Reading about the Balamban Liempo in blogs and food magazines aroused my gastronomic curiosity. It seems to be the new “must-try” whenever one finds himself in Cebu. During a trip in the Queen City of the South, I was lucky enough to have finally tasted it and true to form, this liempo is indeed tastier than lechon. But now, I don’t have to go to Cebu to satisfy my craving, for the Balamban Liempo has finally arrived in Iloilo.
A FOODIE TURNED BUSINESSMAN
“Balamban Liempo started in 2009 with a single branch put up in a garage in Cebu city” opens up businessman and owner Joseph Vergara. “My wife, Honey, noticed a lot of tourists were visiting the town just for the liempo, so we decided to bring “Balamban to the big city”. Balamban is a town an hour away from Cebu City with ship building and repair as the major industry.
“It was a dream come true” says Jojo, who for the last 15 years of working for a multinational company, aspired to start his own business. A foodie himself, he travelled around the country in line of duty and at the same time satisfying his curiosity for the local fares. ”And Iloilo holds a special place in my heart for it was where my thoughts were opened on having my own business.”
With an initial capital of PhP 50,000, Jojo said a colleague influenced him to have his own business and Jojo then decided to focus on this “lowly street food” by making it gourmet. After that first branch in 2009, around 10 more branches followed within the year. “Now we have 60 stores and take out counters around the country” he said. “We have branches as far as Laoag and Baguio in the north plus Davao and Gen. Santos down south”.
ALL STAR LIEMPO
“What makes our liempo stand out is its very distinctive taste and aroma” says Jojo. “Ours is stuffed with herbs and spices that include tanglad and local herb known as sangig (basil grass)”. He shares getting the idea from the popular Lechon Cebu wherein the belly and the rib parts are often the most flavourful. “So why not create the same recipe but utilize just the liempo to have that crispy and even taste”.
He shares how all their liempo are processed in a central commissary to maintain the quality and taste. “We do the brining process and the herb stuffing in Cebu, freeze them and ship them overnight around the country” he shares. “It is then thawed for 2-3 hours before it goes over the grill”
The preparation process creates a flavor is uniform inside out. “Unlike other liempos, ours is very flavorful - from the crisp skin to the meat” he said. “We also maintain a ratio of 75% meat and 25% fat in order to have that taste and with the herb stuffing that we have, it bursts with flavour”.
They also dish up litson manok alongside the liempo. “Our chicken are about 1 kilo each and is stuffed with almost the same herbs as our liempo making them more flavorful than most litson manok” he says.
He also plans of bringing their other specialties like lechon sisig, pochero and crispy pata as well as the Cebuano rice staple - puso, as a convenient partner to his grilled specialties.
A TASTE OF CEBU IN ILOILO
“We have opened three branches in Iloilo as of now” says Jojo. “Our Jaro and Mandurriao branches have simple dine-in facilities while we have a take-out only outlet outside Alta Tierra Village”. On its first week in Iloilo alone, Jojo was ecstatic to say that they sold more than 100 slabs per day. “It is a testament how the Ilonggos have embraced our product” He then reveals of putting up a dozen more branches in Iloilo City as well as Bacolod and Boracay this year.
Balamban Liempo outlets are located across of the Jaro Big Market in Jaro, beside the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao and right across NFA in Brgy. Tabuc Suba, Jaro. Checkit onine at www.balambanliempo.multiply.com.