It is a portmanteau of the three main components of the meal, which are “TAPa” or quick-fried strips of beef jerky, “SInangag” or garlic fried rice, and “itLOG” or egg. The word “tapa” was derived from the Sanskrit term “tapas”, which means “heat”. Tapa has long been known in the arsenal of Filipino cuisine during the Spanish colonial era when Filipinos learned how to cure strips or pieces of meat
from the foreigners. However, the tapsilog combo has an untraced origin. Yet, tapsilog was believed to first came into being during the 1970’s and was popularized in the Filipino sitcom comedy show “Iskul Bukol” where it was mentioned frequently by the comedic trio Tito and Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. In all parts of the Philippines, a restaurant or a cafeteria that primarily serves tapsilog is called a “tapahan”, “tapsihan”, or a “tapsilugan. According to some strict Filipino lexicons, the term “tapsihan” and “tapsilog” are classified as Filipino slang words. However, those terms are used widely by the restaurants or cafeterias that serve them as well as the Filipinos of all social tiers who indulge in them. Thus, the terms “tapsilog” and “tapsihan” can be considered as standard words in the Filipino grammar, and not jargon. Due to the catchy portmanteau form of tapsilog, a lot of dishes that have sinangag and itlog on it have spawned and have been suffixed with “-silog”. Some of the known ones served in “carinderias” and “turo-turos” are adosilog or adobo, sinangag and itlog, bangsilog or bangus, sinangag and itlog, chiksilog or chicken, sinangag and itlog, hotsilog or hotdog, sinangag and itlog, longsilog or longganisa, sinangag and itlog, and tosilog or tocino, sinangag and itlog. To date, there are a lot of carinderias, turo-turos, and even fast food chains and restaurants that serve tapsilog. Among the popular mid- and high-tier eateries that have tapsilog on their menus are Tapa King, Goto King, Jollibee, Chowking, and even McDonald’s. A tapsilog meal usually ranges from P35 up to P100, depending on the restaurant that one would be eating at.