Skip to main content

Sooo Pinoy in Davao at E.Y.'s Tuna

From a small tent in Tagum City, Eloisa Yee started her food business during night markets and from then on it started to expand and in November of 2010, E.Y.s Tuna was born. Among the most competitive restaurants in Davao offering tuna and other grilled specialties, EY's Tuna gives Dabawenyos the healthier choice in its line up of local cuisine focusing more on non-pork dishes. But for the Sooo Pinoy visit in one of their branches they dishes up something very exotic; Chicken Adobo ala Mode - that's adobo with CHOCOLATES!
I was part of Sooo Pinoy, Food Trip na Pilipinas! which is set to visit 300 restaurants in 10 key regions/areas in 10 months all over the Philippines. Davao is the 4th food stop after Iloilo, Boracay and Cebu that started last March. The goal of the Food Trip is to show that Filipino dishes per region have different identities based on the culture, lifestyle and history of the area.  The Food Trip also aims to show that there are many Filipino recipes from different regions of the Philippines, each having its own specialty that has to be recognized for the unique flavor it adds to the Filipino Cuisine.
And Davao it is as we were again gastronomically bombarded with tuna at EY's Tuna - no need to argue. So  there was this cripsy buntot ng tuna which was deep fried tail of a tuna which had the crunch in every bite.
There's inihaw na panga ng tuna - grilled tuna jaw which I can smell from afar and even looking at this photos the aroma still lingers.
There's there version of kinilaw de Cebu using tuna and it was another festive kinilaw with fruits and vegetables giving a dimension in taste and texture.
And of course, there's adobong bagaybay - which is the male counterpart of the bihod (roe).
At last something different - inihaw na pacol. Its a big fish, maybe like a big tilapia that is simply grilled and its the sawsawan that will truly bring out its goodness as it did that time.
And now for the chicken adobo with chocolates - I'm sure you'd been wondering how it tasted. At first I thought these white "bilog-bilog" were hardboiled quail eggs upon closer inspection and tasting they were actually chocolates. They were more of garnish rather than mixing with the adobo concoction so they taste remains to be adobo and just put some chocolates - they don't have to be in these egg-like forms. You'll have your own version of adobo with chocolate. Now what will it be? Hersheys, Toblerone, Cadbury, Lindt or maybe Valrhona?
Another thing that caught my attention then were these brownie bihon like strips they garnished over the rice. I was told they were also rice that were made into these strips then toasted. Indeed they tasted like rice - just a bit more on the toasty side.
We also had some familiar dishes like sinigang na hipon and fried crablets.
There also was a plate of fried calamares waiting to be devoured.
Good thing they also had some fresh vegetables so we concocted our own salad to have some fiber intake then. And fresh fruits for dessert - pineapples, melons, watermelons, papaya and green mango with bago-ong - all giving us the sweet (and sour) side of Davao.
Another barrage of tuna and some "kakaibang" recipe completed our visit to EYs Tuna in Davao City. But they were just a portion of the long list of specialties this restaurant has to offer. And maybe next time I'll be back in Davao, I'll discover more of them.


Filipinos are encouraged to join and support the Sooo Pinoy movement, a partnership between Unilever Food Solutions and the Department of Tourism, and go on a gastronomic adventure that both fills the stomach and enriches our awareness of our own identity.   To know more about the campaign, food lovers are invited to like the Sooo Pinoy page on Facebook and follow @SoooPinoy on Twitter.



Sooo Pinoy Epic DAVAO Food Trip: June 25-29, 2012














Popular posts from this blog

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 (

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.

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 usu

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

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik