The famous Jiecel and Thea's sio pao and sio mai

Jiecel and Thea's Refreshment in Mandurriao prides itself as the home of the best sio pao, sio mai and mami in the city. For a snack shop that serves these Chinese specialties, the place itself doesn't look and feel like a Chinese food place. It's just an ordinary snack bar serving variations of these three specialties. But they are so good that most of the time it is packed with patrons and parking space, at times, becomes a problem. Yes, even those "big time" queue in this "small time" snack bar.

I met Lee and Inday Hami weeks ago in this hole in the wall and over their sumptuous treats talked about, what else, food, food and more food. For around P35 one gets 4 pieces of sio mai which are simple yet very good - though I have tasted better ones, yet for the price one pays, Jiecel and Thea's wins "pound for pound", as one may say. Made even more appetizing by the chili-garlic sauce and if concocted with calamansi and soy sauce makes a perfect dip that a second order of sio mai will surely follow.

The sio pao meanwhile comes in a mamon like dough, so it's one of the softest sio paos around. Though I prefer the other type of dough, I still can't help but also enjoy their sio pao. Words have it that their sio pao is comparable to that famous Ma Mon Luk in Manila where one of the their cooks used to work there.

As that still remains a rumour, the fact is that Jiecel and Thea's already made it's name when it comes to these Chinese dim sum and noodles dishes. It's popularity around made this "small" big time snackshop, confident enough to claim as that they serve the best sio pao, sio mai and mami in town. Why not try it yourself next time you're in Iloilo City.

Jiecel and Thea's Refreshment
Taft Street, Sta. Rosa, Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Tel No. 321-0287
(Along the highway going to the old Iloilo airport.)

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

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

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 - 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

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