Breakfast at Green Mango

Breakfast at Green Mango - Jaro branch

To jumpstart our tour of Jaro district, my friends and I had breakfast at the newly opened branch of Green Mango right across its plaza. It was a good thing they open early (7am) to serve commuters especially students and office workers working or passing by the area. It was the usual breakfast meals for my friends, smoked longganisa & beef tapa combos and for me, of course my favorite, bistek tagalog.

It took them almost an eternity to serve our breakfast since there was a big batch of order ahead of us and I can count only 3-4 staff at that time. Anyway, these combo meals are affordable at PhP49 each and comes with free drinks (except for my order.)First thing that caught the attention of my friends was the shape of the rice, it was almost conical as opposed to the usual truncated cylinder or cone. Then no reactions from then on. Either they were so hungry or they have nothing to say ab0ut the food (lol).

It seemed that my favorite order at Green Mango has changed a bit, from my last memory of their bistek tagalog, it wasn't as dark as this nor tasted with overpowering soy sauce. I can't be sure since I had my last bistek tagalog at their main branch along Valeria street. Though I can say that this one is more bistek looking and tasting, but I love the "original" recipe of their sauce back at the main branch. (Gotta make another taste test sometime.) But still finished my plate since the beef itself, usually good.

We finished almost everything except that tapa wherein my friend said it was too hard. Just by looking at it, I can say that it really was that no need for him to demonstrate by cutting it using his spoon (which he did anyway).

And so our tour of the heritage district of Jaro began with a trip to my Alma Mater, currently hosting the 14th Unigames, with the University Church and it's infamous addition, that "canopy".

The icons of Jaro, the Metropolitan Cathedral which houses the image of Our Lady of Candles in it's facade ...

...to it's equally famous belfry and plaza,

and a souvenir/religious items shop wherein the best buys are still, of course, the candles!

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 (

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.

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

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the usu

Bilong-bilong

Bilong-bilong , as what it is called, is a silvery flatfish. It can be fried, sinabawan , pinamalhan, binuro and sinugba. I found a similar entry at marketmanila.com which says .. ".... an amusing looking fish called Bilong-bilong or Chabita or Kadis. A Moonfish (now isn’t that a descriptive name?) of the Family Menidae, it inhabits coastal waters, has an incredibly flat body and oval shape with low fins. Locals love to serve this paksiw style with ginger, vinegar and onions, or deep fried where if small enough, everything is munched on, I am told..." Fried bilong- bilong Pinamalhan na bilong bilong Binuro nga bilong bilong from iLOVEiloilo.com How to make Binuro nga Bilong bilong (adapted from LEE's comment in the PINAMALHAN entry) 1. Clean bilong-bilong with water then drain. 2. In a container with lid, make alternate layers of the fish and salt, the latter in the bottom layer. 3. Cover and store in a cool, dry place (not in the fridge) in the next few days. 4.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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