Pancit Palabok and more at Balbi's

Food memories during our childhood certainly have a special place in our hearts (and tastebuds too.) Given the chance revisiting these places would mean reliving these taste memories that form a good part of our childhood. And Balbi's Snackshop along Valeria Street is certainly among these food places that our hearts would certainly long for.

Pancit Palabok

First and foremost is their Pancit Palabok. A tasty concoction of shrimp sauce over pancit bihon and topped with chicharon and tinapa. Many swear it's the best in town, costs around PhP75 and you certainly won't regret it.

Then there's their dinugu-an. Balbi's makes use of lean pork and no innards plus the blood s filtered and cured before cooking to ensure utmost quality. Thus explains the price of a single small serving is also around PhP70. But it's more than worth it especially if paired with puto manapla.

Their two best selling breads are ensaymada and cheeseroll. These treats are both very much affordable and certainly worth more than it's price. Very soft bread with butter and sugar toppings with the cheese roll having a slice of cheese at the certain. You'll certainly want more after finishing these two.

Grilled Ensaymada with guava jelly and cheese

With a resounding crunch and finger licking goodness in every bite - I now believe why Balbi's grilled ensaydma with guava jelly and cheese filling is among its best seller. At first, I had doubts what would this combination of flavours be like. I like them all individually but having them all in just one bite plus the fact that the ensaymada is just off the grill - it was somewhat biting into the unkown. Read more

Cassava Cake

Balbi's also served other dishes like binagoongan and bistek tagalog - to name a few of their best sellers. And they also have other breads and baked goodies cheese pimiento sandwich, biscocho, cassava cake siopao, chicken pie and burgers.

Pork Binagoongan Meal

Balbi's is certainly discovery. If not for my blog, I wouldn't have discovered it , even if it was just along one of the streets I frequent passing by. And it was a gastronomic pleasure to have tasted the so called "trinity" of the great eats at Balbi's - pancit palabok, dinugu-an and grilled ensaimada.

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 pork broth cube (

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

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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