Of Batchoy and mangoes

I’ve been to Iloilo a few times before and every time I hear its name, the phrase “Namit Gid” immediately pops up in my mind. Well, not too long ago, some friends and I had a most enjoyable “Namit Gid” weekend visit to Iloilo, which included a day-long excursion to nearby Guimaras. With the amiable Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and the friendly Guimaras Gov. Felipe Nava as our hosts, could I have expected otherwise?

Deco's Original La Paz batchoy

After a short, 50-minute Cebu Pacific flight from Manila, we were met at the airport by representatives of the mayor, with an attractive welcome garland, accentuated with a colorful miniature Dinagyang mask. Leading the welcome committee was the ever-smiling Lea Lara, executive director of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation Inc. who whisked us off to the welcome dinner hosted by the mayor in Al Dente, at the Sarabia Manor, the city’s biggest hotel. The mayor requested his niece, popular chef Pauline Banusing, to whip up a six-course meal composed of delectable, typically Ilonggo recipes. You can see why, on our first hour in the city, we were already bursting at the seams!

Dinner ended with the mayor giving each of us a bonanza of gifts—boxes of Iloilo delicacies, a book on Iloilo, a cute Dinagyang doll, and other souvenirs from the city—much to our delight. But the “welcome” didn’t end there! One of the city’s leading businessmen hosted us for “dessert and drinks” at his “kingdom”. Johnny Que is an architect-turned-restaurateur, and owns a patch of Smallville, in the city’s downtown area, where the more popular yuppie watering holes and restaurants are, pretty much like our Eastwood in QC, only bigger. There, we were joined by other friends for another calorific repast, washed down with “only the best” Spanish wines!

Tatoy's famous native litsong manok

Lunch was gorging on Tatoy’s famed herb-cooked chicken. We met the owner himself, Honorato Espinosa, who told us that it all started for him with a three-table roadside diner many years ago. The special herbs he puts in his chicken have made it the most sought-after poultry dish in the whole province, the reason why his business has grown into a million-peso enterprise. People really travel the distance just to have their fix of his special recipe.

Dinner was a veritable feast of Iloilo’s seafood specialties at Raymund Robles’ beachfront Breakthrough, a must-stop for anyone visiting the city. The dining table was overflowing with Iloilo’s indigenous fish, a heap of lobsters, several kilos of prawns and shrimps, the prized diwal, etc. It was as if Neptune himself made sure our day would end on a perfect note! Ilonggo hospitality is certainly beyond description.

Returning to Iloilo City later that afternoon, the mayor made sure we’d have another highlight of our visit—the legendary La Paz Batchoy at Deco’s. This special recipe came from the family of Federico Guillergan Jr., but the restaurant is now owned by Edgar Sia II, same owner as Mang Inasal. We had extra servings of chicharon and garlic shavings for our soup, which we enjoyed with home-made puto.

Roberto's King and Queen sio paos

While we were savoring every single spoonful of this “to-die-for” specialty, our Tour Leader announced that the owner of Roberto’s, the city’s most popular siopao place, sent each of us a bagful of jumbo siopao to take back to Manila.

Carlos Bakery and Cafe

And, as if that wasn’t enough, Mayor Treñas also reminded us to pass by his children’s bakery, Carlo’s, on our way to the airport, as they prepared boxes of goodies for us to take home. Wow! As a Cebuano, I have to admit, with a sense of defeat, that the Ilonggos have certainly raised the standards of Filipino hospitality several notches higher!

Of Batchoy and mangoes

Article written by Bob Zozobrado

for the Manila Standard Today

Read complete article

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.

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

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

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog