Noodle time at Tarzan Magic La Mien Noodle House

There’s new joint along Iloilo City’s premiere heritage showcase, JM Basa Street and it highlights the Chinese influence in Ilonggo food and food ways. Opened just a few days ago, the Tarzan Magic La Mien noodle house prides itself with it’s freshly made noodles. One can actually see how they are stretched, pulled and all the acts of noodle making. This discovery came to be when a foodie-friend La Beth of Skyscraper City-Iloilo (forum) had her noodle fill there and gave a thumbs-up for her order. So I immediately trooped days later and found myself having a bowl of their combo bowl having beef, pork, chicken and innards.

It was almost like having a bowl of Lapaz batchoy if not for the bean sprouts and a spiced flavourful broth. The difference was in the noodles too, though I haven’t seen the actually noodle making, I came late – a friend just ordered for me. It comes in a deep bowl filled almost up the brim and almost overflowing with broth. Good thing the soup is good that unknowingly; it almost disappeared revealing the noodles. And you can ask for extra soup too!

Whether in any pancit dish or soups, I always look for and try the noodles first. If it’s good, I’d gorged on the noodles more than the “sahog” but if it’s not then it stays on my plate. And it was a noodle feast at Tarzan Magic La Mien Noodle House – I just love the plain taste of its fresh noodles! I guess there’s the Chinese belief that noodles give long life as it is served there as long as it can be. Though it’s just a regular noodle but its freshness gave it character that complements the meat and vegetables in the bowl.

I also had a side order of dumpling which had “kusay” as the main ingredient, I assume. Even without dipping it in the chili sauce or the toyo-sili concoction, it was savoury and comes with the signature fresh dumpling wraps. For this order of the noodle soup, a 5 piece dumpling plate and a soft drink, the bill was only PhP95.

And when I asked for the menu, they still don’t have any yet, it just opened you know but hoping they’ll have one ready the time I will be checking it out again so there will be something new on the table but of course the noodle soup will be on it – first!

The Tarzan Magic La Mien Noodle House is located along JM Basa Street, a few steps from the corner of Arsenal Street. It is open around 9am until 9pm. They offer FREE delivery, just contact them though telephone number 336-3592.

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...

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

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...

Pancit lomi and pan de sal in Oton

A road and food trip a few months back ended in a simple but delicious treat in the town of Oton. Right beside the town market is an assuming bakery that also serves quick orders of pancit - bihon, guisado and lom i, among others. Owned by Mr. Wilson Esperancilla , the bakeshop has a typical bakery ambiance - lots of goodies and people comes in droves to buy them. Their pancit lomi is a best seller and I enjoyed every spoonful of it. From the thick and flavourful sabaw to the the thin (in contrast to the thick ones usually used) noodles plus the meats and toppings, it was one delicious treat - all in a bowl. Doubled with one of the best tasting pan de sals I've had recently, it was surely a perfect food trip to end our road trip. Bon voyage meets bon apetit!

Ubad 101

Ubad sold at the Santa Barbara Public market. This is different from ubod but practically the same. Confusing? Well ubod is the pith or the center of a coconut tree while ubad is the pith of a banana tree. To have an ubad means a whole banana tree has been cut down and stripped to bare its center. So goodbye to banana fruit, leaves and heart. To prepare an ubad for cooking, first thinly slice, around half a centimeter, the cleaned pith (must be very white and sized like a fluorescent lamp to be sure of the quality.) . Then using a barbecue stick, remove web like fibers "interconnecting" these slices (these are actually hardened banana sap). When finished you can crush is into smaller pieces and add to your cooking. Ubad is mostly used as extender to the usual meat and vegetable dishes, the most famous of which is the ubad-kadyos-chicken combination. Another dish that goes well with ubad is the usual ginisang monggo . With pieces of pork and malunggay as ...

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog