"Eat Sago Festival" at Horizon Cafe at Injap Tower Hotel

With a view of Iloilo City seen from twenty-one storeys above, Horizon Cafe atop the Injap Tower Hotel has been the talk of the town since opening a few days go. Ilonggos queued to experience dining at the peak of the city while enjoying Asian fusion cuisine.

Photo by Cafe Ilonggo blog

Almost always full-packed especially during dinner, Horizon Cafe has become the "it" place to dine. So much so that the online forum I am member of decided to hold our EB dubbed as the Eat Sago Festival. A play on the actual "It's a Go", our get together teases those things that have been stalled or in local Filipino sense those are just "drawing lang".

To start with a big Thank You to our very gracious sponsor who wish to remain anonymous, for letting us enjoy not only the view from atop the 21st floor but all the food Horizon Cafe has prepared for us.

Coinciding with the fiesta of the district of Molo, our EB also had the fiesta like atmosphere because the food served on our table seem to be good for a lot of people.

One by one we tried what was in front of us and this Ngo Hiang became my instant favorite. Its like a version of kikiam, they say, but this one's a lot better since you can still feel and taste the real meat as opposed to the finely grounded texture of very commercial ngo hiang.

This plate of Hokkien Noodles was next on the agenda and though it looks like adobo nga takway, I can assure you its really fat noodles, like the ones used in pancit lomi. It has this thick sauce (oyster?) and lot of toppings. (They're actually underneath the noodles, hiding)

But they ran out of these noodles. Good thing, the chef concocted our special noodle order which he says will soon be a part of their regular menu. It was sort of a preview on our part, then and he called it Egg Noodles with Seafood in Chef's Special Sauce. I love the taste of the egg noodles and the entire mix of seafood was just appetizing.

The Beef Curry didn't seem to be spicy enough but we were informed that they tamed the spiciness for the local taste. They don't want to have us be "on fire".

Then there's this Braised Pork with another "Chef's Special Sauce". It may look and could taste like adobo or humba, but it was a tamed version. I just loved how the pork fat melt in my mouth that I almost finished an order all by myself.

We had our vegetable fix with sort of Chop Suey which reminds me that this could have been the topping for one of our pancit dishes above - this one's just more colorful and meatier.

And the specialty of the house - Hainanese Chicken. It came with three sauces, a plate of rice and soup, that the order is already a complete meal itself.

A plate of Yang Chow rice to those who prefer a tastier ice with all the works...

To cap off our Eat Sago Festival, for dessert we had Mango-Pomelo that came with mango and pomelo bits topped with ice cream and SAGO! A perfect ending to a night of fun, stories, updates, jokes - as we again met face-to-face than the usual online in the forum.

Again, to the attendees and organizers of the mini-event, it was a pleasure meeting and eating with you. And, for the second time around, thank you very much to our gracious sponsor. Sa uulitin! Eat Sago!

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

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.

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.

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?"

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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