Food Trip in Cebu : CNT Lechon

I just came back from my 9-day and 8-night trip in Cebu City and the flavors of Cebu are still fresh on my lips.

Most of these taste memories were made at CNT Lechon restaurant across SM City Cebu with all the native Cebuano dishes lining up for a visual feast.

The signature dish of Cebu and CNT is the lechon and everybody was lining up for it. Good thing they have a number system which makes ordering a portion of this roast pig more systematic.

Famed for having no sauce to go with it, Lechon Cebu is packed with herbs and spices, that's why it is almost a mortal sin to ask for sauce for the lechon when in Cebu.

I find most Cebu Lechon more on the salty side (add to that my sensitivity to saltiness in general) so that makes me go "big time" on the rice.

Called "puso" it's cooked rice packed in coconut leaves which is almost like ibos for the Ilonggos, but just plain rice and not malagkit. It is most prevalent in Cebu comapred anywhere else in the Philippines.

I was ecstatic to find out that CNT now serves the popular Cebuano meat soup - Pochero. It's like nilaga or bulalo, it surely quench my cravings for this dish which I raved about two months back. Tender meat and savory broth, this sure made my most of most Cebu taste memories.

But the dish that made my day and the most of my taste memories those past 8 days was balbacua. A heavy soup dish made with beef - mostly the tail and skin; and is very similar to the pata dish of the Ilonggos.

Though this particular one had lots of garlic and even has pineapples compared the simple ones I've tried but nonetheless, it was my most unforgettable native Cebuano eats during the trip. It haunted me for days that I went back a few days after just to give in to this balbacua cravings.

And surely CNT will be a regular pitstop the next time I find myself in Cebu City!

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.

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.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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