5G's Halo-halo at Tinda Lapaz

Tinda Lapaz has a lot of food finds to offer. There's the quintessential of Ilonggo cuisine which had its birthing and carrying the name - Lapaz Batchoy (take your pick from Ted's Oldtimer, Deco's Original and Netong's). There's also the popular hang-out - Madge cafe; and rows of carinderia's and bakeries.

And of course, there's the row of halo-halo stalls lining almost half of the market's "facade". So yesterday, fulfilling one of my long "to-do, to-eat" list, I ventured to Tinda Lapaz and beat the searing November heat (and it's not even summer time yet) with an "Extra" serving of halo-halo at 5G's Refreshment. (And the 5 G's turn out to be Glenn I, Glenn II, Grace, Greg and Gene.)

Just like the batchoy, halo-halo comes in Regular, Special, Super and Extra. I counted more than 15 ingredients ranging from fresh fruits to colorful "trimmings". Of course I went for the Extra as my default order as I just have to go for it especially in blogging and surprisingly it was just PhP35.

And there was much more on the menu, even cheaper but it was all halo-halo for me that time. So it was my usual clicks and flashes when my order was being prepared by "Manang 5G". After the block of ice has been shaved came assorted toppings for my order.

As it was an "Extra" order of halo-halo, I got one topped with barquillos and leche "plan". With out the rolled wafer, it will be "demoted" to a "Super" order PhP30, just topped with the custard. But without the custard, it'll just be a "Special" one - PhP25. But still it's a steal given this amount which is mostly equivalent to an order of soda in restaurants.

And my order came picture perfect - all the colors sort of blended just right! It had that enticingly fresh aroma from the fresh fruits prompting me to finish my foodtography in no time - plus there' the melting factor of the shaved ice.

I didn't bother to add sugar as I just was satisfied by the sweetness offered by the fruits and other ingredients. I usually limit my sugar even at home like when I make fruit shakes, its just the natural sugar content of the fruits. I just love the taste of melon (and it's not even the melon season) and the buko meat. then there' the subdued taste of banana and kamote giving it some texture as well. The pineapple,avocado and papaya gave it more dimension in taste. There's the contrasting texture of the corn flakes and the sago. And finally the ube halaya, leche "plan" and the barquillos ...

With these galore of ingredients and with a extra-super bargain price, it was indeed another satisfying foodie adventure at Tinda Lapaz, making this market indeed a showcase of Ilonggo food and food ways. 'til we eat again...

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece por...

A native delicacy called Inday-inday

Now you may ask, what is Inday-Inday ? It's another repetitive-feminine named native delicacy that is made from rice like its more popular sister - baye-baye . While the latter is has its own original flavor and make, inday-inday is actually a combination of two well loved native delicacies - muasi ( palitaw ) and bukayo . But the muasi portion is not the the usual palitaw recipe for the it's more firm and gummy (I don't know the English term for kid-ol ). Actually its more like a hardened kutsinta and this makes it more to my liking since I'm not really fond of muasi in the first place. And its not quite easy to find inday-inday in the market today, though I've seen and tried it in Sabor Ilonggo stalls but their's is more like suman latik for the based is ibos -like. Ibos is malagkit rice boiled in gata which is called suman in Tagalog. Despite the uncertainty for its nomenclature (I've read that inday-inday is just plain pal...

Muasi

A confession to start this blogpost - I consider MUASI as one of my hated native delicacies given its bland taste even with the sugar dip. But that was back during my childhood days. Maybe be because I may have used less sugar or might have completely forgotten to "dip" it at all. Yet nowadays, I have learned to appreciate it especially when its freshly cooked with the muscovado teeming the aroma of roasted sesame seeds. So let's make some MUASI

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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