Not as popular as kamote nor kangkong tops in other parts of the country but here in Iloilo, (and Western Visayas as a whole) it's one of the staple "green and leafy" vegetables. It maybe "foreign" elsewhere but here it is very common as one always see these trio (with kamote and kangkong) being sold from wet market stalls and even in big grocery stores like SM.
Most often alugbati is partnered with kalabasa for a simple dish with either pork (cutlets or ground - you can also saute these first) or seafood (shrimps, crabs and dried seafood like pinakas, balingon, etc) as subak(sahog). Its also a simple dish to prepare as you throw in everything, season then cover and wait for it to cook. Or even just as “greens” in the all time Pinoy favorite - ginisang monggo.A green leafy vegetable with a violet stem that makes a good whole lot of simple yet good tasting dishes - that's alugbati.