwest Pacific, have been influenced by three cultures: Malay, Chinese and Spanish.

The Malays, the islands' original inhabitants, pioneered the addition of coconut and coconut milk to native dishes. The Chinese, who were ancient trading partners, left a legacy of noodles as well as sweet-and-sour flavoring. The Spanish, who ruled the Philippines for 300 years, introduced garlic and countless recipes and techniques.

The mingling of these influences produced a cuisine as rich as it is varied.

Most ingredients are readily available in this country; a handful may require a trip to an Asian grocery. And many dishes are easy enough for novice cooks.

Classic Philippine specialties include chicken adobo, a richly flavored stew; pancit guisado, a sauteed noodle dish; and bibingka, a sweet baked rice dessert.

Asian and Spanish influences harmonize beautifully in adobo, a simple stew that relies on vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, soy sauce and black peppercorns for its distinctive flavor.

Adobo comes close to being the national dish of the Philippines, according to Reynaldo Alejandro, author of "The Philippine Cookbook" (Putnam, $11.95).

Although adobo is typically made with chicken, pork or fish, it can be adapted to include anything the cook fancies.

"There are as many variations of adobo as there are households," Mr. Alejandro says. "As long as you have the basic [sauce] ingredients, you can come up with 101 ways of cooking adobo." Some of Mr. Alejandro's variations use vegetables, tofu or mushrooms for meatless entrees and appetizers.

You may raise an eyebrow at the amount of garlic in adobo recipes: an entire head. But the garlic loses its bite during cooking, mellowing to a sweetness that complements the soy-vinegar flavors.

Vinegar also figures prominently in other Philippine dishes, serving as a flavoring agent as well as a preservative -- a blessing in rural tropical areas lacking refrigeration.

Adobo's flavor actually improves after a day or two in the refrigerator, making it the perfect do-ahead dish. It is typically served with generous mounds of steaming white rice to soak up the sauce.

Noodles form the basis of a variety of Philippine dishes known as pancit. Tita Cruz, co-owner of a Philippine restaurant, considers pancit bijon guisado, or sauteed rice sticks, the most classic of the Philippine noodle dishes. The rice sticks are vermicelli-like noodles that are softened by soaking in hot water and then quickly sauteed with vegetables and sliced meats.

"Pancit is typically made with carrots, celery and Chinese cabbage, but anything can go in it," Ms. Cruz says.

Philippine cooks often improvise as they prepare pancit, adding Chinese sausage, mushrooms, shrimp, ham, snow peas, green beans or whatever is on hand. Pancit guisado can be assembled in 15 minutes after all the ingredients have been prepared and chopped.

Ms. Cruz strongly recommends adding fish sauce -- a condiment made from fermented fish -- to the dish. It's usually listed as optional.

"It enhances the flavor," she says, noting that Philippine cuisine relies on very few spices. "This [fish sauce] is what makes it different. Fish sauce and soy sauce are trademarks of Asian cooking."

For those who omit the fish sauce, Ms. Cruz suggests substituting salt -- a third again as much salt as called for in the recipe.

Fish sauce and rice sticks are readily available in local Asian grocery stores. Thai fish sauce is cheaper, equal in flavor and more readily available than the Philippine variety known as "patis," Ms. Cruz says.

For dessert, Filipinos often serve bibingka, a sweet baked rice "cake" made with cooked rice, brown sugar and coconut milk.

"It's a very simple recipe," says Nieves Cava, board member of Mabuhay, a U.S.-based Philippine dance company. "It tastes better if prepared one day ahead of time."

The dessert can be made up to two days before serving and then reheated in the microwave. Sometimes Ms. Cava bakes her bibingka in a baking pan lined with banana leaves for extra flavor.

"Everyone likes it -- children and adults," Ms. Cava says.

Chicken adobo

Makes 6 servings

1 cup white vinegar

1 head garlic, cloves peeled and crushed

1/2 teaspoon whole or ground peppercorns

3 bay leaves

1/4 cup soy sauce

6 skinless chicken breast halves with bone (see note)

cooked white rice

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine vinegar, garlic, pepper, bay leaves and soy sauce. Add the chicken; marinate for 20 to 30 minutes. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove meat from pan and boil cooking liquid until reduced by half. Serve over rice.

Note: Filipinos typically make this dish with a whole chicken, skin on. Using skinless chicken breasts reduces the fat without sacrificing flavor. Lean cuts of pork may be added or substituted.

Per serving: calories: 161; fat: 3 grams; cholesterol: 72 milligrams; sodium: 750 milligrams; percent calories from fat: 17 percent.

Bibingka (rice cake)

Makes 6 to 8 servings

2 cups rice, washed once and drained

4 cups water

pinch salt

1 cup coconut milk (available at Asian grocery stores and some supermarkets)

1 cup evaporated skim milk

1 cup brown sugar

topping (recipe follows)

Put rice and water in a pot with a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir once, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and let stand 5 minutes.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk together coconut milk, evaporated milk and brown sugar. Combine mixture with the hot cooked rice. Mix well. Transfer to a buttered 8-by-8-inch pan; bake 35 minutes.

Mix topping ingredients and pour evenly over the baked bibingka. Bake an additional 10 minutes, then broil until topping is brown and bubbly.

Topping: Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup coconut milk.

Per serving: calories: 507; fat: 12 grams; cholesterol: 1 milligram; sodium: 84 milligram; percent calories from fat: 22 percent.

Pancit bijon guisado (sauteed rice sticks)

Makes 8 to 10 servings

1 pound skinless chicken breasts

1 pound lean pork, fat trimmed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (sold at Asian grocery stores)

4 cups shredded Chinese (napa) cabbage

3 carrots, cut into thin strips about 2 inches long

1 1/2 cups celery, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

L 1 to 1 1/2 cups broth in which the chicken and pork were boiled

2 (7-ounce) packages (or up to 1 pound) rice sticks (available at Asian grocery stores and some supermarkets), soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes, or until soft, then drained

1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped

hard-cooked eggs, sliced, for garnish

6 limes, cut into wedges

Bring chicken and pork to boil in 1 1/2 cups water. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat; when cool enough to handle, slice meat into small pieces. Reserve the broth.

Heat oil in a very large, wide saute pan. Saute garlic and onion until onion is transparent. Add meats, shrimp, soy sauce and fish sauce and stir-fry 5 minutes. Over high heat, add cabbage, carrots, celery, salt, pepper and 1 cup of broth. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Set aside 1 cup of mixture.

Reduce heat to low and add rice sticks, stirring and tossing gently with wooden spoons until heated and mixed with meat and vegetables (about 3 minutes).

If the mixture seems dry, add more broth. Transfer to a platter, spoon reserved mixture on top and garnish with chopped scallions, cilantro and egg slices. Squeeze lime over each serving and sprinkle with additional garnishes. Serve with soy sauce.

Per serving: calories: 465; fat: 14 grams; cholesterol: 137 milligrams; sodium: 781 milligrams; percent calories from fat: 27 percent.

Reynaldo Alejandro's mushroom adobo appetizer

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 pound small to medium white mushrooms

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 to 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and slightly smashed

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put mushrooms, oil, vinegar, soy sauce and garlic in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add pepper to taste; serve with toothpicks and Asian chile sauce for dipping.

Per serving: calories: 80; fat: 7 grams; no cholesterol; sodium: 131 milligrams; percent calories from fat: 75 percent.

Tina Danze is a Dallas free-lance writer. Her mother is a native of the Philippines.