Days Hotel Buffet: Savour “The Flavors of Asia”

The premiere hotel buffet in Iloilo City just got better as Days Hotel Iloilo introduced “The Flavors of Asia”. I was invited to savour the offerings of the newest buffet selection at The Promenade last Friday during its launch and true to form, it was a collection of the best of Asian cuisine. Dishes of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mongolian, Korean and Filipino origins - it was a spread that spanned not only geographic borders and culture but as well as gastronomy.

For starters, there are two soups stations - go Thai with tom yum soup or create your own Chinese noodle soup. Appetizers include a mix of Chinese dim sum and Thai and Korean specialties - shredded beef on crisp shells, pork sio mai, spare ribs, and chicken cabbage rolls.

Aside from the salad station where one can concoct his own salad there were already two salads - spicy shrimp salad and pineapple noodle. A cross between appetizer and main dish include steamed squid and chicken satay.

The Japanese station has the usual array of it’s specialties – different types of sushi and maki that both were visually appealing and gastronomically satisfying.

A Mongolian station makes one create his own mix from the variety of noodles and vegetables with a host of different sauces.

The main buffet had bokkun bap, pla lad prag gatiem (fried whole fish in garlic sauce), chicken teriyaki, beef caldereta, steamed bok choy with mushrooms and lechon kawali.

To end up the buffet on a high and sugary note, the dessert station is always a pleaser- both visual and gastronomic. For this buffet it had cakes, pies, panacottas, puddings, soufflé, custards, gelatins, galletes, mousse, crème brulee, crepes and fresh fruits.

What more can you ask for? Maybe time or space in your tummy! A buffet with this spread – the variety, the quantity, the quality; there couldn’t be too much a good (tasting) thing. Enjoy “The Flavors of Asia” at the premiere buffet in Iloilo City - only at Days Hotel Iloilo.

Check out more photos of the buffet in my FaceBook album

The Flavors of Asia PhP420++Every Friday 6-10pmThe Promenade, Days Hotel IloiloTel. 337-3297

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Thank you to our ever gracious hosts, Johnny Que - Owner of Greats Foods Inc and Days Hotel Iloilo, J. Scott Sarria - General Manager of Days Hotel Iloilo, Arvi Sumayo - Marketing Specialist of Great Foods Inc and Cristina Tuya.

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 native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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