Going bananas over "sab-a"

The sab-a (saba) is among (if not) the most versatile variety of the banana family. It can be cooked in dishes like pochero, eaten as is when ripe and made into a variety of desserts too. It's also a common sight in the markets and knows no season at all so it can be enjoyed all throughout the year.

Among my favorite desserts made with saba is minatamis na saging, simply sweetened banana. The saba is simply boiled in water and sugar or at times with condensed milk to give it a well sweet taste. On it's or used in halo halo, this treat is a sure fire hit.

Adding shaved iced to minatmais na saba transform it into saba con hielo, a popular cooler and much easier to prepare than halo-halo. Adding milk gives more flavour to this simple yet effective iced dessert.

Going a notch higher makes an even better cooler - a shake! This banana-peanut shake is an adaptation of the famous Jonah's shake in Boracay. I was introduced into this by an office mate before that we decided on making one ourselves. There's also a choco-banana-peanut variety.

If you're into baking, then a banana cake is among the easiest recipe. Though I haven't made one myself but eaten tons of it - lol, it just involves simple ingredients like crushed saba, of course, sugar, flour, baking and a whole lot more. And after some time, a delicious banana cake comes out of the oven.

But if you're not into baking, the simplest way of enjoying a cooked saba is simply frying it. usually it's the half ripe saba that is fried then it is topped with sugar. But what I like best is fryign the ripe or even those over ripe ones. They're sweet enough on their and no need to add sugar.

There is yet a myriad of other ways of enjoying sab-a and these are just a few of them but enough to make me go bananas!

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 cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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