Sooo Pinoy in Davao City at Marina Tuna

How many ways can tuna be served? In my two days in Davao City, I met grilled tuna panga, crispy buntot, sizzling tuna bihod and bagaybay, but on the third day our gastronomic stint we were introduced to these kind and even more. Welcome to Marina Tuna and they served tuna not only 4 or 5 ways but 10!

I was part of Sooo Pinoy, Food Trip na Pilipinas! which is set to visit 300 restaurants in 10 key regions/areas in 10 months all over the Philippines. Davao is the 4th food stop after Iloilo, Bora cay and Cebu that started last March. The goal of the Food Trip is to show that Filipino dishes per region have different identities based on the culture, lifestyle and history of the area. The Food Trip also aims to show that there are many Filipino recipes from different regions of the Philippines, each having its own specialty that has to be recognized for the unique flavor it adds to the Filipino Cuisine.

Davao has abundant tuna supply - thanks to it being geographically close to General Santos City, tuna is everywhere in the city. Domingo Ang, the owner of Marina Tuna during the informal presscon shared how his business boomed from a tuna exporter to now being a restaurateur. It was on June 8, 1979 when the first batch of yellowfin tuna was shipped to Japan from his business in General Santos. The demand grew exponentially from then on that it triggered the boom of the Philippine tuna industry not only for the Japanese market but also in others countries. More than 5,000 boats manned by around 50,000 fishermen were in the industry since that boom and more today.

Grilled tuna belly

And when he decided to open a restaurant business years ago, he decided to go BIG on tuna and he created quite a stir to be the restaurant that serves tuna - ten ways! And 10 tuna specialties came to our table then and among the most familiar was the Grilled Tuna Belly. It smelled so good that we almost dived into it after taking photos. Juicy and seasoned perfectly - if it looked good (above), it tasted even better - much better!

Cripy tuna (buntoit) tail

There's the Crispy Tuna Tail in all its crunchy glory perfect with the spiced dip it came with.

Grilled tuna panga (jaw)

And the "walang kamatayang" Grilled Tuna Panga which was the unofficial food symbol of Sooo Pinoy Davao for almost everyday we had them in our "eatinerary" and this one's no exception - still delectable as ever.

Kinilaw na tuna

The Kinilaw na tuna as ordinary as it may seem was really fresh and I can tell it from the aroma and I loved it that it's been laden with cucumbers and radish.

Tuna bihod

Now here's the duo - tuna bihod (above) and tuna bagaybay (below). While the former is the roe or eggs of the female tuna (served with oysters and peppers), the latter are more on the masculine side - tuna testicles.

Tuna bagaybay

Now here's something new during or Davao Food Trip with Sooo Pinoy - Tuna Sashimi. Its the main reason why the owners of Mmarina Tuna got into this fishy business at the first place - supply the Japanese market with tuna for their delicacies including sashimi. With wasabi on the side it surely spiced our tuna days in Davao!

Tuna sashimi

Then going for a more Filinpino, more familiar tuna dish was their Tuna Kare-kare. With beef, pata or ox tail as the common meat you;d find, tuna kare-kare seem to be something new. With the combination of vegetables, tuna and a creamy peanut-annato sauce, it won't be hard to finish them dish alone. As in maning-mani lang...

Tuna kare-kare

Another new of the tuna menu was this Sizzling Tuna Tendon. I just love cartilagenous parts even for pork and beef and now, tuna tendon is part of this gastronomic love affair. It's really like eating squid - gummy yet very delicious.

Sizzling tuna tendon

Just take a look and you'll know it's now a usual sinigang or sinabawan dish. Maybe it is but what's inside is not your usual find and it's actually a tuna eye soup. Imagine how big is a tuna so that goes the size of the eyes you'll find floating in the soup. But as long as you don't look at it or look for it, it's one enjoyable and delicious soup.

It was one was eye-opening (still haven't recovered from the tuna eye soup) gastronomic experience at Marina Tuna and it's 10 ways (I think they have more than that) of preparing tuna. Though the grilled tuna belly's my over-all bet, everything seems to be in line with our taste as we all enjoyed lunch. Even former Sen. Ernesto Maceda did, who we accidentally bumped in the restaurant but gladly shared this Sooo Pinoy tuna experience in Davao City.

Filipinos are encouraged to join and support the Sooo Pinoy movement, a partnership between Unilever Food Solutions and the Department of Tourism, and go on a gastronomic adventure that both fills the stomach and enriches our awareness of our own identity. To know more about the campaign, food lovers are invited to like the Sooo Pinoy page on Facebook and follow @SoooPinoy on Twitter

Sooo Pinoy Epic DAVAO Food Trip: June 25-29, 2012

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