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.

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the us...

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

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 por...

Bitso-bitso

What is bitso-bitso ? Also spelled/called bichu-bichu or bitsu-bitsu , this native delicacy is made with fried rice flour dough then coated with coconut cream and muscovado sugar syrup. Its like a combination of making palitaw and banacue . The rice flour based "dough" is usually twisted and deep fried. Then it is placed/cooked in a mix of muscovado sugar then dried out. The sugar then "re-crystallize" making a crisp coating for the fried rice flour. The result is a local delicacy that crisp and sweet in the outside yet chewy inside. Cooking bitso-bitso is done many different ways and with different mixes of ingredients. These particular ones in Santa Barbara, Iloilo are still crisp even after being exposed - they are peddled every afternoon around town for 5 pesos a piece. I particularly like the fact that the sugar coating crumbles in every bite, though messy at times, but its alway a treat to have these bitso-bitso . ...

Jiecel and Thea's Refreshment

When talks zero in on sio mai and sio pao (in Iloilo City), it would be incomplete when one snack shop is not mentioned. Jiecel and Thea's Refreshment had long been synonymous with these two Chinese delights and finally, I was able to personally visit the place, tasted their specialties and of course blogged about it. Just a simple menu with three of the specialties; mami, sio pao and sio mai. It was a short ride from the "Carlos" junction to this snack shop and even though I theoretically know where it was, I was still all eyes during the my travel. But luckily they had a very big signage that proclaimed "We serve the BEST mami, sio pao and sio mai in town". Now that got me gastronomically excited. Simple interiors of Jiecel and Thea's Refreshment makes you conentrate more on the food rather than the ambiance. It was around 1030am when I finally got there to see a sort of family brunch on going occupying half of the snack shop. But fortunately they were a...

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