Baye baye reinventions

With nothing much to do during the long weekend of Fiesta Minatay and seeing a lot of baye baye on the table, in the fridge and even in my dreams (lol), I decided to try my hands on some reinventions of my own. Inspired with the innovations of baye baye during the Tigkaralag Festival of Pavia a few days, most of my creations mirrored what I saw and tasted during that competition.

Using ingredients I found inside the fridge – a pack of pecan nuts and some dulce de leche, I reinvented the native delicacy not only with a twist but with a little “sophistication”.

Inspired by the sesame seed crusted entry, I made a pecan nut crusted baye baye by rolling it over grated pecan nuts. An easy reinvention but using a not so common nut made it more intriguing and giving it somewhat classy remake. Though eating proved to be somewhat messy as some of the pecan nut crumbs fell before reaching one’s mouth

Baye baye halves filled with pecan nuts and dulce de leche mixture and topped with half a pecan nut reminds of me that entry with cheese toppings. More so, it took me back to the days when we had our food tasting session at Tinapayan as the bakeshop presented bars and slices looking almost like that – well made and much better presented of course. Eating with bare hand proved to be untidy – sticky dulce de leche and pecan nut crumblings.

And lastly, I got my own version of the winning entry – a baye baye twist with dulce de leche and pecan nut crumbs mixture as filling. It would have been easier if I used a plated baye baye but I combined several sticks of baye baye, molded them into longer and flatter individual sticks, filled and rolled them into the finished product. If only I could have made the baye baye thinner …

My favorite turned out to be the “twisted” reinvention mainly because of the dulce de leche mixture and being more manageable to eat. Next was the pecan crusted baye baye being the most photogenic and more viable for commercialization. And the other one – I find it almost ugly as the you-know-which cake LOL.

I had more fun making these baye baye reinventions than actually eating them since I got myself filled up with the “rejects” during the process of reinvention.

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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