Iloilo batchoy to vie for Guinness world record

Article written by Lydia C. Pendon for The Daily Guardian

MAKE it Iloilo as the home of native delicacy hot soup “batchoy’ when the Iloilo Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) starts drumming up the well-loved soup to be included in the list of Guinness Book of world records.
City tourism officer Ben Jimena said organizers are currently looking for the biggest bowl to hold the batchoy to feed more than 300 streetchildren in one sitting here during the Dinagyang Festival. Jimena said the idea is to promote batchoy as a delicacy of Iloilo in the international audience after noting that the first thing a balikbayan or a tourist looks for is native food especially Iloilo batchoy.
The ICVB and Decos La Paz Batchoy are currently campaigning for the promotion of batchoy through the staging of the batchoy bowl which will actually become a soup kitchen for the streetchildren of Iloilo, part of the Dinagyang revelry slated on January 23-25, 2009.
Batchoy is made up beef strips, pig innards and miki pancit noodles spiced with various condiments and very hot broth of boiled pig bones and meat. Only an Ilonggo chef or homemaker knows the real batchoy taste and soup mix that
caters to the Ilonggo palate.
On the other hand, Ely Bagtasus of the Dinagyang Foundation said a special area will be put up with kiosks along the Dinagyang parade route to cater to all native delicacies and Ilonggo dishes especially the batchoy. The native delicacy strip will be a separate venue from the Iloilo Food Festival area for three days during the Dinagyang Festival.
The area is expected to be a must-see for tourists and balikbayans to sample and treat themselves with batchoy, suman, bandi, balut, valenciana, pancit molo and other native Ilonggo foods.

This would make my Dinagyang 2009 interesting and blog postings interesting. Though personally I think Guinness is getting to commercialized for the fact that almost anything and everything can end up the list, I'll make an exception on this one for its Iloilo and food. Hopefully, this is not just one media hype that would end up in a pfffftttt. But no matter what I'll do my best in covering this event.

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

Search This Blog