JD Adventures and more

Another gastronomic invasion of JD restaurant and bakeshop, this time at their Roadhouse branch. Believe it or not we only spent around P235.

Pancit Molo (P21) and Chicken rice meal (P32). Two of their best sellers.

Buko Pie (P10.25). A letdown for I've tasted much better local and even nameless buko pies.

See those two slices of buko pie? If there's another thing JD restaurants are famous for (the first one being very much less expensive yet quality), its the fact the orders are not strictly monitored. Most of the time one gets an extra dessert or drink but if you're lucky enough you even get a rice meal. Of course we informed the counter of their mistake but would have thought twice if they gave us other than buko pie. Just kidding!

Baked macaroni (22.50). Another best seller. Its very cheap that it often becomes a side order for most patrons. Based on experience each branch of JD has somewhat a different flavour for this recipe.

Club sandwich (P65). One of the more expensive items on their menu but its more than worth it. Bacon, ham, cheese, chicken filling with cucumbers and tomatoes filling four slices of toasted bread. What more can you ask for!

Dismay over their buko pie prompted me to scout for more desserts (actually we ate those buko pies before our orders arrived).

Butter chewies (P5.50 each) I was surprised they were actually good;

Glazed donut (P8) An attempt to copy krispy kreme or gonuts donuts but actually nowhere good. No regrets though since they were one sale for only P6 each that time;

Russian tea cookies (P2.50) A Korean in front of me ordered them so I also decided not to be left out. My first impression was that it was a silvana turned into a cookie.

Super Moist (P26.50). Been eyeing this one when I came in so I didn't let it escape me. Its just a "moist" chocolate cake bar with dark and white chocolate icing. Curiosity satisfied!

Love the variety of squares on the top two shelves and all of them cost less than P10. The third shelf has cake slices and fresh lumpia and never mind the bottom shelf except for the leche flan.

Rants ...... again!
Would you believe they had no softdrinks, juices and even ice that time? At least they had cold bottled water which is my usual drink.

Also I hate the fact that they wont let you order a slice of cake on those whole cakes. You'll just have to content yourself on whatever sliced cakes on their display. To think I've been accomodated with that one-slice request before at Red Ribbon when I requested their Red Velvet cake to be part of my combo meal.

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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