Another taste of Kong Kee's famous sio pao

The mere mention of Kong Kee Restaurant only brings one thing in mind - sio pao! This iconic food shop along Iloilo City's heritage district had been making delicious sio pao ever since I can remember. Prior to this, my last visit had me indulge in their popular Pancit Sun yat Sen to satisfy my curiosity and of course blog about it. Recently, for my column in The News Today, I found myself walking along JM Basa Street to have another go with one of the most popular sio paos in Iloilo City.

I've been seeing and reading about the recent renovation at Kong Kee that this visit was like hitting two birds with one stone - but that time it was actually eating two sio paos during one visit on top of getting the feel of the new ambiance. And yes I had my share of surprises that time.

The interiors greatly improved though it had still signs and feel of the old restaurant. Colorful and modern accents on the ceiling contrast their typical Chinese fixtures. There's still the signature counter where orders to go or even dine can be made. It's like the fusion of the old and the new, improvements without losing character.

And there's still the good ol' sio pao sauce in plastic containers that come with an order of their sio pao. And I did order both their special pork and chicken sio pao to update my photos as well as my tastebuds on the Kong Kee taste I grew up with.

The pork sio pao was still the same - with delicious chunky pork blended in with some seasoning and spices. But I was surpised it now costs PhP35! The bun wasn't that good that time since it came not as warm as it should have been plus the fact that I spent a few more minutes taking photos of them. But I just inundated it with the special sauce that it became the good ol' sio pao of my taste memories.

The chicken sio pao came in as a surprise as I was expecting shreds of chicken. What I got instead were chunks or slices - that means more chicken to bite with and more flavour to savour. And speaking of flavour, it surprised me that it was very different from the chicken sio paos I have tasted, it was sort of a chicken cooked in some native Ilonggo delicacies like binakol, tinu-om or even just tinola. You can savour the veggies s if you are eating these soupy dishes. I'll definitely check it out again to see if it's really their flavour or my taste buds faltered that time. And more surprises that it now costs PhP36.

But nonetheless, having the sio pao sauce accessible does the trick as I almost finished off the one bottle over my two sio pao orders from Kong Kee Restaurant.

An afternoon well spent to satisfy my curiosity at the same time my hunger for among the most popular sio pao in Iloilo City!

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...

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

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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