Onions are a key ingredient in almost every Philippine dish. But it now costs nearly three times as much as chicken in the Philippines, CNN reports.

According to the country's Department of Agriculture, red and white onions were selling for 600 Philippine pesos ($11) per kilogram, compared with 220 pesos per kilogram of chicken. Even beef brisket was 30% cheaper than onions by weight as the price of a kilo of onions rose above the minimum daily wage.

The price increase came after a wave of super typhoons hit the Philippines last year, damaging tens of billions of pesos worth of crops. The Southeast Asian country has seen a surge in inflation in recent months, with consumer prices jumping 8.1 percent in December, reaching a 14-year high, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority.

Onions have become so much of a staple that they are being smuggled into the country. According to a state-run Philippine news agency, customs officials seized $310,000 worth of white onions hidden in a shipment of clothing during the latest seizure on Dec. 23. Two days earlier, customs also seized $364,000 worth of red onions from China hidden in boxes of cookies.