Native Ilonggo cuisine at Marina Seafoods Restaurant

Marina Seafoods is among Iloilo's most popular restaurant and among the pioneer nightspots along the stretch of Diversion Road in Iloilo City. It's already an icon in this part of the country even before most people associated the name as Claudine Baretto's role (as a mermaid named Marina) in a TV series of the same title. Incidentally, Claudine herself is an Ilongga.

Today, this restaurant is among Iloilo City's "exports" as Marina brings Ilonggo cuisine within reach to Ilonggos and non-Ilonggos alike in other parts of the country especially in Metro Manila. Slowly but surely, it expanded as a full scale restaurant in some of the hippest locations in the Metro like in Glorietta in Makati and SkyGarden at SM North EDSA to name a few.But mostly, one gets the more authentic feel and taste of authentic cuisine when it is served in a no nonsense manner. Like this one at the food court of Market, Market at The Fort. It is in such manner that one appreciates more how the dish tastes rather than be overwhelmed by the fancy presentation.

Just take your pick from two Ilonggo favorites - KBL (kadyos-baboy-langka) above or laswa. The former, above, is a classic dish made from three main ingredients; kadyos, baboy and langka in a broth soured by another Ilonggo ingredient- batwan. Laswa on the other hand, is a simple vegetable stew consisting of a variety of vegetables (talong, okra, sitaw, malunggay, saluyot, etc).

And ofcourse, the seafood! Kinilaw na tuna - with all the works in one plate and grilled blue marlin or tangigue - from the looks of it, it's already a winner. Ofcourse these are just a mere "patikim" of what Marina can offer to its diners.

And here's what Marina offers for breakfast in its branch in Glorietta. A heavy breakfast consisting of various "si-log" combos in just one plate. I see a tapsilog, a tosilog, longsilog and dangsilog in just one plate.

Fruits from the grocery

These packs of cut up fruits were bought from SM Delgado's grocery. Got enticed by their color and luckily, they were as good as they looked, especially the papaya. Each was just less than Php 22, really a bargain!

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

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?"

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.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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